1950 merc radio

bssmnbll

bssmnbll

Member
Has anyone ever taken the radio out of the dash on a mid-century merc?? or does anyone know of a firm that converts the "face" of the radio to a modern radio?? Having owned the 50 Merc Monterey (2000 made in 50) since 1989, with everything working, even the clock, my radio has quit so it must be fixed, and the only way I see to get at it is to take the complete dash off. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Remove speaker and disconnect/unplug all wires to the radio.
Pull off left and right control knobs.
Remove nuts and any washers from the control shafts.
Loosen the two nuts on the left and right support brackets.
The radio can now be pushed forward and tilted down to slide out from behind the dash.
You may or may not have to remove the heater fiberboard duct.
CAUTION! It is heavy.
I have had mine converted to AM/FM stereo and it looks original.
See here.-----
http://www.turnswitch.com/
 
I don't know how many times my Pop pulled the radio out of his 51 using the above method but it was a few times anyway. There should be thumb screws on the right & left of the speaker to remove it. Most towns had a radio/TV repair shop back in the day that could test and replace the tubes or ******** when they went south. Not so much now days. The capacitors go bad too so a person really should have all of them replaced. The Turnswitch outfit also has replacement speakers that will fit the Mercs. I would do that for a driver car rather than the expense of reconing an old one if it needs speaker work.
 
If the 50 Merc radio is anything like the 53' Merc radio, all of the tubes can be removed while the radio is in the car. since the tubes all installed upside down from the bottom. All you need to do is remove the black bracket and pull the tubes out/down. Remember where they go! Then look up you local short wave radio repair shop. They will have the tubes and a tube checker, and quite possibly a ********. If they do to have the ******** they are easy to get on line (they are solid state now so they don't hum).
 

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I am a new member here, and want to thank you fellows for your replys and advice. I'm going after that radio again as soon as I get time and will send it to the firm recommended, and was happy to see that they can keep it 6 volt.
While on this Merc subject, have any of you used the Drake water pumps, as I am going to need some??
 
bssmnbll said:
I am a new member here, and want to thank you fellows for your replys and advice. I'm going after that radio again as soon as I get time and will send it to the firm recommended, and was happy to see that they can keep it 6 volt.
While on this Merc subject, have any of you used the Drake water pumps, as I am going to need some??
Click to expand...
I don,t believe Drake has Mercury water pumps.
Some vendors offer rebuilt ones.
 
before removing the radio check the fuse. next turn radio on do you hear a buzzing? if no changes are the viberator is bad. you can remove the radio cover & change the viberator with out removing thr radio. also check the power tube i think the number is oz4 not sure. the cover has the dag. on it. if you do these things & it still dont work nothing lost any one who rebuilds these radios replaces these parts when the repair the radio.
 
You can get the guts of your radio converted to a modern AM/FM. They replace the guts with one small circuit board. I've had this done twice on a 36 Ford and 63 Corvette. Radio works fine but tuning and buttons don't work very good. OK if you only listen to one station like I do. On my 49 I bought a reproduction radio after my previous experience with the conversions. It looks very close to the original, works much better and is much smaller than the original. On my 41 currently being restored I am using the original radio face as a dummy and I removed the original radio box and contents. Went this route as electric wipers aren't compatible with original radio and I don't like the looks of a radio block off plate. I will be installing a hidden modern radio operated by remote control instead. You can get your original fixed or buy a restored one on ebay. Don't know about Mercurys but perhaps a Ford radio would fit?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEAUTIFUL-R...ash=item4af8c30205:g:hmQAAOSwFqJWtluq&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1949-1950-F...ash=item3ab3d429a6:g:ebwAAOSwl9BWHpCo&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Secret-Audi...m1c28dcfec9:m:m6TjjpQFvUl7UxF_2ZC6s0Q&vxp=mtr
 
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