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'54 Rear Speaker Switch Location?


Fr. Buick

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Hello out there!

 

Does anyone have a picture or diagram to help me locate a factory rear speaker switch for my '54 Super?  I imagine it would be the same between '54 and '55, correct?

 

Looking for a simple winter project - Brrrr - to do in the garage. 

 

Thanks for any help,

 

Doug Cook

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...I imagine it would be the same between '54 and '55, correct?...

 

 

Not necessarily so.

 

My 1954 Buick Product Service Bulletins is loaned out at the time but I want to say that this is where I read an article mentioning that the rear seat speaker switch location on a 1954 Buick was dependent on whether the car had a Tissue Dispenser or Air Conditioning. If so, the sketched location in Mr. Earl's Post #3 might be or might not be the answer.

I don't recall reading about drilling a hole in the face of the instrument panel. Maybe the underside flange somewhere left of the steering column, though.

 

If you don't have the Tissue Dispenser or the Air Conditioning controls in the way, then the switch location was below the Heater/Defroster/Vent controls. Are there any pre-punched holes in the underside of the instrument panel's front flange below the H/D/V controls?

 

I should be getting my book back and will confirm unless somebody following this thread can look it up beforehand.

 

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

Edited by 1953mack (see edit history)
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In 1954 the curved shape of the bezel fits the curve of the dash in the area where my crude template drawing shows it to go. (to the left of the steering column)  I took that template drawing from a 54 Super I had removed the switch from MANY years ago. The only rear seat speaker switches 54-55, large and small series, I have ever seen were located to the left of the steering column just below and to the left of the headlight bezel. I've turned my template drawing scan so it is more easily viewed. 

Also attaching a picture of a 55 switch in an AC Century

 

post-77380-0-71732200-1448940114_thumb.j

post-77380-0-18922600-1448940698_thumb.j

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Check with JC Whitney, Paul. They have a line of speakers they call RetroSound designed with the same profile/fit ( more or less) as our old stuff. They Look a bit different with a round magnet but I bought one for my 56 Chrysler rear speaker and it was a bolt in job..............Bob

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Speakers been replaced,just thought a pic might be helpful. Rear speaker is a tight fit with the evaporator under it.

 

That's why you have to use an old type speaker, one without the big round magnet.  Correct is a small boxy end, I suppose an electromagnet.  But it will fit.  I just used a good one out of a spare Sonomatic radio I bought for parts.

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  • 3 weeks later...

For all those purists interested in doing it right and to those doing an extended search later on, here’s what my 1954 BPSB booklet mentions on Pages 60 and 61, and as I previously noted in Post #5 above:

 

∙ 1954 Buicks used the 1953 Rear Seat Radio Speaker Package Group 9.665, Part #981335.

 

∙ On Models without Air Conditioning, the speaker selector switch and bracket gets installed on the instrument panel’s flange directly below the Center Heater Control Escutcheon using the two pre-drilled holes that get enlarged with a 7/32” drill.

 

∙ On Models with Air Conditioning or Kleenex Dispenser, position switch to the left of the Parking Brake Release Knob on extreme left side of instrument panel flange and drill the switch mounting holes using a 7/32” drill.

 

∙ On Air Conditioning Jobs only, it will be necessary to eliminate Gasket No. 7258129 between speaker and rear shelf due to insufficient clearance between air conditioning evaporator and rear shelf.

 

It’s apparent that the face of the instrument panel was boogered-out :lol:  with a newer kit/curved escutcheon plate that came out later, starting in 1955(?).

 

 

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

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I respectfully yield to Al, the 53-54 parts wizard with this one last note. :lol:

 

I believe the BPSB Abridged Edition page 60-61 Al is referring to was originally covered in the loose leaf BPS 2.358 dated January 4 1954  page 43, hence the use of '53 parts. This must have carried on like Al said until later in the year. Supplement No. 9 to the 1954 Buick Chassis and Body Parts Book dated October 1 1954 is the first reference to rear seat speaker switch escutcheon part numbers 116739 for small series and 1165902 for large series that I am seeing. (1165002 being the one I sold you rears back). These parts were carried over to 1955 hence continue to be listed in all subsequent parts books for 1954-55.    Buick Parts Product Information  54-43, Subject: Rear Seat Speaker Package--1954 Models Adaptable to 1955 dated December 2 1954, states in short that the new Rear Seat Package for 1955 can be used on 1954 models by using the 1954 Control Knob part No. 1165745 instead of the knob included in the 1955 Package.

 

So me thinks you can breathe easy Father Buick, unless a judge checks the date of manufacture of your Super and determines it was pre October '54 and since there were several thousand Buicks produced in October of 1954 after the part was available, I think it would be safe enough to say your "boogered-out" dash would be considered correct. Even then you could always say the owner purchased the switch at the local Buick dealership in early October but I guess you would need to provide an invoice proving that.  :D  :lol:

 

;)  :)B)  my friend Al 

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Thanks, Al and Lamar: 

 

Outside of too much work lately, I'm breathing good!

 

I imagine the PSB books were printed early in the model year, and would reflect Buick trying to sell the last of the old switches from '53 - that is those mounted under the dash.

 

Another source of authority is the 1954 Buick Parts Book.  It shows that the newer switch like Lamar pictured above is correct, shaped to fit the lower curve of the dash: 1165739 for the small cars, 1165907 for the larger cars, and with a knob identical to the AC controls.  It sits to the left of the headlight switch, mirror opposite of the wiper switch

 

And guess what?  I found the same numbers called for in the 1955 Buick Parts Book!

 

So the BPB tells the same story as Lamar references above: two different switches are correct for the '54 - the carry over from '53 under the dash, and the later nicer looking '54-'55 mounted on the dash.

 

And since it was advertised by BMD as a dealer accessory that can be added on at customer request by the dealer service department (See the ads in the 1954 "Buick Magazine"), it would not be proper to scrutinize the date of assembly for more exact correctness, because it could be added on well after the car was assembled or even after purchase.

 

Merry Christmas, and now back to work...

Edited by Fr. Buick (see edit history)
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  • 1 year later...
Guest Engine-Ear

Great thread, folks! 

 

Thanks for the technical information.

 

I will also post in parts wanted but I am trying to find either a nice original or a retrofit a suitable modern switch for the '55 I am working on.

2017121195133207.jpg

2017121195133236.jpg

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Do you have a RadioShack, Fry's Electronics or any other big electronic super store? Three-way potentiometers are not rare and look the same now as it does in your picture. Finding the right shaft for your knob might be tricky, but still very doable.

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Your switch does not look too bad at all. Get a thin piece of emery cloth (I peel them off the dollar store nail filer bundles) and run them between the contact points. If memory serves me, the middle wire is hot from the radio speaker transformer and the outside wires are for each speaker? Looks like some nasty corrosion on there. Clean it up first and test it with a test light after attaching the center wire to something like 12V.

 

I've rebuilt every switch on my 56 Buick by just lightly cleaning the junk off the contacts. It just needs a bit of love and a bit of cleaning.

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Guest Engine-Ear
27 minutes ago, Beemon said:

Your switch does not look too bad at all. Get a thin piece of emery cloth (I peel them off the dollar store nail filer bundles) and run them between the contact points. If memory serves me, the middle wire is hot from the radio speaker transformer and the outside wires are for each speaker? Looks like some nasty corrosion on there. Clean it up first and test it with a test light after attaching the center wire to something like 12V.

 

I've rebuilt every switch on my 56 Buick by just lightly cleaning the junk off the contacts. It just needs a bit of love and a bit of cleaning.

Very good tech advice.  Thanks.  I will report back with results.

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Can anyone tell me what the correct knob is used on a 55 Buick?  This is the set up on my car.20160917_153021.thumb.jpg.e5f6285a6bb051d4964085d66f35c907.jpg.aceef365d72c45377ca0a3cd6f76f45b.jpgHere is a picture provided by Mr Lamar. 20171211_201811.jpg.bddb857df884a31916c4952a675a98ce.jpg Is the one in his picture the correct knob for this setup?  

 

If so, why does this knob look so different?

 

Mr Lamar, do you still have this knob?

 

Thank you.

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