[Groundhog74]

Had yesterday off so I took the 39-117 out to the garage and started replacing the rubber covering on the wiring. The power transformer was especially scary looking. I chose to break off all the old insulation, unsolder whichever end was easiest to access, and slip some heat shrink over it. It was my first foray into this aspect of the hobby. It went fairly well. Got the transformer done. It wasn't too bad to do. Repainted the cover while I had it apart. Now I shouldn't have to worry about any fires. Some of the original stuff up in the area of the pushbutton tuning set-up still looked in good shape, even tho I know the stuff is petrified. It looked realy difficult to get that stuff apart, and since it was still looking ok, and by then my patience was getting a little thin. I let it go. I have to say I hate that stranded wire they used, and I hate the way they wrapped the ends around the solder lugs two or three times before they soldered it in. What a pain in the butt. I also have a console, a 39-40, that will need the same treatment. I'm saving that one for the long winter afternoons.