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two colored 302s

Started by Argee, January 04, 2014, 11:48:15 AM

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Argee

picked these up from an antique dealer who was moving out of state, $20 each. They are a bit rough, a couple nicks and some hairlines, and the green one has a crack at the line cord hole, but no plastic is missing. both dials turn smoothly. Apparently they were found with 3 other phones (a metal 302 and 2 500s) inside the wall of a house with a mouse nest built around them.

Dennis Markham

I think you got a great deal on those two!  They should look great on the shelf once they're cleaned and polished.  Great find!

WesternElectricBen

I agree, you got a really good deal, deffinity a Find of the Month!

You are saying, they found these phones inside the wall? Now, it makes me want to wrip out our walls.

Ben

Contempra

Really good deal and defininately a "find of the month '.... Ben, reach for the money Inside your walls !... you don't know what you'll find......a treasur may be :D...

baldopeacock

$20 each?    You're having a serious lucky streak.  Might be a good time to pick up a Powerball ticket?

Any chance that Ivory might be a pre-war with the ivory plungers, etc?   It has that slightly darker tint than the 50s ivory has, plus both it and the green have Z dial plates.

Sargeguy

Those would have to be 5J dials,  The 6A type also had the "Z" but those would have a black dot.
Greg Sargeant
Providence, RI
TCI /ATCA #4409

Argee

both have clear plumbers.  I haven't been able to get the shells off yet, not sure how much force to apply.  Though, they don't look shrunk, being out of the light for decades helps.  Haven't done a forum search for tips yet.  As for dates, I can see the shell dates from the outside. The green is 4-5-52? (52 is smudged).  Ivory is 7-7-50.  About that lucky streak, things like this happen to me much more often than you'd think.

Doug Rose

Argee....take the mounting screws out. Put a good sized screw driver in the line cord mouse hole and use the bar of the screwdriver and move it to the top of the mouse hole and gently pry the shell from the base pushing it up and away from the base.  GENTLY.....Doug
Kidphone

paul-f

Another good area to apply pressure (GENTLY) is in the crack between the foot and bottom of the housing on the right front and right rear.  Put a wide blade screwdriver in the small gap and twist gently, alternating between the front and back.

It helps to move around so you don't over-tax one area of the housing.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

Argee

ok, got them open!   Used a hairdryer to warm the corners and tried both suggested methods.  Paul-f's method worked in this case.  I plugged the green one in since it still had it's four prong connector, and got a dial tone.  I also talked to the dealer and got clarification on where they were found.  they were in the wall of a shed, but not sealed up.  There was a filing cabinet sitting in front of them.
inside pictures:








WEBellSystemChristian

Are the bells on the green 302 nickel plated or stripped steel? I've never seen 302 bells like that before.
Christian Petterson

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

Matilo Telephones

Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Contempra

Lucky man!... Nice find Argee.;)

poplar1

Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on January 16, 2014, 03:25:22 PM
Are the bells on the green 302 nickel plated or stripped steel? I've never seen 302 bells like that before.

They are steel
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on January 16, 2014, 03:25:22 PM
Are the bells on the green 302 nickel plated or stripped steel? I've never seen 302 bells like that before.

They are steel. This is normal for 302s made in 1952.

They also used steel gongs, but painted black, during World War II.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

G-Man

A very nice find along with a good price to boot!

I would suggest that you use an adjustable wrench (Crescent) to
Slightly bend the lip on the metal base of the set. Especially the areas shown in the photos that are bent outwards against the housing.

The will help alleviate the pressure from the shrinking plastic by giving the edges some "breathing room."