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Western Electric 1554B arrives

Started by McHeath, October 15, 2009, 10:38:35 PM

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McHeath

Okay here is the progress thus far on creating a backplate. 

First we have the donor phone, a Radio Shack 2554 from the late 80's that has been giving parts to needy phones since 2008.  I paid half of the listed price on the side of it.

McHeath

Then we take it out to the drill press and drill all the rivets out that hold the various brackets on.  A pretty easy job with the press:

McHeath

Had to slice the frame down a bit where the ringer volume control lever goes, on the old 1554 it's higher up than on the 2554. 

So here it is, stripped down.  I then bent the edges of the frame in a bit to make it fit evenly all around the frame on the 1554, and lastly painted it flat black. 

Tomorrow after the paint dries we head to the hardware store to look for bolts to assemble it. 

McHeath

Here is a curious problem this phone has, and my other 10 button has as well.  The number buttons begin to crack, very weird and I have no idea why.

McHeath

Okay it's all finished and on the wall, here are the final steps. 

The newly reworked chassis of the 2554 painted black and installed on the back of the 1554.  Went to the hardware store and bought some nuts and bolts and it was an easy mounting job.


McHeath

Then onto the cleaning and polishing.  Washed all the parts in hot soapy water, then applied TR3 resin glaze, an old car finish polish that I use on all my phones by sheer virtue of it's easily available to me and I've been using it for 25 years.

Then a final coat of Turtle Wax.

McHeath

And here it is on the wall.  This was a very enjoyable project phone as it did not need much done to it, but just enough to give a sense of being involved with it.  The backplate works fine and looks okay, and I will probably hunt up a longer cord so that it's more usable.  It certainly shines nicely. 

Dennis Markham

Heath, that was a great project.  The back plate project turned out great as well.  That phone would be a nice addition to anyone's collection.   Nice job.

McHeath

Thanks Dennis, it came out real well and I'm very pleased.  Of course it was the phone, not me, as it came in fabulous condition and all I had to do was some polish and wax.


bwanna

don't be so modest, heath.  ::)
you have one sharp looking set, there. fine job on the chassis modification. :)
donna