Interior: C Cab Radio Panel?

[GinettaG12P]

The 1955 truck I bought had this panel on the dash. Is it really a radio panel? If so, why is there no speaker port?

[PackardV8]

Never seen that one before. Factory or dealer installed C-cab radios were as rare as rear bumpers. But what you have is something new and different.

jack vines

[63t-cab]

What are the chances of after market, I wouldn't think very likely - but Who knows.

Never seen that one before. Factory or dealer installed C-cab radios were as rare as rear bumpers. But what you have is something new and different.

jack vines

[Studebakercenteroforegon]

The radios from that era were enclosed - and the speaker was at the bottom. Examine the area below this panel. There should be a "punch out" stamped in the lower panel that allows the radio to be installed with the speaker facing forward at a slight downward angle below the dash. I have seen '55 pickups with such a factory radio before.

[autoradiotech]

This IShe factory radio panel to install the 53 to 55 passenger car radio in the trucks. The amp, speaker, power supply bolts to the bottom, horizontal part, of the dash panel. I have two of these myself, one is with a rebuilt radio and the other one I haven't built a radio for it yet. BTW, the truck radios do not use the trim plate that goes around the dial.

[PackardV8]

This IShe factory radio panel to install the 53 to 55 passenger car radio in the trucks. The amp, speaker, power supply bolts to the bottom, horizontal part, of the dash panel. I have two of these myself, one is with a rebuilt radio and the other one I haven't built a radio for it yet. BTW, the truck radios do not use the trim plate that goes around the dial.

So there was a truck radio from '49-'52 which actually fit the hole when the embossed area was removed and the '53-'55 used the car radio which did not fit the embossed area at all?

Jack Vines

[Studebakercenteroforegon]

The explanation of the speaker installed separately below the panel sounds correct compared to the "one piece" installation that I thought maybe it was. The '55 I owned had the factory radio, and it was indeed evident that its roots were a car radio. I never had to remove it so I didn't recognize the speaker was separated. Installed, it looked kind of integral.

[Skip Lackie]

So there was a truck radio from '49-'52 which actually fit the hole when the embossed area was removed and the '53-'55 used the car radio which did not fit the embossed area at all?

Jack Vines

Yes and no. The 2R - E series trucks used the same radio as the same or the previous year's car. In all cases, 49-55, the embossed area was to be punched out and an adaptation plate mounted in its place. The plates differed somewhat depending on the design of the radio. The early 49-52 2R trucks used an AC-2115 adaptation kit, while the 53-55 2R, 3R, and E-series trucks used an AC-2437 kit. All radios will fit all years of truck with the right adaptation kit. I have examples of both around here somewhere. With the adoption of 12 volts and the flat dashboard in 56, the trucks went to a stand-alone Transtar radio that hung under the dash.

[RadioRoy]

The dealers installed the radios in the trucks and most of the cars, until some point in time, probably very late 50's or early 60's.

When a vehicle was ordered with a radio, the radio came in a box in the trunk, or packed somewhere else in a truck.

There were no radios specifically designed for the 49-55 trucks. Those trucks used car radios and specially designed truck adapter kits for the car radios.

There were three adapter kits
- one for the 47-49 radio
- one for the 50-52 radio
- and one for the 53-55 radio.

Any kit could fit in any year 2R truck, as Skip has indicated. That gave the dealers flexibility to equip 2R trucks with any radio they had in stock. The dealer merely looked for any radio he had in stock and was not likely to sell, then ordered the appropriate kit for that radio. The radio was the expensive part of the equation, and the kit was cheap. So the radio that the dealer already had drove the decision as to what kit he bought.

Nowadays, the sequence is reversed. Since the kits are more rare than the radios, one looks for a kit first, then finds the appropriate radio to fit that kit.

The radio plate in the original post is for the 53-55 radio, but it can be installed in any 49-55 truck.

So that means, there are at least three "official" radios for any 49-55 truck and they are all correct. There are actually more than three, since every radio came in push button or manual tuning styles.

Studebaker also made adapters to fit a 53-55 radio into a 50-51 car. Those are pretty rare and a fellow in OZ has a few of them.

[GinettaG12P]

So am I to believe that what I have is an "adapter kit"? If so, what radio does it fit (although I am not about to install a radio)?

[RadioRoy]

The radio plate in the original post is for the 53-55 radio, but it can be installed in any 49-55 truck.

.

As I mentioned in my post, the adapter you have is for the 53-55 radio. The top hole is for the dial and the bottom hole is for the push buttons. Is the bottom hole a punch out or is it attached with fasteners?

Even though the adapter is for a 53-55 radio, it is correct for any 49-55 truck.

[GinettaG12P]

Thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't sure if what I had still required the use of an "adapter kit" to install a radio into it.

[Skip Lackie]

There were three adapter kits
- one for the 47-49 radio
- one for the 50-52 radio
- and one for the 53-55 radio.

Thanks for correcting my post, Roy. I THOUGHT there was a third, earlier kit, but couldn't find anything about it in my literature.

And to add a bit more info: Besides the adapter plate, there were a few more parts in these kits: a soft rubber gasket, plus the usual nuts and bolts and instructions.

[RadioRoy]

You are welcome, Skip.

This question gets asked periodically and I rewrite the same explanations. If I was smart, I would copy my ramblings onto a WORD document, then all I would have to do is cut and paste.

Or... we could do a search on old posts, I suppose.

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?91010-1949-truck-radio&highlight=truck+radio+adapter

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?6781-Anyone-have-one-50s-Stude-Truck-radio-adapter&highlight=truck+radio+adapter

[Mrs K Corbin]

Anybody got a picture of the 56-57 radio that mounted under the dash?