1938 SPECIAL RADIO

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

I am looking for someone to restore a 38 Buick radio. The dial is beautiful but it does not turn with the knob. I don't know if the radio works but I will hook it to a six volt battery and see what happens. Is there someone on here that knows or has had experience with a person that can restore mine.

 

[Larry Schramm]

If you are not looking for someone local to you, I have a guy that does good work for me and my friends just north of Detriot and he is reasonable.  I could check on the year of radio and let you know if he can work on it.  I know he does mostly 50's to 90's.

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

Thanks Larry, it may be to old for him but you could ask. I am hesitant to send it to anybody that has not done one of these. They are very hard to find complete and with a good dial. 

[37_Roadmaster_C]

Dave,

 

I am doing a restoration on my 37 myself.  I am an electronic tech and have been working on old electronics for a long time.  I am not offering to do any work for others as my full time job is communications electronics and I refuse to let my job and hobbys compete to much .  Now for the reason for my posting a reply..,..   Do NOT apply power to your radio unless you know what you are doing.  Old capacitors and vibrators are known to short and/or stick and burn up old transformers in the power supply section of old radios.  The caps and vibrator can be replaced with new components, but the transformers are custom parts and are not available to replace.  If you need one rewound the cost is staggering, so the best option is to not burn it out.  Sorry, I do not have any leads to a restorer, but others here will chime in with that information.  I just wanted to give a heads up to help you avoid a costly error.

 

Good Luck,

Robin

Edited December 14, 2015 by 37_Roadmaster_C (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

 Try Alan Kriss. He advertises in the Bugle and Hemming's.  He did my '50.

 

  Ben

[DonMicheletti]

On reason the dial might not turn iis that there is a fragile plastic gear behind the dial that warps or breaks. It is a real PITA to replace!  Bobs has,or had, replacements. The older Bob does rario repairs, that is how he got into the parts business.

 

 

I dont know if this attachment will work. First time to use

[Guest gmorse]

I agree with Ben. Alan Kriss has done work for me in the past, and I was well satisfied.

He advertises in the Buick Bugle, and I think I have seen his ad in the AACA magazine.

Just my experience.

Gary

[jeff]

I did my '38 Special's radio over the course of the winter last year.  I researched as much as I could, and found schematics, pictorial, and a chart of available modern capacitors and resistors.

 

The approach was to replace wires, one at a time, with modern insulation wiring.  I picked up about four colors of insulation to match what was in there.  I went wire by wire, cap by cap, and resistor by resistor, checking them off on the schematic and pictorial diagrams to be sure the correct cap or resistor value went in the correct spot.  I also rebuilt the gears with the parts from Bob's.  No problem, provided you have the patience and dexterity of a watchmaker.  I just took my time. 

 

When it was done, I had nothing!  But, with voltmeter and schematic I was able to isolate a component (choke) that was damaged.  It had wire about 1/2 the diameter of a human hair - no kidding.  Once I exposed the break, I was able to splice it, and coat it with some insulating goop.

 

It works!  The running board antennae are another topic.  Reception totally depends on where I am, and what direction the car is facing.  I believe that when the car was built, AM stations were about 10X more powerful than today (look it up!).  Explains why my car had an aftermarket aerial mounted on the side of the body.  I decided to close that hole up, and go with the running boards.

 

Good luck.

Jeff

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

Thank you guys for the replies, they are appreciated. Robin I am taking your advice and not powering up the radio, I will leave it to someone with more knowledge. Jeff I have an NOS running board antenna still in the box and when I get to that part of the project I will get some advice from you. I will call Bob and see if his dad still does radios, if not I will try Alan.

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

I am getting my radio restored by Bob senior. He is retired but agreed to do it. The reason the dial does not turn according to Bob is that there is a little plastic gear that was made from soybeans back then and the gear disintegrates with age. They used to sell the gear made in modern plastic but they are no longer available. If anyone has an extra one they would sell please let me know. 

[jeff]

Too bad about the gears - that's the source I went to, and it worked out pretty well.  Not sure how else to do it - you may just have to live without the dial turning.  The knob and shaft will be turning the tuning capacitor directly, so it will still select stations.  But, you need the exact gear ratio to link the tuner shaft and the dial together, and have them in sync.

 

Jeff

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

I have another radio that the dial turns but I hate to cannibalize it.

[DonMicheletti]

Why not have the second radio with the working dial rebuilt?

[s_hilmoe]

I have not tried him yet but plan on taking mine to billtheradioguy.com in Washington. He also does modern conversions on old radios.

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

Why not have the second radio with the working dial rebuilt?

 

Don, the radio with the working dial has a broken glass and the dial face is not very good. The other radio has a beautiful dial face , original knobs, and supposedly a new 30 years ago electrostatic speaker, also its supposed to work.

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

I have not tried him yet but plan on taking mine to billtheradioguy.com in Washington. He also does modern conversions on old radios.

 

I THOUGHT ABOUT PUTTING A SIX VOLT VW RADIO IN MY CASE BUT IF POSSIBLE WOULD LIKE THE ORIGINAL ONE TO WORK FIRST.

[DonMicheletti]

I put a 12 volt AM / FM radio in my Roadmasters case. I used a modern radio with a 6 volt to 12 volt converter to power it. Everything is in the case and looks entirely original. I saved the original guts in a box if someone wants to go back.

 

It works fine even with the original running boards as a antennas as originally done.

 

Finding a modern radio that would fit and could be converted was a problem. I dont remember what I used

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

I used to have a Volkswagon with the stock six volt AM radio that was very small, I think it would fit inside the Buick case if I fiddled with it.

[MCHinson]

If you check out page 21 of this old Torque Tube issue, you will find a techincal article on installing a 6 volt VW radio into the original case of a 37 or 38 Buick radio.

 

http://www.1937and1938buicks.com/The-Torque-Tube/Volume%20VI%20Issue%201%20(September%201987).pdf

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

Thats an interesting project and a possibility. At the present I'm waiting to see what Bob senior says after he gets into my radio.

[Guest aandycoleman33]

Gears and knobs can be made on a 3-D printer

[Mark Shaw]

Just my opinion, but I think the radio delete panel in my 38 Special looks better than the radio. 

 

I use an MP3 player with AM/FM radio and a small 6VDC speaker/amp that all fits in the glove box.

[DonMicheletti]

Mark, your comment is similar to the "have sidemounts, not to have sidemount" opinions

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

I also think the radio delete panel looks better but I can't hear anything coming from them.

[Mark Shaw]

Well Don, at least I am consistent.... 

 

Obviously, I am not about being the guy with all the extra options.  This is especially true when the options just add extra weight & get in the way like side mounts.  Old radios are OK if they come with the car, but I wouldn't bother trying to find one that only plays AM with static when a MP3 player and small stereo amp that all fits in the glove box produces clear AM & FM radio along with all the digital music you could want.

 

And, I am not the only one who thinks the radio delete panel looks better.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Mark Shaw (see edit history)

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

Mark, I have a few modern cars with great radios with great speakers and xm etc, but I like the sound from the stock radio in the 38 because it makes it seem even more like an old car. Mine doesn't have static but its AM only and its limited at best. It reminds me of when I was just happy to have a radio that worked when I was a teen in the fifties and the cars I could somehow buy were not perfect. I like the dim dash lights, even the damn near worthless headlights. I like the old car smell and the transmission noise. I like the horn, I was so happy after it worked with a new 38 relay. I like the wipers that work great if its barely raining. I like having to be careful because the most modern thing about the brakes is they're hydraulic. None of this exists in cars that are modern like from the seventies on up. So for me the whole experience of driving the old car is enhanced with all its old time flaws. Thats why I hasseled finding,  and installing the old original radio and the running board antenna. I don't want anything modern on this car. I've had lots of hot rods that looked like old cars but had ALL the amenities of a new car, I liked em but for now this one seems more fun. 

Edited February 23, 2016 by LAS VEGAS DAVE (see edit history)

[Mark Shaw]

Dave,

     I couldn't agree more.  In fact, when my son wanted to replace the vacuum wiper motor in his 53 Chevy PU with an electric motor, I explained how the variable wiper action relative to acceleration was part of the experience. 

 

Except for my 38 Special, all my cars are pre-radio.  As I stated, "Old radios are OK if they come with the car, but I wouldn't bother trying to find one that only plays AM" particularly if you are an audiophile.

[DonMicheletti]

Dave & Dave,

There are so many comments on this site where folks work to "upgrade" their older cars, thus missing the experiences, good and bad, of owning and driving an older car.

 

I always tell folks who drive one of my old cars for the first time to remember that these will not be like your modern VW (or whatever). Dont compare it. Much of the fun of driving them is to put yourself in the  era of when the car was built and realize that at that time this was as good as it got for the average person.

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

I am glad to hear that there are others besides me that seem to agree that there is a special joy when driving the old cars just as they were with all their shortcomings. There are other people on the road even in new cars that somehow get the same kind joy from just seeing the old car and they will wave and smile at you or give you a thumbs up. Another thing about driving the old cars is it takes more skill, you have to pay attention and also listen to the motor and use a clutch and shift gears. You don't just sit there and steer, you become more in touch with the whole driving experience. No power steering, no power brakes, no power anything, your muscles actually get used in order to stop or turn. I for one am having lots of fun driving this old Buick and its nice to know that some other guys feel the same way.

[1967 - 1997 Riviera]

I am glad to hear that there are others besides me that seem to agree that there is a special joy when driving the old cars just as they were with all their shortcomings. There are other people on the road even in new cars that somehow get the same kind joy from just seeing the old car and they will wave and smile at you or give you a thumbs up. Another thing about driving the old cars is it takes more skill, you have to pay attention and also listen to the motor and use a clutch and shift gears. You don't just sit there and steer, you become more in touch with the whole driving experience. No power steering, no power brakes, no power anything, your muscles actually get used in order to stop or turn. I for one am having lots of fun driving this old Buick and its nice to know that some other guys feel the same way.

 

I'm with you!