[Jeffhs]

I'd fix the connections around the filter capacitors if the replacement looks "botched up", as you put it. In fact, in a radio this old (the 38- in the model number means 1938 model year), every other capacitor in it is either defective or failing, so I'd replace them all on general principles. This is probably why the radio only gets a handful of stations in the daytime, as the sensitivity goes way down if the capacitors in the signal circuits are bad; normally, these older radios should receive stations hundreds of miles away if the caps and other parts of the signal path are up to snuff.

This has been said many times in these antique radio forums, but it bears repeating: In any antique radio, TV or other electronic device, the capacitors must be replaced as part of the restoration procedure; otherwise, damage to the power transformer or other parts of the set may occur, especially in the case of filter capacitors. These must be among the first capacitors replaced in an AC-operated antique radio with a power transformer, even if the set is not exhibiting AC hum; failure to do so will almost certainly result in transformer damage when (not if) the old filter cap shorts. These capacitors are in a position to short the power supply directly to ground when they fail, so if the transformer is not fused (most pre-war radios did not have line fuses), it will overheat and eventually burn out if the house fuse(s) or circuit breakers do not blow/trip first.