Pink WEco 500 Shell Date and Phone Restoration

[Slal]

Hi everyone,

Been a while, and was going to ask about shell &  restoring HS cord too.

Great stuff here!  DP saved me the trouble on the cord question.  : )

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1190.0

Before I go to the expense & trouble though, just need to find out if shell legit or someone swapped them.

November 4, 1958 or January 14, 1958?  If the former, probably donate it to local charity thrift store.

Thanks.  Nice to have a site like this every now & then.


Other Components:
Chassis / Network 1-58
Dial: 1-58
HS: 1-58
RCVR Cap: 1-58
XMTR Cap: 12-57
RCVR: 12-19-57
XMTR: 1-14-58
Line Restraint: 58
HS Restraint: 58

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Welcome back! We've missed you around here!

It definitely looks all original. Dates matching to the day or week mean nothing in most instances; many sets left the factory or distribution center for the first time with parts dated 2 or more years apart.

Yours is very much original, with everything dated within a month of eachother.

Great find!!

[jsowers]

I think the stamp on your shell is 1-14-58. Same as the transmitter date. Those date stamps were always unevenly spaced, so since everything else is from 12-57 or 1-58, that has to be a January part too. So your phone is all numbers matching.

[Slal]

Welcome back! We've missed you around here!

It definitely looks all original. Dates matching to the day or week mean nothing in most instances; many sets left the factory or distribution center for the first time with parts dated 2 or more years apart.

Yours is very much original, with everything dated within a month of eachother.

Great find!!

Thanks.  Good to see some familiar faces as it were.

Two or more years?  Transmitters & receivers? 

Obviously you know more than I do, but always assumed things like that were probably replaced in the field or warehouse.  Will file that little nugget away.

I think the stamp on your shell is 1-14-58. Same as the transmitter date. Those date stamps were always unevenly spaced, so since everything else is from 12-57 or 1-58, that has to be a January part too. So your phone is all numbers matching.

Still looks like November to me, but then again I wanted it be January so figured I'd post. ; )

Anyway, now that I'm sure it's legit, a can of Dykem should be here Tuesday.  Be interesting to see what it can do for cord & might try a bit on a test swatch of faded plastic.  With any luck, maybe I can get it to match the inside of shell/caps. 

Here's stinky moldy thing as it came out of box.  Before I test staining the plastic though...

1.) Easier method for restoring pink?  I'm not very good when it comes to sanding, and figure that since it's faded & not discolored-- peroxide would make it worse. 


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Edit: read where Admin & mods prefer attachments to linked images.  Updating.   

[unbeldi]

I don't recall an exception to the date format always being month-day-year.  I think there is no doubt about this being from January, no matter what the stamp looks like. But indeed, it is more common that the date has wide spaces between the parts than being too tightly spaced.

As for the color, indeed the handset cord is already bleached, that you want to treat with some red dye, as is described in other forum posts. You will be amazed what can be done.

The pink shell doesn't look too bad.  Usually these are alway at least slightly yellowed, looking a bit peachy. You have to make that decision and compare the outside color with what you see inside the handset cups.  Usually the inside of the handset shows the pristine original hue.
If needed, your shell probably only needs a couple of hours of sitting in Clorox bleach, diluted to a third or so. The forum has many posts about that too.

This phone has all the appearance of being a nice find !

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I agree: very nice phone!  I have three soft plastic Pinks, and this one is in better condition as-received than any of mine were!

I had a late 1959 White 500; original housing, dial, and internal components, but a 1961 handset and cords. I have a feeling the chassis was left at a distribution center without a handset or cords, and they were added 2 years later, when it left for its new home. There are no refurb dates, and it was barely used, with similar wear all over. I eventually removed the 1961 parts to rebuild another phone.

[poplar1]

I had a late 1959 White 500; original housing, dial, and internal components, but a 1961 handset and cords. I have a feeling the chassis was left at a distribution center without a handset or cords, and they were added 2 years later, when it left for its new home. There are no refurb dates, and it was barely used, with similar wear all over. I eventually removed the 1961 parts to rebuild another phone.

It's possible that the handset was replaced in the field. A "G3AR-58" part included the cord as well as the handset.

Telephone company owned sets were returned to Western Electric repair shop (at the distribution house), usually after being installed, to be remanufactured, junked, or parted out. Normally, the rebuild date would have been stamped either directly on the base pan,  in vermilion ink,  or indicated on a sticker. It's true that some new parts, returned from the operating companies, were also reissued by the distribution houses.
However, I don't think a white 500 would be lying around for 2 years without a handset.

[Slal]

This is embarrassing. 

Sanding out some deep scratches revealed brighter pink.  Got called away and now I've made a mess of it. 

Lesson learned.  Do not put H2O2 on something and then get tied up on telephone.

Suggestions here or start topic at restoration since getting OT?

"To err is human" just doesn't seem to cut it.  I apologize if I seem terse. 

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Try polishing the plastic, it's probably just a thin layer of plastic that was affected, and it may be removable with some buffing.

[Slal]

Alas buffing didn't work.

Dykem arrived today, so want to make sure same product for cord magic.  Assuming I dilute it in denatured alcohol.

Is there a chemist in the house?

Contents:  ethanol ; butyl acetate ; 1-butanol ; nitrocellulose ; isopropanol ; propyl acetate

Before I have to eat soft plastic & take a loss, might try it on the phone itself if...

1.) PVC valid test material, or too different chemically from 'soft' plastic?

2.) acetate would soften wood pulp based plastic & allow dye to penetrate?

If yes to these, then might try it on small recessed area in back of shell.

Suggestions welcome.  Another option would be to send it out to someone who might be able to repair self inflicted damage, but not sure phone would be worth the expense. 

Hopefully can fix my own mistake. 

[TelePlay]

Dykem arrived today, so want to make sure same product for cord magic.  Assuming I dilute it in denatured alcohol.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1190.msg15169#msg15169

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I forgot to mention more ideas that might work for the plastics.

Try using Denatured Alcohol to polish the surface. Just saturate a paper towel in it, and immediately start wiping in a circular motion until it completely evaporates. Then polish out with Novus.

If that doesn't work, you could try wetsanding with 2000 grit sandpaper. If that doesn't work, try a slightly lower grit level until you get to the right color, and work the grit levels upward until you get to 2000 grit, and polish.

[Slal]

Thanks again for replies & quick link to D / P's topic.

Unfortunately damage might be pretty deep.  Not sure how that works.  Got called away on a bit of family business, so parts sat out for an entire sunny afternoon with 40% peroxide gel on them.

Sanding a test area near where HS cord goes into it seems damage might be pretty deep.  Also tried two different solvents.  I can get to the brighter pink, but worry that removing quite a bit of material would ruin the imprints.  Hoping dye might be safe alternative.

Cloudy & cold here, so no chance to see if it will work on bit of PVC as a test before trying it on small swatch of the 'Tenite' if that's correct term for 'soft' plastic. 

Will move to Restoration forum with update.

[TelePlay]

Alas buffing didn't work.

Dykem arrived today, so want to make sure same product for cord magic.  Assuming I dilute it in denatured alcohol.

Contents:  ethanol ; butyl acetate ; 1-butanol ; nitrocellulose ; isopropanol ; propyl acetate

Before I have to eat soft plastic & take a loss, might try it on the phone itself if...

Just did a pink handset cord, my first try at this. Went well. The before light areas now match the internal pink cord color.

Not real happy with the before and after photos (before picture was poor but matched the light, etc, for the after picture for a good comparison) but the cord after treatment turned out just fine.

As for the chemical content of Dykem, the set up is one teaspoon in a half quart of thinner or about 1 to 96 or about a 1% solution of the dye in the thinner. Such a low concentration of the dye plus rinsing the cord with clear thinner and then water would not, should not affect the cord. Having worked with black Dykem in the past, I did wear gloves to prevent spots on my hands (been there, done that, learned a lesson).

Dykem is the marker color carried by alcohol in some permanent magic markers and those can be used on plastic (to never come off) without damage to the plastic. The concentration of Dykem in those markers is a lot higher than this cord dye mix. So, I would not be concerned by using any of those chemicals in the dye under these conditions.

And it makes such a nice, light red clear liquid in a glass storage jar after use.

[Slal]

OK, if our Global Moderator has posted, will take it as a green light to post here & not clutter the other forum.    (And thanks BTW)

Pink doesn't photograph well from a tablet.  'Hard' plastic one is nice bubble gum pink color & bleached 'soft' plastic looks dreadful.

Hopefully the dye will 'take' and not just rub off tomorrow morning. 

Has anyone tried this on the plastic itself?  If just rubs off won't go to the trouble & try to figure out something else.