How to take apart radio?

[ddezso]

OK - this should be an easy one. I just got a 1970 radio as the PO of my car sold it to me with no radio (and for some stupid reason I want the car to be original).

It is really dirty so I need to take of the knobs and faceplate to clean it. I've been gently twisting and pulling on the knobs to get them off but nothing wants to come off. I am really good at breaking stuff trying to do this so I thought I'd swallow my pride and ask for help.

How do you get the knobs and faceplate off?

Oh....and while we're at it. Any pointers on cleaning/refurbishing one of these? The silver that should be above the knobs is worn off. Any clever ways to bring that back (like model airplane paint and a steady hand?)? The pots turn OK but not super smooth. What do I spray in there to make it better?

Thanks...

[EScanlon]

For both the black and silver knobs:

Grasp firmly at opposite sides of the knob and gently but firmly slide towards you. Both black knobs go on splined shafts while the silver ones go on the outside shaft collar for the splined shaft.

Once the knobs are removed you should see two very thin nuts, unscrew counter-clockwise. Face plate just lifts off stems.

The rectangular black knobs take a little more from you. Pull on them as if you were resetting the station assigned to that button. Once you have it pulled out, observe the UNDERSIDE of the knob, you should see the means by which these are held on. I don't have my spare radio available, so if you would take a picture, I'll tell you what to pull/push.

If you are willing to be a test-guinea pig, send me a PM and your face plate and I'll "restore" it with something I'm testing. I guarantee you'll like the results.

Enrique

[26th-Z]

I may take you up on that, Enrique. How are you at repairing the broken corners? Here are some detail shots.

[EScanlon]

Nice Pics Chris, but I can't see that you have a need to refresh this face plate.

Corners, if they are missing completely are the hardest to fix. The problem isn't in finding a strong enough repair compound, it's in restoring the "grain" of the embossing on the face.

Eastwood had a product some time back (haven't bought nor received their catalog recently) that you molded onto a good piece to make a proper mold and you then put it onto the broken piece. Then mix the repair compound and pour. The substance would cure to a milky white clear which would then need painting.

I have had some luck using plain old "Plasticene" and JB Weld, using another faceplate as the "donor" of the pattern and hoping for the best match. Part of the problem with this method is that there seems to be more than one mold from which the faceplates were made...that's how I discovered the difficulty in making the grain pattern match. But on the seat mechanism covers, the faceplates and other pieces that I've repaired, once painted they look very well and if I didn't tell you where to look, you wouldn't note them.

I've found that for the bulk of the chrome trim on the console, something I posted about years ago provides the BEST reproduction of the "chrome" trim....that's plain old nail-polish.

Sally Hansen Chrome Nail Makeup, #01 Pure Chrome yields the smoothest and most consistently even silver than any other paint I've ever worked with. Unlike model paint which can leave swirls and streaks where the metallic particles have settled differently, Sally's #01 yields a truly beautiful finish on the raised letters on the radio face plate, the dash nameplate, and others.

The other metallic finish, and I would venture to say that it appears that your faceplate does NOT have the finish that my later one did, is a smooth SHINY and REFLECTIVE chrome finish. In my case it goes on the raised edge surrounding the dial indicator and the push buttons. I can't tell if yours has the REFLECTIVE finish or the SATIN finish which is the same as on the raised letters.

Your faceplate in fact, looks as if the lettering is on a label sticker. Don't know that I can help you out with that. My lettering was raised, which is why the nail-polish works so easily and well.

I'll see if I can find pictures of a before and after faceplate so you can decide.

Enrique

[EScanlon]

By the way Chris, that metal faceplate that's just below the plastic faceplate, it's face down. The cutouts on the corners are for the screws that hold the HCP to the car.

In your Hitachi-AM 5 pic, you can see that it extends BELOW the radio's faceplate, which it should NOT do.

E¢

[ZSaint]

How about putting a 260 AM/FM radio into a '71? I bought a radio but have not tried to install it. How difficult is it to romove the radio from the dash. (I had the dash out before I bought the radio!)

[EScanlon]

I ~think~ the radio should fit (not sure AFAIK I've never done it), but if it's the same size as in 73's then it should.

The only item I'm not sure would work is the faceplate. I seem to recall that the angle of the Center plate inverted when the 260 came out.

E

[26th-Z]

I just have not caught the hang of photgraphing parts, Enrique. The focal length is all wrong. The lighting sucks. I'm getting better, but you would think I was some sort of photographic hack by looking at my parts pictures. Race car at speed - no problem. Gothic cathedral stone details on a cloudy day in Paris - no problem. Nudes on the beach at sunset - no problem. But parts on my work bench?

It's the same face plate. I assure you! This is the nice radio, not the restoration in question. Yes, the backing plate is upside down! It's just in the box that way. Hell, everything is in boxes!

Thanks for the nail polish idea. I'll try that. I have been using a paint pen from "Testors". It is a felt-tip pen full of silver paint. Works well on the raised lettering and the finish is fairly satin.

CW-

[26th-Z]

If it looks like this, ZSaint, it will fit. Remember to fasten the radio chassis to the tunnel. The face plate screws really just hold the face plate on. They don't support the radio.

[EScanlon]

... Remember to fasten the radio chassis to the tunnel. The face plate screws really just hold the face plate on. They don't support the radio.

This bears repeating to anyone with the very rare and EEEK-spensive Early Heater Control Panel with the chrome in good condition.

The stress of holding up the radio WILL cause the chrome to crack and lift off the plastic.

Chris, on this faceplate, (if it's a pic of one you own and not a reference pic) could you confirm that the chrome around the dial indicator and push buttons IS reflective (i.e. "true" chrome) as opposed to the silver SATIN paint that you see on the other surfaces? AFAIK the surround around the antenna switch is also Satin painted and not Chromed (shiny/reflective).

Thanks

E

[ZSaint]

Your are correct, I have a '74 AM/FM radio. It does have the wrong (upside down) faceplate. I wonder if I can rework this radio to have the AM faceplate from my '71 on it? I wonder if I can modify it to use the old antennae switch. I guess I will have to take the AM radio out and see if anything will fit.

[ZSaint]

Chris: Where are you getting these great pics of radios? Here is a pic of my '74 AM/FM. Do you have a pic of the early '71 AM radio? I want to see if I can modify the '74 to fit the '71 antennae switch and faceplate. I just put an '81 AM/FM Rabbit radio into a '76 Rabbit. It was kinda the same thing.