It has taken almost a year, but I'm coming down to the finish line in restoring this great radio. It was dropped off because the cabinet and speaker were trashed during shipping and the owner didn't want to be reminded of the hassle that it caused.

A friend did the wood work and I just finished restoring the speaker, (photos later). I'm kind of proud of my approach. I overlaid another speaker cone on it. It will probably be a little muffled because the new cone is slightly thicker. We'll see.

I have a new dial but I could really use a photo of the front. I don't know if the grill cloth covers the whole front. Also, somewhere in the shuffle I've lost the knobs.

I'm going to post some before and after photos in awhile.

Any help with how the front of the is supposed to look, and a source for the knobs would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Terry

Here are the cabinet restoration photos- The problem is going to be mounting the heavy speaker. The new struts won't hold it. I'm going to try using a saddle or shelf.

Terry , looks good . How about mounting extra long metal strips behind the 2 speaker bars inside and screw them on ( use short screws )

Maybe something like this:

You could have the base take the majority of the strain.

I'm exploring every option. That is one. There are a couple of problems with that. A metal, or wood strip might affect how the grill cloth fits, and drilling the holes will be difficult. My furniture guy tried some thin metal strips across the repair points but that's just going to move the stress point down.

I'm working on it.

Speaker rebuild, (Hopefully).

Here are photos of my attempt to rebuild the speaker. Note: I only use rubber cement.

First I used toilet paper to reinforce some of the worst cracks. I inserted paper around the voice coil to keep it centered. I cut the support around the edge. Now the cone is floating free. I had already cut out a cone from another speaker. Of course it did not have the same slope so I had to cut it into strips and carefully lay it in. I used spray adhesive on the new cone to adhere it to the old. Then I laid more strips of toilet paper to fill in the cracks between the sections of new cone. By then I had removed the strips of paper between the center pole and the voice coil. Amazingly the coil was centered properly and rode freely without scraping. I put a coating of rubber cement on the whole assembly and let it dry overnight. Today I painted on a coat of black acrylic paint. The cone moves freely and the surround flexes as it should. Of course I won't know how well it works until I test in with the radio. Wish me luck.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

The metal bars dont need to be that long , only about 2'' longer than the speaker grille bars . It needs to be out of thin metal no thicker than radio chassis metal .

That speaker scares me Why didnt you just send it to me for a recone ?

Aw come on, it ain't that bad. And if it works think about how proud I'll be.

(Gee, I was kinda hoping for an "atta boy")

Ambitious creative effort, hurry and fire it up!

I also have a thread on this subject running in the Clubhouse forum, but some of you might not check that out.

Well, there is good news and bad news. The speaker does work, although a bit muffled as I expected with the stiffer cone, but the radio doesn't. I'm surprised because when it was dropped off it was supposed to. So how do I know the speaker works? Simple. I was able to run a tone through the audio section.

Since I have nothing else to do this afternoon, (contemplating my navel has become boring, and daytime TV gives me the shakes), I'm going to check the tubes, voltages, osc output, you know-the usual. There are several cracked wires. I replaced a few, but some others might be shorted. There is evidence of prior repair. The filter caps and some other parts have been replaced, so it probably did work at one time, but the fall might have messed something up.

So- more later...

(The speaker works- oh my oh my- I'm not an idiot after all. Okay, I still am an idiot, but at least the speaker works)

MORE

Here's the latest in the continuing saga of life in the slow lane- or spending more than I can afford on something I don't need.

I tested the tubes and the 6A8 converter is bad, also the 6F5 1st audio, which makes me feel better about the low speaker volume.

I also finally got a decent schematic, (thanks to Eliot Ness and a couple of guys at NA). I found two tube substitutions have been made. the schematic calls for a 6E5 tuning eye, and I have a 6U5, and the rectifier is supposed to be a 5Z4 and I have a 5V4.
Being inherently stupid, I don't know if these are okay. The eye does seem, like me, not to bright.

I'm pulling out the AES catalog as I'm typing this. Cool, the 6F5 is $25. That certainly puts things in perspective.

More, uh 'more' later

Ah what the heck- it's only money.
I found the 6F5 for $6 and the 6A8 for $15. I hope that's the problem.

Let's see- so far I've:
Had the cabinet rebuilt , bought a new dial plate, replaced some wires and caps, rebuilt the speaker, and spent $30 on tubes.
Hopefully the only thing I have left to buy is some grill cloth. I'm thinking pure gold.

This set had better be worth it. More than worth it!

I have got to stop replying to myself.

Anyway, I found a nice bright, (unlike me) 6E5 on eBay. I've got a bid of $12 over $9.99. Let the games begin.

Best of luck!

Thanks...I've been meditating too. It hasn't helped.

Surprise! Speaker mounting problem solved!

Like I said, someone else has been working on the cabinet so I haven't looked closely at it. Now that I have it is obvious that the speaker and grill cloth are mounted on ANOTHER board that fits into it. See photo. Okay the photo isn't that clear, but look closely at the red area. It shows there is space for a board to fit into the recessed area. Duh!

Terry, the grille cloth is mounted on a 1/16" thick piece of cardboard. The speaker is mounted on this to the slats using 1 1/4" screws. At least thats how mine is and it looks original. I can shoot you a picture of the inside of my cabinet if you want.

That it was stiff cardboard occurred to me. There are remnants of tacks or staples. However I don't see why that can't be a thin piece of wood instead. That would give much more stability to the front panel. What do you think?

BTW- What color and pattern is the grill cloth?
Maybe you could PM me a couple of photos.
Thanks

Oh right- what do the knobs look like. I thought I had a set but if I did they've disappeared.