Admiral 20X12 restoration
 

Jon F tipped me off about this Admiral on craiglist a few months ago. It looked rough but was just a few miles away and only $10 so how could I resist :)

The owner was in the process of moving and just wanted it to go away. It had been sitting in a garage for years and was so dirty I wasn't sure at first if it was the brown or black version.

The back is missing and tube chart damaged so no model # could be determined. Better lighting confirmed it's brown so it must be a 20X12 with 20X1 chassis run #11.

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The original FC speaker has been replaced with a PM. The audio output xfmr was transplanted and a couple power resistors substituted for the field coil.

I'm glad they ran the mounting screws through the existing grille slots rather than drill holes.
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Amazingly, under that dirt the bakelite is in excellent condition :) No breaks or scratches.
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Something didn't look right about that screen bezel. Every Admiral I've seen before used a thick piece of reverse painted clear plastic while this one has a two piece bezel.
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Here's a closer look at that speaker modification. I'll try to replace it with an original.
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Finally, here's a look inside.
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There's some minor evidence of rodent activity but otherwise looks unmolested.
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Here's the cabinet after more polishing
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I lucked out with the knobs too. There are solid brass rather than plated so they can handle aggressive polishing. Admiral also used plated which are often worn down to the silvery base metal.
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Thanks to azbigsam I have the correct speaker and a whole chassis for another project.
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That's better :thmbsp:
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Nice! Great cabinet and all the decals are OK. Chassis looks unmolested from my house. Now: how about The Tube?

The GE 10BP4 is good :)
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Those aren't decals though - it's recessed paint. There was some loss so I scraped out the loose paint and refilled with off-white acrylic paint.
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Now for the chassis. First, I cleaned off the rodent debris and rust.
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Then cleaned out inside the HV cage.
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Finally, a shotgun recap.
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Bingo! As you can see I actually restored this one a while ago but never got around to posting.
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Linearity is pretty good.
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I wish they were all that easy... Or maybe I don't - troubleshooting can be rewarding too :yes:
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One last thing to deal with. I decided to go with this gold bezel rather than the cheap one it came with. Just one problem. It had a deep gouge in it that I managed to sand out but left it with an optical distortion.
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So I spent a few hours wet sanding it down until level. Then with finer and finer grits until clear.
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Sheesh, he brings a set from moldy oldie to pristine in one day! You make us look bad! Really bad!!!!

;) :D

(seriously, how long did it take you?)

A couple days to get it working and about a month off and on to clean up the cabinet, knobs and bezel.

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Another nice job! Those bakelite Admirals are nice looking sets.

I'll bet the mice chewed off the label inside the cabinet.

One trick that auto detailers use to get polish residue out of corners is a regular paint brush. The trick is to hold it by the bristles to stiffen them up a little and they'll get in tight places to clean.

Nice work on that set, Bob. You make it look "easy", but I know it is not.

Today was finally the day I got around to fabricating a replica back for this set :yes: Although some came with a perforated metal back, there was also a masonite version.

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I no longer have mine, but I made a template before I sold it. Then the hunt was on for a small metal CRT cup. I tried search ebay for things like metal ashtray and finally came up with these vintage mini pie tins that are almost exactly the same dimensions as the original

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Time to get cutting. It's not so bad if you use a fine toothed blade in a table or circular saw.
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Making progress. It actually took longer to mark out the holes than to drill them. I used a drill press and a 3/16" brad point bit. I think a little larger 1/4" bit would have been closer to the original.
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It only took about 15 minutes to drill all the holes.
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Here's the completed back installed on the set. The pie tin is held on by four button head screws.
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Overall it was about three hours work. I think I could make another in half that time now.

Once again Bob, you did a excellent job on that set. The repro back looks NOS! I made mine from perforated metal that was tough to work with. I like the brown version with the gold mask. I have the black version that looks good with the cheap white mask. It was in good condition too. These Admirals are tops on all counts!

Very nice job ! and great documentation !

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That looks great! Those pie tins are just about as close as you could ever hope to get, they even have the right vintage patina on them.

Thanks. Those old tins sure are a great match. I think stamped metal ashtrays could work well too.

Bob,
I see that restoration is mostly non-electronic. Kudos for the great job.