Radio Upgrades - LED

[John Hertog <crossram@xxxx>]

Hi,

For some strange reason, Antique Automobile Radio started with the LED's at
some point. They had converted a number of radios for me with no LED's in
the past. Then all of a sudden one shows up with the LED. very small, I'll
grant you, and I didn't even see it until the radio was installed and turned
on. It really freaked me out, as it looked totally out of place when the
radio was on. Also, performed no discernible function.

I was able to take the radio out, remove its face plate and switch it with
another, burying the LED inside the radio. From this point on, I always
specify "no LED ! " when sending them a radio. It detracts from the overall
appearance and beautiful soft lighting of the 60 thru 62 dashes. I don't
want them to drill a hole in the faceplate !

These radios are converted using Kenwood guts, I do believe, according to
Mike @ Antique Auto Radio. They really do a beautiful job and the sound is
awesome if hooked up to good speakers.

There is one "caveat" - these radios do not like low voltage, at all, at
all. A good electrical system is necessary, or strange popping noises will
occur. This was a big factor in using one such radio on the 300L, which had
a notoriously bad electrical system design. At night, at idle, the lights
would dim quite a bit, and voltage would drop to about 8.5 volts at the
fuse block ! with the a/c running, forget it ! Submitted to such low
voltage, the radio would make "popping" sounds out of the speakers everytime
any electrical accessory was used - stepping on the brakes = "pop" ; using
turn signal = pop-pop-pop in time with the turn signals. This drove my
friend Bob crazy in his '66, to the point that he redesigned the electrical
system completely, using a more modern alternator.

1965 and 1966 Chryslers seem to be more prone to this problem than other
years. I never experienced this problem in a 300F or 300G . All this to say,
if you are considering such a conversion, better check the voltage available
at idle, with lights on, at least !

No, Paul, I have never asked for the old guts to the radio back. Don't
know what I'd want them back for.

It is a real pleasure to be driving down the road and hit the "seek"
floor-button with the foot, and watch the stations change and the pointer
move up and down the dial. And be able to listen to FM music..

John