[Healeys] The radio tells the tales?

[Editorgary at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/15/11 9:05:08 AM, healeys-request at autox.team.net
writes:


> And don't forget the radio (if fitted)
> ;-)
> Chris
> Don't want to destroy a perfectly good AM Radio.
> After all, it the only way to listen to all 3 kinds of music (at least 
> here in Australia). Country, Western, and Rock 'n roll...
> ;-)
> Chris
>
Wouldn't the radio tell the tale? If it has a switch on the back, that will
show positive or negative ground. If it has no switch, and it's English
manufacture, then wouldn't that prove the car had to be positive ground (but
of
course that would just have selections for the BBC stations)? Likewise, if
it's a Philco, or Motorola or something similar, that is, American
manufacture, with no change-over button on the back, then wouldn't it have to
be
negative ground.?
But, in fact, given the ease with which a car can be converted from
positive to negative, and there's no battery, couldn't the owner just decide
whether he wanted it to be positive ground or negative ground and install the
battery with the appropriate terminal hooked to the body and/or cut-off
switch,
and the other to the starter/engine and just go off on his merry way? If he
wanted to experiment further, he could switch the coil wiring back and forth
to see if it ran better one way or the other. Likewise, if the tach works
then the car is the right polarity or the tach doesn't care. and if the tach
doesn't work, then the polarity is wrong, and either the tach or the battery
can be changed to make it happy.

Otherwise, what's the big deal?
Gary