Need help with Zenith console
 

Yesterday, I brought home a 1940 Zenith console 8S463 (chassis 5808) to repair for a lady on the other side of town. This set has been in her family for many years.

The cabinet is in nice shape for the most part... shows a bit of wear around the bottom... but still looks nice. The insides will need all new caps and several wires need changing due to cracked inulation. I was a little surprised to find the speaker looks to be in excellent shape with no tears in it. Electronically, this set should be pretty easy to get playing again.

Unfortunately, I will need to find a few hard-to-find parts. Below is what I need so far:


1. On/Off volume knob
2. Tuning knob (i actually have this one, but it's warped pretty bad)
3.Tuning indicator needle/pointer (i assume that this part is the same on any of the Zenith consoles of this period)
4. Plastic buttons on the right
5. Plastic buttons on the left (I have these, but they look pretty fragile and probably won't last with much use)


It seems that the knobs, pointer, and buttons are all ivory in color.

If anyone happens to have a junk set or chassis with the above mentioned parts, your help will be greatly appreciated.

I have placed a link with a photo showing a set that one of our members has. The set I am working on is exactly like the one in the link.

Thanks.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3665

We had one of these sets in for repair...we were able to reconstruct the concentric knobs out of wood and use a set screw type for the on/vol knob.
Watch out for the shielded cables made with a wire screw-type wrap around a regular wire...the insulation in these cables is likely bad. We used regular coax cable to replace these cables and it worked great.

Have you checked with Antique Electronic Supply? I know they have Zenith ivory pushbuttons and a pretty good selection of other '39-'40 Zenith parts, and prices aren't too bad either... It's tubesandmore.com, just look under Radio Parts and Restoration and find the "Knobs" category...

I did look in the catalog i have. Found a couple of ivory knobs but don't think they're correct. I will check the site since my 2005 cat is missing... i was looking in a 2002 cat.

It's likely that I do not need to have exact replacements as the people don't seem too concerned about it being perfectly EXACT. They seem more interested in it being operational. I would, however, like to to get the parts as close as I can.

Last night I found a 5808 chassis on the web for sale. Came with the left-side buttons and the pointer. I emailed the guy but he told me it was sold two weeks ago. Typical. A day late and a dollar short.

Check with Larry Bordonaro at Old Time Replications: http://www.antiqueradioknobs.com/
I bought repros of the volume and tuning knobs for one of these sets from him a few years ago. He does excellent work. I think he reproduces the pushbuttons and maybe the pointer as well.

Thank you, Sean! I will certainly give him a call.

www.gn4radios.com has an extensive list of original and repro Zenith parts.

Wow... great! Thanks, Tim. I will check it out!