[unclevinny86]

Ok folks, I have a fun one for you. Now that I’ve wrapped up my 40-180 project, moving on to attempt to fix up a Truetone D-2103A that belongs to my mother in law and was her family’s radio when she was a little kid. Anyway, chassis is in really good shape, but the cabinet needs a lot of love. Aside from figuring out how to clean up a terrible paint job, I’ve got a huge chunk of the case missing that I need to try to do something with if I can.

Any of you had much luck with such a repair?  I thought about building a backing with resin and fiberglass cloth and then filling the cavity with resin, but curious what’s worked best for you all.

Thanks in advance!

[mikethedruid]

Hi Vinny,

I faced a similar problem with an RCA 5Q55 which I refurbished. The person who shipped it did not pack it well and the bakelite case got badly damaged. Fortunately I still had all the pieces, so I could glue them back together using 2 part epoxy, and then use a little more 2 part epoxy to fill in the cracks. With a little paint over the epoxy it came out looking pretty good. Here is a link to my thread about the refurbishment. https://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=20832

Your idea of using a piece of fiberglass to make a backing for the missing area and then building up Bondo to restore the missing bakelite is a good one. Put on the fiberglass first with its resin, and let it dry good and hard before you attempt to apply the Bondo, but I'm sure you know what you are doing. Good luck with this project. I look forward to hearing about your progress.

Mike

[Kestas]

I've repaired bakelite cabinets using JB Weld. But not with this much material missing. JB Weld is strong and shapeable.

[OZ4]

Here's how I did it.

I repaired one like yours by using foil duct tape to form a mold to fill with two part epoxy.

I cleaned the edges of the case first so the epoxy will stick. Then held the foil mold in place with little clamps and more tape.

 I can't remember if the foil tape just released from the epoxy or if I used something to cause it to release. 

You might try testing some epoxy on the adhesive side first and see if it will release.

I never did get around to painting it.  

   

[Kestas]

After shaping the JB Weld, it was porous enough to color with magic marker.

[unclevinny86]

Thanks all for the suggestions!  I’ll get it cleaned up over the next few weeks and see what magic I can make happen. Still need to go through chassis, ohm out coils, recap, etc. etc. but it’s a pretty simple little AA5 that should be a fun little project.

[radiorich]

Hello UncleVinny,
Some people don't like working on AA5 but I enjoy the break once in a while and they can be fun and fairly easy .
I have a few Sets to repair the Bakelite cabinets one is a real nice Zenith AM/FM very minor crack so no painting just glue and epoxy on the inside .
The one that will be a pain in my Philco it is Styrene .

Sincerely Richard

[unclevinny86]

Well, I managed to get the nasty paint stripped off the cabinet using Citristrip. I tested a small area on the bottom first, saw it worked well and did the rest. Gave everything a good rinse with the garden hose, and called it a day.

Tackled the Bakelite repair tonight. After much debate, ended up using a blend of suggestions. Made a backing using foil duct tape, and filled the cavity using JB Weld Plastic Bonder. At first I thought it was going to cure and flex like rubber, but the longer it cured, the more rigid it got. Should be very sturdy tomorrow. All in all, I’m pleased considering how much material was missing.  Hopefully once it’s painted, it will be barely noticeable.

Waiting on parts and will hopefully get the chassis wrapped up this week.