Question about '68 Monaco/Polara AM radio PN 2649965

[413]

I worked at Ford dealers in the 80's. In town 10 miles away was a large and aggressive Ford dealership. Ads on TV and radio all the time, full page newspaper ads, big holiday weekend sales for years. Very aggressive, the salesman would run to your car to get there before you got out. They wouldn't let you leave without buying a car, high pressure sales, and it worked they sold lots of cars.

They bought the cheapest model of vehicles so they could advertise the lowest price. You know the pickups with no rear bumper, cheapo silver wheels with no rings or caps, seats like a burlap sack, not body trim or stripes, no AC or radio, smallest engine with a 3 speed manual trans, and no overdrive automatics, etc.

So the customer needs a radio and AC so they push the up sell. These would all have the over the counter radios installed and they were not exactly like a factory radio, but close. They were a Hong Kong copy of a real Ford radio, were very cheaply made and sounded very bad.

These cars would come in to our shop for repairs, because their shop sucked, terrible service there.

When a radio had trouble we would remove and send across town to the Ford authorized radio repair shop. They could fix anything on these factory radios. That shop would not work on these junk look-alike radios. Nothing inside was the same, and no parts available.

 

[cbarge]

Ok.
68 factree Chryco CANADA parts Catalogue does list the 2649 965 for C body Dodge only.
The AMERICAN 1968 Accessories Parts Manager's Catalogue
Shows 2 different AM radios..
Model 253, # 2884 067
Deluxe Model 395, # 2884 068

 

[MoPar~Man]

Ok.
68 factree Chryco Canada parts Catalogue does list the 2649 965 for C body Dodge only.
The 1968 Accessories Parts Manager's Catalogue
Shows 2 different AM radios..
Model 253, # 2884 067
Deluxe Model 395, # 2884 068

Why aren't the P/N of factory installed radios listed in parts catalogs? Is it because unlike any number of other parts, you can't actually buy from a dealer the exact same radio that was installed on the assembly line?

 

[cbarge]

My 67 Chryco CANADA Parts catalogue shows different
part numbers for the radios altogether!
Basic model 241, # 2648 921
Deluxe Model 371, # 2820 634
SO....in theory the radios from factory are different compared to the units for the parts counter beans.

I do not have U.S. parts catalogues to compare if there are any differences.
Anybody feel free to chime in if they are the same or different.

Also even after 2 years of the AutoPact, Chrysler Canada (or Chryco Parts) still had to use Canadian suppliers.
An example of this is 1966 Canadian built Chrysler's used different radios compared to American built Chryslers.
Hope this helps

 

[cbarge]

Why aren't the P/N of factory installed radios listed in parts catalogs? Is it because unlike any number of other parts, you can't actually buy from a dealer the exact same radio that was installed on the assembly line?

Just like modern day parts counters, part numbers can be " superceded" or updated.
The AutoPact saw the flood of parts-- and cars crossing the border.
1968 saw more changes and more streamlining because of this.

 

[cbarge]

Just like modern day parts counters, part numbers can be " superceded" or updated.
The AutoPact saw the flood of parts-- and cars crossing the border.
1968 saw more changes and more streamlining because of this.

Fyi the code for AM radio in 1968 Canadian Dodge C body is 421
$84.20 in 1968 money!
Thats $ 721.69 in 2024 money!
Not cheap!

 

[CBODY67]

The "assembly plant installed" radios ARE/were available. They are the ones listed in the REGULAR parts book. They come in a box with just the radio in it as all of the "attaching hardware" is already in the car.

I ordered all of the parts for my 1970 Monaco to get a factory AM/FM MultiPlex (stereo) radio to replace the existing AM Radio and rear speaker. I went through the parts book and found all of the needed items. Radio, dual-gang rear fader for the rear speakers, Cletron box, two front speakers and two rear speakers. This was in about 1977. I had everything from Chrysler's Detroit Depot in ONE WEEK. Only thing that cancelled as "NS1" was the front-to-rear wiring harness, which I made myself. Considering that many Chrysler trim and year-specific radio items were usually considered "gone" after the production model year, I felt this was outstanding.

I know that the "differences" in the Canadian car/parts market items existed back into the earlier 1900s, in the days of McLaughlin-Buicks. Which extended into much later times, as mentioned above.

Enjoy!
CBODY67

 

[Samplingman]

The Signal Seeking radio in my '70 300 also has "local and distant" switches. I have no idea if that makes a difference now that it has the Aurora conversion.

View attachment 674014

That's the radio I have with the seek floor switch. I'm in the process of finishing up the dash, but one of the transformer coils is missing from the back, so it's "in-op". What is this Aurora conversion you speak of? I've been looking for a working original to the tune of $400 (pun intended), but perhaps better money spent on a conversion? For the record, I never listen to the radio in the car even on long trips, but would like to at least have something operational to get local weather and traffic reports.

 

[Big_John]

That's the radio I have with the seek floor switch. I'm in the process of finishing up the dash, but one of the transformer coils is missing from the back, so it's "in-op". What is this Aurora conversion you speak of? I've been looking for a working original to the tune of $400 (pun intended), but perhaps better money spent on a conversion? For the record, I never listen to the radio in the car even on long trips, but would like to at least have something operational to get local weather and traffic reports.

The Aurora conversion is pretty cool. Basically they gut the radio and put in new stuff. I've had it done with my 300 and my Barracuda. Aurora FMR Stereo Conversion

If it's $400 for a used one, doing the conversion is a no-brainer.