VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 My 1942 Radio works in my 1941 Chevy Town Sedan

I've been restoring a 1941 Special Deluxe Town Sedan for 16 years. It had never had a radio....until now. I had come across a 1942 Radio on Ebay several years back that was listed as in working condition. I bought it for $30 and it's sat on a shelf since then. I would have rather installed a 1941 radio. However, they were all very expensive. Having seen several 1941 Chevy's with 42-48 radios in them, I decided that the 1942 radio would have to work in my 1941 Chevy. I finally installed it and was surprised to find that it really does work!

Check out this link of the video I recorded of the radio working:

That is pretty cool. I think I have a one in the attic of my garage. Came in a box of other stuff when i took delivery of my '37 MD from my "Uncle Bill's" family. I'll have to check it this weekend and see if it works. I recall him owning a '46 for awhile.

Oh Man, that sounds great...! I have the radio for my '47 ( 3 actually ) but I'm not to excited about re-installing it . It turns out, all but ONE station in my area is either news or religious . It's disappointing to say the least. Late at night you can pull some music from far off...But daytime music is limited to one "oldies" station...

Brandon,

The radio sounds great.

Kevin,

If one has the problem of not many good AM stations, there are vendors that will convert them to FM as well. Then you can have both modulations and can realize a greater variety of broadcast stations. I'm thinking about having that done to mine.

I think the problem with the 41 radios is that there may not be, as yet, good reproductions of the clear push buttons available. I have several 41 5-tube push button radios but the buttons are bad. The 5 band that I have in the 41 coupe doesn't get many stations and the OZ4 and vibrator need tapping to get their attention. They seem to be loose in their individual "sockets."

Whilst I'm driving around, I just leave the radio alone and listen to traffic, the sound of the car slipping through the air (for ripping through the wind, ride in a 38) and the valve tappets doing a good imitation of rain a-pelting a tin roof. I also contemplate things that puzzle me. Like: why doesn't everybody just love 41s and does the moon rotate? You know. That sort of stuff. I'm like a baby with molasses on its fingertips: It doesn't take much to entertain me. ( I gotta get that radio fixed.)

Charlie

I have one in my 52 and I love the hum when warming up and the crackle when a station is out of range.

There is a simple solution to get FM on an AM radio. For those who are old enough to remember there was a FM converter that mounted under the dash . You set the converter on a station in the 1300-1500 range on the dial and then tune the AM radio to a FM station. I have one in my '41. It works great. However those of you from NC,,TN, etc. may not have been exposed to the modern gadgets that we had here in the Ozarks. My converter is chrome plated so it would match much of the equipment of some '38's that I have seen pictures of. What do you think CHARLIE JIM

I have seen several FM converters, but they all operated differently. You set the RADIO on the FM converter frequency and dial the FM CONVERTER to the desired station.

Here is a product that may be of interest: Adapter

You are correct on the operation of the FM converter Ray. I noticed I was 180 degrees off after I sent the post. JIM