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56 Series 62 Dashboard Restoration

Started by stzomah, October 03, 2016, 10:45:24 AM

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stzomah

I pulled the dashboard (DB) out of the car about a month ago and it's presently at the painter's shop.  I plan to do a full restoration of the DB and it's components.  I also bought a windshield gasket and plan to change that out this weekend.  I replaced the fiber board firewall cover with one I bought from Caddy Restorations.  Cleaned up all the wiring splices by soldering all splices and using heat shrink.  Used original type wire loom wrap to re-wrap some sections of bad loom wrap.  Pulled the wiper control cable and lubed it well.  It's been seized for 20 years.  Also did vent cables since I had the instrument cluster out.

I plan to paint the DB and door panel tops, restore the cluster, Recap and Reube the radio (I'm an EE), and have a quartz upgrade done to the clock.  I will follow up with pictures along the way.  I need to do some catch up here in the beginning.  I have already done some posts on here and Mid Century Cadillacs on removal of the DB.  If you have questions, feel free to ask.

First Installment - Instrument Cluster and Speedometer Maintenance:
I just completed the instrument cluster this weekend and it turned out swell!  It has some pitting but I left it original and did not have it chromed.  I painted the flat black components and thoroughly cleaned the clear plastic bezels.  The challenge was to properly mask the chrome to paint the "satin black" parts of the cluster face.  I used "frog tape" and masked out the main strip just under the speedometer.  Once that was done, I masked the temp and gas gauge areas.

While that was drying I serviced the speedometer:

Speedometer:
I did a search on YouTube and found a guy doing a 56 Chevy speedo. I forget which video it was.. you can just do a search on 56 Chevy speedometer.  I drilled out the mini "freeze plug" and pulled out the wadding using a drywall screw.  I used electronic "de-ox" spray and shot it in the hole while spinning.  I used a Q tip in a cordless drill to spin it.  I did some research on the proper lube and many said plain 3 in 1 oil.  I had that so in it went.  My speedo was working good just jumped a little in cold weather.  I used another Q tip soaked with oil and dabbed all the little gears in the odometer and trip meter.  I put the wadding back and used hot melt glue (not epoxy) on the hole drilled in the plug to pull it out (see video referenced above).

Next is Temp and Gas Gauge Repair...
1956 Series 62 Coupe
owned since 1975

stzomah

Temp and Gas Gauge:

My Temp gauge worked only when IT FELT LIKE IT since 1975.  It was time to fix it!  I follow Corvette Ben's videos (We need an update Ben!) and he did a segment on his gas gauge.  My problem was similar but I had more corrosion on the actual posts.  There was no continuity from the posts to the back buss plates.  I removed the metal back and drilled out the rivet holding the fiber board.  I de-soldered the coils.  Next, scrape the junction at the back of the posts and the buss plates so the solder will stick. Lay solder in the space around the post back.  Circular around the post back and onto the buss plates.  Reassemble and put a new pop rivet in it and it works great.  I did the same to the gas gauge to ensure it will keep working for another 60 years!

Next: Reassembly of Instrument Cluster
1956 Series 62 Coupe
owned since 1975

stzomah

Instrument Cluster Cleaning and Reassembly:

Once I serviced the speedo, fixed the gauges, and painted some of the pieces...  It was time to clean everything.  I pulled the cluster apart carefully and kept track of all the pieces.  The speedo bezel, oil/gen/temp/gas (gauge) bezel all come apart from the main cluster.  The gauge bezel has two small metal pieces crimped on the plastic.  Carefully bend the tangs back and pull them from the bezel.  I used steel wool to clean metal parts then sprayed them with flat black Rustoleum.  The little red light filters come off by bending another metal tang.  Be careful to remember what side the oil is vs. the gen!

I used a weak solution of glass cleaner very carefully on the bezels.  I was afraid of diluting (solvent action) and smearing off the paint etchings.  I used only water on the etched parts and lightly wiped with an old school baby cloth diaper.  Not all of the 60 years of crap will come off! Know the limit and stop rubbing before it scratches what you have!

Set up a folding table or set aside a clean place to work.  Get plenty of clean cloth rags or towels (and a cloth diaper?).  I had a can of that keyboard air spray.  Even with lint proof cloth rags, there is still some dust that must be blown away...

I finished and ran upstairs to show the wife!  She said "you are proud of that aren't you"...  I blushed!

Next: Radio Restoration
1956 Series 62 Coupe
owned since 1975

chstitans42

One day I will do this on my '56...
Oh and I just put out another video on my caddy, check the channel

stzomah

This in an installment of my 56 Caddy Dashboard Restoration Thread â€" Radio Restoration

The 56 radio is a 2 piece vacuum tube AM radio.  The two pieces are the receiver section and the amplifier section.  Before you do anything, buy a schematic.  I bought mine from a guy named Steve Johnson on the internet buy direct download.  Use the parts list to identify and purchase the tubes, capacitors, and resistors you will need.  You can barely read info on the components themselves in a 60 year old radio, and you must verify values and max wattage or voltages.  I bought most of my capacitors from Just Radios out of Canada.  It took a while to ship to NJ but the website was great and has great info on capacitors in antique radios http://www.justradios.com/captips.html.

The amplifier has the power vacuum tubes or “Valves” that need high DC voltages to operate 450-500+ VDC.  The way you get it from 12 VDC to 500 VDC is by use of a mechanical vibrator.  It takes the DC and converts to AC then the AC is stepped up using a transformer and then rectified back to DC.  That’s a quick summary but you get the idea.  The vibrator mechanically “pumps up” the voltage.  The high DC voltage is stored in electrolytic capacitors (think of a tank) to provide a continuous DC voltage flow.  The vibrator, being mechanical is usually the main failure.  I replaced mine with an electronic substitute (not mechanical).  It works great so far.  The reliability is supposed to be much better than the old vibrators.

These antique radios have various types of capacitors.  (SAFETY MOMENT: Electrolytics are dangerous and should be shorted + to â€" using a power resistor before touching.  Always double check using a DC voltmeter to ground.  It can KILL you!)  Electrolytics are prone to failure due to the high voltages and materials of construction (aluminum corrosion) and are at the end of life around 15 years (give or take).  Most radios of this vintage use “can type” multi section electrolytic capacitors.  They have 3 or 4 capacitors in a metal can type package.  These can types are mostly available but are very costly.  I bought separate electrolytic capacitors and bypassed the old can.  Be careful to position them to accept the speaker back in the mounting bracket.  Not much space between the chassis and speaker magnet.

Most important rule is to use the voltage specified or larger.  Think of it as a pressure rating.  You don’t want to “blow the capacitor up” by putting too high a voltage on it.  I cut the tabs off the bottom of the can and used them as soldering points for the circuit and the new electrolytic caps.
The other capacitors that will need to be replaced are the old wax paper types.  You will see them looking like they were dipped in wax and are slimy and generally look bad.  I replaced mine with film capacitors.  They are usually much smaller than the vintage ones you will replace.

I checked all the resistors with an ohm meter.  Most cases you can measure them in the circuit.  If you get one that is not close to what it should be, de-solder one side then measure.  If it still doesn’t come close to the resistance value that is stated on the schematic…replace with the correct value and size (wattage).  In the amplifier section, I found one of the power tube resistors to be rather black.  Checking it indicated it was not even close to the value needed (bad).  It was specified as a 1 watt resistor, I replaced with a 2 watt to make it a bit beefier…

I went through both sections of the radio and replaced the wax and electrolytic capacitors and checked the resistors.  Some of the components look like capacitors but they are not.  Only replace the wax and electrolytic caps unless you determine something is physically damaged.  Some parts look pretty bad but they most likely still work.

I went ahead and just replaced all the tubes.  I hunted on eBay and found everything.  They are mostly NOS probably from the 60’s.  I can’t test tubes so I just opted to replace them all.

Make sure you use a 4 OHM speaker both during testing and permanent install.  Tube amplifiers need a load on the output transformer or damage may happen.  Look at the schematic and make sure you are wired correctly.  Run only the + wire the speaker + terminal and ground the speaker basket.  .  I had an old car antenna lying around for testing.  Use a car battery with an inline fuse on the + wire.

I used “blue shower” spray and cleaned up the internal circuits with a tooth brush.  I used “Tuner Lubricant” on the wonder bar mechanism.  I took as much of the face apart as possible and cleaned the bezel, dial, and the chrome.

Mine probably only really needed a vibrator and a recap…  Your radio may have other issues but replacing the vibrator, capacitors, tubes, and any bad resistors should be 90% of the problems.

Mine now works great!
1956 Series 62 Coupe
owned since 1975