Radio refurbish options nowadays?

[kawahonda]

Now with Wards gone, I'm curious on who else does great work?

Wards to me has always been very expensive. I'm sure you get your money worth, but it's hard to sign up to pay $200+ for a basic AM radio restore.

I have a Music Master AM radio. It works. The "tone" wheel is the only thing that doesn't seem to work. It actually doesn't look half-bad at all. I suppose the "silver" or "white" triming could be repainted, but that's easy to do. Chrome tuner buttons are top notch.

I've bounced around many ideas of getting that $600 AM/FM/Bluetooth aftermarket one. The problem is that it doesn't look correct for a 1970 model. Plus, it requires some sort of speaker upgrade from my mono speaker right away.

I've since then been able to find a 60s-70s rock station on my AM radio. It's static some of the times, not consistent, but it's there, and I've been cruising happily to it since. I've been thinking about how nice would it be to have it consistent, at 100% volume, the whole time!

I'm now back to considering options, and wondering who now is the recommended place for the bang for the buck.

Considering:

1) Just a basic AM refurbish with all the modern AM upgrades. Basically, make the AM radio pick up as good as any other AM radio these days without the interference stuff.

2) Doing the above, but how about having it pick up Bluetooth. That would be cool.

Since i found that "rock" station that's playing over AM, I haven't really thought I needed FM since then. I figured AM plus being able to connect to my phone is probably plenty. If anything, just having a REALLY modern robust AM player will probably make me happy....if it's at the right price.

Other's experience? Honestly, I don't mind the mono speaker!

[Joegrapes]

I just had the same problem. My car originally came with an AM 8 track that was long gone before I got the car. Years ago I found an AM radio in a junk yard car that worked. Well it finally stopped working. I really wanted a modern radio but didn't want the modern look. I also didn't want to pay over $500 for a Custom Auto Sound repro so I ended up getting one from them that was less than half the price but still had the same basic look of an old Mopar radio. I took the faceplate off the original radio, cut the opening bigger to fit and mounted it on the new radio. It works and looks great and is half the size and weight.

[Joegrapes]

Another pic

[Joegrapes]

A top view

[ply64post]

Now with Wards gone, I'm curious on who else does great work?

Wards to me has always been very expensive. I'm sure you get your money worth, but it's hard to sign up to pay $200+ for a basic AM radio restore.

I have a Music Master AM radio. It works. The "tone" wheel is the only thing that doesn't seem to work. It actually doesn't look half-bad at all. I suppose the "silver" or "white" triming could be repainted, but that's easy to do. Chrome tuner buttons are top notch.

I've bounced around many ideas of getting that $600 AM/FM/Bluetooth aftermarket one. The problem is that it doesn't look correct for a 1970 model. Plus, it requires some sort of speaker upgrade from my mono speaker right away.

I've since then been able to find a 60s-70s rock station on my AM radio. It's static some of the times, not consistent, but it's there, and I've been cruising happily to it since. I've been thinking about how nice would it be to have it consistent, at 100% volume, the whole time!

I'm now back to considering options, and wondering who now is the recommended place for the bang for the buck.

Considering:

1) Just a basic AM refurbish with all the modern AM upgrades. Basically, make the AM radio pick up as good as any other AM radio these days without the interference stuff.

2) Doing the above, but how about having it pick up Bluetooth. That would be cool.

Since i found that "rock" station that's playing over AM, I haven't really thought I needed FM since then. I figured AM plus being able to connect to my phone is probably plenty. If anything, just having a REALLY modern robust AM player will probably make me happy....if it's at the right price.

Other's experience? Honestly, I don't mind the mono speaker!

Here is a radio resto, upgrade that my relation and friends use with satisfaction.

https://retroradio.biz/

                                          Jeff