'74 radio

[bengrove]

Forgive the ignorance, I'm a 73-87 newbie.  I just bought a '74 Chevy Cheyenne in pretty good condition and mostly original.  All the electricals work except the original AM radio, which has no sound at all, not even static.  Is it most likely the speaker connection that's dead or the radio?  Or is it too hard to say from this info alone?  I've found it very difficult to get to the back of the radio, especially with a long black plastic vent under the dashboard, which I was reluctant to pull out.  Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Ben.

[micrys5150]

Ben, welcome to a truck that you're gonna love! Need more info: does the light to the radio come on? Is there a speaker in the dash? You pull off the knobs and there is a nut on each shaft that holds the stereo onto the dash. Remove those nuts and the stereo should drop down below the dash so you can check the connections. Should only be one speaker in the center of the dash with a positive and a negative wire running from the unit to the speaker. Support the unit from underneath before just letting it drop, though! Only other wires will be a hot lead from the fuse box, a ground wire going to the chassis or dash metal and the antenna connection. If all of these are connected (and first thing to check anyway!) Is the fuse on the fuse block blown? Check that first, before tearing the unit out. Good luck! Mike and Crystal