Tag Archives: restoration

First Look: 1937 Grunow 588 Radio Repair Project

Posted on March 2, 2012 by jwk

Keeping my word about actually trying to accomplish projects in March, I started tearing into the 1937 Grunow 588. It’s vastly similar to the Grunow 589s that I’ve repaired in the past, the main difference being that it’s a table … Continue reading →

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Antique Car Radio Repair: the 1951 Firestone 4-B-31 “Roamer” Vibrator Radio

Posted on February 5, 2012 by jwk

A local friend is building a rat rod out of 1920s-1950s parts, a custom collection that ultimately will turn into a very fast car powered by a huge V8. He found a vintage car radio to go with it, the … Continue reading →

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Huge and Powerful: The 1937 GE F-135 Repair Complete

Posted on January 27, 2012 by jwk

I’ve finally had the time to finish one of my long-running projects repairing GE’s most powerful radio offering from 1937, the GE F-135. I picked it up from Craigslist back in November but other responsibilities kept me from getting much … Continue reading →

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What’s that piece of wire, some kind of gimmick? [Mailbag]

Posted on January 17, 2012 by jwk

I was talking with a fellow antique radio hobbyist on the phone the other day about a repair he was working on. A TrueTone battery radio, he’d taken care of all the important steps – checking out the tubes, replacing … Continue reading →

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Grunow 589 Radio Repair Redux

Posted on December 29, 2011 by jwk

A client came to me with another Grunow 589 needing repair. I’ve seen this model radio before in my shop and it was pretty exciting to work on another identical one. This particular one came in excellent shape – it … Continue reading →

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New Toy + Starting a Project [1937 GE F-135]

Posted on November 22, 2011 by jwk

I picked up a very nice 1937/1938 General Electric model F-135 radio from Craigslist a few weeks ago, and have been starting to dig into it. It’s one of the highest end radios they produced that year for the 1937 … Continue reading →

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Firestone 4-B-31 “Roamer” Car Radio [In Progress]

Posted on November 12, 2011 by jwk

Just a short update to show what I’m working on right now. Other priorities have gotten in the way of actually updating this site over the last week, but things are still going on in the background! One project up … Continue reading →

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1942 GE LF-116 Radio Repair Part 5 – Alignment and Reinstallation [Finished!]

Posted on October 24, 2011 by jwk

Part of a continuing series that is now finished – see the previous installments: Part 1 – History and First Looks Part 2 – Tool Prep Part 3 – Capacitor Can Rebuilding Part 4 – Capacitors and Socket Replacement  After … Continue reading →

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Short Project: 1940 RCA Globetrotter A-20 by John Vassos

Posted on October 23, 2011 by jwk

The last of the three radios I picked up from an estate sale a few weeks ago, I spent about an hour this evening bringing it back to life. I’m still waiting on parts for my GE LF-116 – my … Continue reading →

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Short Project: A New Lease on Life for an Unknown Small Radio

Posted on October 15, 2011 by jwk

I visited a radio collector’s estate sale this morning and went home with a couple new projects. I started working on the first of them this afternoon, an incredibly simple small radio without any particular brand identification. I snapped these … Continue reading →

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