Circa '55 Admiral K2216 21" B&W TV/radio/phono combo

[radiotvnut]

Someone brought this sad looking Admiral K2216 21" B&W TV/radio/phonograph combo by and wanted me to give him $20 for it. After looking at the cabinet, I declined. As we talked, he said it would be busted up for scrap and wanted to know what I'd give him. I offered $10 and he took it. As can be seen; the cabinet is a mess, the control door won't stay closed, the grille cloth needs to be replaced, and the channel knob is missing. The good part is that the chassis looks complete and the CRT, a Tung-Sol replacement, tested very strong after being on the tester for a little while. I'm still debating on rather to try and restore this or part it out. I'm sure it will be a nice set; but, I'm really not that good at refinishing cabinets. Maybe this should be one I practice on. At least the CRT is good and that alone is probably worth $10 if I end up parting this out. Anyone here have one of these or have any memories of working on them? Here's a brief youtube video I made of this set:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHaMnN50zFc

[truetone36]

It may not be as bad as it looks. The cabinet is really dirty and there are a few large scratches in the finish, but all may not be lost. I would say that Old English scratch cover is gonna be your friend here. Try that route first before you do anything drastic.

[Sandy G]

If I were closer...No, the wife sez NO MORE tellavishuns...For awhile, anyhoo...

[David Roper]

Like I said elsewhere (it's too sound advice to not give twice) I have at least three 21" sets with decent cabinets crying out for a good tube. You might find such a set next. Liberate the good parts that they may give life.

[dieseljeep]

The set looks like it has a 21ZP4 CRT. A highly usable tube. It's more like a 54 model set. A little beat to consider a restorable piece.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by David Roper

Like I said elsewhere (it's too sound advice to not give twice) I have at least three 21" sets with decent cabinets crying out for a good tube. You might find such a set next. Liberate the good parts that they may give life.

Depends on where you live.....Some places 50's and even 40's sets go begging and others if you can even find a pre-solid-state set you've lucked out.

If you want to learn cabinet restoration that is a nice set to do it on....Not terribly collectable and cheap(so you won't feel bad if you botch it), and it is packed with decent usable features that most TV's of that cabinet size didn't have so you can get more use out of it than most others of that cabinet size if you restore it.

[Reece]

The idea about Old English is good, but first, get yourself some Goop orange hand cleaner in the bottle like hand lotion, this is the NON pumice type. I've got it from auto parts stores and at Harbor Freight. Clean up the cabinet with that and lots of paper towels. Then go the Old English route and see what you've got. Instead of Old English after cleaning, you could also just wipe on some stain where the raw wood is showing through.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

Depends on where you live.....Some places 50's and even 40's sets go begging and others if you can even find a pre-solid-state set you've lucked out.

If you want to learn cabinet restoration that is a nice set to do it on....Not terribly collectable and cheap(so you won't feel bad if you botch it), and it is packed with decent usable features that most TV's of that cabinet size didn't have so you can get more use out of it than most others of that cabinet size if you restore it.

I'm in an area where I'm doing good to find a pre-solid state set. The '50's sets that I find are usually in this condition, or worse. I could have bought a similar looking Motorola at a local antiques store for $20; but, the finish was bad, the back was missing, and the CRT neck was busted. I did buy a '53 Silvertone console for $40 that had a decent cabinet and good CRT off CL. I thought $40 was a little much; but, I had visions of it either getting dumped or turned into something besides a TV.

[AUdubon5425]

I'd get a cheap can of Goop/Gojo/store brand hand cleaner w/o pumice (like Reece said - the white stuff works too.) Get a rag and a bucket with some water with a little bit of dishsoap in it. Wipe off the area real good with that to get the loose dirt off, then try rubbing the Gojo on with some #0000 steel wool, wiping clean again with the rag. Don't have to use much pressure, but that should cut through most of the crap on the cabinet.

[mstaton]

Is that CRT neck cover original? Looks way too long.

[David Roper]

Sure it's original. Look at the extension of the chassis shelf, it sticks out just beyond the cup to prevent necking. My '52 Admiral is the same way.

[mstaton]

It's hard to tell. Looks like it would be easy to duplicate if needed. maybe it's just the angle of the shot.