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Advice on drilling a Western 74g top lock

Started by Gary Z, October 09, 2019, 06:53:11 PM

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Gary Z

I felt like I was faced with no other choice but to drill out the top lock on a recent find. I assumed it is a 10G lock but I tried about 8 different 10G keys with no luck. It's a Gray/Western marked on the back 74G not a 174G that I am a little familiar with. I have been trying for days to get in there. So I did drill out quite a bit of the lock but some of the springs are still engaged. I do not want to damage any of the top section of the phone. Do I need to drill out enough of the cavity so that the bar drops on it's own or is there something I can to help accomplish that? I know I should have checked on this before I started but I was so darn frustrated!
Thanks,
Gary Z

poplar1

Paul Vavarchek told me to use a large screwdriver to pry off a locked upper housing. You can also remove the 7 screws on the back of the phone, though 2 of them may be installed from inside.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

Gary Z

Whew. I got it off! I had it upside down and did do some careful and gentle prying and it popped off. The lock said Automatic Electric 10L. There was no damage to the phone. And a 1952 nickel popped out of there too.

kleenax

Quote from: Roody on October 09, 2019, 08:02:58 PM
Whew. I got it off! I had it upside down and did do some careful and gentle prying and it popped off. The lock said Automatic Electric 10L. There was no damage to the phone. And a 1952 nickel popped out of there too.
10L is a coin vault door lock!  I don't think it would even fit on the top housing.
Ray Kotke
Recumbent Casting, LLC

poplar1

Quote from: kleenax on October 27, 2019, 09:02:28 PM
10L is a coin vault door lock!  I don't think it would even fit on the top housing.

Phoneco (Ron Knappen) sometimes used 10L locks as upper housing locks. I am guessing these were locks they didn't have the serial numbered keys for.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

kleenax

Quote from: poplar1 on October 28, 2019, 12:05:44 AM
Phoneco (Ron Knappen) sometimes used 10L locks as upper housing locks. I am guessing these were locks they didn't have the serial numbered keys for.
Geez; I didn't even think that a 10L lock would physically fit on the top!  Now I will have to experiment tomorrow!
Ray Kotke
Recumbent Casting, LLC

Gary Z

#6
Is there much of a difference with the 74G and the 174G? An earlier model maybe?

kleenax

Quote from: Roody on October 28, 2019, 02:56:58 PM
Is there much of a difference with the 74G and the 174G? An earlier model maybe?
Can't say that I have ever seen or heard of a 74G. By the photos, it sure looks like a 174G. Anybody look in Ron's payphone book to see if it is listed on one of the charts he has in there that lists all of the models from over the years.

And, the back of that top-lock in the photos sure looks like a NE 21B lock, surely not a 10L.
Ray Kotke
Recumbent Casting, LLC

Stan S

Roody
The Western model 74G
A Western model 74G is a SIDETONE RE-MANUFACTURED 3-slot. They were all born as 50G, 2 piece, 5 cent payphones. They were then re-manufactured into 10 cent 55Gs still as 2 piece payphones.
As with all 70 series 3-slots they were then turned into handset phones. The front mounted transmitter, the 10A transmitter mount, the 706 receiver and the 2-piece receiver hook were tossed in the dumpster. An 'F' handset with a matching hook was added. A plate was riveted to the front of the phone to cover up the mounting holes for the front transmitter which was removed. There were never any newly manufactured 70 series handset payphones produced. They were all re-manufactured from older models. The first newly manufactured handset 3-slots were the 180 series in 1940.

The Western model 174G
The Western 174 G is an ANTISIDETONE RE-Manufactured 3-slot. 174s were either born as a series 150G or a series 160G, 5 cent 3-slot. Either model was then re-manufactured into a 10 cent 3-slot. The 150G was re-manufactured into a 155G. The 10 cent 160G I believe was re-stamped as a 166G. Just like the 70 series the 170 series 3-slots were re-manufactured into handset payphones. The same changes made to the 70 series were done to the 170 series as far as the hook, transmitter, transmitter mount, 706 receiver and front cover plate.

The easiest way to tell if you've got a 74G ( sidetone phone) or a 174G (anti-sidetone phone) is to count the number of terminal positions on the wood strip. A 70 series (Sidetone 3-slot) has 8 screw positions. A 170 series (Anti-sidetone 3-slot) has 9 positions.

As far as your top lock goes there's no way of knowing what it is (or was). Looks like it was opened and re-riveted.

Stan S.

Gary Z

Thanks Stan. I couldn't tell the difference from my 174g, but the front plate is riveted on the one marked 74g and there are 8 terminal positions. It looks like it has the older wires sticking out of the back too. Besides the top lock, does it look correct for a 74G?

Stan S

Roody
Your payphone looks perfect.
It's a shame that the cost of locks has gone crazy over the past few years.
I use 29S locks and keys in the payphones I build for Ebay.
Locks are less expensive and the keys are not as prone to breaking.
Stan S.