When we bought this Philco 46-420 it had zero cracks in its case. After the seller shipped it in a way to small box it got a huge crack along the bottom. I don't blame the mailman but the guy I bought it from. Obviously didn't have a big enough box so he made it fit. My heart sank when I unwrapped it and saw that it had been crushed during shipping causing the crack to accure.
We decided this was the perfect candidate to learn how to repair cracks in bakolite. I refused to give up on this Hippo. The internals were in great shape I discovered. Some basic cleaning and elbow grease and the metal case looked great. I swapped out all the caps and resistors. Cleaned and tested the tubes along with replacing the cord. Pluged it in and it worked first try. Had a small tear in the speaker so I repaired it with speaker glue.
Then I started the hard part of repairing the case. I did some research on the internet on how to go about this. I found some basic technics but none would go into detail. I decided to go with what I had read and make up the rest. First I drilled a small hole at the end of the crack to stop it from spidering. I then used a dremel to make a knife edge on either edge of the crack. I ordered a two part epoxy the was expensive but worth it. Once I got the case mounted in some clamps I applied the epoxy and let it dry for two days. Once dry I started the time consuming process of sanding. It took a good amount of patients and effort to get the epoxy down to where it would not be seen when painted.
So the crack along the bottom was fixed. I was prepping for paint and I notice another crack along the top left side started from stress. TALK ABOUT FUSTRATING!! I was ready to call it quits on the case but I cooled off and tried again. Fixed the top crack the same way as explained before. Sanded and soaked the case. Then sprayed it down with a primer coat. It was looking good. For the final layer of paint I used Mohawk antique Ivory white. It is an enamel paint that is made to look like lacquer. It worked great and leveled out nice.
Pictures don't due it justice. Repairing the case took a good deal of time but worth it. We took a badly damaged radio on its way out and made it one of the best looking and working radios we have done. We can do the same for your radio. Give us a call.
Third Bay Radios
518-466-8673
info@thirdbayradios.com
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