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Newbie in central Iowa

Started by dumb_old_guy, August 18, 2015, 07:36:31 PM

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dumb_old_guy

Finally got the "Moparola" done. It sounds great.
I wish I had taken "before" pictures--it was a real roach. Lots of rust and some sort of old tar in place of the long ago rotted away rubber dash seal (around the speaker grill there). The capacitors were falling apart. Resistors burnt. Vibrator shot. Only one bad tube though.
I had to remake the dial face as the paint was too far gone to touch up.

cheers
Rob

603 Front:


603 Back:


19and41

That's a real beauty! Up to your excellent standards!
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

HarrySmith

Wow! That looks awesome! Great job. Any car guy would be proud to have that in their dash!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

19and41

Don't forget to show it at the TRF also...  ;)
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

Dennis Markham

Beautiful job!  Would love to hear it play.

~Dennis

dumb_old_guy

#20
Thanks fellas!
I hope he's happy with it. I gave the guy a big discount on labor because he gave me a guy to call who wants to get rid of a room full of tubes. I need some inventory for my tiny LLC's online-retail end of things.

Anyway, I don't have anything pending for in-house work unless a fellow drops off his Fender amp. I am going to start on that AE50!

cheers
Rob

jsowers

Wow, that "Moparola" was built like a tank! From the back it looks like a breadbox Granny used to have! I agree with Dennis--I'd love to hear it play. You do excellent work. Seeing it installed back in the dash of the '49 Plymouth would be great too. That radio was made back in the day when things were made to last.
Jonathan

dumb_old_guy

Thanks Jonathan, that is a true statement this was built like a tank. No welded, chrome plated plastic. Even the dial glass is real glass set into the heavy steel face on small felt strips and held with blued steel band springs. Under the pull of buttons are knurled brass station setting knobs. There is a rubber disc clutch that keeps one from turning the dial knob too far and breaking something...it goes to the end, and slips. Real engineering. (It is a Motorola unit built for Mopar, after all.)

cheers
Rob

dumb_old_guy

I like to do amps, too. This poor old thing had the wrong cabinet and speaker...some previous owner had built it, apparently.

cheers
Rob









.....

If you are into things that have tubes, you could probably use this.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14524.0

Doug

WEBellSystemChristian

#25
Quote from: jsowers on August 21, 2015, 12:29:05 PM
Wow, that "Moparola" was built like a tank!
Yeah, no kidding! It looks like it was made out of the ammo rack from an Easy Eight Sherman! :o

That thing looks good enough to sit by itself on a table! I'm not into radios, but that's just beautiful! Great job! ;)
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

dumb_old_guy

Thanks, guys...Yeah, I am into radio and tubes and stuff.
Finally got started on an AE50 restoration...in my other (only other) thread. I will have pictures of that as I make progress.

Quote from: Autonut on August 21, 2015, 08:42:02 PM
If you are into things that have tubes, you could probably use this.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14524.0

Doug

That was a very good price! Have you calibrated it?

cheers
Rob

.....

Quote from: dumb_old_guy on August 23, 2015, 10:11:51 AM
Thanks, guys...Yeah, I am into radio and tubes and stuff.
Finally got started on an AE50 restoration...in my other (only other) thread. I will have pictures of that as I make progress.

Quote from: Autonut on August 21, 2015, 08:42:02 PM
If you are into things that have tubes, you could probably use this.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14524.0

Doug

That was a very good price! Have you calibrated it?

cheers
Rob

No, I plugged it in and it powered up that's it. It's now sitting on a shelf in the garage. I'm trying to decide what to do with it.

Doug

dumb_old_guy

Well it's a cool unit.  ;D

(You probably already know this, but just in case you don't, or for other readers who don't, one of the worst things you can do to a vintage piece of tube equipment is power it up before replacing the old paper and electrolytic capacitors inside it (and a general checkout). It often destroys any transformer or at least some of the tubes due to leakage or shorts. Electrolytic power filter capacitors don't age well, in particular.)

cheers
Rob