[Arran]

I've a couple of Philco Safari televisions. One I've restored electronically and it performs well, the other I've only begun electronic restoration.

The problem is, both of them seem to have flaky optics. The picture on the CRT looks great, but even allowing for the normal degradation from the projection system, the finished picture is very cloudy, poorly focused and difficult to watch. The rear mirror is pretty scratched up, and the "one-way" mirror in front doesn't seem to do much filtering anymore, since you can see quite easily inside the optics.

So, are there any repro optics available for these? Or is this how these sets performed originally? It would not seem so from the reviews I've read.

I've seen these sets before but never worked on one but I believe that the way they work is similar to a projection TV. Just shooting in the dark but my guess is that you would have to adjust the focus of the CRT by viewing it as you would through that front screen or one way mirror and not by viewing it directly. I don't think you have anything to lose by trying it as an experiment.
Regards
Arran