rkundrata Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Looking for some info on what kind of replacement antenna trimmer I can use on my 1949 Buick Sonomatic Radio. The original one got stripped when tightening it. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph P. Indusi Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 Try a slightly larger screw from your parts box. Another option would be to find a similar one from a “parts radio”. There may be one available from a web based outfit selling antique radio and electronics parts. I don’t recall ever seeing one of these trimmer capacitors on anything other than a car radio. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph P. Indusi Posted April 26, 2019 Share Posted April 26, 2019 allelectronics.com sells 4 different trimmer capacitors that may work for your Buick radio. You may have to do some soldering and mounting changes to get one of these to fit. If you have a schematic or can measure the capacity of the one you have when the plates are as close as possible then one of these may be a close match. Joe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank DuVal Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Hmm, your first posting of this question seems to have disappeared.By trimmer are you talking about the variable capacitor inside the radio? That should never be tightened, just adjusted for best reception like at 1400 KC. Or are you talking some trim/bezel/garnish that uses scres to hold it on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Most car radios up into the sixties had an antenna trimmer, usually very close to the aerial jack. Depending where you lived you "tuned" your aerial to the best reception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkundrata Posted April 27, 2019 Author Share Posted April 27, 2019 Thank you for the link, I'll check out that website in a moment. And yes, it's a variable capacitor, it had 3 wires attached to it all going to separate metal plates separated by thin ceramic sheets. I had the radio set at AM 1440 and the quality was phenomenal considering I haven't replaced anything inside, not even the speaker so it was all original; there was a little bit of static so I attempted to trim the radio and in doing so stripped the brass piece that the screw sat in and then the plastic housing for capacitor broke into pieces when taking it off the radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph P. Indusi Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 At this point it would be best to obtain a schematic of the radio. You will likely need two trimmer capacitors to replace your original 3 wire trimmer. There are various sources for schematics including free downloads and some Howard Sams service folders on eBay. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank DuVal Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 Do you have a model or part number for the radio? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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