I even have the AM/FM that came from my 1970 RR that I had crushed in 1980! Wonder if that is worth anything, though it has been on the shelf for 39 years, wonder if it still works?)
Go to ForBbodiesOonly.com and offer it for sale there. There are some who wants stock radios (for resto's) and some who want cores for radio upgrades (working or not).
I would say there is a good chance your radio still works, if it didn’t get wet – if it was working when removed, that is. There are companies who will restore those older factory radios as well.
I am having what I think are ground problems for my antenna and I do not want to upgrade until that gets figured out.
The antenna wire probably has a broken wire inside. If someone roughly removes the antenna wire from radio, it can break the wire inside the cable. I have even done it myself (don't tell anyone . . . ).
The antenna wire does not ground at the fender, per se. The antenna cable has an outer sleeve (stainless mesh wire) that goes on outside of wire that grounds the radio chassis to the fender. It doesn’t ground the radio electronics though. The mesh wire is to keep electrical interference away (being picked up) as much as possible. It won't stop spark plug electrical interference sense that is being radiated out past the fenders.
Tip: If you listen to the radio much, use resistor spark plugs and/or resistor spark plug wires (which is what the factory uses).
A good way to test existing antenna, is to
find another known good automotive antenna (almost any brand, OE or aftermarket), and plug it into the radio. Take the cable/mast outside of car and keep the antenna mast from touching a person or metal object. Turn on radio and test.
If signal is better, then you have a bad antenna cable. The antenna mast is just a piece of steel (stainless?) and it can’t go bad (except for getting bent).
If signal is the same, then problem is most likely your old radio.
Note: FM radio prefers a 31” (787 mm) antenna length.
AM radio prefers as long as an antenna as you can get (the longer the better) – but will work OK with a 31” long one.
Going off subject a bit, I have a few spare Chrysler radios. What I did was took one and wired it up to a 12v power supply. Took four 6x9 speakers and enclosed in plywood boxes and put in the four corners of my garage. Took a cheap Pull-a-Part antenna assembly ($10) and mounted on roof and used an eBay automotive antenna wire extension. Flip a switch when I walk unto the garage and instant music. With the radio pre-sets, I can also listen to the OU football games (or other things) and back with ease. Can even pick up radio stations about a four-hour driving distance away, sense the antenna is high and I live on a hill.
The 12-volt power supply is suppling power to radio full time (for clock and memory) and the switch I wired in turns on the radio (like the ignition switch would). If I used an older mechanical (like F-body) radio, I wouldn’t need the clock/memory power – but I prefer the electronic tuning.
BudW