[Nathan Slingerland]

Dial Cord

Next up was the dial cord. I measured the original and came up with a total cord length of 20" with about 1.25" folded back to form the loop on each end. Thread is wrapped around the end of the loop to hold everything together.

Each end looks like this:
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4609/2829...b4ab_z.jpg]

The original cord measured 0.065" (~1.7mm). This is pretty thick cord - and my initial attempts to replace it with thinner material (0.040") did not work well.

I searched around and saw a suggestion to try braided fishing line. That led me to this search Amazon where I found this 400lb rated kevlar line:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005467UHQ/

This sounded like a good material to use - exact right diameter, low stretch and high temperature.  
And bonus: at $13.99 for 50' that's a bargain compared to what dial cord normally runs!

I patiently (ha) waited the required 2 days for Prime shipping and returned to making the dial cord:
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4703/4005...61c6_z.jpg]

I wrapped the ends with black thread and used hot glue to bind the thread together. I used a heat gun to reheat the glue and get it to flow into the thread. No danger of melting the cord - it's good to over 900 degrees F!
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4616/3919...1631_z.jpg]

I didn't do this until after installing the cord for the first time - but because the kevlar cord is fairly smooth I ended up rubbing it with instrument rosin to make it a bit stickier.
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4610/2830...28d7_z.jpg]

I ordered this one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002D0L4A

Dial Cord Stringing

Here's how to string the cord step by step. I removed the dial lamp and mask (one screw each) to make things more accessible. I also took the dial off for cleaning.

First, find the large gap in the dial cylinder and thread one end the cord through without the spring. Then attach the spring.
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4662/3919...b5fe_z.jpg]

Note the two holes in the dial cylinder. Attach the spring to the top-most hole.
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4710/2830...c820_z.jpg]

Now we want to wrap the cord around the groove in the cylinder around the back.
Push the cord around the back of the cylinder and rotate the cylinder up/toward the radio.
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4617/3919...de21_z.jpg]

There are three pulleys to thread the cord through.
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4705/2830...e5d4_z.jpg] [Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4708/4005...15d5_z.jpg]

[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4654/3919...0cf6_z.jpg]

Now we're ready to thread the other loop end back into the cylinder and attach it with the other spring:
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4765/2621...a388_z.jpg]

Done!

As mentioned above I ended up repeating the cord stringing a second time because I noticed after the initial install that it worked 99% of the time but there was still one point in the dial where it slipped. I took the cord off again and rubbed it with rosin. After that it worked perfectly. Another option would be to make a slightly shorter cord (maybe 1/4") to give more tension.

Dial Cleaning
I've had good success using Goo Gone for dial cleaning. I still test cleaning an inconspicuous bit of printing like the Philco part number on the dial before going ahead with the rest of the dial. But I have yet to find a dial where the printing was affected by it.
[Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4700/4005...870a_z.jpg]