[Bill Hutchinson]

Here's the latest.

I've got a working chassis. My cap order came in on Thursday, and over the last couple of days worked on replacing the paper caps and the out of spec resistors. I borrowed a couple of 41's, an 84 and a 7C6 from other radios. Replaced the power cord, installed a fuse, and brought it up slow. It makes sounds, and most of them are good.

With just my index finger as an antenna, I was able to pull in a couple of the local powerhouses. Good enought for the initial run.

There are some other assorted issues to deal with, such as dirty pots and switches, it needs an alignment, a couple of lamps need replacing, and the rubber covered wires need replacing (there weren't any exposed sections for the initial test).

The biggest problem I ran into today was running out of time to continue. Bummer.

But it works! Not a bummer!

More details as they develop.

Bill

[Chuck Schwark]

Yea! Another Philco rescued from the March of Time.



A vintage radio is not just furniture - it's heritage.

[Bill Hutchinson]

Here's another update.

I've got it back in the cabinet, and it sounds GOOD!

The Philco antenna makes the difference (sounds like a plug, doesn't it?). Now it just needs the knobs, the escutcheon, and a permanent set of final tubes. Shouldn't have to do much to the cabinet at all.

When it's done, I'll head over to the bar for an "S.C.".

More to come.

Bill

[bill T]

Bill , I am doing the same radio over that you are .Picked mine up for $25
along the road side also. Right now I am going through it and putting heat shrink and caps throughout. It will be a while until I fire it up yet.Like yours most of the cosmitic stuff was gone on this one.But the cabinet was still in great shape. Behind the dial glass (which was missing)there are two wire springs with some white plastic hanging on them.Does your radio have this part intact? If so could you descrube it for me? I am imagining that it is a sheet of white plastic to back up the dial pointer and make it stand out. But I am guessing .Thanks !

[Bill Hutchinson]

Bill,

Yes, you are correct. The thin white opaque sheet is a light diffuser that sits behind the dial glass to distribute the background light evenly, and helps the pointer stand out. Sounds like you still have that sheet, which is good news - not sure where one would find a replacement, possibly an art supply store would have something similar.

As far as the dial glass, you may need to get a little creative. On a 39-36 console I restored for my parents, it was missing the dial, and here's what I did. I ordered the dial sheet from Rock-Sea Enterprises, then went to the hardware store and had a thin piece of glass cut to size, and got some scrap plexi-glass a bit longer than the dial frame (I don't recall the exact dimensions, sorry). I drilled mounting holes in the plexi-glass on the ends, mounted it to the frame with wire ties, put the dial sheet on top, then sandwiched the glass piece over the whole assembly. This gave it the appearance of being a glass dial. It worked pretty good.

Good luck in getting yours going - it'll sound great when done, I'm sure of it!

Bill

[bill T]

Bill , That is good info for me! I will have to make one. I only have a small part of the orignial .But that gives me the thickness.With your description I know I am headed the right direction.I am close to being done with the heat shrink and caps on this console. I spent 4 hours on it last night ! I have a repo dial glass from Radio Daze . And other repo items from various places. Not 100% sure how Ifeel on repo items yet. They are of good quality but may look to new . My other Philco is all original and I like that look. Anyway thanks for filling in the blanks for me!

Bill T