wonderbar install (58)

[Brad H.]

Putting in the radio, what is the procedure as far as what pieces come off the radio before it goes in the hole, radio has the entire face on it, buttons, scan bar with the two nuts holding the plate on, do those nuts come off as well as the chrome piece then insert then put the chrome back on then the nuts, or does it go in the hole as is then the repro kit go on over that, what order then, nut which holds the radio to dash against other nut then selector piece, spacer, felt washer then knob, is their their a spacer on the right side as well with 2 ears like the left side or what? thanks Brad. Also the speaker wires to radio green to green then power to other little green wire must plug into transformer? Again thank you Brad.

[Jack H.]

Re: wonderbar install (58)

Check your copy of the '58 AIM book, in the back, option RPO 102. I think you'll find a nice pictorial of the components and their installation sequence...

[Brad H.]

Re: wonderbar install (58)

Jack, thanks, yes I looked at this first, are they saying the nut that holds the radio to the fibre glass front is only secured by the nut which holds the plastic vol. tone piece tight to the dash then the spacer which would then have to press up against nut which keeps the spacer from going on all the way, then the fibre washer, dont understand its purpose cause it keeps the knob from going on all the way, on the other that would not work cause the selector piece only has a shaft hole it keeping the nut from getting to the threads unless that piece cuts out so it can go on the threaded part and tighten down, does that side have a spacer also, didnt get one in the kit, again the fibre washer would hold the knob from fitting all the way on the shaft, seems to be buils up problems, I see the radio going in then the nut going on which then sandwiches the chrome face and secures the radio to the dash, but then with the thickness of the dash your buildup will be wrong again to keep the knobs on solidly, would sure like so see some pics of the real thing going into place piece side view, thanks again and anybody had this question feel free to step in. Remember to light and run like hell. Thanks Brad,Phew.

[Jack H.]

Re: wonderbar install (58)

Methinks, you're making this too hard, Brad!

The AIM tells you to take a Delco XYZ radio chassis, stick it through the dash and install the A, B, C, Etc. components in the stacking sequence shown. It's pretty simple.

Now, that's only the case if you have a bona fide Delco XYZ radio chassis freshly delivered. If you don't, then you just stroll over to your Chevrolet Radio Service manual library and look up the Delco XYZ radio to see what was included.

When you do, you'll find it shipped from Delco with an Escutcheon Assembly, 7270461, (what you call the face plate) secured by two 1/2-28 hex nuts, 7235969 to the radio's control shafts.

If Delco didn't install the nuts, the 'face plate' would have fallen off... So, what you see in the AIM are the 'extra' parts used at St. Louis to complete the radio's installation into the vehicle.

Last, what's the purpose of the felt washers? Well, don't put them in and you'll hear the objectionable vibration induced rattling/buzzing of the knobs against the spacer/tone control knob they abutt in the installation stack up!

[Brad H.]

Re: wonderbar install (58)

Hi Jack again, here is how it finally went in, with the coned plastic volumn/tone and selector pieces you cannot get the nut on from behind them because they stick out past the threads, even with the chrome holding nut removed. So insert radio into holes put nuts on and tighten down, then volumn/ tone piece then spacer (adjustor for tone) fibre washer then knob, same on other side but no spacer, if kit came with one it might keep the knob from going on all the way and would fall off. Now I have one more problem, radio was purchased from Gr. Mu. corvette parts and is done to NCRS standards? Everything in car works fine in car and radio, when I turn on the headlights It blows the fuse, 15 amp, All wiring is correct to radio and on out ( not much to it anyway), if I unplug main harness wire to radio Its fine until plugged and blows fuse again. Any thoughts or experiences on this or anyone else reading? Thanks again Brad.

[Jack H.]

Re: wonderbar install (58)

"Now I have one more problem, radio was purchased from Gr. Mu. corvette parts and is done to NCRS standards?"

Sounds like you should be addressing your questions, issues and complaint(s) to those who sold you the 'correct' radio... The Delco Radio Service manual duplicates what's cited in the AIM as far as installation component stack up.

"Everything in car works fine in car and radio, when I turn on the headlights It blows the fuse, 15 amp, All wiring is correct to radio and on out ( not much to it anyway), if I unplug main harness wire to radio Its fine until plugged and blows fuse again. Any thoughts or experiences on this or anyone else reading?"

Check your copy of the owner's manual. My recollection is the fuse block was designed for a 7.5 Amp fuse to service the branch circuit for the radio. The use of anything larger on this circuit simply invites damage to a bona fide Wonderbar.

The reason is, the radio was NOT designed to withstand an 'infinite' seek condition. If you scan the dial more than four times in succession, the solenoid in the tuner that controls the clutch will begin to overheat.

The radio depends on the correct amperage fuse in the fuse block to blow and prevent the clutch solenoid from overheating to the point of blowing smoke and melting down! That's the most common reason for factory original radios to have been pulled, discarded, and replaced with aftermarket all transistorized units.

Well, that (seek mechanism not being cleaned/lubricated and maintained) plus replacement of the factory original speaker (due to water damage) with an off-the-shelf generic 6x9 that lacked the on-board filter components... That move typically resulted in blowing up the Wonderbar's DS-501 (2N278) speaker drive transistor.

Sounds to me like you've got more than one issue here. And, I'm off on the National Road Tour as of Saturday...

[Brad H.]

Re: wonderbar install (58)

I appologize Jack it is the tail lamp fuse (top fuse) that is popping which must be also the lite in the radio, could it be shorted someway, easy fix? Sorry to bother, Brad.

[Brad H.]

Re: wonderbar install (58)

I also noted that the fuse that was in the radio slot was a 20 A which must of been for the corvette am fm cassette that was in the same hole, it and speaker are now on bench and new original reconed and checked speaker and radio in place. Brad

[Brad H.]

Re:Fuse blow wonderbar install (58)

I found the problem that was making me wonder what was wrong with the new radio and speaker, Driver's side tail light socket was twisted in wrong and causing short everytime I pulled on the headlight switch, seems it's usually something simple that takes a tone of time to find but easy to fix. Brad.

[Mark P.]

Re: wonderbar install (58)

Brad - how does the radio sound ?

I sold you my extra speaker and am curious of the sound quality.

I am several months away frtom installing mine.

Thanks,

Mark

[Brad H.]

Re: wonderbar install (58)

Hi Mark, Radio and speaker work just fine, need capacitor under dash yet, that's it. Thanks Brad.