Drakeule

All: Look what I found under my pillow last night! The coveted escutcheons for the Super Sonomatic. And I didn't pay "hundreds of dollars" for them. I just have a great "Wizard" who watches over me! CD

EmTee/all: Remflex good stuff? Better than copper?

All: After liberal application of Kroil over the last 3 weeks, I was able to loosen all 10 bolts with just a little help from a cheater bar on # 9 (second from rear.) I will now replace the center exhaust section (as it has several cracks.); I will inspect the front and rear sections for cracks, and replace if needed. Brass gaskets best for reassembly? Also, any other tips would be greatly appreciated! VR, CD, Potomac, Md.

I forgot to mention that the plastic buttons themselves must be installed; just pushing the bare metal screws alone will not engage the mechanism.

Hans3: Maybe your "cage" is stuck; by this I mean the contraption that engages the clutch that allows button tuning only. Usually (I think), the return spring breaks, which then only allows button tuning. But it sounds like you have the opposite problem. I think you will have to take the front cover of the radio off (usually has the speaker bolted to it) and take a look. Check my thread on my struggles with the '41 Super Sonomatic; I may have a picture of the '41's gizmo. Let me know how it goes; feel free to PM me on this. CD, Potomac, Md. BTW, please give us the model #

All: I am considering attempting to install new exhaust gaskets and possibly replacing the exhaust manifolds themselves(as I know the center section has cracks.) I have started to bath all the bolts with Kroil, which I understand is the best thing to use. What are thoughts on doing this job; I just want to get a feel for it before really attempting it. Thanks in advance, C Drake, Potomac, Md.

SS is up and running well (I think.) Much off my voltage drop was the result of too long a run and too small gauge of wire. When I installed the correct "bullet" twist connector with 15 A fuse, the voltage drop decreased! Now, I need to try it hooked up to the car battery. Again, voltage drop needs to be considered.Keeping my fingers crossed! Now, it looks like the support used in the '41 is different than the '40 (41 uses 2 suspended supports; 40 has 1 going from the firewall to the back of the dashboard.) Also, the SS ' support bolts are not as far back as the 40 Sonomatic's, so if I want to install the SS in the Roadmaster, I'll have to move that radio support bolt about an inch back. Has anybody ever attempted this ? P.S. I would love to attach a video of the SS in action; can I do this? Thanks, CD

Kgreen: I think this was pretty standard; maybe all cars of that time used the same one? Like I said, kand of looks like a BNC connector, but tip must be spring loaded to hit the "juice plate." Thanks, CD

The one that plugs in to the back of the 40, 41 Sonomatics. Seem to be pretty rare? Thanks, CD

Never heard this! Should the upper tank be empty? Inquiring minds want to know.....

All: It seems that my big block '40 Roadmaster pushes some coolant out of the overflow tube when I stop; I've read the article from the "Torque Tube" on this, and it claims this is normal? My '40 Super never does this. New 7LB. radiator cap installed; faulty bypass valve or maybe just thermostat to blame? Thanks, CD, Potomac, Md.

BTW, does anybody have an extra female power connector to power this radio? It looks like a BNC connector, but isn't! Thanks, C Drake

IT LIVES!!! See my latest input in Pre war!

Success! After 6 hours, and with the help of two instructors, we finally got the radio going. There were initial problems with the oscillator section, but once that was sorted out, we again injected a signal, which was very weak. Tracing it through, we found that the problem was in the detector circuit, most specifically, the resistors and capacitors attached to the volume control. Main instructor (and work horse) Oscar and Dick finally figured out that Oscar had soldered one end of a capacitor to the wrong spot!; when resoldered correctly, Bingo, a lot of volume, and it works on all 5 bands! Next Tuesday, I'll go back and tighten up some leads ,most specifically the ones belonging to the "hash" capacitors,which reside within the metal "coffin". Its outline is pictured in the 5 July posting, and its function is to suppress the crazy RF "hash" produced by the vibrator contacts from the rest of the circuit. I'll also reassemble as much of the radio as possible,excluding the rear cover. It came without one, but Greg was able to produce 2 from regular Sonomatica; I'll have to get someone (e.g., my mechanic son in law) to cut the lip off of a regular one, and weld it on to the intact lip on the other (as the Super Sonomatic's is indeed deeper, due to the increase circuitry.) Then (God willing) I'll just have to pick which '40 I want to put it in! P.S. Well, as one picture (video) is worth a thousand words,I wanted to attach a video. However, the site keeps telling me it's too large!

Prolly!

All: A pause here; my understanding is that, due to the War, Buick (upon instruction from the Government) "asked" all owners of cars with Super Sonomatics to bring in their cars and that they would swap out the SS radio for regular Sonomatics. Now, I wonder what happened to all those SS radios sitting on the shelves of said dealers? Many religated to the scrap heap? When I get this radio sorted, I might make a trip to the AACA Archives to do some detective work!

Some progress to report (see thread in Pre war), should have more on Friday.

Some significant progress here, albeit slowly. Today, Oscar Leary (instructor at the NCRTVM) and I worked further on the SS.After replacing a few other capacitors, we teased out and confirmed that the final audio stage was working, then injected a modulated signal through the 2 intermediate frequency (IF stages), confirming that they indeed were doing their jobs. Working back, we encountered a few problems at the oscillator stage,which is working ,but intermittantly. This took about 3 hours! So, what does all this mean? Without going through the theory that explains how a heterodyne radio functions , you move backwards through all the stages of a receiver from where the sound comes out, to the place where the radio waves come in (i.e., antenna), to find out where your problem(s) are. Back at it on Friday; more then.

Ken: Thanks, but I have used the AC trick and, as I said, I still get a voltage drop when I connect the vibrator to the car battery. And yes, I have watched the stentorian voiced guy's video that you attached. I even have a vibrator tester plug in for my tube tester; but it's only for 2 or 3 pin types, not 5 pin ones! Like I said before, my understanding is that some vibrator's contacts just get worn out,and there's nothing you can do about it. I think that's what I have here. I did order a burnishing tool on line, and am going to try that on the contacts, but I don't hold out much hope. Another mechanical vibrator (or a SS mock up) might be the way to go. Thanks, CD

B+ is DC. I'm pretty sure that the rectified wave shouldn't get greater in voltage just because it's been rectified. However, I'll investigate. Time to break out the O scope! Thanks, CD

JJ: .1 to .2 ohms primary resistance; see my other thread in Pre-war. Thanks, CD

Unhooked the transformer and the primary is .1-.2 ohms.; so it may not be the Transformer. Finally, I got back to some output on the B+ voltage (about half of what the radio needs: 120 vs 265 V.) What I have found is that whatever source I provide for the radio (car battery or bench power source), 6Vs suddenly reduces to about 4.2 Vs. I get this with the vibrator out of the radio as well. So, there must be a big internal resistance in the vibrator that is sucking the voltage down. I've cleaned the contacts multiple times, and used the AC with a light bulb in series trick, but it doesn't change the suck down siginificantly. Probably just a worn out mechanical vibrator. I am on track to get another mechanical one, but that too will be a shot in the dark. Most likely a PEKO SS unit might be where I am heading; problem here is I have heard that these aren't very robust,and I could burn it out (as the radio still has problems.) I've burned two out before, so, I'll keep my fingers (very) crossed!

Bloo: Well, the vibrator is not in,and I still get a short with either primary lead to ground. the 2 primaries of the transformer are now just going to blank sockets, so, yes. I guess I could disconnect the primaries just to be sure. BTW, the resistance across the primary is .1 ohm (or less); resistance across the secondary is about 595 ohms. I think that the transformer internal cap might be shorted; it's a .05 uf cap.

All (below is also posted under buy/sell thread.): I have hit a snag in my "resusitation" of the Super Sonomatic (980660). By what I can determine, the primary of the transformer is shorted to ground somewhere. I'm pretty sure it's in the transformer itself,so I need to find another from a Sonomatic (and hope that it's not shorted too!) Anybody have one that they are willing to part with? Thanks, CD

All: I have hit a snag in my "resusitation" of the Super Sonomatic (980660). By what I can determine, the primary of the transformer is shorted to ground somewhere. I'm pretty sure it's in the transformer itself,so I need to find another from a Sonomatic (and hope that it's not shorted too!) Anybody have one that they are willing to part with? Thanks, CD