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Cool find on my free W.E. 500

Started by foots, May 07, 2009, 11:37:27 PM

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foots

Today I took apart my 500 to start on some cleaning and I noticed something neat - I found the following dates:

Base
4-59

Reciever
4-15-59

Transmitter
3-23-59

Are there any other dates I need to look for?

Inside of case
4-15-59

Network
4-59

Ringer
4-59
"Ain't Worryin' 'Bout Nothin"

bingster

The backside of the dial will have a date on it, and the two cord restraints will, too.
= DARRIN =



benhutcherson

Looks like you've got a good, date matching phone.

The other big date that you didn't mention is on the back of the dial. Loosen the two screws on either side of it, pry the support arms apart, and you can lift the dial straight up and flip it over.

You can also look at the strain reliefs on the handset cord and line cord, which are generally stamped with the year.

HobieSport

Sounds good Foots.  Is it soft or hard plastic and are there six or seven holes in the receiver cap?

foots

#4
Back of Dial reads 4 - 59.  There is also a 7C-58 above it.
Someone hardwired a modular cord so it could be plugged into a modern jack. The handset cord looks original, I'm still trying to get to the restraints on it.

The receiver cap has 6 holes. Also on the other cap there is no hole in the center.

How do I tell if this phone is hard or soft plastic?

UPDATE - receiver cord is dated 59
"Ain't Worryin' 'Bout Nothin"

bingster

#5
Quote from: foots on May 08, 2009, 12:24:09 AMHow do I tell if this phone is hard or soft plastic?

Soft plastic smells funny and makes a dull sound when you flick it.  Hard plastic doesn't smell like anything and makes a sharp sound when you flick it.

I just remembered another date... The case may be dated along the front inside edge.

Also, what color is your phone?  The "-58" on the back of the dial indicates white.
= DARRIN =



Dan

Smell it--seriously--rancid parmasean cheese smell (if soft plastic) . Take a penny and tap it (on the inside of the housing--no scratches this way). If it sounds dull when you tap it, it's soft, if it taps with a "click" sound-it's hard. Odds are it is soft. The 58 on the dial indicates it is a white phone (did you mention the color?).

Dennis Markham , (a knowledgable phone guy on this site , espec on 500 sets!) has stated soft colored phones became harder plastic around June 1959, so it's probably soft (meaning more valuable)
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

Dan

Yikes, bingster, we were chanelling each others thoughts across the internet!
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

bingster

That's scary, Dan.  Even scarier is the fact that I went back and edited mine to mention the color before I saw yours.
= DARRIN =



HobieSport

Also Foots soft plastic is thicker than hard plastic, if you have a newer 500 to compare it to.  But as Dan said, chances are it's soft, making this a pretty great matching dates colored (white?) '59 very near the end of the colored soft plastic era.  I just learned that the black 500s are sometimes still soft plastic into the early '60s, but the color phones went to hard plastic near the end of '59.  (Correct me if I'm wrong on this anyone)

foots

My phone is indeed white - somewhat yellowed now though. There wasn't any funky smell when I was disassembling it for cleaning but it does make a somewhat dull sound when tapped with a penny - so I still ain't sure if its soft or hard plastic. The only real bad things I've found with this phone is that the plastic foots   ;D  are cracked and on the rear of the phone near where the cord goes in there is some spider webbing that can be seen if the light hits it just right - that may polish out it may not.
"Ain't Worryin' 'Bout Nothin"

HobieSport

Foots for re-whitening white phones that have yellowed there has been some success among the forum using peroxide.  I've never done it and don't know how it works on soft/hard plastic,  but you can go to the forum home page and do a search for "peroxide" and read up on it.  And Dennis and others might even know a way to recondition the cracked foots  ;) some.

Dan

I can get a white phone BEAUTIFUL with peroxide, see the thread. Colored ones -not so well (Dan/Panther SANDED a colored 1500 pushbutton (light blue, I think)) and Got the yellow out. I'll be glad to help you if you need it, but the thread presents it well.
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

foots

Thanks Dan and Hobie, I read throught that thread last night and I think I'll give that a shot. Last night I washed the case and also removed the fingerwheel and cleaned that up too. You wouldn't beleive how filthy this phone was.!
"Ain't Worryin' 'Bout Nothin"

HobieSport

#14
Quote from: Dan
(Dan/Panther SANDED a colored 1500 pushbutton (light blue, I think)) and Got the yellow out.

That was McHeath, not Dan/Panther. For proof, just check Heath's fingerprints. He doesn't have any anymore. ;)

Foots just make sure if the peroxide methods are okay to use on soft plastic if your phone is indeed soft plastic, because I don't know about that.  (There's a lot that I don't know about  :P)