[Kenradio]

Good morning, I just bought a pretty nice Philco 37-690 on the auction site and my brother and I will be picking it up on 4/28. I have a few questions--what is the best position to haul the radio so it won't do any damage to the cabinet or the chassis inside (will be hauling it in a Toyota Sienna minivan)? I know there is a rear screw holding the receiver chassis but is the power amplifier fastened to the bottom of the cabinet? It will be a 5 hour trip from NW Indiana back to NW Ohio and I want to make sure it gets back to my place without any damage. I'll be restoring the radio after I finish on the cabinet of my 37-116. Thanks,  Ken

[Ron Ramirez]

Hi Ken

I would strongly suggest that you remove the tuner and amp chassis as well as the woofer and place these in large plastic totes or large boxes. Then you can lay the cabinet face up in your van - or face down if you have thick blankets under the cabinet. Face up would prevent damage to the door pull knobs.

The cabinet is very heavy, even without the tuner, amp and woofer inside. I would not attempt to move it with these components inside the cabinet. The amp is supposed to be bolted in, but it may not be - especially if it has ever been serviced. And one little screw is not going to hold the tuner chassis. For the safety of the radio and your own peace of mind, remove the tuner, amp and woofer before moving the radio.

Congratulations, good luck and safe trip...

[Kenradio]

Thanks for the info Ron, I'll remove the receiver, power amplifier & woofer before my brother and I bring it back--don't want anything to get damaged. I'll round up some boxes for the components before I pick it up.  Have a great day!  Ken

[Phlogiston]

TIP:  When you put a cabinet face-up in your van/truck, place the top of the cabinet at the rear of the bed. This way when you drag the cabinet out, you will not peal the veneer off of the top.

[morzh]

Also

When removing the woofer (tweeters can stay) be careful : if 37-690 is the same in the way the acoustic arrangement is, there is a large buffle wooden cone under the he woofer so when pulling it out, maneuver it such that the wood cone doesn't damage the woofer's paper cone.
Also take the same precaution when replacing the woofer.

Before replacing, inspect the wooden cone for cracks: they do fall apart and the loose piece could damage the paper cone. Did in mine.

[Phlogiston]

Also

When removing the woofer (tweeters can stay) be careful : if 37-690 is the same in the way the acoustic arrangement is, there is a large buffle wooden cone under the he woofer so when pulling it out, maneuver it such that the wood cone doesn't damage the woofer's paper cone.
Also take the same precaution when replacing the woofer.

Before replacing, inspect the wooden cone for cracks: they do fall apart and the loose piece could damage the paper cone. Did in mine.

Yeah, you can't see it until it is too late - unless your grillcloth is gone.

[morzh]

Russ

Mine disintegrated and fell making a big gaping hole in the cone. Probably way before I bought it.
It separated very neatly as if cut to make two cones, one on top and the cut base. It as easy putting it back together: drilled a hole through, put some glue, put a long wood screw to hold the two together: qith the glue I think it'll hold forever. But I wonder, the way it separated, if it was made from two glued cones in the first place: the separation surfaces were very clean.

[Kenradio]

Thanks Mike & Russ, I didn't think about which way to load the cabinet. I don't want to damage the veneer or damage the woofer removing it--I'll be using thick blankets on the floor of the van for extra cushioning. On my 37-116 I knew there was a wooden cone in front of the speaker so I carefully moved the woofer back and pulled it up at a slight angle and cleared the cone. I'm following Ron's advice and put the chassis in boxes to protect them during transport. I've been waiting for a long time to get a 37-690 and can hardly wait to get it home but I have to wait till I get the cabinet done on my 37-116 to start restoration.  Ken

[Kenradio]

Good morning, just picked up my Philco 37-690 radio and finished dusting it out. Looking forward to start restoration soon--the main speaker & both high frequency speakers are good and I checked the range 2 oscillator coil and found it to be good also. I also replaced 3 metal tubes, one wrong knob and the missing 5X4G rectifier tube. It is missing the bottom receiver chassis plate so I'll have to fabricate something for that.  The cabinet is in very nice shape with no veneer damage.    Ken

[morzh]

I hope you are not planning to turn it on without full recap.
Good luck!

[Kenradio]

Hi Mike, not planning to power it up until all capacitors are replaced---both chassis are untouched underneath but not sure why the receiver chassis plate is missing. I got it cleaned up for now--just ordered all the rubber tuner & chassis support grommets and checking to see how many caps I will need to order. Looking forward to starting the restoration of the radio.    Ken

[Electrothaumaturgist]

Hard to find anything in that good of condition. What a great project and beautiful radio!!! ENJOY!!!  

[morzh]

Yeas, very clean and nice.

[Phlogiston]

If I had one I'd leave the doors open.

[Paul Philco322]

Looks like a beauty, no room in my inn for anything that large.

Paul