Admiral 20X122 restoration project

[bandersen]

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



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



The entire front and top are caved in. CRT neck is snapped. Nasty gouge in the faceplate.


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



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