Radio Compatibility

[FuzzyDriver]

Interesting. The '63 Falcon radio I bought has shafts that are too short. And now the '65 shafts are too long? Greaaaaat...

I'm really just wanting a radio to listen to. Sure, it would be nice if it had USB (not Bluetooth), but if it would fit right and work, I'd be happy enough.

[FuzzyDriver]

Big ‘64 mercury radio’s fit ‘64 Comets using the normal face plate. Am/Fm radio’s use an unique faceplate but also interchange between big ‘64 Merc’s and ‘64 Comets. The factory Am/Fm radio was a rare option in ‘64, I once owned a ‘64 Parklane Marauder that had the Am/Fm option, my Cyclone also has that option although I do not have it installed in the car. My music comes from under the hood.
Jim

Jim, do you know if the big '64 Mercury radios that fit '64 Comets were made by Bendix and carry the 4TBM part number (rather than the Motorola 4TME the service manual says goes in the Comet)?

Fine with me if it says "Mercury" on the dial rather than "Comet". Is this the
'big' Mercury radio you were talking about? It's a 4TBM. It DOES look like it might work:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/276261882775

[A/FX]

Big ‘64 mercury radio’s fit ‘64 Comets using the normal face plate. Am/Fm radio’s use an unique faceplate but also interchange between big ‘64 Merc’s and ‘64 Comets. The factory Am/Fm radio was a rare option in ‘64, I once owned a ‘64 Parklane Marauder that had the Am/Fm option, my Cyclone also has that option although I do not have it installed in the car. My music comes from under the hood.
Jim

Jim, do you know if the big '64 Mercury radios that fit '64 Comets were made by Bendix and carry the 4TBM part number (rather than the Motorola 4TME the service manual says goes in the Comet)?

Fine with me if it says "Mercury" on the dial rather than "Comet". Is this the
'big' Mercury radio you were talking about? It's a 4TBM. It DOES look like it might work:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/276261882775

I will have to look at my radio tomorrow, I am not sure about the AM radios, my Cyclone had an AM/FM ( picture I posted) and my Parklane Marauder also had an AM/FM, I do remember they were the exact same radio, just the face plates were different.
Jim

[poboyjo65]

Looking at that one on ebay link I think I can see the differences in 64 in that link & 65 radios, the knob shafts on that one look to be lower in relation to the dial face,whereas a 65 radio knobs are higher & same height as the dial face.

[FuzzyDriver]

Just took some measurements. The center of the dial opening is 1/8" below the centerlines of the knob openings on my '64 bezel. None of the item photos are straight on shots so it's difficult to be sure, but it looks like the knobs are farther than that below the dial....and now it's worse: Two of the eBay listing say their radios are for 1964 big Mercury's.

And the photos are of completely different radios.

[poboyjo65]

I found a 64 am already sold. but we can look at pics of it. I think it is the correct one.
https://www.ebay.ph/itm/334859630243

I stole some pics from the listing of it





also a pic of a 64 fm showing shaft location & opening differences from am.



this is the am from ebay link,looks just like the face above in the bezel .

[FuzzyDriver]

Thought I was having deja vu at first! The seller in your 'already sold' link has ANOTHER one (https://www.ebay.ph/itm/334859633711) that they say is a 1964 Comet radio. I thought the buyer returned it and so I could have a go at it. Buuuuuut...look at the pictures, the radio's are different! The one they haven't sold yet is a Motorola and is a couple inches wider than the "sold" one. They can't both be 1964 Comet!

[poboyjo65]

But do you have pics of the Motorola in a 64 bezel like I posted above?

[A/FX]

Big ‘64 mercury radio’s fit ‘64 Comets using the normal face plate. Am/Fm radio’s use an unique faceplate but also interchange between big ‘64 Merc’s and ‘64 Comets. The factory Am/Fm radio was a rare option in ‘64, I once owned a ‘64 Parklane Marauder that had the Am/Fm option, my Cyclone also has that option although I do not have it installed in the car. My music comes from under the hood.
Jim

Jim, do you know if the big '64 Mercury radios that fit '64 Comets were made by Bendix and carry the 4TBM part number (rather than the Motorola 4TME the service manual says goes in the Comet)?

Fine with me if it says "Mercury" on the dial rather than "Comet". Is this the
'big' Mercury radio you were talking about? It's a 4TBM. It DOES look like it might work:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/276261882775

My radio is a Bendix with the 4TBM number, dated 4/64, installed 6/64.
As shown in the picture it does not have Comet or Mercury on the face.
I hope this helps
Jim

[poboyjo65]

Here a page that shows the 64 am ,has the number that you said was in the manual (motorola 4TME) & it looks like the one in the ebay sold link & looks like the pics I posted from that ad. Which also looks like the am pic with it in the bezel. The shafts do look shorter than 65's.

So I think this one on this link for radio ID is the same as the one in the sold ad & pics above & is the correct image of the one you need.

https://www.retroradioshop.com/pages/id ... -small-mid
pic from link



Here is a radio manual for the 4TME & pic looks like the one on the link below & the sold link .

pic from manual link ^^
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234976976986?c ... xeEALw_wcB



& here's a link to a 64 am for sale though it looks ruff; https://www.ebay.com/itm/204259665260?_ ... 0667.m2042



pic from ebay radio link ^^

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204259665260?_ ... 0667.m2042

[FuzzyDriver]

I bought a 1964 big Mercury AM radio and.....it does not fit in a 1964 Comet bezel.

The radio I got is model 4TBM. There is a YouTube video of a 1964 Monterey owner removing and replacing his stock radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSdQLF-MLQU (I did not see this video before I bought mine) Here is a photo I took of my 4TBM and my 4TME side by side. It is obvious once you get them together that the 1964 Comet (right) and 1964 Monterey (left) radio's are not interchangeable. The shafts are much lower and the buttons are much higher on the Monterey 4TBM:



Hopefully this information helps anyone else looking to put a radio into his baby.

Just for you guys wondering about the "4TME" in the photo, this is why I'm looking for a radio. The "radio" that was in my Comet when I bought is the guts of a real 4TME that some PO had substituted for the real factory radio. Only the front of the cabinet, dial, buttons, and knob shafts are there, epoxied in place so you can make it look like a real radio when you're sitting in the car. Does anyone know why this thing exists?

[poboyjo65]

I bought a 1964 big Mercury AM radio and.....it does not fit in a 1964 Comet bezel.
The radio I got is model 4TBM. There is a YouTube video of a 1964 Monterey owner removing and replacing his stock radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSdQLF-MLQU (I did not see this video before I bought mine) Here is a photo I took of my 4TBM and my 4TME side by side. It is obvious once you get them together that the 1964 Comet (right) and 1964 Monterey (left) radio's are not interchangeable. The shafts are much lower and the buttons are much higher on the Monterey 4TBM:

Hopefully this information helps anyone else looking to put a radio into his baby.
Just for you guys wondering about the "4TME" in the photo, this is why I'm looking for a radio. The "radio" that was in my Comet when I bought is the guts of a real 4TME that some PO had substituted for the real factory radio. Only the front of the cabinet, dial, buttons, and knob shafts are there, epoxied in place so you can make it look like a real radio when you're sitting in the car. Does anyone know why this thing exists?

The one on the right is not for a 64 comet .Both have the wrong mercury dial for a 64 comet. If you notice the mercury script is below the numbers.

64 comet am radios had the mercury script above the numbers like the pics I posted in an earlier post above.

The pic I posted with the purple background can be seen in the Radio Identification site . the link to the site is above the purple pic in my earlier post above, click on the site then scroll down,,, look for that same pic with purple background to see it & model number,model/year of car .

You can also find the big merc radios on there for comparison by clicking on ''Mecurys fullsize" . both of your radios in your pic have dial faces like the big mercury am's. looks like buttons on the 64 big merc ams are same as 64 comet buttons . so you should have plenty of spare buttons now!




64 comet with am on barrett jackson last week,it has the mercury script above the numbers;

[FuzzyDriver]

I guess I didn't explain clearly enough. There is no way that I could be sure the "4TME" on the right is really a 4TME. As I said, it is only a cabinet front, knobs, dial, and buttons. There is nothing else. Nothing. I used 4TME (in quotes) because it DOES fit in a 1964 Comet bezel. That's really all I was getting at. I only used it to compare to the Monterey 4TBM radio I bought to show that the Monterey radio doesn't fit. It's pretty obvious the "4TME" isn't real since it has no dial surround, epoxy holding the shafts in place (there's no controls behind the shafts), no output transistor in the lower right corner - nothing. It's just a fake, so the dial being wrong...well, that's just spoiled icing on the rotten cake.

Whoever made the fake 4TME was just trying to force it to fit in a 1964 Comet bezel - and it does fit.

Both have the wrong mercury dial for a 64 comet.

Like I said, the radio on the left is a 1964 Monterey radio (and probably other 1964 big-Mercs, too), so there's no surprise it doesn't have a 64 Comet dial - that would be really weird if it did.

I'm having trouble understanding what you are trying to explain. Yup, the 1964 'big' Merc radio on the retroradioshop site is correct. It's the same radio as the radio on the left side of my photo.

All I was trying to do is show for future readers with radio sourcing issues like mine is that the 1964 big-Merc 4TBM radio won't fit in a 1964 Comet.

[poboyjo65]

I'm having trouble understanding what you are trying to explain.

I bought a 1964 big Mercury AM radio and.....it does not fit in a 1964 Comet bezel.

It is obvious once you get them together that the 1964 Comet (right) and 1964 Monterey (left) radio's are not interchangeable.



Hopefully this information helps anyone else looking to put a radio into his baby.

you put up a pic & called it a 64 comet radio (the one on the right), I'm trying to explain a couple things for anyone else looking for a 64 comet am radio,,, that in your pic the radio on the right is NOT what the correct am radio looks like for a 64 comet , & also I posted pics of what a 64 comet am radio actually looks like, & a link to a site to verify it.

[FuzzyDriver]

You're right, I was not clear at all in my original post. I did not know at the time that not only was it messed up, but that it also wasn't even based on a real 4TME, even if it did fit. I don't want to mess up future readers; should I edit my post or delete it?