I recently bought a White 500 from member Zaphod01, who had it for sale. I bought it because I've been looking for a nice Soft Plastic version for awhile now.
I soaked it in Blach overnight, and this is how it looks! The lift looks a little yellow because I somehow lost it before I could get it in the bleach, so you can see how the whole phone looked before the bleaching. He sent me the plastics only, because the base was earlier and barely within the same decade. I found a nice 8-58 base to use, which is only a few months newer than the plastics. The dial spins very smoothly!
I don't have cords for it yet, but I'm on the hunt for a pair of white cords to use!
That looks great!
Ok, I'm going to have to hire you to be my eyes and ears for some old phones! I too am looking for a soft white 500 as well as a 554...
Jim
You did a beautiful job on the plastics. White Tenite seems to take well to bleaching and it doesn't darken to a brownish hue like hard plastic can do sometimes. Good luck on finding those cords. White cords from a 1960s phone would do in a pinch. As you know, the ones from the 1950s are not as easily found. Wish I could help. I can at least be on the lookout.
Very good restoration.
Chuck
Very nice!
Very nice job Christian, you did a great job.
Super nice job, Christian! ;D
Best regards!
Very Nice, looks great!
Thanks everyone!
The shadows in the pictures lie a little; the color is a stark white. It looks like the bottom edge is a little Yellow, but it was really the shadow of my iPad that created the illusion.
This is the advantage that Tenite has over ABS, it's not very affected by UV light. If I rented a White 500 new in 1958 and I didn't smoke or invite people to my home that did, that phone would probably have perfect coloring it's whole life. ABS is the exact opposite; it deflects Nicotine, but is very vulnerable to UV.