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I'm adamant about not messing with my new truck too much, however there doesn't seem to be a way to add a modern repro radio to the first gen F1s. The 6v to 12v converters max out at 5 amps, and all the cheap chinese ones aren't fully isolated so they won't work. Has anyone figured this out?
A 6 volt positive ground radio is the only radio that will work. If your truck was converted to 6 volt negative ground a unit will be easier to find. You will need to ask around and research any options. Several rebuild radio company’s are aged. And have retired or went out of business during and after Covid. Their might be a guy in Carlyle Pennsylvania. This was years ago. He was a younger guy and I bought a Classic tuner AM radio from him. The price, hope you got deep pockets! They are not cheap. In Radios many are Chinese, stay away from those. Most company’s will not touch them to repair.AJ
Just be careful to keep the aluminum case isolated from the grounded frame and depending upon the radio, it to may need to be isolated from the grounded frame. This overcomes any grounding issues AJ has brought up.
I run my phone to play a music app, I use Pandora, and use Bluetooth to connect to a portable speaker that runs off USB. I have a dual port power port under my dash. I power both my phone and the speaker off of the power port. I know there are actual USB ports you can hook up but I wanted a somewhat vintage look but you could hide everything under dash. The only thing both devices need is 5VDC. I switch polarity when I mounted the port, look at may drawing.
As a young kid in late 70s I wanted a radio for my 54. I shopped around and asked experts how I could a radio in my 6 volt positive ground truck. Guys said I could get a converter put in a 12 volt radio but the positive ground would be hard to get around.
I would highly recommend this. It's an Aurora digital conversion done by Richard Blankenship, R&B Vintage Radio. This is my 6v radio thats installed in my 52.
Years ago, I bought a radio at Hershey or Carlisle. My truck was always wired up 6 volt negative ground since I bought it in 1978. It’s only am radio, but that’s all I listened to anyway. I didn’t reinstall it when I finished the truck in 2003, because it’s too loud now. I mounted it between the steering column and the firewall. The volume and tuning ***** were mounted separately and connected to the radio with speedometer like cables. I also welded the antenna hole shut and I couldn’t bring myself to make a new hole.
I have the same aftermarket Motorola radio in my 46 Deluxe. Ralph the Radio Guy brought it back to life and converted it to AM/FM while keeping it 6 volt. https://www.car-radio-conversions.com/
Using a step up device like the example I posted earlier isn't really difficult hurdle technically speaking, but I guess to some electronics are a mystery. The real hurdle with these radios is for those who stay strictly stock...
I have the same aftermarket Motorola radio in my 46 Deluxe. Ralph the Radio Guy brought it back to life and converted it to AM/FM while keeping it 6 volt. https://www.car-radio-conversions.com/
That’s pretty neat. I forget if I paid the $20.00 for it or offered him $15.00. It always worked for me.
Thank you for all the replies! I went ahead and emailed Richard to see what condition the radio has to be in for them to convert it over. I'll have to start looking for a 48-50 radio now.
Another question about radios though, I assume there's no wiring for one already in the truck and I'll need to do this from scratch correct? Other threads mentioned the brackets in the dash for mounting are missing, I'll crawl under there tonight and see what it looks like back there.
I think they stopped installing the behind the dash radio bracket sometime in the '50 model year. Probably just another cost saving measure like the other changes Ford did in the mid '50 model year. I think I have a drawing of the brackets on one of my computers.
There is discussion around the bracket here. The shop manual dies not discuss mounting bracket changes between 50 and 51, but does mention some other 51 specific stud arrangements.
Just a thought on the positive/negative ground stuff. I bought a’55 Fairlane club sedan in 1984. The battery cables were hooked up 6 volt negative ground. The radio worked. I found out it should be 6 volt positive ground. My wife’s uncle Fry worked at the Ford garage in Ephrata. He said just reverse the cables at the battery and repolarize the generator. The radio still worked and still does. I don’t know if the factory Ford radio makes a difference on grounding?
My factory radio install/repair journey
