[Dave]

Until someone decides to start reproducing grille cloth, I've just been trying to find cloth that matches my home decor and attaching it in a way that will be easily removable for when the real stufff comes along.
As for the voltage regulator, many people do add a few extra parts to help lower the voltage a bit. The other option is to use a variac.
As I stated before, to each his own. But I can't justify putting that much money into a radio just to let it sit on a shelf and collect dust. I also like my radios to have the "character" of many years of enjoyment. I have no intention of selling any of my radios, but if I did, it would be hard to get back what I've invested in parts and labor, and almost impossible to get what some dealers think they're worth. Most of us here are DIYers and restore radios just because we enjoy doing it, and that's the most important thing. Just have fun with it.
Dave

[Michael Dennis]

Right-o! Same thing with any other "affliction", like building plastic models. If you have fun and the result looks good to you, that's what matters. Have fun, it'll infect those around you.

Mike

[Sam samuelian]

That's great advice and I'm going to do my best to follow it! When a hobby no longer is fun and becomes a money pit, what's the point? I've always loved collecting and I've been lucky that the majority of my purchases have been good investments besides. But I never buy anything with that in mind. I always tell friends to "buy it because you love it, not because of value".

You've convinced me to not worry about the cloth. There's a guy named Bret who offers a dozen or so different patterns/colors on ebay. I got a sample of his ribbed gold cloth that is absolutely beautiful and rich looking. I think I like it better than the original and am sure the gold will match the finish and also the prominent gold in the decals. So, I just ordered it!!

Thanks to all who responded and made this an interesting thread and a learning experience. Radio people are great!

[Sam samuelian]

Since we've been talking about restoration, I wondered if anyone can answer a question for me. All 38-690 radios came with backs and most still have the clips for them attached. What material can I use to fashion a new back and where would I get it? I would need some sort of photo to be able to copy the air openings needed. Another reason for wanting to do this besides helping to keep dust out is that many have written that a back will help the function of the acoustic clarifiers. Any thoughts?

[calmark]

Here is a partial picture of the back of my 38-690, second picture to the left.

http://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=3151

[Phlogiston]

Right-o! Same thing with any other "affliction", like building plastic models. If you have fun and the result looks good to you, that's what matters. Have fun, it'll infect those around you.

Mike

Yes, but would you call it a restoration, if you sold it on Pay-Bay. Everyone should do as they like, but that was the question. And, probably best evaluated by someone other than the "restorer". Here there would be two answers as well, one from the general public, who seem to like - well you have seen "restored" radios sell for ridiculous prices. And two, an experienced radio collector.

Some of those Pay-Bay radios should be listed as Repaired, Custom and Modified, but not restored.

[codefox1]

Wow--I didn't think my very first post as a new member of the Phorum would attract so much attention. But I'm glad it did because now I have come away feeling much more "grounded" and justified not going overboard. Even at car shows I never much liked the guys who had to trailer their beauties. They have lost out on the great feeling of actually driving what they paid for much for. (Speaking of that--I had a typo in my post--I have spent 3,200.00 and not 32,000 thankfully!!)

I don't think anyone addressed the idea of having a voltage regulator used with vintage electronic equipment....

After seeing how lovely and useful a reproduction dial like those carried my Mark Oppat can be, I decided to spend just a tiny bit more on my radio. I'll keep the old dial but at least now when it lights up it won't look smeary and I'll be able to see what stations I'm on.

Speaking of Mark he advised me to dry clean my original cloth (which is surprisingly strong--I tried tearing it to test and no problems). I realize how many are treasuring old cloth but was surprised when he told me to do that since my dry cleaner said nothing would take away fading. What really hurt was knowing he has some cloth which he was going to sell me before I sent him photos of mine. I searched for week and weeks and he is my last hope. Outside of him, my wife saw some very fine looking cloth at JoAnn Fabrics. It has the same olive color, has the gold tones, but also has a fine reddish stripe here and there. Hmmmm....

You'd be surprised what a young pair of eyes and a spotting brush can do with a small piece of cloth. I'm talking about the ancient art of touching up color negatives, and the still current art of making dental bridges to match the rest of the mouth. Yep, it's an art, and I'm long past it. This is museum s**t but can be done rather convincingly. Gonna have to pay for it, and need a reliable original chrome to match with. Problem with a lot of upholtery material is that it's not really meant to be acousticaly transparent, and will muffle higher tones while absorbing and thumping lower tones. To some extent it matters not on a smaller A.M. radio which has not much range to begin with, but as we go up the scale, it matters.

[Sam samuelian]

I agree with you about muffling tones. That's why I ditched all the nice choices from JoAnn Fabrics and bought lovely cloth from Bret on ebay. He also sells two DVDs on restoring old radios, which I bought as well. If I don't watch it, I may end up spending most of my waking hours on this hobby, lol.

[Sam samuelian]

Thanks so much for sending that photo of the back "calmark". I enjoyed reading about how you found it too! I used to have great finds like that but seems today that all I do is spend top dollar. I once found TWO of the rarest GE pre-war TVs in the basement of an old TV repairman's shop. One I gave to a friend (table top version) just for getting my console to work. Eventually I sold the console for a whopping 8,000 dollars and a large original Victor Nipper with glass eyes to boot!

OH MY---I knew things were going too good. My restorer just called and told me one of the two tweeters has a shorted coil. Chances of finding another are nil. What do you guys recommend? I think I read that some people can re-do them? In the meantime he is putting in a temporary modern tweeter. I've been trying to get him to do that capacitor modification too which people her on the Phorum say improve the sound and volume.

[Sam samuelian]

I did some searching and found a great source for radio backs. He has many, many in stock and will do custom work like I need for my console. Name is Retro-Tronics. Here: http://www.retro-tronics.com/index.php What a unique and great service that will help bring back many radios to their former glory!

[Pepperoni]

Retro-tronics has backs but watch the thickness. I bought one once and it was made out of shoebox thickness paper. All warped. I still use if for a pattern for the backs of the Philco 49-501. I prefer to go to an automotive upholstery shop and buy their door backing material. 1/8" thick, very high density and it makes beautiful backs for radios.

Johnny

[Sam samuelian]

Thanks Pepperoni (my favorite type of pizza!). Retro-Tonics actually had another customer wanting the same back so he is trying to work something out but said it must be done in two or three pieces. Thanks for the tip on automotive upholstery, though. Great idea!

Wow do I feel good today. My ebay won Zenith 12A58 was just hand delivered by a very fine dealer. It was beautifully restored cosmetically but he said it didn't work. After he left, I fired it up and it played loud and clear! The problem was a bad connection on the band selector switch, which you have to "play with" until it seats. Also, I FINALLY got a good deal on a radio on ebay instead of paying through the nose. It is an RCA 811K, another higher level set with exc. features. Totally restored, only $158.00!

Wonder if any other good luck will come my way??!

[Sam samuelian]

Oh...forgot to ask---are there repro decals for the Zenith 12A58? All photos I saw online were of refinished sets with no decals...

[Michael Dennis]

Oh...forgot to ask---are there repro decals for the Zenith 12A58? All photos I saw online were of refinished sets with no decals...

Yikes. I thought I had some useful info...sorry, lost the train right now.


Mike

[Sam samuelian]

Pepperoni--you sure aren't any "baloney"!! I found a car upholsterer in my neighborhood and he's ordering me a large piece of the door backing material (at least 42 by 35). Not only is it the perfect thickness (1/8th inch) but is the right color (tan) and it will be easy to scribe out the appropriate holes. Thanks...you have surely saved me lots of money. Now if I could only figure out how to spray the PHILCO name on the back.....