Gold 302

[Gilas]

I recently purchased what was advertised as a bronze 302 off Ebay.  The bottom is stamped with 302G 12 the color for Dark Gold.  Well I got the phone today and have a couple questions.  It does come with a brown F1 painted gold and some beautiful cords that seem almost flawless however I have a couple questions.  On the phone's ears the tip show a orangish color underneath.  When I compare it with the rub off the F1 the under coat is the same color.  Did Western prime the black paint with anything or has the phone been painted before?  It;s not just the ears btw there are small blemishes here and there and when you look closely you can see a very think layer of that orange color. Also as you can see the dial is dated 1949 and is a 4H.  Were any of these made with 4H or just the 5-J?  Btw haven't had time to clean the housing at all yet so some of that is still dirt lol.  Best way to clean it without damaging the paint?

[Gilas]

Guess I could have posted this in collectors corner Bingster if you want to move it feel free

[AE40FAN]

Use dish soap and water to clean off all the dirt.  There is this product called FLITZ sold at ACE Hardware stores.  It is the Best for cleaning paint!

[poplar1]

The dial is actually a 2A converted to a 4H; there is a refurb date of 1949 on the dial so it is quite possible that this dial has been on this phone for 63 years...I have seen the orange primer on other WE sets.

[Doug Rose]

WE did prime the phones with a brown/orange color. Usuall these sets were metal. Is yours. It should have had clear plungers and Ivory cloth cords. made in the mid 50s when was doing anything to get color phones for sale. Just like the 202 Continentals in another post. What is the date of the phone base etc. This is a really nice phone. After a wash to get the dirt off, I'd use Brasso to shine it. Not too much elbow grease to remove the paint. if you are nervous about Brasso, try Norus II. Really nice phone.

Does the clear finger wheel attach with an "X" type flange. You will know right away as the metal forms an X and the finger wheel is much thicker. 4H is a nice find, I have seen them with a painted 5J as well. ...Doug

[Gilas]

Doug,

The more I look the more I can see that even the edges on the bottom you can see that there is a very thin primer of the orange.  The housing is thermoplastic and dated 05/08/51.  I will include a picture of the dial after I got the fingerwheel off, it's not like the 5J on my ivory which has the X like you are referring to.  I did get it cleaned up some and even found another center card underneath the already old one that was there.  Also the plungers are clear and the cords are Ivory cloth.

[Doug Rose]

Cleaned up great! How bad is the paint on the handset? When IO have come across sets like this and the handset paint is too bad, I strip it and display the set with a brown bakelite handset. I think the gold and brown look great...others would disagree. Looking good!!...Doug

[Gilas]

Doug I would love to see what the one you have with the brown handset looks like.  Mine does show some wear for sure and that might be a great alternative, since finding an extra gold F1 is probably not the easiest thing to do.

[Doug Rose]

Doug I would love to see what the one you have with the brown handset looks like.  Mine does show some wear for sure and that might be a great alternative, since finding an extra gold F1 is probably not the easiest thing to do.

Mine was with a Factory Gold 202. it had a Brown bakelite E1 under the very bad gold paint. The body was in amazingly good shape. Indoor pics don't do it justice. The outside of the ivory cloth cord was in shreds, but the inside cordswas perfect and Janet braided it. It is one of my favorite phones, it is a beauty...Doug