Philco 40-160 Restoration - Part 3

Well, after a long break, I'm finally back to working on the Philco. I took it outside the other day to start sanding it down and get all the grime and gook off of it. The initial results were amazing. Take a look at this picture...





I’ve got a lot more sanding to go, but it’s getting dark, so I clean up and head inside to work on the center rails in the front, covering the speaker. There are four of them and each one has a vertical split in the same place which makes me think this is a common problem with this model. The cracks can be seen of both sides of each rail but luckily each piece is still intact.

As I look at it closely, I figure a couple of screws and some wood glue will help strengthen these right back up. I decide to do this work before I sand the pieces down so I only have to do that once (I will undoubtedly get glue on the sides of each piece). I measure the rails’ depth and figure a flat head wood screw 8 x 1.5” will do perfectly. I drill two pilot holes in each one, being careful not to drill too far. I pull the split wood apart carefully, just enough to squeeze in a little glue, then screw the pieces together by hand and wipe off the excess glue. After they dry overnight, I’ll sand them all down and fill any cracks left with wood putty, then sand them one more time.

Silvertone 7181 Restoration - Part 1

For this radio, I may do something a little different than a traditional restoration. First off though, I had to identify which model this was, and that was no easy task. With only a picture and a brand name, I started my search online. Google gave me nothing but links to Silvertone amplifier and guitar sites. I did finally find a site where a father-son team restores old Silvertone radios. I emailed them and after telling them what I had, the model number of the chassis and the types of tubes in the receiver, they told me this was model number 7181. The next day I verified this through my online post to the Philco forum. Another hobbyist told me the tube selection was unique to this model from Sears. I have yet to find a picture however of another one. Strange, huh? Well I ordered the electrical schematics for $10 online through another hobbyist’s website and I’m still waiting for him to email the document to me.

The cabinet was painted black sometime ago, which may have looked ok wherever it was, but it’s not authentic. I really would love to strip the paint off of this and see what’s hiding underneath. I also promised the antique store where I bought it from that I would send to them pictures when I was finished, so I want to show them a dramatic change.

While surfing eBay one day last week I saw a radio where someone had hooked up a connection to be able to play your iPod though the radio. That would be a really great idea I think. So I got to thinking about restoring the cabinet and then installing an mp3 station player inside using the chassis as an amplifier to get some really great sound out of it. Of course the dials wouldn’t work on the front of the cabinet; they would really just be for on-off-volume. Maybe I could hook up a remote to it to scroll through the selections. The possibilities are endless.

Philco 40-160 Restoration - Part 1

To start off with, here’s what I know about this radio: Essentially this is a floor model version of the 40-135. This model receives standard AM and the 1.5 to 3.3 mc "police" band, uses six tubes, and operates on 115 volts AC. It also features six electronic push buttons.

Original selling price: $45
Number made: 26,513

To start off, take a look here for some pictures and an idea of what I'm starting with.

The first thing I did was to remove the receiver or chassis from the cabinet and look it over carefully. It was loaded with dust and grime completely. I began removing the tubes, along with the dialing device and anything screwed into the base. When you do this, be careful to keep track of every screw and dried up grommet that comes off. I always take pictures of what I’m doing, especially before something comes apart. That has been an invaluable asset when the rebuilding phase comes around, which is usually long after dis-assembly. Using some fine grade steel wool and 3M scotch pads, I started to bring back the shine to as much of the metal as I could. Hint: wear a mask when you do this as the dust you will release is just nasty to breathe. Be careful as well not to erase any markings on the chassis.

For some reason, on this job I thought that just a clean up wasn’t going to be enough. Looking through the basement, I found a can of chrome spray paint and thought to myself, oh yeah. Now this may not be the best thing for a genuine restoration, but I really want to show this radio off when it’s done, inside and out.