Topic: 8 Track/Radio ID for 68 GT

[bullitt68]

Can anyone confirm if this is the correct 8 Track/Radio for my car. Thanks

[67gtasanjose]

It is an original 68 Mustang AM-8Track that has had internal retrofit (perhaps AM/FM upgrades, AUX inputs are possible too).
I would think some sort of documentation or booklet may be in the glove box or paperwork for the car.

Once it has been converted, they usually gut all of the original components so most likely it can not be returned to a genuine "Concours" unit.

[bullitt68]

It is an original 68 Mustang AM-8Track that has had internal retrofit (perhaps AM/FM upgrades, AUX inputs are possible too).
I would think some sort of documentation or booklet may be in the glove box or paperwork for the car.

Once it has been converted, they usually gut all of the original components so most likely it can not be returned to a genuine "Concours" unit.

Thanks Richard. I suspected that was the case when I saw the jacks on the back. FYI I thought it was an FM only unit as it I was only able to tune in FM stations. Unfortunately the only paperwork I have on the car is the owners manual and a Marti Report. I will investigate and see what has been done to it and what my options are. There is a local guy here who knows vintage radio's etc. Hopefully he can help me out and point me in the right direction, otherwise I will be on the hint for a correct one. How hard are original ones to come by

[Texas Swede]

I believe I have a 68 Stereo 8/AM radio in my garage. The wires have been cut 4-5 inches away from the chassis
and I don't know if it works. Will dig it out, take the covers off and check if all pieces are there.
Most likely it will need a restoration including a new drive belt. Will also check the numbers.
Texas Swede

[67gtasanjose]

Thanks Richard. I suspected that was the case when I saw the jacks on the back. FYI I thought it was an FM only unit as it I was only able to tune in FM stations. Unfortunately the only paperwork I have on the car is the owners manual and a Marti Report. I will investigate and see what has been done to it and what my options are. There is a local guy here who knows vintage radio's etc. Hopefully he can help me out and point me in the right direction, otherwise I will be on the hint for a correct one. How hard are original ones to come by

Some Retro-conversions switch back & forth from AM to FM (and vice-versa) by turning unit off, then immediately back on. It all depends what internals were used (or re-used) Variants over the years were produced to do the conversions. On a side note, I actually like the idea of (some of) the upgrades, outside the Concours arena anyways. Classic Looks in the dash with modern function and sound-quality. Let's face it, today's factory-installed CHEAP radios blow these 50-year-old units straight out of the water!

[bullitt68]

I believe I have a 68 Stereo 8/AM radio in my garage. The wires have been cut 4-5 inches away from the chassis
and I don't know if it works. Will dig it out, take the covers off and check if all pieces are there.
Most likely it will need a restoration including a new drive belt. Will also check the numbers.
Texas Swede

Thanks Texas Swede I really appreciate it

[Texas Swede]

I found the one in my garage and the front with buttons and dial looks exactly like the one on your picture
but the part number marking on the chassis says D0ZA which means a 1970 model,
 Sorry!

Texas Swede

[bullitt68]

I found the one in my garage and the front with buttons and dial looks exactly like the one on your picture
but the part number marking on the chassis says D0ZA which means a 1970 model,
 Sorry!

Texas Swede

Thanks Swede. I need to learn how to decipher the hieroglyphics on these parts. My understanding is that the internals from my unit have been gutted, but the casing appears to be correct. Do you know what the date code is on my unit? Not sure if I can swap out the internals. I wonder which one would be more acceptable. Mine with swapped guts or yours with wrong year but original guts

[67gta289]

For the date code look at the date code deciphering document in the library

[bullitt68]

For the date code look at the date code deciphering document in the library

Ok thanks John will do

[Bossbill]

In dealing with Ford radios, there are 5 alpha-numeric characters stamped on the case, with the first and the third characters sometimes being blank!
Therefore, you have to look at the whole sequence to decode it since the the blank character is simply skipped and the sequence is collapsed. Wonderful!

Ford (and other manufactures) appear to have used this radio numbering system from 1960 to 1973, sometimes changing the position of characters! More wonderful!
Note that not all Ford radio characters (like full size car radio features) are present in the decode chart, although I've listed a few odd balls entries.

First char=      Radio Style
Second Char= Year                     
Third Char=    Amplification Style
Fourth Char = Manufacturer         
Fifth Char=     Car line

Radio Style
Blank=Standard Radio
C=Canadian Philips (not used in Mustangs, but used for other models)
F=AM/FM Radio
T=AM/8Track
E=electric antenna (not used in Mustangs, but used for other models)

Year
1960 through early 70s Ford uses last digit of year

Amplification Style
Digit=Number of tubes (pre 63)
[blank] =Character totally missing (68 - up)
T=Transistor
S=Silicon Transistors

Maufacturer 
P=Philco
M=Motorola
B=Bendix

Car line
Z=Mustang
F=full-size Ford
M=Mercury
T=Truck
S=Thunderbird
D=Falcon

Examples:
04MD
Blank | 1960 | 4 Tube | Motorola | Falcon

4TBZ
Blank | 1964 | Transistor | Bendix | Mustang

F6TBZ
AM/FM | 1966 |Transistor | Bendix | Mustang

Radio in this thread
T8MZ
AM/8 Track Tape | 1968 | Blank | Motorola | Mustang

9FBZ
In 1969, Bendix went off the rails and the Transistor entry was deemed nonsensical (it appears). In its place the Radio Style appears there.  Worse still a 9FBZ could be either an AM or AM/FM radio with an A suffix used to indicate AM/FM, according to some Bendix literature.
This format appears through 1973 (for Mustang).

There is another sequence for Ford style part numbers, not addressed in this thread.

[This entry may have to be moved to its own thread as it covers many years]

[bullitt68]

In dealing with Ford radios, there are 5 alpha-numeric characters stamped on the case, with the first and the third characters sometimes being blank!
Therefore, you have to look at the whole sequence to decode it since the the blank character is simply skipped and the sequence is collapsed. Wonderful!

Ford (and other manufactures) appear to have used this radio numbering system from 1960 to 1973, sometimes changing the position of characters! More wonderful!
Note that not all Ford radio characters (like full size car radio features) are present in the decode chart, although I've listed a few odd balls entries.

First char=      Radio Style
Second Char= Year                     
Third Char=    Amplification Style
Fourth Char = Manufacturer         
Fifth Char=     Car line

Radio Style
Blank=Standard Radio
C=Canadian Philips (not used in Mustangs, but used for other models)
F=AM/FM Radio
T=AM/8Track
E=electric antenna (not used in Mustangs, but used for other models)

Year
1960 through early 70s Ford uses last digit of year

Amplification Style
Digit=Number of tubes (pre 63)
[blank] =Character totally missing (68 - up)
T=Transistor
S=Silicon Transistors

Maufacturer 
P=Philco
M=Motorola
B=Bendix

Car line
Z=Mustang
F=full-size Ford
M=Mercury
T=Truck
S=Thunderbird
D=Falcon

Examples:
04MD
Blank | 1960 | 4 Tube | Motorola | Falcon

4TBZ
Blank | 1964 | Transistor | Bendix | Mustang

F6TBZ
AM/FM | 1966 |Transistor | Bendix | Mustang

Radio in this thread
T8MZ
AM/8 Track Tape | 1968 | Blank | Motorola | Mustang

9FBZ
In 1969, Bendix went off the rails and the Transistor entry was deemed nonsensical (it appears). In its place the Radio Style appears there.  Worse still a 9FBZ could be either an AM or AM/FM radio with an A suffix used to indicate AM/FM, according to some Bendix literature.
This format appears through 1973 (for Mustang).

There is another sequence for Ford style part numbers, not addressed in this thread.

[This entry may have to be moved to its own thread as it covers many years]

Thanks Bill that is outstanding information. Much appreciated for sharing. I love knowing what the jumbled letters and numbers mean. The great thing is once one understands how to decode we not only can decode ourselves and not have to make more posts asking decoding questions, but we can also help others in the same boat. Great work Bill

[67gtasanjose]

Thanks Swede. I need to learn how to decipher the hieroglyphics on these parts. My understanding is that the internals from my unit have been gutted, but the casing appears to be correct. Do you know what the date code is on my unit? Not sure if I can swap out the internals. I wonder which one would be more acceptable. Mine with swapped guts or yours with wrong year but original guts

CLUE: Nobody is likely to see either choice at any given show. Most judges cannot get that deep up under the dash. If anything at all is noticed, it would be any aftermarket wiring and connectors. FWIW, the radio face also differs from a 70 Mustang 8-track to a 68 version of the same. You should use the original 68 faceplates, pushbuttons and tape door regardless what else you choose that is "behind the scenes". Thoroughbred MCA or other venues of a high-caliber, may have different requirements but +90% of most any other venue does not look closer than the surface, visible areas.

I went through this a few years ago when I had a working 8-track for my 67 (bought to replace my original, mentioned later in this reply), with one speaker bank playing weakly (blown amp they said). I talked to several places and they said that quite simply, unless they changed EVERY item inside, they couldn't or wouldn't even offer a month's warranty...and then, ONLY 30-days. The claim was every item inside a 50-year-old radio is obsolete, that replacement parts are not exactly compatible. We have to pick our battles on such things like this. The radio and the tape-player both worked great on the one side. I gave it to a friend who is an engineer in electronics and after 8-months, I got it back in the same condition. He said they (he and his co-workers) "played with it" a bit but had no idea what to do, even having the schematics. Maybe you can find a 90-year-old who can still do this. I tried that idea too and that (then 80-year-old) LOST my original tape deck, never to be found again!  He died a few years later and I had his kids try and keep an eye out for it but no word ever came back.

These AM/8-tracks had issues right out of the gate so whatever you find will likely not work at all or not work correctly or correctly for very long. If you want it to work & pass muster IN ANY VENUE, a converted unit with factory plug-in leads would be my suggestion.

[J_Speegle]

CLUE: Nobody is likely to see either choice at any given show. Most judges cannot get that deep up under the dash. .............

Depending on the organization, since some allow mirrors and flashlights. Agree the wiring is likely the easiest thing to notice on this sort of application/modification

[bullitt68]

CLUE: Nobody is likely to see either choice at any given show. Most judges cannot get that deep up under the dash. If anything at all is noticed, it would be any aftermarket wiring and connectors. FWIW, the radio face also differs from a 70 Mustang 8-track to a 68 version of the same. You should use the original 68 faceplates, pushbuttons and tape door regardless what else you choose that is "behind the scenes". Thoroughbred MCA or other venues of a high-caliber, may have different requirements but +90% of most any other venue does not look closer than the surface, visible areas.

I went through this a few years ago when I had a working 8-track for my 67 (bought to replace my original, mentioned later in this reply), with one speaker bank playing weakly (blown amp they said). I talked to several places and they said that quite simply, unless they changed EVERY item inside, they couldn't or wouldn't even offer a month's warranty...and then, ONLY 30-days. The claim was every item inside a 50-year-old radio is obsolete, that replacement parts are not exactly compatible. We have to pick our battles on such things like this. The radio and the tape-player both worked great on the one side. I gave it to a friend who is an engineer in electronics and after 8-months, I got it back in the same condition. He said they (he and his co-workers) "played with it" a bit but had no idea what to do, even having the schematics. Maybe you can find a 90-year-old who can still do this. I tried that idea too and that (then 80-year-old) LOST my original tape deck, never to be found again!  He died a few years later and I had his kids try and keep an eye out for it but no word ever came back.

These AM/8-tracks had issues right out of the gate so whatever you find will likely not work at all or not work correctly or correctly for very long. If you want it to work & pass muster IN ANY VENUE, a converted unit with factory plug-in leads would be my suggestion.

Thanks Richard this is great information. I agree with all your suggestions and comments. FYI My 8 track and radio do play well. However I will have to do some work on the speakers. Unfortunately my car Currently has 6x9 speakers installed in the rear side panels, but the good news is I found a pair of used panels that I will replace them with. The dash speaker is completely disintegrated and I need to check the side speakers in the doors as they were not connected. The under dash wiring harness has been butchered by someone, so I do have some work to do. I have been considering the idea of getting some new wiring harnesses or restoring my originals or sending them out to be restored if there is someone who does that kind of work. I am relieved however that my radio and some other parts that I originally thought were not original or correct are turning out to in fact be correct, original and fall within the right date range.