Would anyone have a picture of the front of a '73 Maverick AM radio? The '73 Grabber we finished a few weeks ago has what the owner says is the correct radio for the car, but when we tried installing it the radio would not fit correctly. We thought it was because it had no bezel, but now I'm not sure if it even needs one. I don't know squat about the old AM radios. With every Maverick I ever owned the AM radio was the first thing to go, so I never really looked at them that closely. Were there two different AM radios available for the 73's? That is, was there a AM radio with a bezel and one without a bezel for 1973?
I do have a bezel I bought from Craig. ( Thanks Craig! ). I'm beginning to think it may be thre wrong radio. But since I'm not 100% sure, I took some pictures that may help clarify things. The radio is connected to the harness and is just sitting back there. The only thing holding it in place is the support bracket. The face of the radio will not fit through the opening in the dash, and unless I'm seeing things wrong there does not appear to be any place to mount the bezel. The screws for the knobs are sitting too far back to attach the two knobs. Oh yeah.... the radio only plays when the parking lights are turned on. OOPs!! We know where the problem is there, but what's more important is whether it's the right radio or not. What you you guys think?
Jean, I'm no expert, but I think you have the wrong radio. The shafts should be centered in the bezel, which they're not. All of the old AM's that I ever took out mounted by the shaft nuts, and most have a rear support brace as well. Philco also made radios for AMC back then, reckon that's a 73 AMC radio?
Jean, I suppose it is possible for that to be of different vintage. I do believe the 75 or 76 and later AM radios had a different dial area. But that radio is certainly the style. I still have an original radio in my stallion. And it does look like that one. Dan
Ah Ha! I see the difference in the radios now. The radio opening in the lower dash of the'73 Grabber is the same as the one in the picture of the '74. The two openings both have a wrinkle or grainy finish. The face plate on the radio that the Grabber's owner bought does not have the grainy finish to match the dash opening. I happen to have a radio that might work in the Grabber.We have to take the other radio back out of the Grabber anyway, so we'll see if my old AM radio will fit better. Could it be that this car might happen to have a lower dash for a '74 Maverick?
Well we got the radio problem solved today. The Grabber's owner definitely had the wrong radio for the car. There was just no way it would fit in the lower dash. We took an old AM radio from one of our Mavericks and with a few modifications it fit perfect. It even matches the wrinkled finish around the opening in the lower dash. I checked the part number on our old radio and it was for a '74 Maverick. What it was doing in a '77 Maverick beats me, but it fit in the '73 and it works. The owner is happy, and if he's happy we're happy. Thanks for all your help everyone!
