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MGB MGB 1964 positive earth radio

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Hi all!

I am completely new on this forum and if this actually is the most visited and knowledgable forum out here I'll definately be back more often.
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I recently bought a MGB 1964 which will be "delivered" Friday. It has been revised and restored so there is not too much work for me anymore. However (as always) there are some flaws and one of the major ones at this point is the radio. There is none. Problem with the 1964 model is that it has a positive earth and therefore it can only take positive earth radios. Of course I can change the wiring to negative earth but if possible I like to keep it this way and put in an original radio.

Since I am totally new to cars and MG I have no experience whatsoever.

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Dreas, welcome to the best Brit car forum going, and congratulations on your new toy.
There are polarity converters available to convert the radio power lead to negative earth to allow you to run a neg. earth radio in a positive earth car. I've got one in a '65 Sprite, and it works just fine.
Unfortunately, I don't know at the moment where to get one, but I'm sure a Google search will turn one up, or even a trip to Radio Shack would help.
Jeff
 
Great looking car! And you came to the right place ...

You have some options as to what to do to get some sound in your '64. (And I agree, with a nice early B, you should keep it original.)

When I got my '66, it also did not have a radio. I found one of the original ones online, and sent it to an Antique Automobile Radio dealer to restore.

Things you need to know: Radios were always dealer installed in the U.S. None of the cars "came with" radios from the U.K. Even though most of the radios are marked "British Motor Corporation," they were U.S.-made, most of them Motorola, I believe.

For your car, you'll want to find a radio that looks like mine. (Send me an email, and I'll send you a photo.) It's AM only, of course, as original, and positive ground.

BUT: If you want to receive FM stereo as well, it CAN be done. Antique Automobile Radio dealers can put a modern, solid-state until BEHIND the original faceplate. So it will look original, but play modern.

This option is only available in negative ground, though, so you would also have to have a power inverter. (Keep the car positive, but put an inverter in line before the radio.)

Of course, you'd have to figure out what to do with two stereo speakers, without cutting into your door panels. Two options I'd suggest are hanging small speakers unobstrusively from the cross bar under your dashboard in the footwells, or building small box speakers and letting them sit on the battery compartment shelf. (Not useful it you have a fold-down top.)

I actually had planned to have the AM/FM conversion done on the radio I found ... but the antique radio guy talked me into letting him restore it as 100 percent original. (He is into antique radio the way we are into classic cars, and likes to bring stuff back to life.) I like the AM-only now, as we have a good local station that only plays stuff from the 60s and 70s, so even the music is appropriate for my car!

Anyway... Keep an eye on eBay for an old "BMC" radio; they are out there. And check out the Antique Automobile Radio website , which has a list of dealers.

Good luck, and welcome to the board! If you want a photo of what my radio looks like, send me an email.
 
Dreas, there's an early MGB radio for sale on eBay right now. Here's the eBay link

This is what you're looking for, although you want one that is positive group or unrestored. (This one is negative ground, according to tag in photo, and seller says he already had it restored. )

[ 05-12-2004: Message edited by: Kim de B ]</p>
 
Forgot to mention, great looking car. Are those all your cars? May I also make a suggestion, lose the TEX mirror on the door, a 70s item.
 
Can't help with the radio but thought I would welcome you to the forum. This is a fun place to be and very helpful.
Bob
 
if you touched the side of the radio case to the body of the car wouldnt it short out? since the radio is neg ground so is the out side of the case. you could put something around it?
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by adam90009:
if you touched the side of the radio case to the body of the car wouldnt it short out? since the radio is neg ground so is the out side of the case. you could put something around it?<hr></blockquote>

That's what I was thinking, Adam. The negative lead is grounded to the chassis in most radios if not all and you are right there would be a direct short. Maybe part of the kit is to insulate the chassis. What does the converter do guys?
Bob
 
12 volts is 12 volt and it really doesnt matter what is the ground of the car and the radio doesnt know it either. just be sure to insulate it well and have fuses in all the lines just incase. you radio may get hot if it has an internal amp but becareful with it. you could get seats and put speakers in the headrests and put the covers over them and no one would no. if you are interested mr mikes has a template to do it on fiero seats and could easily be done on mgb seats. well if you got some with headrests. you could also put speakers in a wooden box behind the seats and have wires running under the carpet and when your at a car show unplug it and take the box out and no one would know. under hte dash isnt a good idea wouldnt be able to hear it and you wouldnt get good sound quality.
 
The early B seats don't have headrests, and I don't think he's interested in "modernizing" the car.

I also disagree about the mirror on the driver's door. Yep, outside mirrors were NOT standard on the early cars, but in my mind, they are essential if you want to drive an MGB safely on the road. I think his mirror looks fine.

One mirror on the driver's door does it, though. The passenger side mirrors are pretty useless.

(My B came without an outside mirror, and it drove me crazy driving to drive on the interstate without it. Really not safe.)
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Kim de B:


(My B came without an outside mirror, and it drove me crazy driving to drive on the interstate without it. Really not safe.)<hr></blockquote>

I always knew it was something Kim, but I'd have bet it was Chas
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I guess I should have been clearer. I agree a door mirror is needed, just a more period correct one. A Lucas door mirror for example. I was not trying to be offensive, just trying to tie it all together.
 
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two of those came stock on my car. I think it looks great. I do use the one on the left by the way.
Bob
 
Wow I have to apologise I did not respond before! I expected an email in case there would be a respond but for some reason did not receive it. Strange ...

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I'll try to respond to a few of you
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@Bugeye58 thanks for the first advice. If I understood the seller of the car and a friend of mine (who is quite experienced as well) correctly a problem with an invertor would be the antenna. Since the antenna has negative polarity and the radio would in that case be negative polarity as well it would cause trouble. I might be able to isolate the antenna and the radio of but that does not seem to be such a nice solution?

@Kim, I am NOT from the US (I am from The Netherlands) and my car is imported directly from Great Brittain so I am not sure what kind of radio was originally installed. Would this be a US one as well or can it have been a Brittish one?

I probably like to keep the radio original if I can find it and add two good speakers under the dashboard and attach my PDA to it (for MP3 and GPS). I know that is not original but without any real modifications I would have modernized the car that way
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The radio will be more for the "originallity" aspect.

@BOXoROCKS actually those cars are not mine (unfortunately). The picture I have posted is from the seller. I'll receive the car tomorrow
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(excited).

@mrbassman Thanks
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@adam90009 & mrbassman I understood as well I'd have to isolate the radio in that case but was told the antenna would be problematic as well (as mentioned above). Anyone experience with this? I do like to try to avoid the invertor however since then I can beter just change the car to negative ground (which according to the tutorials online is not that difficult).

@BOXoROCKS Thanks for providing your opinion about the mirror. I'll try to keep my eyes open for an original solution and see if I like that and if it's worth the effort.

I'll email the people that told me I could
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Thanks again all! I'll try to figure out why I wasn't notified by the forum.
 
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dreas:

I probably like to keep the radio original if I can find it and add two good speakers under the dashboard and attach my PDA to it (for MP3 and GPS). I know that is not original but without any real modifications I would have modernized the car that way
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The radio will be more for the "originallity" aspect.....
I'll email the people that told me I could<hr></blockquote>

email me when ever you need to so you want to use the original radio... you could leave it inplace whiel having another radio that you actually use. somewhere else. like under the seat. you could install speakers in the under dash liners no one would see them especcially if you just made a few holes through it or used black speaker grills. if you wanted to attatch an mp3 player or pda you would have to run it through the radio or a small amp. how ever you decide to go with this ill help you when your hooking it up, im great with radios. i have speakers in the doors and speakers in the rear firewall and im putting them in the head rests and im installing a 10-12 inch subwoofer with one 600watt 4 chanal amp and a 480watt 2 channa; amp in my 1979 mgb
 
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