The PHILCO Phorum

I've started on this little Philco.  No cracks in the bakelite cabinet but as so often its filthy.



Some water and Krud Kutter and its looking better:


I will probably go ahead and try repainting it if I get the chassis working well. The dial scale is in decent shape with only one small bit of paint loss so I will keep it unless I manage to break it somewhere along in this process.

I thought I already had the right decal to go on the front but after looking at it more closely I realized that the Ivory version of this radio has a gray/sliver colored font.  RadioDaze does have a set of decals sort of similar but not quite right from what I can tell.  Probably as close as I'll get however.


In a previous thread, Morzh described his difficulty with getting the chassis out of the cabinet.  I too had the same issue.  After the knobs and single chassis screw were removed, the chassis was reluctant to release.  Gentle wiggling and prying eventually loosened it up and it came out.

The case looks good and the dial only a little tiny paint loss at 650 AM. The internal antennas on those can be a PITA. Bet it looks nice lit up wwhen done. Good luck.


Paul

I have made some progress on this.  I found some Rustoleum 2x Spray Paint in Gloss Ivory that seems pretty close.  Lightly sanded the existing paint trying also to smooth out the edges where the paint had chipped off.  It went on pretty well.  I did three relatively light coats, let it dry 48 hours and then put on the decal and some clear Deft gloss lacquer.  Ooopps.  I did do a test to see if the paint and lacquer were compatible and they looked ok on a block of wood but when I lacquered the cabinet it developed some wrinkling on the grill section.  I could strip it all off and start over but I tried sanding down the wrinkly sections and repainting with the gloss Ivory.  I covered the rest of the cabinet to avoid overspray.  I think it will be good enough... I should probably have used the Rustoleum 2x clear gloss product. I was using it mainly to put some protection over the decal.

I'll post a final image when its all together and the chassis and dial scale are all reinstalled. 

Looks great so far, Bob. Take care and BE HEALTHY! Gary

That case looks good....nice, I have seen good results with spray cans. When I was a kid they always seemed to have drips and runny spots, I used Rustoleum on my metal radiator covers with good results.

Paul

OK, this one is done, at least for now.  The electronics were all recapped etc., nothing particularly unusual in the process, and it plays nicely on my SSTRAN but reception of the one local AM station we get is not the greatest.  Nevertheless...

Looks slick, probably a radio that was is a gazillion homes.

Paul

hello Bob,
Well that turned out really nice I too own that same radio .
Anyway I have a nice little RCA that I bought that same color paint to use on it so thanks for the tip about not using Lacquer .
I just fired up my Philco 51-930 and electrically restoring it and I also used my SStran .

Sincerely Richard
P.S.I sure enjoy restoring these little Philcos my next restoration far as Philco's go I am thinking is My Philco model 38-10 !

Hi Bob,

Nice job. Looks like Philco got a lot of mileage from that cabinet. My Transitone PT2 from 1942 has the same cabinet but in the dark brown bakelite.

Very nice, looks almost as if it were brand new.

Thanks guys. Have to look for another ivory radio since I now have almost a full can of ivory spray paint