Green Soft Plastic AE80

[LarryInMichigan]

I had been looking for several years for a decent green soft plastic AE80, and when an auction appeared for a green AE80 with issues (ebay link), I gave it a shot.  It seems that I was the only one interested.  The seller took several days to ship it, and it traveled from California to Michigan slowly, but it eventually arrived safely.  The phone had no ringer, and some of the wires were connected to the wrong terminals inside.  The dial center ring and plungers were pitted, so I replaced them.  I had a spare ring in excellent condition in my junk assortment, and I swapped the plungers from a black ABS AE80 which also donated its ringer.  I improvised a replacement acetate cover for the dial center card. 

The crack on the back of the shell was the biggest challenge.  I did some plastic surgery on it.  I first glued the crack closed from the inside using cyanoacrylate glue, and once that cured, I dissolved some bits of plastic, cut from the inside of the shell, with MEK.  I tried to fill and smooth over the crack and sand it down.  It looks much better now, but the crack is not invisible.  The phone works well, and I have been using it on my desk for a few days now.

Larry

[RB]

Nice Recovery Larry!
Wondering, tho...
How do you break soft plastic? lol

[LarryInMichigan]

Soft plastic is not brittle the way the polystyrene is, but it is fragile and can break.  It is better at warping and melting though.  The back of this shell was warped a bit, so I was not able to close the crack tightly.  There was a gap left which I needed to fill with dissolved plastic.  Fortunately, the insides of these shells have some extra plastic.  I have a blue soft plastic AE80 which is cracked and missing a small chunk of plastic on one of the front bottom corners, where it probably hit the floor after being dropped.  One of these days when I feel ambitious, I want to try to patch that shell.

Larry

[countryman]

Nice Recovery Larry!

A very impressive repair indeed. Good job!

[david@london]

Yes, very successful plastic surgery there Larry.
Those are a very nice design the AE80.
I always think of the supposed Marilyn Monroe phone which sold for a crazy price....

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10567.0

[LarryInMichigan]

I always think of the supposed Marilyn Monroe phone which sold for a crazy price....
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10567.0

She may have used this phone.  It came from the Los Angeles area, and it probably passed through Monroe, Michigan on its way to me.  Make me an offer .

Larry

[david@london]

Larry,

Wow...perhaps you should hang on to it as it could be worth several thousand to the right buyer.

I do have a couple of phones here which, from the evidence of their numbercards, could easily have belonged to great actors....including a GPO 312 with a card from the Gants Hill area of London where Maggie Smith, the Jean Brodie and Downton Abbey star, lived as a child. Think I struck gold with that one....