CRG Discussion Forum

Camaro Research Group Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: jacmac on December 11, 2009, 12:20:10 AM

Title: AM-FM
Post by: jacmac on December 11, 2009, 12:20:10 AM
I would like to add an original am-fm radio to my 69 Z10. The car originaly came with an am radio,but I want to hear music not talk radio.I dont want to convert my am to am-fm.How much are they,where can I get one? I installed 2 speakers on the rear shelf,& would like to use those & not use the center dash speaker.I assume I can use my original antenna? Any help is appreciated!! Thanks
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: Big_Al on December 11, 2009, 04:25:32 PM
http://www.originalcarradios.com/
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: jacmac on December 12, 2009, 11:44:08 PM
Thanks Al I appreciate the help!
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: 69 4 Speed on December 14, 2009, 03:52:46 AM
I think that you'd enjoy the radio more if you got one of the reproduction speakers that replace the original dash speaker.  The new repo have two 4" speakers in place of the one original.  Thes are much better quality with bigger magnet structures than the original.  You'll have the front to rear fade without cutting up your kick panels to put speakers in them. 

I also used a 30" stainless antenna from one of the local auto stores for an antenna.   The 30"antenna are specifically designed for FM reception.   I have a 25 year old Pioneer super tuner radio with about 60 watts of power. It was the top of the linein its day. Even with the old school analog radio, it still kicks butt.     Good luck,   Jim
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: Ron C. on December 14, 2009, 03:43:22 PM
not wanting to hijack a thred,but did the fm radio option require a differnt antenna than what was used for the standard am radio? anyone have a pic of a front am/fm antenna?
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: Mark on December 14, 2009, 05:05:33 PM
Yes, the AM/FM radios used the fixed lenth antenna that looks like a peice of 1/8" brake line.  The AM radios used the 3 peice oval shaped telescoping antenna.
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: BILL69 on December 14, 2009, 05:28:16 PM
I got an original radio from a yard sale,  it was from a Nova,   but basically the same radio.  It worked great,  I only had to replace the clear plastic faceplate which is available aftermarket.   This radio isn't a stereo,  it only utilized 1 speaker.   The original speaker in the dash I had reconed by The Speaker Shop in Lima, Ohio.   I am very pleased with the factory appearence and operation.
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: JohnZ on December 15, 2009, 04:19:45 PM
not wanting to hijack a thred,but did the fm radio option require a differnt antenna than what was used for the standard am radio? anyone have a pic of a front am/fm antenna?

Only the screw-on mast was different - the same base was used for both applications.
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: big iron on December 16, 2009, 04:43:34 AM
Does that hold true for the rear fender mast as well?
not wanting to hijack a thred,but did the fm radio option require a differnt antenna than what was used for the standard am radio? anyone have a pic of a front am/fm antenna?

Only the screw-on mast was different - the same base was used for both applications.
not wanting to hijack a thred,but did the fm radio option require a differnt antenna than what was used for the standard am radio? anyone have a pic of a front am/fm antenna?

Only the screw-on mast was different - the same base was used for both applications.
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: JohnZ on December 16, 2009, 03:24:06 PM
<<Does that hold true for the rear fender mast as well?>>

Nope. The optional rear antenna was only available with the AM radio.
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: jacmac on December 22, 2009, 11:07:19 PM
So will an am antenna work with an am-fm radio??
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: JohnZ on December 23, 2009, 02:39:16 PM
So will an am antenna work with an am-fm radio??

Yes, but not as well on FM as it will with the correct AM-FM mast.
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: jacmac on December 23, 2009, 10:52:58 PM
Thanks John,what you know about these cars is very helpful ! Have a merry christmas
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: tom on December 23, 2009, 11:14:29 PM
If I remember correctly back in the day, when we added am/fm radios, it was recommended to adjust the antenna to 31 inches for best FM reception. Could be bogus, and my memory may be off an inch or two. Just a recollection.
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: BlackoutSteve on December 24, 2009, 01:47:29 AM
'I only just now returned from my local parts guy with an AC Delco AM/FM antenna (AC Delco 1#00370147 or Classic Ind's #G7536) and it's 31.5" overall length. There is about 1" of mast below the nut, so there may some truth to what you remember. ;)

Also, I think I remember on a documentary that I saw that (for AM radio?) the antenna should be about 1/4 the length of the frequency you're trying to pick up -or something close to that. Metric.. Imperia.. l don't know, but there is a rule of thumb to the correct mast height.
The documentary was about the two Italian Judica-Cordiglia brothers who intercepted the Russian space transmittions in the 1960's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judica-Cordiglia_brothers
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: tom on December 24, 2009, 02:08:21 AM
From what I remember the length was calculated based on the fm band wave length.
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: BlackoutSteve on December 24, 2009, 10:10:09 AM
Yeah, fm..

http://www.crompton.com/wa3dsp/hamradio/antcalc.html

Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: lakeholme on December 24, 2009, 02:16:08 PM
FYI, the rear antenna works fine with a new repo. AM-FM.  I've got one in my 68 right now.  No problems.
As John says, however, the rear antenna is limited, and even the original AM radio has limited range and a fair share of static here in the NC mountains.
Title: Re: AM-FM
Post by: Pex68 on December 30, 2009, 05:31:53 PM
Another thing to remember is the rating of the speakers.  Stock speakers are 10 Ohm and all aftermarket are 4.  If you run the 4 Ohm with a stock radio you will be pulling over twice the current through the radio and run the risk of burning things up.

Any yes, best antenna reception for any frequency is a ¼, ½, or full match to its wavelength with the full match obviously getting the best reception.