I gave it a bit of a cleaning and it's a little better.
I'm not a fan of painting chassis in general, but I think I'll give it a go on this one. So much of the cad plating is gone.

Here's a little test I did last summer using "stainless steel" (top) and "chrome" (bottom) enamel spray paint. I think the chrome is a pretty good match for cadmium plating.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/...707761fe_z.jpg

I removed that grungy tuning cap and gave it a bath. Then used some naval jelly to remove the rust.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5244/...0d97ee4d_z.jpg

That gave me a chance to repack the planetary drive bearings too.
I washed off all this old grease and gunk using WD-40 and repacked with general purpose white lithium grease.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5206/...1e96e6c6_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5164/...7a9ddc87_z.jpg

I sprayed the copper fork thingy with contact cleaner to make sure the movable plates were making good contact with ground.
It's working very well now :)
Physically that is. I still need to get the radio working electrically ;)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/...4e59c295_z.jpg

Wow, you and PaulOF have both got me really excited about trying to make my radio look better. I fixed it electronically, but its appearance can definitely use the tender loving care you guys have shown your sets. Looks like I'll be getting some 0000 steel wool, Gojo, and some Restor-a-Finish tomorrow.

I've heard about Gojo for a while but have never tried it. Last weekend while picking up an air filter I noticed some right next to the register and finally picked some up. Can't wait to try it on something :D

I also stumbled across these Bob Flexner furniture restoration videos recently. Great tips on sprucing up an old finish, stripping, staining, grain filing, etc. Fantastic stuff :yes:

Here's a link to part one of seven: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GChxt...yer_detailpage

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Oh wow. What a beautiful job on that tuning condensor. On the chassis, I'm curious about what those two big old fahnstock clips on either side of the filter cap clamps are for.

That tuning condenser looks delicious! Beautiful.

Of the hand cleaners for use on cabinets, I really like Goop Orange with no pumice. It smells great (you'd wish you could eat it!) and does a good job on cabinets and on hands. I get mine at Horror Fright.

Paul: Fahnestock clips: Philco liked to use those for antenna & ground connections.

Thanks! Citri-Strip reminds me of orange pudding - so tempting to take a taste :)

Yep, those are the ground and antenna connections.

I love how you explain and document your work. Great job!

Thanks. I figure the tuning knob sees the most use so it should have a smooth action.

This radio was missing two of the hex knobs. Since then I've picked up a couple more smaller knobs and one larger.
I think the original used four small, but I really like having the one larger knob on the tuner.

Thanks for the link on furniture restoration. I'll definitely give those videos a watch before I start.

Personally, I love the smell of Gojo because it always brings back memories of my dad. He was an auto mechanic and used it religiously for cleaning the grease off his hands. I figure if it was good enough for that, it can take off 70 years of accumulated grease and oil on my radio.

He goes fast in those videos but covers an amazing amount of topics. I definitely recommend repeated viewings.
I got some of the lithium grease on my hands and boy does it stick. I was glad to have the Gojo handy.


I've been putting weight on it for about a day and it is showing signs of improvement. We're heading into another cold spell though so I'll need to put it near a space heater to keep it warm.

They told me that back home the little theatre group actors, to take the makeup off their face, used ......they needed so much of it, that they used......cans of Crisco!

wheres the youtubes ?

It's starting to show some signs of life :)
I pulled the 80 and simulated it's filament with a power resistor. With about 110 VAC on the primary, all the secondary voltages are looking good.
The #47 dial bulb was blown, but I had a replacement handy.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/...5608b2af_z.jpg

YOUTUBES. hehe.

Maybe in a couple days. I don't have time to do the editing.