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| (Please note: All instructions and advice given for restoration are simply methods that have worked for me. They may not be the best or most expeditious methods of restoration. These techniques can seriously damage a radio if you aren't careful or sure of what you are doing! Use these instructions and advice at your own risk.) | |
| Here's our case halves and knobs after cleaning, and restoration of knob paint. The radio looks far better, but it is missing some of its shine. |
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It's now time to polish the case halves. I have found Brasso to be ideal for this, as it is gentle and brings up a good shine. The Novus series of polishes work well, also. I use the Brasso by pouring a small part onto a soft cloth and then polish the plastic case halves with it. You generally will need to polish only a small bit to shine up the case. Be careful, as Brasso can also cause paint smears if it touches painted areas. Also be very careful around brass nameplates, as it can wear lettering. |
| Now we are ready to start re-assembling the radio. Most of the time, the tuning control can go on only one way. But the volume control (and occasionally tuning controls) can go on two ways--one wrong by 180 degrees. Make sure you have the knobs on the correct way before you re-assemble the radio! The radio can be put back together by following the disassembly sequence in reverse order. Put the speaker in first, then the jack, then the chassis. |
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Since we had a loose label, I used a glue stick to place it back where it used to be. I prefer a glue stick as it allows for later removal should one want to do a more thorough restoration of the case. |
| Here's the label properly attached in its old position in the case. |
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Here's the entire
radio re-assembled. It looks a lot nicer than when we started!
Note that this was a cosmetic restoration only. I will cover electrical
restoration in a future article.
This is only the basics of a brief cleaning and polishing. Some people go all-out and get plated pieces re-plated, and actually repair cracks and chips. This is beyond the scope of this article. Happy collecting and restoring! |
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