OK well been away awhile with a brand new baby so haven't had too much time for sleep let alone a phone but starting to get a bit better. I recently saw this AE80 come up and it was listed as green but I sure looks like Dawn Gray under there. Almost a twin to the one that Jorge did a couple years back. If it is gray then I have some work but out for me.
http://tinyurl.com/lz8uba8
Dawn Gray is what it looks like to me. Dawn Gray with a suntan. You did a good job of spotting a rare color there. Sellers often mis-identify faded gray as many other colors. Dark Gray WE phones are often described as olive green and go under the radar, like the 500C I got recently. Light gray sometimes fades to beige and is called "tan."
Congratulations on getting a rare item for a good price. Better start those finger stretching exercises in preparation for all the sanding. :) I hope the logo area is unfaded like the underneath of the handset.
I saw that phone and realized that it was gray, but I have been trying to limit my AE80s to soft plastic, and this one has newer plastics. I have had some success bleaching gray phones back to gray (see forum link (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=8946.msg95822#msg95822)), so I would suggest giving bleaching a chance before sanding.
Larry
Gilas,
Nice find!!!!!! ;D Now I know who beat me to it :'(!!!! stub
Congratulations on your "new" phone. I really like this one because the handset caps and numbers wheel seems to be soft plastic. On top of that, you have a straight line ringer. I think yours, as well as mine, have an ABS housing, so if you choose to sand it, it should not be a big problem.
Time flies when you are having fun; I refurbished mine a little over 4 years ago. Mine is from Canada (it took a while for Terry to issue a visa so it could travel to the US), but is has the same model number as yours.
Another thing I noticed is yours has a potted network, so it must be heavier than mine.
Jorge if I can get mine to look 1/2 as good as yours I will be thrilled. Did you start with 320? Any hints?
In my album from 4 years ago, I said that I did many wet sanding passes. But I think your should start at something like 600. Less than that could leave deep scratches that would take even more wet passes to eliminate.
Here it is for your convenience:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Amelyenator/AE80InDawnGray#
( dead link 03-09-21 )