radio delete question
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Intermediate
Joined: May 2010
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radio delete question
My 66 coupe that has no radio and a dash assembly that has never been removed from the car has an antenna hole that has been patched over in the original quarter panel. It is my understanding that in 1966 corvettes were built without radios unless the customer ordered a radio. Is it possible the factory mistakenly drilled the quarter panel and subsequently patched it. There is no evidence that the car ever had a radio or speaker installed.
Team Owner
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From: Sitting in his Nowhere land Hanover Pa
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I think the supplier of the panel made the panel with the hole. And the line workers had to fill it in when no radio was ordered
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2002
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From: Taylor Michigan
radios had to be ordered as an option, they were not standard equipment until the late C-3`s {ie} 1978 0r near that year....I didn`t order one with my 63 coupe and if I remember correctly there was not any ignition shielding either when a radio was not ordered.....this point may be wrong however
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: ct
I have a 66 no radio coupe. There should be no hole in the rear top panel. The hole was not in the panel when installed. Also as stated above there is no ing. shields or ground straps all over the car. Under the dash there should be no capacitors.
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Intermediate
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I did not mention that the car has no ignition shielding, ground straps or capacitors under the dash. I guess it is possible the hole was mistakenly cut at the factory and subsequently repaired. I find it odd that a car with an original no radio dash panel that has never been out of the car would have a antenna hole patch in the quarter panel. I will have to assume that factory workers made mistakes when building over 100 cars a day.
Melting Slicks
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I guess it could have been a factory mistake. I don’t know what the acceptable factory repair procedure was for an erroneously drilled antenna hole? Maybe someone like JohnZ can chime in?
One other thing you might check is the location of the patched antenna hole. Is it in the location shown in the AIM, UPC U69, sheet B1? I have traced a dealer-installed antenna in a ‘67, which was intentionally miss-located. It was ordered as a non-radio car and then the original owner had the dealer install a stock radio when it was delivered. The dealer drilled the antenna hole just forward of the rear bulkhead for ease of installation. Looking at the car, it’s not noticeable unless you compare it along side another car or know where it should be located in relation to the gas door.
If the patched hole is in the correct location, it would support a factory mistake.
One other thing you might check is the location of the patched antenna hole. Is it in the location shown in the AIM, UPC U69, sheet B1? I have traced a dealer-installed antenna in a ‘67, which was intentionally miss-located. It was ordered as a non-radio car and then the original owner had the dealer install a stock radio when it was delivered. The dealer drilled the antenna hole just forward of the rear bulkhead for ease of installation. Looking at the car, it’s not noticeable unless you compare it along side another car or know where it should be located in relation to the gas door.
If the patched hole is in the correct location, it would support a factory mistake.
Safety Car
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From: Horsham Pa
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How do you know the dash was never out of the car? I replaced my radio delete dash in my 66 30 years ago, and now it looks like it was never out, all the correct rivits and bonding material on the bottom, lots of things changed in these cars in 46 years. Someone cut a radio in my dash in 68 and it was cut in to high so the old dash was no good. they put the antenna under the wheel well in the back so I had no hole in deck and no power antenna bracket or switch or hole for the switch in the radio side panel. If the repair on the deck was done with fiberglass then I would bet some one else did it, repairs at GM were done with black bonding material.
Last edited by 65 Pro Vette; Aug 2, 2012 at 09:59 PM.
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radios had to be ordered as an option, they were not standard equipment until the late C-3`s {ie} 1978 0r near that year....I didn`t order one with my 63 coupe and if I remember correctly there was not any ignition shielding either when a radio was not ordered.....this point may be wrong however
Nowadays with most people listening to FM or satellite radio, it's apparently not a big problem, you never hear of enforcement against old Corvettes with naked ignitions.
BTW, loved building models of the "Puffers" before I got a driver license.
Last edited by sub006; Aug 3, 2012 at 08:35 AM.
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Race Director
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From: Central Arkansas
My 66 was originally a no-radio car but someone put one in years ago and installed the antenna in an incorrect location. I glassed that hole in and installed it in the correct location per the assembly manual. I didn't see any sign of a previous hole in the rear panel that had been patched.
Team Owner
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From: Washington Michigan
There was no federal/FCC requirement to have ignition shielding on a no-radio car; if a car wasn't ordered with a radio, it didn't get ignition shielding. I was there in '67 and '68, and never saw a "patched" excess antenna hole in a rear deck. 
Le Mans Master
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From: Southeast Missouri
Safety Car
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From: Fountain Hills AZ
Considering the age of the car, I wouldn't be surprised if it were originally a no radio car that had a radio installed later. As values increased, someone converted it back to it's original configuration.
Racer
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: dallas texas
Back in '66 my car (Fairlane GT) had the AM radio with the "reverb". FM stereo was fairly new and a reverberator gave you the "concert hall" sound for a lot less money than FM stereo. Does anyone still sell reverbs?