[Phlogiston]

Here's my take. (First of all, let me say that I basically agree with Dave.)

Allow me to address Eslinger's points, point by point, with my thoughts on each.

1-recapping is only one step and not the answer to all ills as many think

This is true. Resistors also can and do go bad. Occasionally other parts such as tubes, transformers, etc. can go bad also, but not as often. These should all be checked, however.

2-there are many resistors that should be replaced just like the caps, especially the thinner, weaker ones.

If they measure more than 20% off tolerance (that is, more than 20% of stated value), they should be replaced. Really, as cheap as resistors are, it doesn't hurt anything to go ahead and replace all of them, as I am doing in my current project, a 41-616.

3-Speaker paper is too old and brittle to give good sound so all speakers must be reconed. He felt speakers were only designed to last ten years, twenty at best.

I couldn't disagree more. Simply reconing speakers just because "the cones are old" is a waste of money. Yes, the cones do get dry and brittle. These can be rejuvenated. A friend of mine carefully brushes mineral oil onto old cones; he swears by this trick. Other use silicone, but I would not let silicone near any old radio because most silicones will destroy copper (in this case, the voice coil in the center of the speaker cone).

Other folks, like myself, do nothing to the original cones if they are not damaged. Most of us do not play our radios at full volume, either, so the fear of a cone falling apart is generally a non-issue.

4-Most people have no idea about the little "trays" of electronic parts which are covered with a black tar like substance. He said the gook must be carefully picked out with a pick and then the caps, resistors, etc, replaced.

Philcos do not have "trays" of electronic parts covered with tar. Philcos made between 1930 and 1938 do have bakelite block capacitors which are filled with high temperature wax. (You will also find one of these blocks in many 1939-1947 Philco models, as the AC line bypass cap.)

The proper procedure to "unpot" these is not to pick the old tar out with a pick, but to heat the bakelite block and push the insides out in one piece. An excellent tutorial on this procedure may be found on Chuck's site.

http://www.philcorepairbench.com/capbuild.htm

5-Tubes should all be replaced with top quality new old stock

Totally disagree. This practice is not only a waste of time, it also drives up the price of remaining old tubes on the market.

The proper thing to do is to test every tube, preferably with a good quality mutual conductance tube tester. If you don't have one, find a friend, or a local radio club, that can do this for you. It has been my experience that around 80 percent or better of the tubes in an old radio are still good.

6-Pots that sound scratchy should be replaced rather than cleaned

No! Absolutely not! They should be cleaned first! If contact cleaner doesn't work, then use DeoxIT. In my experience, 95% or better of all old pots lost their scratchiness after cleaning with DeoxIT.

Some pots, such as tapped volume controls, are not easily replaced. Mark Oppat can provide replacements, but even he has a finite supply. Clean those pots first! Replacement should be a last resort.

7-Chassis work must be done to beautify them. Sanding, painting, etc. That applies to the base as well as tube shields and anything metal.

This should be left up to the individual. A lot of us, myself included, prefer to clean a chassis up; and often this may result in a chassis that looks better than it did when it left the factory. Polishing aluminum coil shields, etc., is really overkill, but it sure looks good!

Sanding and painting should only be done if the chassis has severe rust...in my opinion.

8-When replacing electrolytics above the chassis be careful to use the same length wires and place them in the same positions or risk unwanted hum or squealing

No argument here.

9-Refinish as you would a fine car. Lots of finish removal, hand work, sanding and re-sanding, many coats of lacquer, etc.

Refinishing a cabinet should only be done if it is necessary, and then there is no need to overdo it. Applying dozens or hundreds of coats of lacquer not only is overkill, but will result in a severely cracked surface sooner or later as too much lacquer will crack.

10-save all decals or put on new ones

Again, no argument here. But when replacing decals, please be careful to use only authentic-looking decals!

Antique Electronic Supply has authentic-looking PHILCO decals for 1937 and newer models. Someone is also selling these on eBay now. No one is producing authentic 1932-36 PHILCO decals...yet.

Radio Daze asked me to provide artwork so they could correct their decals, and I did so. I have heard nothing from them since, so I do not know if this is being corrected or not.

11-stick with authentic grille cloth.

This was fairly easy to do when we had plenty of authentic-looking reproduction grille cloth. Now that this is no longer available, it may not always be possible to do this.

That's one man's opinion, now let's hear others.

Yes, Ron, If I wasn't so lazy I would have said the same thing, but let me add:

I make every effort to have a radio that looks and works like it did when it was made. I know that what I am going to say goes further than many people want to take a restoration, but is closer to original than what was in the original post.

All caps should be restuffed and displaying the original part numbers.

Replacing all the tubes for GP is ridiculous. However replacing them with the correct type - G rather than GT or Metal- Or better yet the correct type by the correct manufacture with the correct base ("engraved" or printed) is restoration.

Replace or rebuild other parts with original looking or NOS components. If it was a dogbone resistor, replace it with one.

Do not over clean a chassis. Remove the dirt and grime, leave the original plating alone. If a chassis was painted from the factory, repaint it, but not the rivets and other hardware. A plated chassis that is so far gone that it MUST be painted is a parts chassis only. Sanding and grinding are not an option for a plated chassis, nether is painting it with clear lacquer to prevent rusting. Over time clear lacquer on a chassis will yellow and /or flake off around unpainted hardware.

Cabinets refinished without grain filler are not correct.

Cabinets refinished without using toner are not correct, though some Philcos might not use much.

Cabinets refinished with Varathane are not correct.

I will say that if it is your radio do what you want with it. Some radios not properly restored sell for ridiculous amount on E-Pay. I don't buy them.

Many of the restoration steps take more time and skill rather than money - unless you are paying someone else by the hour.

If you want a radio to work like a new one, got to Wal-Mart. Old radios crackle when you adjust the volume and might even hum a bit. If you want a radio that looks old, buy one of those replicas. They are much less than the price of the OPs restoration. But if you want a restoration, it should still be an OLD radio.