02-05-2015, 12:04 AM
So. I just bought a Philco 38-116 off of Craigslist for $80, I always thought these looked really awesome and figured I would buy one some day and refinish it and just put in modern electronics and hook up to my computer/phone via bluetooth or wireless.(please don't put me in a cage of gasoline and light me on fire) I am okay at woodworking so I feel confident I can get the case looking nice and it's not really in very bad shape at all. I have posted a link to all of pictures here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/58236519@N...585628966/
I am just figuring out that there is a big community of radio restorers so I wanted to figure out what I would be getting myself into if I actually wanted to restore the guts as well. Keep in mind I'm and engineer so it will probably take me twice as long as a normal human. So, for a complete newbie is it even realistic to be able to restore the electronics, how long in hours should I expect to be able to complete this, and what would be the best case and worst case on getting it up and running again. Also, compared to modern speakers how well do they actually sound, I am worried about spending lots of time and money to restore the electronics and then not ending up very happy with it. I have a small FM transmitter device that I can hook up to my phone/computer and transmit FM so I would be able to pick it up on the console radio, just not sure how good it would sound.
I am not a purist here and new to this so I am not really opposed to just pulling everything out and putting in something modern and easy. (do they sell premade kits for this) That being said... I have no idea about the models, their rarity, or overall historical value. If this radio happens to be a particularly rare & expensive model then I would spend more time considering a full restore, but if you guys tell me that these are a dime a dozen then I might lean more towards new insides if it is something that would be very difficult to fix on my own.
Just curious what the experts say on this and also wondering if the $80 I spent was too high.
Be gentle I'm new.
Bill
https://www.flickr.com/photos/58236519@N...585628966/
I am just figuring out that there is a big community of radio restorers so I wanted to figure out what I would be getting myself into if I actually wanted to restore the guts as well. Keep in mind I'm and engineer so it will probably take me twice as long as a normal human. So, for a complete newbie is it even realistic to be able to restore the electronics, how long in hours should I expect to be able to complete this, and what would be the best case and worst case on getting it up and running again. Also, compared to modern speakers how well do they actually sound, I am worried about spending lots of time and money to restore the electronics and then not ending up very happy with it. I have a small FM transmitter device that I can hook up to my phone/computer and transmit FM so I would be able to pick it up on the console radio, just not sure how good it would sound.
I am not a purist here and new to this so I am not really opposed to just pulling everything out and putting in something modern and easy. (do they sell premade kits for this) That being said... I have no idea about the models, their rarity, or overall historical value. If this radio happens to be a particularly rare & expensive model then I would spend more time considering a full restore, but if you guys tell me that these are a dime a dozen then I might lean more towards new insides if it is something that would be very difficult to fix on my own.
Just curious what the experts say on this and also wondering if the $80 I spent was too high.
Be gentle I'm new.
Bill
