Western Electric Imperial 202 for $49

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I've wanted one of these for awhile, and now I've found one for a great price. This seller has been trying to sell this Imperial on eBay for a long time, always at around $70, with no success. He finally caught my attention with a $49 BiN offer. It's gonna need some love, some electrical work (seller says it doesn't work, I'm guessing it'll just be a conducter wired wrong), an open center finger wheel, one of which I have, and a subset. Won't be very much work to get this beautiful again.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/131126221002?txnId=911978254003

[JimH]

That looks like a great deal, Christian!  The handset paint looks nearly perfect, and the dial plate looks pretty good, too.  Imperials have always been my favorites. 

[WEBellSystemChristian]

That looks like a great deal, Christian!  The handset paint looks nearly perfect, and the dial plate looks pretty good, too.  Imperials have always been my favorites. 

I think this is a molded ivory handset instead of painted. Then again, paint doesn't fade as much as plastic does, and that handset has no fading at all.

[rdelius]

Painted handset-note the groves .Looks very nice

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Oh, I forgot that molded handsets didn't have grooves, thanks for reminding me. Just to clarify, Imperials were painted a gold colored paint, not plated actual gold, right?
Never mind, I now know they were painted through a little forum research.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

I replaced the closed center fingerwheel with an open one, and hammered the finger stop flat (carefully, of course). I polished the base and handset to death (the base is so reflective, that when my room is dark, this phone is the only one I can still see light reflections in). I'm also thinking about replacing the handset cord, since the conductors are frayed apart.

[Doug Rose]

Looks great Christian. I would also replace the handset cord. A straight brown cloth cord would not look out of place....Doug

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Looks great Christian. I would also replace the handset cord. A straight brown cloth cord would not look out of place....Doug

Thanks! I'm thinking about just ordering a coiled ivory cloth cord from OPW. I want this phone to stand out from my other 202s, while they are black and have straight black cloth cords, this one is two tone ivory/gold, with an ivory coiled cord.

If you're wondering what happened to the line cord, it was temporarily removed, because when I received the phone in the mail, every spade terminal was frayed off both cords (no wonder it didn't work), and each one needs replacement.

[Andre91]

That phone had been on eBay for a LONG time, I remember first seeing it listed at $89, then $79, then $69... I wasn't willing to pay that because of the damage to the plating on the cradle and the cords needing replacement, but $49 was reasonable I think.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

That phone had been on eBay for a LONG time, I remember first seeing it listed at $89, then $79, then $69... I wasn't willing to pay that because of the damage to the plating on the cradle and the cords needing replacement, but $49 was reasonable I think.

Yeah, I wasn't ready to pay $70 for an Imperial, but when I saw it for $49, I took a chance on it. Other than the chipped off plating on some parts of the body, it polished up better than it looks in the picture.

[BDM]

Nice. Can these be re-plated in that color?

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Nice. Can these be re-plated in that color?

I'm assuming so, but I personally would like to keep what I can original.