I Like Having the Blues

[McHeath]

What a deal, 67 clams for an Ivory 302, geesh some guys have all the luck.  

[Jester]

I've been thinking I'll dig the tubes & mounts out that I removed from 306 sets over the years and, following Jorge's wiring suggestions, see if I can't make them work.

Back to the dials-- I didn't mention it before, but one might find a 6 series dial mounted to a color 302, same as you could see on the black sets-- except for the housing color & fingerwheel, of course.  All the examples I have are marked 6D, and I have never seen one dated earlier than '55.  I'm not saying they didn't make the 6D before that-- I've had at least two 6A dials dated '52 & a couple from '53 & 4-- just that I haven't seen one.  Although using a #6 dial would be acceptable according to the BSP & the many examples of 302s out there with one mounted to it, my personal preference for the 302-- and that of many on this forum, I have gathered-- is one sporting a #5 dial.  The #6 sticks up a little farther out of the cover than the 5, and the sound it makes as you dial (or should I say the lack of sound) is all wrong for what I expect from a 302.  Example of the #6 pictured below.

Under that are some detail shots attempting to show the damage to the hanset & caps that I need to address.   

[Jester]

The last day has proven to be great for Blue 302's!  For starters, I have made great progress in cleaning the handset.  Even better, my shipment of parts from Telephone Creations came in Tuesday!  One of the items I ordered was a repro. finger hold cover in dark blue.  He cautioned me that the color may not be exact, but I'll let you be the judge--it is pictured below with the cleaned & polished plastic parts.  And lastly, I found this on ebay as a Buy It Now & took the plunge--18 minutes after initial posting!!  Enjoy!http://tinyurl.com/mz9arg

[Jester]

It's taken a couple days to finish the handset to my satisfaction & start assembling things, but some shots of the assembled handset, cover w/ dial, switch & the new lift cover are below.  I decided to build this as a 302 & not a 304, so the hunt is on for a properly dated base with all the parts & good feet-- or as close to that as I can come.

[McHeath]

Love that blue.  These 302 phones are pretty good looking in their clear fingerwheels and nice colors. 

[Jester]

Here she is!  All finished with matching dates on everything but the base, dial & cords (reproduction).  She's ready to test now!

[happy hooligan]

that is probably the prettiest phone I've ever seen

[McHeath]

Yes, it sure is a pretty one.  You should be proud of this phone, it looks great and I'm sure will draw attention. 

[Dennis Markham]

Jester that is an awesome phone.  You did a great job fixing it up!  Lucky dog!

[Jester]

I dug up this old thing because the pics below seem to fit in with my original postings here.  This aqua 500 is the third one I've bought this year and, with parts dated 10/58 all over it, the oldest I've personally seen so far.  The plastics cleaned up rather easily, but I took some liberties with the base because the overall finish was bad & someone had disconnected the ringer by cutting the red & black leads off--right in front of the solder joint on the coil!   Since it was easier to change the coil than repair it, I went a little further & replaced the whole base assy. with a spare one I had that was dated 2/58-- complete with nearly perfect leather feet!

[Dennis Markham]

Stephen, once again, a beautiful phone!  Nice job.  I really like the soft plastic Aqua 500's.  The one I have is from 2/58 and is a 9+ out of 10.  I only had to throw some polish on it.  Side by side yours looks every bit as nice.

[Jester]

Thank you, Dennis.  after viewing your work, that compliment means alot!

[McHeath]

Yes that's a great phone.  The aqua is my favorite color, and when it's returned to it's original clean blueness like yours it's just a perfectly pleasing thing.  Is that the original cord?  If so your did wonders. 

[Dan]

Jester, is that Novus 2 only or rubbing compound, or did you sand it to get the yellowing off of it? Thanks. I have a few "yellowed" coloured sets that won't bleach out with peroxide, but I am not brave enough to sand yet.

[Jester]

Dan,
This one was the first "success" story I had with using peroxide on soft plastic.  As reported elsewhere, I didn't have the same result with the dark beige. But, it sure made this this aqua sparkle like a diamond in a goat's fanny.

McHeath,
I confess that the handset cord is NOT original-- I robbed it & the wall cord off my second aqua blue 500(I hope D/P isn't reading this ).  I intend to look at that cord later & see if it can be saved, but the cords on it now make it look really nice.