Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

Is this part of the radio, which I do have but its not mounted in the car (too big) Trying to clean up some wires, this is hooked to a hot wire, not pretty.

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

Looks like maybe an archaic resistor. Can you measure voltage between the input and the output wires? Let it heat-up with power on it for a few moments. DD

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

What ever it is, it arched before. Look at the burnt part of the red wire. You need to look into this soon.

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

I had to take the glove box out to follow the wire, it goes up into the right windshield post into the head liner. Can't imagine for what. Car has vacuum wipers, can't be for that. It does have a dome light that does not work, I doubt it is for that. I also found three other wires that go the same direction that appear to be for a speaker. Does anyone know where the speaker was mounted in these cars, I don't think it was in the radio.

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

Radio antenna lead with coil....

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

Speaker was mounted in the header above the windshield. If it did not have a hot wire connected, it could be some sort of a antenna booster.

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

Okay speaker wire location solved. You bring up a good point on the radio antenna, where would that be mounted? Did they have mast type back then? I don't see where there might have been holes for one on the car.

The hot resister type thing is still a mystery, I disconnected it for now.

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

Antenna is the chicken wire in the roof....All closed cars were pre-wired from the factory. The lead located in the left cowl goes to the roof antenna with an attachment to the wire mesh in the top assembly.

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

Okay thanks, that answers that, now to solve the mystery part. Could it be something to do with the antenna? Some kind of 6 volt booster? Later I will open it up and see if it has any markings, there is no way I'm keeping this connected.

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

it is an antenna signal "booster"

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

Solved - thank you its being removed, I will save it though.

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

It may have been attached as a way to match impedance on the antenna wire. Most of the antenna wire replacements I've seen for these don't include and impedance coil but you never know what they might have been trying to do with that. The EFV8 club has had a long running series about radio equipment used in the early fords this year and maybe part of last year. I'd have to go back and look at all that stuff to see if it mentions anything about a coil like that.

Do you know which radio make & model you have? There is info out there for the old Ford tube type radio sets.

As far as I'm aware, there is no way to "boost" a signal by applying DC power to the antenna. It just needs a mast or in this case a wire mesh to receive the signals. Impedance is important but putting any power back through the antenna lead might fry the input circuitry.

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

It had a Motorola 60 standard broadcast radio

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

rotowrench do you know what a load coil is?

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

An antenna loading coil is an inductor placed in series with an antenna element in order to lower the antenna’s resonant frequency.
https://external-content.duckduckgo....6pid%3DApi&f=1

I've never seen an external one used for medium wave band AM radio though -530 kHz to 1700 kHz ....

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

That does not show it hooked to 6 volts though

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

Maybe that's the reason your radio is not installed....

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

No, it was taken out because its too freaken big, I still have it.

Re: Does Anyone Know What This Is?
 

You removed the radio because it was in your way? Did the radio work before you removed it?

If it is the antenna lead, I don't know why power was applied to it. Maybe, in its past, an amateur played with the radio.....