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I don't recall th specifics of your car but generally no need to remove the radio if all you want to do is replace the vibrator.

OwenDyn: I wish that were true....my car is a 1948 Custom8 club sedan...the radio is embedded in the dash and I can'tsee any removable covers for access...previous responses lead me to believe there's no other way but to remove radio...most happy if you can guide me otherwise...DICK

The back cover of the radio is held in place by a single fastener. I believe the vibrator is in the lower right corner looking at the back of the installed radio. Here's a photo of the back cover I removed when I was installing an interface for my Ipod. The hole in the middle is where the fastener is (wingnut maybe? I don't remember).

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Owen-JD: well, after I read JD's remarks I went to the car and as he said...I removed the back panel and removed the vibrator...it took about 10min....I then reviewed my old comments to locate where I could obtain a new vibrator and found two outlets...I recalled my concern that the solid state replacement might not give me the "juke box" sound and will surely miss that...at least I won't have the annoying hum....Thanks again...Dick

Hi Dick, glad it worked out. When I said you should be able to do it w/o removing the radio I was thinking of doing the same on my 48 Custom 8.

JD - Owen - Pac8: well, one thing leads to another..when I took the vibrator out I shook it a few times and reinserted...the hum was gone but the static was noticable..went for a drive, static increased near high tension lines and as I accelerated, I could get the spark plug firings...I was on the lower band of the radio...very disappointed because when I'm at idle, radio operates well, some static...I checked remarks in the Forum...comments about capacitor in the distributor ??..I checked the antenna fasteners and ground (OK)..the condensor on the generator seems quite old but I see no markings as to type..I'm assuming the spark plug wires are non- resistant and I recently replaced the plugs with Autolite 3136 which I find are non-resistant...I do have a set of Champion UY6 that are suppressant. I will try that but I'd like to change the Gen. condensor if anyone knows what to replace it with....next slide, I received my recalibarated tach from Westach..I asked why it had to be recalibrated and they said they occassionally have problems with this product..they applied an adjustment fitting on the rear in case it was necessary for me to refine it...I haven't tested it yet but I'll let you know if it doesn't work....Dick

Radio and Tach: replaced spark plugs with resistant Champions also attached recalibrated tach...took a test drive (20min) with radio on but took time to warm up..after 10 min. radio was much better, some static and crackling but a 50% improvement over previous test..with regards to the tach; erratic- gauge wandered between 2800 to 3200 rpms at 70mph...the recalibration was supposed to lower the rpms to 2400 at 70mph....back to the radio- it seemed that the longer the radio was on, the better the quality...I ran it without the ignition on but I was in an enclosed cement walled garage...curious about the distributor issue...Dick

I'm still thinking the tach may be picking up some noise on the input leads. Could be either power or signal wire or both. Since the radio is obviously picking up extraneous noise, to my mind it's only logical other things may be too.

Putting an oscilloscope on to verify what is happening is most likely out of the question so next best would be the brute force attack. Would be very curious how wire separation or a shielded cable would affect it.

It shouldn't take 10 minutes for the radio to calm down. If your radio has all it's old capacitors still present, those dry out and a bad filter capacitor could be contributing to some of the hum and noise problems. A poor ground on the antenna coax could be contributing to the problem too.

As a diagnostic procedure just hang a 12v tach 4cyl or 8 cylinder on the car and give it a test drive.

Pac8-HH56: Trying to locate a replacement for the condenser on the generator...Its pretty well done...I removed it and found the ID on the bottom, its PHILCO 30-4475D...can't find part supplier on the web for this product...I don't know if I can use a replacement type as I don't know the values....will any 6V condenser do ?....Dick