Hey guys, I'm searching for a radio to fit my '49 IH Truck dash, and it seems like it would be a lot easier if I knew what car manufactures & years that used a 6v, pos gnd. I don't want to cut the dash, only remove the radio delete plate. Thanks
Mopars up through 1955……I think Fords too, same model year range… It may be possible to convert positive ground radios to negative ground.. I seem to recall it has to do with the infamous ‘vibrator tube’ polarity May be more to it than that.. Ray
Contact these guys to see if they have a 6V offering....... https://www.retromanufacturing.com/collections/build-your-own-radio
The 55 Nash Ambassador Custom Lemans in my avatar is 6 volt positive ground. God Bless Bill https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/
Used to be able to get voltage doublers with grd reversing capability's so you have option of later 12v radios.
Most of those 6 volt radios are huge because they are all tube type. Meaning that even in a Binder you may not have room to put some of them. Then some like the 50/51 Mercury used part of the instrument cover as their face lens. Take a look at 52/54 Ford car radios. Not all that big and the face plate is part of the radio.
Radios don't care about the ground. We used '50 - '52 Buick or Cad Wonderbars in earlier pickups, just bolted them to the firewall. Our stereo guy had disappearing antennas we'd stick in the LF stake pocket by bending the tab up & reaming the hole. Ran the lead underneath, came thru the thumb hole in the floor. Back then, the radios were $5 - $15, & sounded great.
Cadillacs up to about 1950? some of the older ones used a "remote" radio box and speaker,they had a set of knobs and dial in the dash and the main box was attached via 2 cables that were hooked to it,they are rare and expensive if you can even find one?.harvey
Is this a K series truck? I have never seen a K series with a cut out for a radio. Can you post a larger photo of the dash? I have a '46 K1 and mounted an underdash radio in it.
Studebakers thru 1955. However, I would recommend getting a marine battery box and putting a 12v battery in the trunk just to power the radio if you need something that bad. <edit> or behind the seat in a truck.
Truck is a '49 L-122. I think this may fit the factory cutout. I'm just waiting for the seller to give me a few more measurements
You can also leave the dash as-is and use a hidden [5v-24v] bluetooth amplifier and use your phone as a radio. These are isolated and have 2 input wires [from a barrel plug ] that can be reversed. Here is a thread on a 12v version we did in our 57. [We also have the same unit in our house fed from a 18v AC adaptor] https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...th-sound-system-install-non-invasive.1155455/ here is a 5v-24v unit for sale. https://www.ebay.com/itm/124107165465 Using your phone gives you FM channels, live streaming etc etc plus any stored music
Not entirely in agreement with that statement. May be true of many, but not all. In the ‘60s I was working in a Ford/Mercury shop and an old gentleman brought in his 1959 Mercury and wanted his radio repaired. I was assigned to remove it and send it to a repair shop. Radio came back, I installed…..didn’t work. Pulled it again, sent to the shop again, etc. Didn’t work that time either. I don’t recall exactly what prompted the discovery, but eventually discovered the battery was installed with reverse polarity…..removed the battery, turned it end for end and connected it negative ground….voila’ …..the radio worked. Obviously I have never forgotten that lesson. Ray
^^^^^^ What I mean here is: Say for instance, you have a '54 Ford with a radio that quit. Your Ford is positive ground. You can take that '48 Chev radio (from a neg. grd. car) on the shelf, ground the case, run a 14 amp fused lead from a hot terminal to the radio's power terminal, and it'll work.
Transistors are picky that way. But vacuum tube equipped car radios in those days got the high voltage power from a "vibrator" right? Kind of a mechanical rectifier. DC for the tube filaments, they don't care about polarity. Something like that.
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