When I built in a new radio under the dash I kept the disconnected old school radio in the dashboard. According to the invoice it was installed in Brisbane in January 1971. It isn't working anymore but it's still a really cool piece of art.
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| Invoice 1971 National Car Radio |
Just out of curiosity I opened the radio to check the inside.
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| Inside the old National Car Radio |
Aha, a 9 mm bulb holder with a 4W clear bulb in it ,that's an easy fix. I replaced the clear bulb with a green one and disconnected the + lead from the pot-meter.
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| Disconnection the power lead |
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| Testing the rewired car radio light |
Before I closed the radio I tested the bulb, all good. The light is now connected to the light switch in the Volvo.
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| Broken old school radio now in use as an extra dashboard light |
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| Close up |
I also wanted to replace the smaller 7 mm bulb in the tacho for a green one but still couldn'f find one. So I took a pemanent marker and coloured the bulb, not perfect but it looks better than the clear version.
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| Removing the bulb holder from the Smiths tacho |
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| 9 mm 4W standard - and 7 mm 2W tacho bulb |
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| "painted" tacho lightbulb |
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| Smiths tacho with green back light |
Even the clear shelf light wasn't safe and replaced by a green version.
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| Green shelf light Volvo 122S |
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| Dashboard lights Volvo Amazon |
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| OK, one more |
