My Ivory 302

[Kenny C]

A very kind forum member won this for me last week. I know it's not in the best condition but, hey it's colored It was 20.00 with shipping. I think this can be fixed. I need a handset and plungers. If anyone has these parts PLEASE let me know. Here are some pictures and the auction.

http://tinyurl.com/436udfq

[Tom B]

Nice one there, Kenny. A real project

[deedubya3800]

12 5 52. I love when people try to fix things that are broken rather than just throwing them away. I'm actually really amazed that someone went to the trouble of offering it for sale, but they must've known it was still worth something. It still has a lot of beauty despite its current condition.

[HarrySmith]

I just saw an Ivory handset on ebay in with a pile of phone junk the other day. I was going to bid but held back as I am just getting my head above water with my new job. I cannot find it now but a search for phone parts should bring it up. It was only $9.99 for the whole stash.

[Dennis Markham]

Kenny, the good side looks good.  Just a thought before you sink too much into that housing....the Ivory 302's can be found at reasonable prices.  I bought one that is very nice with a corner crack for just $45 plus shipping.  I say have fun fixing it up, but don't sink a ton of cash into it.  By the time you get a handset, base, cords, dial, etc. you could have more invested than it's worth.  Just food for thought.

[old_phone_man]

Hello.  I'm new to this forum but have been reading you folks for some time as a guest.  It was this thread that actually got me to register. 
As Dennis pointed out, Ivory 302's (especially minor cracked ones) can be relatively inexpensive.  I saw the Ivory housing that you bought and remembered my desire to attempt an extensive repair.  As luck would have it, I was at my favorite swap meet and found an Ivory 302 with a large portion of the front broken off.  This being the worst of the damage (aside normal wear) I figured this would be my Frankenstein's Monster.  I was able to buy the phone for $20.  Not wanting to put much money into this, and in hopes the experience would make me better at repairs in the future, I want to share with you what I found.  There are several well known artists within our little phone collecting community that can do wonders with Resins and I found out that I'm not one.  At least not yet.  But I did find that with the use of some Loctite Epoxy (about $5 at Lowe's) and some white casting pigment ($6 at Hobby Lobby) the slight Opaque Amber Tint in the epoxy and a drop of the white pigment is almost a spot on for an Ivory 302.  It will mix up as a fairly sturdy paste.  Once I blocked up the damage from the inside I was able to cast a thin coating on the front of the phone from the bottom of the base to the reveal line and from curved side to curved side.  This allowed me to feather the repair where it mated up with the original material.  Of course there is a lot of sanding and buffing required afterwords but I was able to make a daily driver out of what was a sadly broken beauty.  I learned a lot and now know some more things of what I will and won't do in the future.  I attempted to take some pictures of the finished product showing as much as possible but my photography skills are lacking.  Attached is what I accomplished along with pictures of the products used.  If in the event you don't find a good Handset I found, while I was restoring a couple of Imperial Desksets, that a can of Rust-Oleum Specialty Plastic Paint in the color "Shell White" is almost a perfect match for the Western Electric Ivory Color (works good to repaint a 5J or 6D dial found on colored 302's).  One picture is where I sat a painted handset on my Ivory 302 to give you an idea.

[Wallphone]

Welcome to the Forum O_P_M. You did a very nice job on the Ivory 302. Thanks for sharing this info. Did you repair it with one coat of your mixture or did it take a few apps to build it up? How long did it take to harden?
Doug Pav

[old_phone_man]

Thank you Doug.  I applied one coat using a small, very clean and very straight (undamaged) putty knife.  It is basically the thickness of the original shell at the damaged area and much thinner across the existing material.  It will set up in about 3 to 4 hours where you can start some initial sanding.  It becomes fully cured after 24 hours according to the epoxy label but I found that giving it an added 24 hours makes it feel much harder and thus better to do some of the final sanding, especially where I feathered it on the corners.  The longer curing time may be due to adding the pigment to the epoxy.

[Dennis Markham]

OPM, thank you for your post.  Welcome to the Forum!

Any chance you have some "before" shots of that phone?  It did turn out very nice.  Thanks for sharing your method of repair.  It makes me want to run out and get the materials so I can repair the corner crack on the 302 I mentioned earlier in this topic.

Kenny I wasn't trying to dissuade you from making needed repairs, just pointing out that there are some good deals out there for an Ivory 302 that is less damaged if you keep diligent in your search.  Good luck with your rebuilding of your Ivory 302.

[old_phone_man]

Dennis, Sadly in my excitement to start on my Ivory 302 I failed to take any before shots.  That will never happen again!

[Wallphone]

I bought an Ivory 302 a few months ago that was in great condition for $125 and I thought that I was getting a good deal on it. I don't think that I have seen a nice one go for more than that since I bought mine. There was fairly nice one that sold for $102.50 today. The same seller had another one that was decent except for a crack in the front corner and there was some damage to the transmitter cap. But it would have been a good candidate for a fixer upper with some of the tips found here on the Forum. It sold for $45. < http://tinyurl.com/3keyhhp > Too bad the colored sets aren't going for that cheap.
Doug Pav

[deedubya3800]

It's hard to tell just how the prewar sets compare to the postwar sets in price as the prewar sets turn up so rarely on eBay.

[deedubya3800]

How is this project coming along? Have you found a handset yet?

[Kenny C]

Its sitting on the shelf until I have time for it.

I really need the handset!

[Kenny C]

Ok fellas I need opinions.

It is going to cost me almost 50.00 to buy new cords for this set I wass wondering if it would be possible to bleach out some brown cords and save some $.

If it is possible how would you guys reccomend I do it.

and also:

How hard do you think it would be to mold my own plungers?
Thanks,
Kenny C.