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7-Tube 1947 Zenith AM-SW-Phono Console
Restoration Project
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This restoration project was started in 2004 after we acquired
the console from a local antique dealer who was eager to
"unload" it to make room for some other junk.

 Zenith Console

The cabinet has not been worked on- it remains as the photo to the right.
The radio chassis has undergone extensive repairs.
The steel chassis was heavily rusty and has been cleaned and polished. Zenith used inferior insulation on their wires which had failed. All wires in the chassis have been replaced.
We also had to replace a tube which was of the wrong type.
Despite all that work we have a problem in the output stage of the radio.
Someday we'll get back to it.
The phonograph has been completely restored.
It too was a rusty mess. It's been all cleaned up, repainted and rebuilt. It does need a new crystal pickup, just as our PhonOcord also needs one.
More original photos:
Dial Phono Chassis Dial Circuits
A couple photos of the rebuilt chassis: Radio Chassis Restore notes:
Cleaned Chassis Cleaned Chassis The first thing required was to remove all external components from the rusty steel chassis. We removed all tubes and dial face items and it looked like this:
Rusty Chassis After a few more part removal we had this: Rusty Chassis

I found these cool radios on the
web that is very similar to our radio:
Another Zenith and Another Zenith

 After all the surface parts were removed the chassis was wire-brushed to a shiny clean.
The chassis was given several coats of wax to maintain the luster.		 Polished Chassis

 

Zenith had those really
cool dial faces.

This remains our favorite:
Cool Zenith Dial
Next we had to completely disassemble the tuning capacitor. Everything (Except the fins) were wire-brushed clean. The original screws and nuts were no longer usable so they were replaced with new ones of brass. After careful realignment it was all finished again.
You can see the dramatic difference between the original and the restored capacitor:

Original Cap

Restored Cap
 

With the chassis all cleaned and all the wires replaced it's
ready to troubleshoot. Perhaps someday soon....
Schematic
Schematic