Tucker Radio head on E-Bay

[P.J.]

Thanks for pointing to those Ebay auctions Tucker Fan 48
I just put in a bid on the first one after confirming with the seller that they have both the cables. With any luck I'll get it cheap. I had planned to make a mock up of a Tucker Dash if I can collect enough parts and materials.

[Tucker Fan 48]

After you build the dash you can start on the rest of the car

[P.J.]

Now that's a plan I'll build it from the inside out. Imagine how cool it would look to go driving around with just a dash, a couple of bench seats and the rear engine all exposed

[Tucker Fan 48]

You could even take a bunch of friends for a ride and the people in the back seat could watch the engine run...sort of like this

[Coach_B]

Now that's a plan I'll build it from the inside out. Imagine how cool it would look to go driving around with just a dash, a couple of bench seats and the rear engine all exposed

Didn't someone already do that? I know I have seen pictures. They are real close to being done too. All they need is a steel roof and two rear doors and it will look like a real Tucker

[P.J.]

I've never seen those pics but when I was in the Riviera Owners Association there was a guy who made a drivable chassis out of an 85 Riv, I remember he said he had to weld steel plates to the back of the bumpers and fill them with sand to make the thing heavy enough to be driven without the wheels folding up underneath it.

[Crow331]

P.J. -

Nice pickup on the radio! I have been trying to get a fairly inexpensive Tucker radio (working or not, doesn't matter to me) for a while now and have been outbid on several on ebay over the years. I was eyeballing this one as well but from the photos, the yellowing and what appeared to be scratched off letters on the buttons, turned me off

If I knew how well it would of cleaned up, I would of bid! I can't believe how new it looks! You did a great job! Can you tell me what you used to clean it??? Next time I see one in "rough" shape, I'll be bidding if I think I can clean it up like you did.

Also, just saying hi to all the Tucker fans out there. I have literally been a lurker on these boards for at least 3 years and never joined. I guess it was finally time! Lots of valuable and fun info on the board and I've enjoyed reading your posts over the years. I love the Tucker and I loved the movie. One of my all-time favorites. I occasionally bid on Tucker items on ebay but they usually go for more than I'm willing to pay, but I figured one of these days I'll get lucky!

[Tucker Fan 48]

Welcome Crow331,

Just keep trying. There are a lot of items that come up just watch out for the fakes. There is a
guy with a convertible in Wisconsin thet keeps hoping someone will bite.

[Crow331]

HA!

Yes, I don't know what to believe on that one. I've followed that convertible story on here, on the news and on ebay for a while. I guess if it was legit it would of sold, but who were the bidders that bid it up as high as it did go without reaching the reserve? Shills?

[TuckerCar]

Shills?

[Tucker Fan 48]

One of the reality TV shows recently showed that the auction houses sometimes will bid the car up to the reserve
without there being a "real" buyer in the room. That's why you don't see who the bidder is sometimes because there
isn't one. They could have done the same on the convertible as they walked away from what would have been a
record price for a Tucker if the bid was real. Anything over a couple hundred thousand is a gift for that thing.

[P.J.]

No problem Crow331

When the radio arrived I took the back off and removed the buttons and knobs, I soaked them in Kaboom Foamtastic bathroom cleaner in a clear plastic cup. The Kaboom sprays out blue and turns white as it cleans so when it looked to be all white I filled the cup about 1/4th with steaming hot water from my kitchen sink and swished it around, then I ran the water into the cup until all the Kaboom was gone and the water from the cup ran clear, I then brushed the buttons with a tooth brush I keep to clean things with and used a toothpick to clean out the groves in the knobs and all the crud that had built up in the back of the buttons. I repeated the first step with the Kaboom again just to make sure they came out really clean and then I washed them one last time with Dawn and hot water before a cold water rinse and a good drying with some paper towels for the outside and compressed air to get all the water out from the holes in the back of the buttons and knobs. The process of cleaning the buttons took off most of the paint that was still on them (There wasn't much to begin with though) So I repainted the letters with a red Sharpie marker. Luckily the lettering on the buttons is slightly recessed so I was able to get a nice looking result by following the lines. For the radio head body I used a stainless steel cleaner that I sprayed on and wiped off and buffed with paper towels, I also cleaned out the inside since it was open but I left the plastic window and the channel indicator in place because I didn't want to risk damaging them. I was able to wipe off the channel indicator cylinder by twisting the knob while holding a Lysol wipe against it and then again with a paper towel to dry it off.

I have to admit I was surprised by the results myself. When I bought it on Ebay I figured I could get it for a low price due to the condition and the fact that it was missing the radio and 2 cables, earlier that week I saw a complete one sell for over $160 and there's one on there right now with the original box with a Buy It Now of $1248.80.

By the way does anyone know what the story is with the radio in Tucker #1049? It seems to have knobs mounted on the wood panel of the dash next to the gauge cluster as well as on the radio itself. I've never seen anything like that on any other Tucker that I've seen interior pics of.

[Tucker Fan 48]

This is the picture that I have of the current radio in #1049. Do you have something different?
Maybe this one was installed during the last restoration.

Radio.gif (56.04 KiB) Viewed 829 times

[P.J.]

Here's the dash from a different angle. As you can see there are 2 white knobs on the dash.

[cicero]

I believe that dash panel probably came from an earlier car.

There were two styles of radios. The early ones had the knobs in the dash and a different head with no knobs, just push buttons and no Tucker lettering on the buttons. Here is the one in 1015.