AM-FM

[jacmac]

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

[Big_Al]

http://www.originalcarradios.com/

[jacmac]

Thanks Al I appreciate the help!

[69 4 Speed]

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

[Ron C.]

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?

[Mark]

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.

[BILL69]

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.

[JohnZ]

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.

[big iron]

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.

[JohnZ]

<<Does that hold true for the rear fender mast as well?>>

Nope. The optional rear antenna was only available with the AM radio.

[jacmac]

So will an am antenna work with an am-fm radio??

[JohnZ]

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.

[jacmac]

Thanks John,what you know about these cars is very helpful ! Have a merry christmas

[tom]

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.

[BlackoutSteve]

'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