1957/8 Westinghouse B&W TV Conversion to modern - should I do it?

[Broker57]

Our house is decorated in mid-century modern and my wife has been wanting a vintage looking (but modern functioning: cable/dvd) television for our living room. We picked up a Westinghouse floor model set: model H21K256 chassis V2371-31. Internet searches only turn up Sams photofacts dated 1958, but this set does not have the one touch automatic tuning that they were promoting that year.

The set appears to be complete and is in very good cosmetic condition. The set "works" as it turns on and you get static out of the speaker but no picture whatsoever, plus an aroma that told me to turn it off almost immediately.

I'm aware that the electronics need restoration regardless of condition due to paper capacitors etc., hence the idea of retrofitting modern. However, as a total newbie to vintage TV's (i.e. - I know nothing) I don't want to get into gutting out a perfectly good set that may have some restorable value.

So I'm looking for guidance; are Westinghouse sets common enough that removing one more from the pool of originals would not be a travesty, or should I look for a different customizing candidate and let a restorer get their hands on this one?

I've attached a photo...

Thanks for your input!

[tvtimeisfun]

Hello that would be a travisty to destroy that tv post that on this forum for sale I wish I could adopt this set but I have to many.. good luck..

[radio63]

Hi Broker57,

Thank you for having the foresight to ask opinions on this situation. My own opinion would be to save the Westinghouse. Although the later 50s rectangular screen TVs are very common, looks like this one is in very good shape and would deserve to be kept intact.

May I suggest you try to obtain a nice empty vintage TV cabinet. There are a lot of cabinets whose innards are already gone, and this way you could install a new TV inside an already empty cabinet without destroying a set that is still in one piece. Just my opinion.

Whatever you choose to do, good luck, and keep us posted!

Gilbert

[grimer]

Maybe just save the original "guts",so in the future it could be put back to original.

[Electronic M]

You may be able to find a local member to get it working properly for you (if you don't mind watching everything in black and white). Restored tube sets make good daily drivers provided that HD is not important to you. I use a 1971 Zenith color and a 1964 Silvertone round screen color set as my daily drivers, And I am in the process of bringing a very very rare 1955 RCA round screen color back to life which may be added to the daily use list when I have the operational bugs sorted out.

[Broker57]

Thanks for all of the insightful responses, and so quickly too. I don't think my wife is going to be happy with the idea of yet another project put on hold (let me tell you about my Telefunken, Motorola and two Grundig audio consoles sometime).

Radio63: it really IS in nice shape. I hit with it some Old English tonight after posting and the cabinet looks almost brand new. The grill cloth is still in nice condition too. All the more reason she may want to keep it to modify. I just look at it as taking a really clean vintage car (like the 1950 Packard we used to own) and putting a modern drivetrain under the hood. Even though the darn think smoked and got horrible gas mileage, to me it was just too complete and original to tinker with.

Grimer, my original idea was just that; to take the innards out and store them somewhere in the event we wanted to take it back to original. Once I popped the back off and saw the extent of the CRT (including that part that sticks out into the box on the back) I started to think that this is only a recipe for future disaster. I can't imagine where I would store the chassis and not risk damaging the picture tube somehow.

I would consider a restoration but this would definitely have to be a secondary set since I don't think anyone around here is going to tolerate a steady diet of black and white. I'm old enough to remember our original Zenith back in the 60's with the clunk-n-chunk remote control. I didn't even realize that cartoons were in color until after we upgraded to a newer set.

[Eric H]

This set is just waay to nice to gut and repurpose! And yes, Westinghouse is quite a bit less common than RCA or Philco for instance.

There are a lot of junkers out there with broken picture tubes or other fatal flaws that would be a better choice.
I'm sure someone here would be happy to trade one if it was practical.

[Broker57]

As of this morning I am losing the argument on this one. My wife is adamant about a vintage TV with modern insides. I still hesitate to gut this one, so it may become available while I search for a more appropriate candidate. Thanks for all of the suggestions.

[Adam]

If you want a nice reliable color daily use tv with a good picture and cool vintage looks, I'd get a nice Zenith color console from the 70s (or late 1960s) Check out this one I use: it's a 1974, 25", color, with remote, all solid state, and still has the cool vintage looks. My wife likes it too, she uses it all the time. And something like this will probably last you longer than any of that cheaply made modern junk anyway. Just keep the Westinghouse as-is, or restore it and watch old B&W shows and movies it.

[Broker57]

Adam: thanks for the suggestion, I'll start looking out for one. I remember owning a Zenith growing up. Funny thing is, one thing that scared her off about a restoration of a vintage TV is that I was told to count on working on it every few months since things tend to wear out more quickly, like a vintage car (which we also own), particularly if it was used every day instead of occasionally.

True, they were newer back then but I never remember the TV repairman showing up at the house even once. I vaguely remember Dad taking tubes to the corner drugstore and testing them on the checker and that's about it.

[Adam]

Show your wife this thread, "most reliable tv ever made in history?" - and check out the most excellent color picture on the '72 Zenith in post#8: http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=83941

[Charlie]

I have a Westinghouse that's very similar to yours, but has slightly different controls. It, too, has the automatic tuning... press the "bar" to change the station.

The chassis in mine looks pretty good, but the damn yoke cover has disintegrated and left parts on the crt neck quite loose... just dangling there. This is common in many sets of the 50's. Mine is also missing the safety glass.

If you can take a peek inside and notice something that looks like black ash on the chassis under then CRT neck, then yours has the same issue.

[zenith2134]

That's a fine looking set, Charlie.

[Electronic M]

I have some 50's Zenith sets with that same yoke cover disintegration issue.

[jwharris]

I like the idea of reusing or repurposing something old but in this case I am against putting a modern set in here. You will never find a flatscreen that will fit properly and you would have to build a mask to cover the gaps. The roundness of a CRT screen is what gives these TVs their character and you will never achieve that look with a modern screen in there. I suggest finding a big RCA console cabinet with doors that has all the insides missing. That way you can close off the modern part and have your vintage feel when the TV is not in use. Using that Westinghouse will just give you that homemade vintage frankenstein look that isn't flattering at all. I would suggest searching for examples of conversions before starting this project and going to the point of no return in destroying this amazing vintage TV.



Here is an example of a cabinet that was at the local repurpose store in Pittsburgh called Construction Junction. You could find one with a more modern furniture look to it.