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My 38-690 Project - tbone - 07-07-2018

I have always wanted a really high end console radio that I could actually afford. The 1000Z, Baby Strats, Scott sets were pretty much out of my range. I got lucky back in October 2017 and I purchased a 38-690 locally here in CT from an ARF Member. It was only a 2 hour round trip and my brother in-law helped me get it home. The radio was sold in operating condition, but there were issues. Knowing that I was planning on a full restoration, I would tackle each item one at a time.

I did a post in the refinishing thread when I was working on the cabinet, but I figured I'd show the complete radio project from start to finish.

Here is a list of what needed to be done.

Repair the previous electronic restoration. Many bad solder connections were found, and caps were missed. Also many out of tolerance resistors, and 2 candohms that will be replaced. Note: There were no paper caps left for me to restuff, so I left it alone and stuck with modern caps.

Stuff the electrolytic cans with 630 V film caps.

Rebuild the RF sub chassis. only two caps were replaced and all the rest were original.

Paint the rusty main chassis, sub chassis, and power/amp chassis.

Repair the cracked dial. It was spinning loosely.

Repair the audio muting switch.

Perform an Alignment.

Refinish the cabinet. A poor attempt at refinishing before left me with a layer of polyurethane to remove.

Here are the before pictures. More to follow.                    

RE: My 38-690 Project - tbone - 07-07-2018

Here are some pictures of the Chassis's. You can see that it's not horrible, but there is rust and those really bad solder connections.

RE: My 38-690 Project - morzh - 07-07-2018

Before pics are not bad at all. This radio is in good shape.

RE: My 38-690 Project - Richie - 07-07-2018

I have this same model. Mine is just slightly different. Mine has a round knob in the center of console & i also have a brass tag on the front. It says exact replica of the ten  millionth philco built for walton jones.
Cant find any info on the tag. Yours looks great.

RE: My 38-690 Project - tbone - 07-07-2018

Pictures of the restored chassis's with new caps and candohms. I like the look of everything freshly painted.

While I was in the amp chassis I found that the tweeter wiring needed to be corrected so that the speakers were in phase. I followed the post that Ron made to correct this issue. In addition, I found the audio Transformer wires reversed, or at least the colors did not match the schematic. Once corrected I had much more volume. To top it off, I replaced the coupling cap with a 4.7uF film cap which really gave the tweeters presence.

I threw in the sub chassis photo, as I had it out to replace caps, resistors, and clean the switches.

RE: My 38-690 Project - tbone - 07-07-2018

Here is the finished product. Thanks to the input I received in the refinish post, I was able to get the nice finish I really wanted. It took pretty much all winter and half of spring to get this done. I had to learn how to use a spray gun, properly color the radio, and rub out the finish. This takes a lot of time as you know, then add work and household chores in the mix, and it takes even longer.

A special thank you to Ron for getting me the radio chassis front bumpers. Now my dial is protected from hitting the cabinet and everything lines up nicely. And thank you to the members that provided help along the way.

I really love how this radio turned out. While it was a learning experience, the process has quieted many fears I had working on such a big complex project. It's going to be a pleasure listening to it every morning before work. I can stream music to my transmitter as well, and when winters comes, I'll hear Zoomer Radio live again.

RE: My 38-690 Project - tbone - 07-07-2018

Mike,

The original pictures don’t show the runs on the front panel well. But that was the point where I decided to just refinish it.

RE: My 38-690 Project - VntgRads - 07-07-2018

Absolutely beautiful work, Tony!  All aspects of your restoration are top notch.  A radio such as that deserves nothing but the best and that's what it received!  Even my wife would allow that beautiful console in the house!

Craig R

RE: My 38-690 Project - Bill Bacco - 07-08-2018

Great job! The radio looks really good. How did you paint the chassis? Did you remove everything and spray it or did you use a brush to get around things.

RE: My 38-690 Project - LarryFS - 07-08-2018

Wow!  Your time was well spent on creating a masterpiece!

RE: My 38-690 Project - tbone - 07-08-2018

Hi Bill

I used Rustoleum Satin Nickle Metalic spray paint.

https://spraypaint.rustoleum.com/products/universal-metallic-spray-paint/

I took of the major components off the radio and sub chassis. The IF transformers and all coils had the covers removed and then they were masked off. I took the time to block off any openings that the paint could get into. Metallic paint under a chassis near wiring could have a bad outcome.

I put wide masking tape over the tube sockets and cut off the excess with an exacto knife leaving a small disk over just the socket. Also, the piece that the tube shields go over was cleaned and masked off.

On the amp chassis, I removed the caps and filter chokes as the needed painting.
I masked around the power transformers and painted them on the chassis. Then they were masked off and the chassis was painted.

The tube shields were painted with a chrome paint. Maybe not as shiny as original, but better than they were.

Took some time, but the outcome was worth it. I couldn’t leave the rust showing when the cabinet was going to look nice.

RE: My 38-690 Project - brianbbs67 - 07-11-2018

Man, that is great work.