Did I mess up?

[JorgeAmely]

Hopefully, not hot enough to melt a phone case.

(Sorry, McHeath, but is was such an easy shot!)

[McHeath]

Hmm, temperature of the oven, uh, I think it was 250.  Been awhile.  And yes I agree that baking the  paint made the difference, it really came out differently than other parts I've painted that were not baked.

Yeah Jorge it is an easy shot!     For those of you who don't know I melted the housing of a 554 once, that was ugly and just plain dumb.  Put it in at 200 degrees, wondered if it was too much but hey if a little heat is good a lot is better, right?  I also melted the phone cord ends on an original Trimline cord. 

My life, melted.   

[Dan/Panther]

I had a Vintage Philco Transistor radio,  the case a gotten distorted by being in the sun. Well I figure I'll place the case in some very warm water and maybe be able to straighten it up a bit. Well I found out one thing for sure, at what temperature that particular type of plastic shrivels up.
Boiling water was way too hot.
D/P

[Greg G.]

Early G1's were bakelite.  They are heavier than the plastic ones, and have a slightly different cup for the transmitter.  The U-shaped recess for holding the cord in place is part of the handset, and the cup has no U-shaped bottom to it.

-Bill Geurts

In that case I have two - my 5302 has a bakelite G1 handset, as does the Kellogg ITT.

[Jim Stettler]

Early G1's were bakelite.  They are heavier than the plastic ones, and have a slightly different cup for the transmitter.  The U-shaped recess for holding the cord in place is part of the handset, and the cup has no U-shaped bottom to it.

-Bill Geurts

I have a couple of G handsets w/ the cord prongs. I am thinking they are plastic. The interesting part is they are mold stamped  for 1957.

On the other side of the coin I have a couple of ITT  phones that are pretty modern  but the have the 2 piece transmitter cup like some of the early 500's.

(Flat cup w/ cord prong adaptor)
Jim

[Gary G]

What options do I have for replacing the rubber/pastic feet on the base?  The feet have become hard, but are still intact.  There is some rust that I can remove.  I'm not seeing sources online for replacements.

[Dennis Markham]

Gary, Dennis Hallworth, a telephone collector recovers leather foot pads.  He may be able to replace your plastic feet with leather ones but I'm not sure.  Usually if you sent him the base of the phones with riveted feet, he will replace the pads and then re-rivet them.  I don't know what he can do for you to replace the plastic feet.  You might try contacting him and asking.  His e-mail address is:  dph8745@comcast.net

~Dennis

[McHeath]

Fivestarphones.com has replacement rubber feet.  They are the last pattern used on the late 60's and up phones, flat and circular.  They don't look exactly like the 60's and early 70's ones I've seen, but they are dead ringer for the ones on my 1984 WE 500.

[Gary G]

Thanks guys for the suggestions.  I would prefer to go with the rubber feet.  It appears the feet for the 2500 have the same inner and outer dimensions.  Would the new feet press over the posts?

[McHeath]

Here is the link:

http://www.fivestarphones.com/index.php?cPath=59_181&page=5

You would have to replace the rivets by drilling them out and installing new ones. 

[Gary G]

This is more complex.  I would need the proper rivets and the tool to install.

[Gary G]

Another question - I received a new line cord from Oldphoneworks and was  surprised that there is no little retaining hook that would anchor into the base of the phone as a strain relief.  There is wire type hook, but it's not quite the same thing.  The handset cord I got from them however does have the anchor hook.  Is this normal?  I guess I should anchor the line cord with the wire hook below one of the ringers?

[Phonesrfun]

For what model phone did you order for?  They have different strain reliefs.

-Bill Geurts

[Gary G]

I thought I ordered for the W.E. 500.

[McHeath]

Yeah that's the trouble with rivets, you have to invest in a gun to install, and a drill and bit to remove the old ones, and if you only plan on doing one phone it's not real cost effective.