[etech]

Hi all,

I have a 37-116 to restore. The one I have does not have a back cover. I don't really see any place where a back cover would have been fastened to it. So, does anyone know if the 37-116 is supposed to have a back cover? If so, is it possible to see a picture of it?

Thanks,

Ed

[Fred R]

Ed,

The 1937's did not have backs. I sold mine years ago and it did not have traces of having one. My 37-690 also never had one. The 1938 Philcos did. My 38-116 and 38-690 are missing them but the clips are still there. The original backs are flimsy cardboard with openings for cooling. I have seen them but don't know anyone now with one.

I also owned a 38-3 years ago that had one.

Fred R

[etech]

Fred,

Thanks for the info. That makes sense, as I did not see any place where a back would have been fastened to the cabinet.

Ed

[etech]

Does anyone know how the chassis is secured in the cabinet on the 37-116? When I received the radio, the chassis was seperate from the cabinet and I did not get any mounting hardware for the chassis. I think it may be some sort of clamping arrangement using the round steel rods extending from each side of the chassis?

Ed

[Ron Ramirez]

Hi Ed

When these sets were manufactured and shipped to the dealers, the chassis were held in place by large J-bolts. The hook portion of the J-bolts wrapped around the four steel "rods" which protrude from the sides of the chassis.

When the radio was delivered to the original purchaser's home, the J-bolts were to have been removed by the installer to allow the chassis to float freely on what were then new gum rubber washers mounted between the chassis and the supporting wood underneath.

Therefore, it is very unusual to find any sort of mounting hardware holding the 37-116 chassis into the cabinet, since the hardware was supposed to be removed and discarded once the set was in the customer's home.

I once owned a very, very rough 37-116, which I ended up parting out...but anyway, it STILL HAD the J-bolts holding the chassis in place! This is how I know what they looked like.

[etech]

Ron,

Thanks for the info. That explains why all of the pictures I have seen of this set on the internet never show any mounting hardware. It also explains why the u-shaped band switch linkage is broken on so many of them, as mine is, at the first attempt to move the radio, lol!

By the way, I have not totally completed the re-cap of this radio and already I am quite impressed with the performance of this radio. This radio has one 'hot' front end. Yesterday, at 3pm while doing a bench test I was picking up AM650 WSM Nashville and AM740 CHWO Toronto here in Central Lower Michigan. Performance wise, this is by a long shot the best radio I own. Now on to finish the electrical restoration and then figure out what I am going to do with this cabinet, ugh!

Ed

[Guest]

To hold the chassis in place, my 37-116 has a single small bolt with a washer and a rubber grommet to fit in the bottom of the cross piece in the back center. It screws into a hole in back center of the chassis.

Don

[etech]

Hi Don,

Thanks for the info. I will take a look at mine and see if that hole exists in the chassis bottom. I would be curious to know if that is a Philco design, or whether the previous owner or service shop did that as a modification to keep the chassis from falling out , if the radio is tipped.

Ed

[Guest]

Hi Ed,

The hole looks factory both in the chassis and in the cabinet.

Don

[Ron Ramirez]

The hole is factory.

The smaller Philco models used this hole also. I've seen a lot of smaller Philcos such as the 37-61, 37-610, etc., which still had this screw in this hole. My guess would be that it was there to more or less help hold the chassis in place - but that little screw would not be enough to hold a heavy console chassis in if the cabinet was tipped over, for certain!

[etech]

Well, I guess we got to the bottom of that, so to speak. Thanks guys for all the great info.

Ed