When you reinstalled the radio do you remember how you did? it I can't seem to figure out how to get the face plate back on with that gear and the brass washers. And apparently the radio that I have is different from the 66 because it looks like there's a shaft that goes in on the 66 radios versus just the **** that goes on top of the face plate with the 63

 

I never took my radio out. Everything else is basically on a seperate circuit from the factory system.

 

At some point I will do the same. Just have to get this one back in and working. Has anybody pulled their radio and put it back in?

 

Yes, I have many times. One of the tricks to these radios is to pull the right shaft out with the faceplate. Then when you have the faceplate off carefully remove the E-clip on the front of the shaft so it doesn't go flying off somewhere and slide the whole shaft assembly out the back.

If you try to remove the outer E-clip first before pulling the faceplate two things can happen.

1. The teeth on the little metal gear on the shaft can dig into a spot in the teeth on the bigger plastic gear on the backside of the faceplate and cause a "skip" in a few spots across the dial and may eventually fail completely as a result of the missing tooth or teeth. The plastic gears are not reproduced as far as I know.

2. If you then take off the second E-clip the washer stack can fall off before you see how it went together leaving a person wondering what order they went in.

Hopefully you just took it apart after the fact or got lucky and didn't nick the larger plastic gear.

From what I can tell they should go in this order

Gear
Two wave washers stacked together
Flat washer
One wave washer
Another flat washer
E-clip

Remember, you have to get that first E-clip into the slot closest to the gear. The slot further up the shaft is the one for the E-clip on the front side of the faceplate. You have to compress the washer stack to get the E-clip back on again. Needless to say, it's a Peach!!! I can give you some tips that make it easier if you need any.

Here's a pic of two of the little charmers now.



.

 

Oh, and the reason they made it like this is so when the pointer reaches either extreme end of the dial movement the metal gear can actually spin on the shaft - again so you don't damage the plastic gear it makes contact with on the backside of the faceplate.

Let me know if you need any tips getting it back together -I have a 'slick' method that always works.

.

 

Amazing! Thank you so much that's precisely what I needed!!!

 

Awesome.

I remember the issue now - if you pull off the faceplate without taking the right hand shaft with it then the large plastic gear has to drag across that stack of washers and that's what tears up the teeth.

Needless to say, in a battle of metal versus plastic - metal seems to often come out the winner.

Sorry, just rambling.

.

 

TA, ramblings are good, after the fact comments, have a ton of value

 

I was able to get the faceplate off without breaking any of the gears. My new dilemma is how do I get the shaft out? And yes I would like any help you're willing to give as far as reassembly. Thank you

 

The shaft just pushes straight in and pulls straight out. After 50+ years they can get a bit corroded in there. I use a firm pull with a pair of pliers. Try not to slip so the shaft doesn't get messed/scared up.

OK, this might not sound intuitive but I'll try to describe.

Once you put on the stack of washers add another flat washer or two or three depending on thickness and then put on the outer E-clip. Now take the inner E-clip and push it into the stack between the top flat washer of the stack and the washer(s) you added. The outer E-clip and extra washers will allow you to force the inner E-clip in and it will press down the stack of washers below it - flattening the wave washers enough to allow the clip to engage the slot in the shaft. Takes a little practice but once you do it a couple of times it's easy.

Then just remove the outer E-clip and extra washers and it's ready to re-install into the faceplate.

Hopefully that helps. There's also a similar way to use the faceplate itself but you have to pull out the inner gear plate that the tuner cord winds around, which opens up another potential can of worms so I won't go there right now.

.

 

Gents, I couldn't have done it without you!!! Sounds like a crappy 50 year old am radio but still works and looks wicked cool!! Again many thanks