Radio identification from Model numbers

[Guest]

Is there any way to id Buick radio's from the model number on the radio? When I look in my Buick parts book the number does not match the model number. The radio I am trying to ID is a AM/FM from a mid 6o's big car. I was told it was a 66 skylark but it is a two piece unit and I think small cars/skylarks were one piece units. This unit has 67 written on it. The Model number on the Delco tag is 7298944. All the part numbers in the old Buick parts book start with 981 for these years and are 6 numbers long. None match the model numbers. Thanks.

[Guest]

Dunno how much help this is, but the radio is covered in issue AR-45 of Sam's Photofact (http://photofact.com/photofact/pf_search.asp). If you find a copy of this at your local library, it will give you an idea of what car it came from (e.g. 67 Buick). For some reason, they don't provide that info on their web site, although it is in the published index. You may also be able to call Sam's and get the info from them (800.428.SAMS).<P>I do know that the AM/FM stereo from a 66 Riviera is a two-piece unit. The second piece is the amp for the second channel. I have no idea if that radio was available in the Skylark.

[palbuick]

The Buick Skylarks did not have a Stero unit until 1972. The first Buick stero radio was 1966, and it had the two parts as you described. this type radio was used in 67 & 68 also, going in 1969 with the acessorie unit assembled on the top of radio. And in 1970 was all in one unit. The serial number can be decoded, but i don't have the formula at this time, you will have to get a delco radio manual.<P>Jim Schilf / palbuick

[BUICK RACER]

7298944 is a '67 Buick AM/FM Stereo, which would be for only the Big Buicks per my handy dandy index of Delco radios.

[Guest]

Thank you for confirming the radio, I thought it was a 67 big car. I did not know that there was a Delco book to decode the Model numbers. Is it for all GM or just Buick? Where could one find a book like the one you have? Again thanks for the help.

[NTX5467]

In the earlier times, you could generally tell what the radio was from the face plate, but the numbers on the tag did not typically exist anywhere else than in a Delco Radio manual. Other than the engineering number, the application number was in "code".<P>I remember seeing them at an older Delco radio service shop. It was like a "buyer's guide" of sorts that listed the radio and application for each number, just as it had the parts list for each radio also. It was in that book that I first discovered that Delco built the search tuners for Chryslers too.<P>The "two piece" radios were usually called "multiplex" instead of "stereo" back then. There's supposed to be a circuitry difference and the sound seemed better to me, but it's still two different channels instead of one. Rear speakers were sometimes run from an add-on fader that plugged into the front of the radio on the tuner shaft. The later one piece stereos in the '70s had all of the 4 speaker outputs in the regular place on the back or side of the radio and could easily use "one wire" speakers (the speaker itself was the 2nd wire that grounded the circuit) for the rear speakers. That's why the main radio chassis must be effectively grounded to the car body too.<P>In some cases, there were radio sections in the older ('60s and prior) car line parts books. From the days when the dealers could order electrical parts themselves to repair customer radios without having to send them out. Having some of these little known reference manuals can be priceless in some cases.<P>NTX5467