Since I'm currently constrained for space, I decided to start with the radio. Though a small project, it was surprisingly daunting and has exposed me to a whole new world of electronics. Beyond the botched job I did to my pickup's harness almost a decade ago, which I'll undoubtedly have to redo, this will be my first experience with automotive wiring.
On top of that, this was a project I feel is higher stakes than bondo or replacing fuel lines. Visions like the ones below dance into my head whenever I think of my pickup's eletrical system:
Shorted wires --> truck turned to ashes (or if I'm lucky, just a ruined radio)
The obvious (and equally likely) scenario - a nice shock
It was surprisingly tough to get out from under the dash - partly because it was pretty snuggly fit in there, but also because I finally realized that it was held on by only some nuts behind the knobs (after admittedly too long).
Fast forward a failed attempt and 7 years later when I finally tried again, I was surprised to find out that it was an Oldsmobile radio. From what I've read, it sounds like radios didn't come stock in a lot of of these old farm trucks given the truck's purpose was so utility-driven, and also because they were meant to be an affordable truck (i.e. no bells whistles). In today's dollars, this pickup would have retailed starting at $15,000 new in today's dollars. This meant a lot of radios were installed after they rolled off the line, either by the dealer or by the owners themselves using other common radios.
I was also a little dismayed at the amount of 'gunk' pasted against the front of the radio.
While I'm still not positive what this is, I'm hopeful that it was just an adhesive to hold the radio firmly against the inside of the dash that melted over time as opposed to signs of a burnt up radio. I'm hopeful given that the goop is 1) where the radio was pressed against the dash, 2) at the top of the radio away from its capacitors (on top of the speaker, actually, and 3) the lack of other evidence of fire/excessive heat (the knobs, metal, quick tuners, inside components all seem to be in good shape without signs of fire or over heating).
I know.. this has been a long intro to this topic, so on to the actual restoration work...
The kind folks at the Illinois Antique Radio Club were able to point me to the path with a few tips on how to begin with the restoration.
The broad strokes they suggested were as follows:
Clean everything with a paint brush and vacuum
Remove one tube at a time, and clean off the connectors with very fine grit sandpaper and some electrical connector cleaner
Replace capacitors (only need to replace resistors if they look burnt or worn. I'll be using this guide)
Double check polarity and hook up to appropriate power source (more info to come)
The vibrator should be quietly humming
If it's humming but there's no audio output, it is probably the tubes which can be found NOS on Ebay
I was able to find my diagram at the online Antique Radio Museum, and I was excited to get restoring. So the fun starts... almost.
As soon as I dove into the schematics, I realized I had a learning curve to climb. I'd never read one of these things. That's where I stand now. I found some reading on how to interpret antique electrical schematics (part 1, part 2), so that's my next step.
Since this is going to be a longer process than I anticipated, I'll break this into a few posts.
For now, here's a few photos of where the radio stands. Stay.... tuned.... for updates! I'll show myself out.
Cheers,
Nic
