1969 Delco 8 track AM Radio

[dsndblm]

Hi,

Not sure if this is the best place for this post....

My 69 Chevelle SS Convertible came with the AM Radio, 8 Track Player combo. For some time now, the 8 track player worked, AM radio did not. The radio had no power. I removed the 8 track player, cleaned it well, used some De-Ox-It on the terminals and rotary contact switch that's located inside the 8 track player. Now, the AM radio works, 8 track player does not, no power to unit. I figured out that the rotary contact switch controls the function of the AM Radio, 8 track, speaker selection. Does anyone have a schematic or wiring diagram for these units?

I found a Sams Photofact book at a swap meet that shows details of 8 track components and circuit board. The Sams shows zero about wiring between the two units.

Thanks

[zeno]

I would never touch a car radio BUT IIRC Delcos used boards that
were printed on both sides. There were wiring kits to fix them.
Look at that first.

Story time ! My old man bought a '66 SS396. A real odd ball,
bench seat & column powerglide. Me & big brother took it to the
local passion pit to see Vanishing Point. When the flick ended everyone was inspired.
We left the place going sideways for half a mile. It was said
you could hear tires screaming 2 towns away when the movie ended.
My father sold it just when I turned 16 . He gave me life & probably
saved it.......

73 Zeno
LFOD !

[dsndblm]

I hear ya Zeno. I bought the car from the original owner 35 years ago, I was 21. The last thing he said to me when I drove away was, " don't blow it up." I was pretty careful with it for the most part. I knew it was something nice and I couldn't replace it if I cracked it up. The 66 was an oddball, but, cool. A friend of mine had a 67 Impala that was equipped like yours. It had all the factory performance parts, and a bench seat. It lasted about a month with a 17 year old kid behind the wheel.

My 8 track has a single sided board. I really need some literature to figure out whats going on. I'm a tube audio guy. I understand the tube circuits but know very little about 60s era solid state. I don't want to experiment and learn with the Delco

[Jon A.]

Could be an intermittent connection between the radio and 8-track that was jarred loose during the procedure. Sometimes more than a single DeOxit treatment is needed as well. For instance I happen to be using a modified car stereo with 8-track as my computer's sound system whose right channel often cuts out with the switch in the radio/tape position. Since I assumed the switch to be good when I got it I thought I had wired something incorrectly. The right channel kicked in when I bumped the switch, prompting a DeOxit treatment that made little difference. I haven't bothered to retry it yet.

[davet753]

I'd like to see a pic of the Chevelle sometime. Despite being a Ford man, I always thought the Chevelle was a great looking car, especially ones like yours. I had a '67 once, but it wasn't in the same class as an SS convertible . Mine was a 4 door, 6 cylinder, straight shift on the column, and the only options were a heater and AM radio. If Chevy had named their option packages in those days, mine would have been called the "Granny Package".

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by davet753

I'd like to see a pic of the Chevelle sometime. Despite being a Ford man, I always thought the Chevelle was a great looking car, especially ones like yours. I had a '67 once, but it wasn't in the same class as an SS convertible . Mine was a 4 door, 6 cylinder, straight shift on the column, and the only options were a heater and AM radio. If Chevy had named their option packages in those days, mine would have been called the "Granny Package".

One like that would would be more interesting to me. I mean, there are lots of hot-rodded 2-door Chevelles around these days. This makes me think of the '66 Impala 4-door hardtop used in Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, a total sleeper that must have had a ridiculous amount of reinforcing done.

I'm not sure what "straight shift" means, but I assume it was a 3-speed manual. Even though I have no desire to tear up the roads, I would be underwhelmed by one of those.

[Sandy G]

"Slip 'n' slide w/Powerglide. When my parents were 1st married they were in the Army, he was in the infantry & she worked in a testing lab. She had one of the 1st test batches of Silly Putty-the manufacturer sent it to the army thinking they MIGHT figger out how to use it, but I don't think they ever did. It was thought it might be useful as stopping bullets, but it would run out of any fabric they used, & the damn stuff would shatter like glass when shot. They kept a little glass of it in their medicine cabinet for years. They had a '51 Chevy w/Powerglide, daddy said it absolutely would not slide on wet/icy pavement at all Mama learned how to drive in it, She got busted for speeding thru the enlisted men's barracks area-she was going a blazing 19 MPH & the speed limit was 17 MPH. The JAG was a friend of my dad's & Henry told him to read her the riot act, which he did & Winifred thought she was gonna be shot... She was a little woman & kinda gullible & my dad wasn't above picking on her a bit.. Neither was I. I grew big early on, by the time I was 10, 11, I could pick her up, plant her on my hip & tromp thru the house-and she'd be squalling blue bloody murder all the while. I'd look down at her, grin & go "Aww, Winnifred, HUSH !" That would set her off even further. She's been gone 10 years now, what I wouldn't give to pick her up & have her back for just 5 minutes now....

[davet753]

Yes, a three speed manual transmission with column shift. While a little slow on the 1-2 shift, I think they made the little 6 cylinder engine seem more powerful than it really was. I have driven some of the powerglide models, and they seemed to drag down the little 6.
As the old saying went "Slip and Slide With Power Glide"

[davet753]

LOL, Sandy beat me to it

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

She's been gone 10 years now, what I wouldn't give to pick her up & have her back for just 5 minutes now....

While I don't know that kind of longing I have enough sense to try not to take my own mom for granted. It keeps any irritation at a minimum i.e. sitting through Corner Gas reruns almost every night. On Christmas day I thought it a good idea to re-create a photo of us from Christmas 1991 I believe.

Originally Posted by davet753

Yes, a three speed manual transmission with column shift. While a little slow on the 1-2 shift, I think they made the little 6 cylinder engine seem more powerful than it really was. I have driven some of the powerglide models, and they seemed to drag down the little 6.
As the old saying went "Slip and Slide With Power Glide"

Sounds like the 3-speed manual had "granny low" which would certainly fit the description of the car. Seems to me the Powerglide lacks what we would think of as low gear altogether; my understanding of the straight sixes is that their overlapping power impulses make for less shifting needed to stay within one's powerband.

[davet753]

Originally Posted by Jon A.

Sounds like the 3-speed manual had "granny low" which would certainly fit the description of the car. Seems to me the Powerglide lacks what we would think of as low gear altogether; my understanding of the straight sixes is that their overlapping power impulses make for less shifting needed to stay within one's powerband.

1st gear was fairly low in my '67, and if I was heading downhill from a dead stop I'd start out in 2nd gear. I had a '50 Chevy for years, and it was geared even lower. 10MPH in first and the engine was wound up tight, and I could start out in 2nd gear on level ground with ease. It was a great car, but because of the way it was geared it was slow as molasses.

[Sandy G]

A buddy had a '69 Camaro w/a powerglide, & he said it would wind & wind until it hit around 55 & go BANG ! & go into high...It must have been turning umpteen thousand RPM... But maybe they were so loosey-goosey that's why they didn't blow up...