Is my husband a museum piece?

No, I guess I wasn’t clear. I paid $500 for it way back in 85. I would give it to him FREE. I would even deliver it.

@wentwest Yeah I’ve got one of those points adjustment tools too plus the dwell meter to go with it. The sad part is 50 years from now, someone will post a picture of it and ask what is this tool?

Sure I am getting old, but my gm cars, was it not just an allen wrench into the sliding window on the distributor cap to adjust the points?

Yeah but you needed a dwell meter and in the kit came the nice long handled tool.

Still have my dwell meter, remember in 89

i needed to check out my 66 evinrude at the cabins, asked parts store if they had a dwell meter because mine was 535 miles away, kid was like let me get an old timer, because I have no idea what you are talking about. Old timer, we have not sold those in years!

A dwell meter was too expensive for me. I set the points with a feeler gauge, pulled off the vacuum line going to the wiper motor, and start the engine. I would adjust the timing by advancing the timing until the vacuum reached its highest reading on the gauge and then retard the timing until just back a hair would cause the vacuum gauge to read lower and call the ignition timed. I would then road test and if the engine pinged ever so slightly on wide open throttle acceleration, I figured the engine was timing was o.k.

I see three choices for the Camry. Keep and let rot, Donate, or scrap. I have been there.

I had a timing light also but just set timing by ear after a while, retard it till it starts to sound funky then advance 1/4 turn.

@Barkydog. I think your timing method is best. I had a 1965 Rambler Classic 550 and the timing marks were off. The only way to time the engine and have it run correctly was to either use your method or use a vacuum gauge.

Now, back to the original subject of the post.

This comment is for Kiki’s husband, Kiki you are not allowed to read this.

Place a for sale ad for your old Camry, set the price at $75,000. Then you can say " I’m trying to sell it but there aren’t any buyers".

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@Gpierce001 gets the prize I think. But the price could be $750 and still no takers.

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Try Googling your S-20R receiver and restoration of old radios - it’s a popular model. If you want to pass it on you can find someone who has the interest and knowledge to restore it, or you might do so yourself. Many old tubes still function and it’s not difficult to find replacements for common tubes. Whatever you do don’t plug it in until it’s been inspected (I cut cords off to prevent this). Old capacitors and especially electrolytics, go bad, will short out (sometimnes explode) and smoke other components if aren’t checked/replaced after a long period of non-op.

Regarding the Camry, if he’s going to keep it it should either be properly stored or operated on a regular basis - long periods of disuse invite interior engine and gear box corrosion, stuck seals, clutch bonding to the flywheel, and invite mildew and rodents (they love to chew wiring). He can learn about all of this with appropriate searches. Also determine whether your state has special registration requirements (and fees) for non-operated vehicles.

@ken2116 Thanks for the info. I want the set to go to a collector and when I get time, I will advertise it. I also have an original equipment radio for a 1951 Studebaker that the original owner gave me before he junked the rest of the car and a Western Auto aftermarket radio that my father-in-law bought for the 1941 Chevy he bought after he returned from WW II. He installed the radio and removed it before he traded the 1941 Chevy for a newer car. We found the radio when we were cleaning out my wife’s parents’ house to put it on the market.
My point is that it is better to let something go so someone else can get some use from it than just let it sit around collecting dust and rotting away. I am sorry I didn’t donate my S-20 R to the scouts many years ago rather than keeping it around and not using it. The Western Auto radio my father-in-law purchased for the 1941Chevy would have been of benefit to the next owner had it been left in the car. I’ve learned through the years if I have something that I won’t use any more to find a way to get it to someone who can get some use from the object.

Actually, that 80 rectifier tube is the least hard to replace. A couple physically small semiconductor diodes soldered across the correct pens of the tube socket and it will work fine with no tube in that socket. A lot of old radio collectors have done that.

@irlandes. You are correct about this. My point was that most vacuum tubes are not that common and I picked the rectifier tube because I remembered the model number.
Over 35 years ago, the church I attend sponsored a Vietnamese refugee family. To help them learn English, it was decided to get a television set for them. Three non-working portable televisions arrived at my house. After working with the sets, I had one set that I was certain would work if I could find a replacement for one of the tubes. When I checked at Radio Shack, I could get the tube on special order for a little over $15. I happened to have been at K Mart the day before and while I was there, the store had a Blue Light Special on a portable TV for $49.95. I reasoned that a $15 vacuum tube was almost 1/3 of the way to a new TV. I then heard that Goodwill fixed sets for resale. I called Goodwill and explained the situation and asked if I could buy used tube of the type I needed. I was told that tubes.were too valuable and were needed for the sets they were fixing up for resale. I was then offered a deal. Goodwill would swap my three non-working portables for a working console set. When I went to pick up the set, it was a big old Dumont console. I had to enlist the help of a friend and his station wagon to transport the set to the family’s second floor apartment. A couple of years later, the family found work in California and moved. Before they left, they wondered what to do with the Dumont television. It still played. I told them to leave it for the next tenants.

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You run the risk of too high a DC voltage output, which may pop a capacitor. Si rectifiers have a voltage drop of a volt or two. I can’t find a good data sheet on the 80, but I’d guess that the drop is about 20 volts.

Although I admit to having done just that myself back in the tube days, a Dynaco amp I think.

Happy to have been of help, both e-Bay and amateur radio clubs are ways to get old radios to those who know what to do with them. You may be able to find takers for the car radios among the antique auto crowd.

If you need to replace the 80 you probably can rewire an old tube base to take a 5Y3 or similar. If substituting semiconductor diodes you may need to include a series resistor (of adequate wattage) to match the vacuum tube’s voltage drop, or build a regulated supply and achieve better frequency stability in the bargain.

Now that we are on to radio talk, I’ve got an old Philco floor model that was my grandfathers. I bought it at his auction for $5 and is about the only thing I have of his. I don’t remember what year off hand but late 40’s I guess or early 50’s. I suppose it should be rewired but I used to use it when I was in high school so it worked then. I really doubt I’ll ever do anything with it and according to web sites is only worth $100 or so.

My car radios work fine though. Been pretty quiet around here though.

So I picked up an old small epiphone amp, off the curb, with a warning note, may shock you. Sold it to a music store for $300, they were like you could get a grounded plug installed and sell it easily for $500 on ebay, I was happy with the $300, and letting them take the liability.

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