SpecialEducation

I would drain the oil, and pay attention to how it flows. If it doesn't seem particularly sludgey, just change it again after a tank of gas.

Plate voltage on a 12V6GT is normally 250-285 in a push-pull installation. 12BA6, 12BF6, and 12BE6 all look like they are happy down to 100v, but are fine up to 300. I don't remember for sure what I used to get in mine, but 230-240 sounds about right. By the way, if you haven't seen it, here's a neat little pub with some troubleshooting tips...

i thought the Sonomatic ran closer to 225-250v. seems to me some of the tube plates dont like more than 275v...

primarily its 2 things: over time, the cone suspension materials (or the cone itself) degrades. the speed of degradation will be dependant on environment (UV, humidity, etc...). voice coil failures usually result from overpowering the speaker. bass frequencies tend to put more heat into the coil than mids & treble. I had an '82 Buick in high school that had an AWESOME sounding stock stereo. unfortunately, the voice coils couldnt handle the Roland 808 that was popular in the late '80s/early '90s music that I listened to. i would overheat the coils, but instead of burning them out, they would distort and start rubbing on the magnet, makkng an annoying cherping sound. i replaced them once or twice with salvage soeakers, but they all met the same demise.

Ive bought from Parts Express before: http://www.parts-express.com/cat/dash-door-deck-car-speakers/390?N=20456+4294967118+4294965865&Ne=10166&Nrs=collection()%2Frecord[endeca%3Amatches(.%2C"P_PortalID"%2C"1")+and+endeca%3Amatches(.%2C"P_Searchable"%2C"1")]&PortalID=1 if you cant find a modern 6x9 that fits, you could adapt to something like a 5.25". if you go that route, id keep the kenwood in the trunk.

bass is about the same. the real difference i noticed was crisper highs. the only problem with these speakers for am radio is that they are 61 year old paper. thats a shame it doent fit. id look for a generic "replacement parts" 6x9. ive got a catalog somewhere, ill see what i can dig up.

Jerks. As I was typing 8, I was thinking I had worked on an old radio and was surprised that it was 4, but I didn't remember for sure if it was a Sonomatic I was working on or something else. Not surprised. Would have been nice if they had documented that somewhere. I did run my solid state through the original speaker and it sounded really good. The crisper highs from the 3-way probably won't matter much with AM, but they can't hurt. I worked on an old Zenith once that was 22. What a pain that was.

for the record, the oz4 rectifier is a gas filled tube, not a vacuum tube. :oP i should also note that the Kenwoods i used were 3 way speekers. I bought them on sale at best buy. the problem with them is that the center speakers stand proud of the flange. this means i had to make a spacer to keep the tweeters off the metal grille in the cab and the center divider in the package shelf. thats why the plywood ring. i did have to leave one screw out of the bottom of the cab, though. other than that, standard 8 ohm 6x9s work great. same bolt pattern today as in 56. i got away with 4 ohm because my solid state amp is good down to 2, the schematic doesnt specify, but i think the original speaker is 8. I could be wrong, but better high than low (or bypass the switch and run 4s in series).

I'm seriously interested in power steering.

Dealer stock is a game. We kept high end cars in stock, even though low end sold better. Small town dealers tended to do the opposite. We'd keep the holdback for the high optioned car, and sell them someone else's low end car. After all of that, we'd still be money ahead. We sold more cars than any other dealership in the state, and were #2 in trucks. I've sat in a manager's office when he was ordering trucks. There was no science; just what ever he was in the mood for that day.

Now that's just wrong. The Truckster was an ugly old F*rd. I wouldn't give it credit for anything. I like wagons because I have 3 kids but don't want an SUV.

Kinda reminds me of a guy I once new who was looking for a job. He was the boyfriend of a co-worker of mine. Before I had kids (when I had spare time) I did a lot of dealer trades for the Pontiac, Buick, GMC dealership my wife worked at. I told this guy that I could use some help driving cars from time to time. Pay isn't awesome, but it's a fun way to see the country on someone else's dime, and its better than sitting on the couch at home. He says, "I don't drive domestic cars." Idiot. I told her to dump his stupid, lazy butt.

Yup, me too!

Nope. This is the only site that gives me this issue. Pretty odd that there is no network or device corelation, only this forum. Puffin is the only browser that has this site working for me at the moment...

Believe me, i've been training Radio Shack employees since i was in Jr. High. Last time I bought tubes was '95 or '96. The guy at the store didnt even know what a vacuum tube was.

I'm having trouble keeping up with this thread because of CSS issues, but I'm glad you are getting sound. I have a tube tester, but as I recall, not all of the tubes in this radio are on my test chart. Of course, last time I did this we didn't have the internet; but I think I have all of the specs now so I can run the tubes. I think last time I replaced the vibrator, 12V6GT, and some caps. I don't think I could test the pre-amp tubes because I didn't have the data. Last time I bought a NEW tube, Radio Shack sold them with lifetime guarantees. Do some Google searching and you may find some equivalent tubes.

Any codes set? My first thought is the idle air control valve. Second would be a leaking intake gasket. ECM should be able to tell you if it's running lean.

I fear this is more bean counters run amok, which is a shame because some of the best GM designs in recent years has come from Opel. My biggest complaint with the designs that were brought over to the US market was that they didn't offer them in versions unchanged from the European market versions.

Ok, so after the upgrade I've been having issues viewing the forums. Last week I only had issues that looked like missing CSS style sheets when I used Chrome on windows 7. It worked fine on my iPhone. Now, it's the same between the PC/Chrome (doesn't load at all on Explorer), and iOS Chrome & Safari. Content is there, but style is out of whack...

Yep. :o/ http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/general-motors/2017/03/06/gm-opel-psa-sale/98783864/

Oh, I grabbed the wrong image... Either way, there were multiple manufacturers, and as I recall the difference was in the pre-amps. I promise you all of mine are Sonomatics and look identical from the outside.

No, 3 different circuits for the 1956 Sonomatic. They aren't even the same number of tubes. My book has 2 different models, but I'm pretty sure one of the Sonomatics I have is neither. The one I gutted was a rusty '707 that we actually only bought for its knobs. 981707 981708 Yours looks like a '707, too..

Internally, the basic tubeset radio principles are the same. In 1956 alone, there are 3 different circuit designs, but the need & method to make high voltage AC (225-250v) and rectify it back to DC is the same. The vibrator should buzz loud enough to be heard, because it's a mechanical device that converts 12vdc into square wave AC. It should take 30-45 seconds for the plates to warm up. Also, the capacitors don't last long if they sit unused. Replacements are cheap & easy, but a shorted cap can damage other things.

I have a friend who bought a '57 Chevy back in the '80s. He was going through everything, figuring out what worked & what didn't. He turned on the radio, and it hummed but played no music. He cranked it all the way up; nothing. He turned his attention to something else for a moment, then POW! He was blown away with music! He felt kinda silly not thinking about the fact that it was a tube set. By the way... those OZ4s are usually pretty solid, but after you start making AC you find that you aren't converting back to DC, you can easily make your own low cost replacement solid state rectifier with a resistor and a couple diodes.

If that vibrator isn't loud enough that you can't hear it over the idling engine, it's not vibrating.