1955 Soft Plastic Ivory 500, Finally...

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I believe I saw the phone being discussed in an ad for a local estate sale. The person selling the phone on ebay buys phones at estate sales to sell. See attached photo, too bad the cord is covering the cracked area, but you can almost see the crack, and the small dent to the left of the crack is also visible in the auction photos. Finger wheel was also replaced. The estate sale occurred about a week before the ebay sale, so it is a good chance this is the same phone.

It looks like the phone in that picture has the same corner crack as mine, so I bet it's the same one; very interesting. I sent the seller a message, and he says he never saw it on Craigslist. He also believes the cords currently on it are original. I wonder if someone bought that phone, cleaned the mold off, replaced the fingerwheel, and changed the cords before selling it to someone else.

If anyone has extra 4-conductor '50s Ivory cords , please let me know. I can use the 3-conductor I have, but it doesn't have the correct strain relief, so I have to have a coil tucked inside the phone to hold the cord in place.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Miraculously, the phone arrived only 2 days after purchase, and now I can get to work on it.

Good news:

-The phone is dated all 1955

-Other than the corner crack, the phone does not appear to have any cracks

-Even though the cords aren't original, the boot on the handset cord appears to be, and the original 1955 strain reliefs were clamped on the new cords! I may try clamping the handset strain relief onto my 3-conductor cord, and the one on the line cord to an Ivory cord. After all, that cord was ill-fitted onto my 1955 Ivory 354, so it would at least be period-correct!

-The dial turns without any binding or seizing.

Now for the bad news:

-The plastics are pretty faded, so I will use Clorox and water to bleach it.

-The crack was 'fixed' by oozing epoxy onto the back of the crack, and that same someone glued a chunk of beige plastic into the gap. I may try the dissolved-rib-in-acetone method to seal the gap. I also want to re-fix the crack with lacquer thinner, but the epoxy already poorly covers the crack up. Is there any way of removing epoxy from plastic? It's a pretty thick coat, so it could come off in one piece.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Well, I guess I can cross something off the 'bad' list! I tried prying the beige chunk out, and it came out easily. Then I flexed the two ends of the plastic on either side of the crack until the epoxy inside came loose, and it peeled out in one piece! It was gooey when I got it out; had it cured any longer, I wouldn't have been able to get it out!

I will try the lacquer thinner method, followed by the acetone-rib method for sealing the gap.

[AE_Collector]

-Other than the crack, the phone does not appear to have any cracks

Christian: Are you practicing to begin listing phones on eBay??? 

Terry

[Mr. Bones]

-Other than the crack, the phone does not appear to have any cracks

Christian: Are you practicing to begin listing phones on eBay??? 

Terry

I also was tickled by the way the words went together.

Kind of reminds me of an employee where I work from many years ago; he would tell customers on his way out from a repair call: "Well, it's fixed now; just don't try to use it!" and drive away...

I'm looking forward to seeing your restoration,  Christian, so please keep us posted, amigo!

Best regards!

[WEBellSystemChristian]

No; if I were practicing for that, I would describe how 'shabby chic' it is, and rip the handset cord off and describe it as 'untested'!

I'd also mark the best spot to drill a hole for a lamp. You know, to add some value to something so worthless and uncollectable!!

[WesternElectricBen]

No; if I were practicing for that, I would describe how 'shabby chic' it is, and rip the handset cord off and describe it as 'untested'!

I'd also mark the best spot to drill a hole for a lamp. You know, to add some value to something so worthless and uncollectable!!

Also, you would have to add the fact that "it would look great in a game room."

Ben

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I had finished restoring this a couple weeks ago, but never posted after shots!

The easiest part was fixing the crack, which didn't need any filling after I welded it together with lacquer thinner. (I think I'll refer to the lacquer thinner process from now on as plastic welding! )

The hard part was filling the gap. I broke off the two front ribs inside and mixed them with acetone in a glass vial. While I waited for it to thoroughly mix together, I taped aluminum foil to the inside of the housing to prevent the filler from leaking in. The consistency probably wasn't what it should have been ideally, it was more like a thick paste, almost the consistency of modeling clay. I filled the gap with enough material, and hoped for the best. I was surprised when I wetsanded the excess and it looked perfect! I filled some minor bubbles with some more filler, and now it looks great!

I filled a giant tub with 50/50 Bleach and water, and let the plastics sit for a night. These are the results after I assembled the phone!

[WEBellSystemChristian]

After:

[RotarDad]

Very nice work, Christian!!