[Guest]

The Philco 70 I'm restoring( at least attempting) has bare, frayed speaker wires at the male 4 prong connector that plugs into the rear of chassis. Can I drill out the two rivets,separate the plug and then cut and resolder the wires were the insulation is still good? If this will not work maybe I can cut off the plug and replace with a 4 pin "CP" plug? Thanks in advance for your help.
Bill

[Ron Ramirez]

The Philco 70 I'm restoring( at least attempting) has bare, frayed speaker wires at the male 4 prong connector that plugs into the rear of chassis. Can I drill out the two rivets,separate the plug and then cut and resolder the wires were the insulation is still good? If this will not work maybe I can cut off the plug and replace with a 4 pin "CP" plug? Thanks in advance for your help.
Bill

Yes, absolutely. This is standard operating procedure, especially if you are replacing the old wires with new cloth-covered wires.

Just be careful drilling out those old rivets. That bakelite plug can break quite easily.

[Allen in SB]

I have a similar situation. Does anyone know a source for replacement rivets?

[Chuck Schwark]

I use 3-40 or 2-56 brass screws and nuts and put a "old" patina on them. I put the screw head showing when plugged in and make sure there is only enough screw length to catch the nut for clearance.

Mi dos Centavos

[Guest]

Thanks Ron and Chuck. I carefully drilled off most rivet head on inside of plug with like a 3/16 bit. With a pliers I was able to lift up what was left of rivet head and then I pushed out by hand with correct size punch. When I reassembled I pushed original rivets back in with slip joint pliers and used a center punch to carefully flare rivet head (what was left of it) back out. The brass is soft so it doesn't take much and I followed Ron's suggestion and was careful with bakelite. Then I put drop of super glue down on head to help secure rivet to bakelite. It's not as strong as original but for my needs it should be ok. Bill