Admiral 20X122 restoration project
 

I'm taking a little break from my Motorola restoration projects to document and hopefully wrap up my Admiral 20X122 restoration.

Part I. Finding one
I acquired most of my sets by chance, but this model I actively sought out for many months. Every now and then would pop up on eBay, but it was always too far away or too expensive. Finally, I spotted one on KiJiJi in Arkansas for $150 and the seller was willing to pack and ship it.

Here it is down in AR

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/01-01.JPG

I was a little nervous both because they insisted on a cashiers check and their lack of experience packing or shipping anything like this.

Alas, my fears were well founded. It arrived via UPS smashed in a million pieces :tears:

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/01-02.jpg

The entire front and top are caved in. CRT neck is snapped. Nasty gouge in the faceplate.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/01-03.jpg

I contacted the folks I bought it from and they filed a damage claim with UPS. Big mistake. I was totally ignorant that it meant UPS would be taking the TV, shipping it back down to AR and, eventually, dismissing the claim.

They were several weeks of angry phone calls, but eventually I gave up. The seller had my money and what was left of the TV and UPS insisted that it wasn't packed properly so they weren't accountable. I just cut my losses in disgust!

I did hang on to a few souvenirs though. It gave me material to test bakelite and faceplate cleaners and polish. I glued a few pieces back together too. Think of Woody Allen in Sleeper when they're going to clone the 'leader' from just his nose :D

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/01-04.jpg

Coming up: Part II - Finding one 2nd attempt...

Just out of curiosity, how did they pack it? All I can see in the photos is some wrapping paper, which obviously wouldn't do.

Phil Nelson

Yeah, that's about it. Plus some thin rigid foam sheets on the sides. Apparently, they were trying to keep the dimensions under some limit. Going above that limit would have kicking the shipping fees up a notch. If they had bothered to tell me this, I would have sent them additional funds to cover it :rolleyes:.

This is a prime example of the reason that I never bid on TVs larger than a table radio that I cannot pick up personally. All three times I tried it, the TV was damaged in shipping(UPS being the worst).

Yeah, tough lessons learned. I only pickup sets in person now too.

Part II - Finding one 2nd attempt
 

A few months later, I found another one in Omaha, Nebraska on eBay. I contacted the seller to discuss shipping. It turned out that he was handy with tools and agreed to dismantle the set and pack it properly in separate boxes.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/02-00.JPG

Here they are at my place. Did they survive the journey?

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/02-01.jpg

Yes, they sure did:banana: Not a single crack in the bakelite.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/02-02.jpg

The chassis is fine and the CRT checks good.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/02-03.jpg

It has a nifty internal antenna too. It works sorta like like a giant DPDT switch.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/02-04.jpg

The CRT foam has disintegrated. No surprise there.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/02-05.jpg

The bakelite is incredibly dull and the faceplate has yellowed. Maybe a heavy smoker owned it?

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/02-06.jpg

This is the color and shine I hope to restore.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/20...tion/02-07.jpg

Next up - Step III - Cleaning...

Congrats of finally getting one intact!

I found one locally otherwise I never would have had the nerves to ship one.

I used some Minwax Wood Stain to bring back the color on mine, when the Bakelite is dull it's pretty receptive to absorbing stain.

I intended to clear coat it later but never got around to it so it needs to be freshened up a little.

Yeah, something tells me that polishing alone might not bring back the dark color. Perhaps this TV sat in bright light for years . . . ?

The shiny surface layer on some Bakelite is thin. If you get too aggressive, you'll polish it right off, and then get into a pulpy underlayer that can't be polished at all. If you polish an area and it gets (or stays) shiny but doesn't change color, then you may want to try something else.

Phil Nelson

Thanks for the great tips. I found evidence of fragrant candle wax in several spots and a discolored area on top. That leads me to think that some of this surface dullness is smoke/wax build up. I've cleaned some test areas and it's going well.

On a related note. Any tips on cleaning grille fabric? I'm not sure which color is closer to the original. The darker areas that were underneath the bakelite or the exposed areas?

AK = Alaska
AR = Arkansas.

Where in AR did you find that? I myself would have just driven to get it, I only have a Pontiac Sedan but could have carefully laid it in the back seat. I'd love to have one of these neat little guys though! Congrats on finding one intact! :thmbsp:

I'd suspect that the fabric areas hidden behind the bakelite grillwork were not faded by sunlight.

Yeah, that makes sense. Too bad the whole piece of fabric is glued down to the wood. Maybe just a dusting is the safe way to go.

:stupid: would you believe I work with Google Maps for a living ?

I found it in Fort Smith, AR.

That was before I knew much about vintage TVs or that this community even existed. Now, I do my best to pick a set up myself or let others know about it so it can be saved.

I've got a VW Golf hatchback these days. With the rear seats folded down and a nice blanket it's perfect for sets like this :)

hmm, Just 5 1/2 hours from my location too. Wonder if there's any more "gold" over that way. Maybe even down in Little Rock.

Wow that cloth is really faded badly! Here's a pic of mine. Seems to be a tan/gold fabric with bright gold strands running though it. If you think it would benefit from a cleaning maybe just using a damp cloth migth clean it up a bit or a little woolite perhaps. Good luck with it I have the same set but it has the seperate power supply/ audio chaiss.
Terry