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My third phone

Started by jeremylivin, January 27, 2014, 10:08:58 AM

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jeremylivin

This is only the second phone I've tried to clean up/restore.  Luckily for me it was in pretty good condition before.  The only thing was a missing was the number card and holder.

It's got a 4 prong plug which I've used an adapter to connect to RJ11 and it works great.  Fixed some mis-wiring to get it to ring and polished it up quite a bit.  The flecks of color on it are paint.  Someone painted near the phone and splattered it all over.  I used polish and my dremmel with a buffer to buff them out.  The base and insides are all date 01/1941 and the handset is dated 1955.  Guess they replaced the handset somewhere along the way.

Anyway, let me know what you all think.  It's planned as a gift for my mother in-law who admired one of my others so much.  She'll definitely use it so this 73 year old beauty has more life left in it.

Jeremy Livingston

Nick in Manitou

Jeremy,

Nice looking clean up!  To me the 302s are really great phones - they really make a statement.

I don't own a Dremmel, but when I mentioned perhaps getting one a while back, I was quickly warned that it was really easy to damage a phone with a Dremmel because of its speed.  I have no experience with one, but I figured I'd mention what was said to me in case you have not heard the warning of what could happen.

Nick

Contempra

You did a nice job on it Jeremy

HarrySmith

Nice ;D
Great job of cleaning it up, she will love it! I enjoy the before & after pictures myself!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

jeremylivin

Nick,  yes I've read warnings about dremmels and took great care not to go too fast or push too hard.  Mine is a multi-speed model and at the lowest setting seems perfect.

The only thing I had considered doing now was getting some Avon SSS for the footpads and the handset...
Jeremy Livingston

HarrySmith

Wouldn't a Dremel, with the size of the pads, take forever to buff an entire phone? Plus use a lot of pads in the process?
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

paul-f

Great job, Jeremy!

A few days ago I worked on a 302 with similar paint overspray.  Long ago I discovered that laying a damp paper towel over the area with the paint spots for a while usually softens them enough that they can be removed by simply wiping them off, or flicking them off with a fingernail.  I always try this before resorting to polishing compounds or buffing.  It's worth a try next time.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

jeremylivin

Quote from: HarrySmith on January 27, 2014, 01:13:23 PM
Wouldn't a Dremel, with the size of the pads, take forever to buff an entire phone? Plus use a lot of pads in the process?

I actually bought some pretty decent sized pads on amazon. They were almost 3 inches across. 

And Paul, yes lots of paint was picked off with fingernails! :)

Jeremy Livingston

Sargeguy

The fingernail is the most important tool in phone restoration.  If you start restoring more of these you may want to invest in some high grit sandpaper (400, 600, 800, 100, 1200, 2000) from your local auto supply store, a cheap Ryobi circular buffer, and some Novus #2 polish. 
Greg Sargeant
Providence, RI
TCI /ATCA #4409

Greg G.

#9
Nice phone, good job on the clean up.  Tip:  It's a good idea to black-out your phone number before you post a pic of your phone.

---------------

EDIT:  Good point, number changed now that it was pointed out
The idea that a four-year degree is the only path to worthwhile knowledge is insane.
- Mike Row
e

jeremylivin

Thanks for changing the number for me!  It was my mother in laws number since this is a gift for her.

And yes, I used Novus 1, 2, & 3 on it.
Jeremy Livingston

WEBellSystemChristian

Wow, beautiful phone. For my shelf 302s, I usually replace the coiled cord with an original straight cord, but since a coiled cord doesn't look out of place on a 302, Its probably best to keep it on a "daily driver" phone, like what you did with this one :).
Christian Petterson

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