Hacker RP37 VHF Herald

[canonman75]

Hi folks

As promised in my recent thread about the RP33 Autocrat, I've started a new thread about the red VHF Herald that I'm now working on.

As usual, I'm still a bit unfamiliar with the Hacker way of doing things (I was a Roberts man until I saw the light!) so I'll mainly be using this thread to ask a few silly questions and maybe even show off a few photos of the finished radio!

The radio did arrive working, albeit with noisy pots which have already been sorted out. The main challenges are all cosmetic... the rexine is saggy and will need refoaming, the rear grille is hanging off, the tip of the aerial is missing and a couple of more major issues.

First, the tuning dial has succumbed to the usual damage from the foam strips that separate it from the chassis. I've managed to carefully remove the paint which had gone green but now I need the matching gold paint and a little bit of red to touch up the damage (see photos). If anyone out there has successfully touched up the paint on one of these dials and knows exactly what make and colour of paint to buy, please let me know! There's also a little chip in the burgundy paint on the front grille, so again if anyone knows the exact make and colour of paint required for that, I'd be eternally grateful

Second, the handle is in quite a bad way. It looks as if somebody has yanked it off the radio violently, bending the end plate out of shape at one side and loosening the rivet that holds it all together at the other. I don't honestly know if I can straighten it out, so I may have to post a wanted thread for a replacement handle. Fortunately the brass end caps and rexine strip survived and can be re-used.

That's all for now. I'll leave you with a few photos.

Cheers,

Dave

[canonman75]

Hello again

Time for the first silly question...

On removing the dial, four zinc-plated washers dropped out from between the dial and the black backing plate. Are these washers meant to be there, and if they are, presumably they should be brass washers like the smaller one in the photo below? I think I'm right in saying they are 4BA size?

I've also included photos of the nice clean chassis and the dial, just because I had them to hand

Cheers,

Dave

[SteveCG]

Dave,

It's nice to see a set that could have been used for the Brighton Local Radio when it was at the 'bottom' of the dial. Good fortune with the restoration - the set is worth the effort.

[audiomagpie]

Nice set these. I happen to own the one that was featured on the cover of the BVWS Bulletin a couple of issues back.
A tip with the front speaker grill - it might look better if you turn it through 180 degrees. The gold on mine that hadn't had years of crud settling on it, because it was on the upper surface was much better preserved.

[canonman75]

Originally Posted by SteveCG

Good fortune with the restoration - the set is worth the effort.

Thank you

Personally I think all Hackers are worth the effort, especially this one! Roberts on the other hand, slightly less so...

[canonman75]

Originally Posted by audiomagpie

A tip with the front speaker grill - it might look better if you turn it through 180 degrees. The gold on mine that hadn't had years of crud settling on it, because it was on the upper surface was much better preserved.

I'd thought about doing exactly that when I took the grille out, but wasn't sure about messing about with the tabs too much. They do look quite delicate, and it would be game over (for the time being) if I managed to damage them.

EDIT: Just a thought... is the grille made of brass, or is it something else with gold paint on? I suspect the latter.

[mhennessy]

I believe it's brass that's been painted and lacquered. Likewise, I think the silver ones are brass that has been chrome plated? I've certainly removed and replaced these grilles with no problems.

If anyone knows of suitable paint types, I'm all ears! I have several red sets here awaiting attention, and the paint is the only barrier to making a start. Not one of my dials is free from the dreaded foam-rot, sadly.

That handle looks rather poorly. It's the earlier type, with captive ends that don't slide off and get lost, so that's good news. Hopefully it'll respond to being bent back into shape, but replacements do turn up from time to time. It's shared with the AM-only RP35, and while it feels wrong to rob parts from less valuable sets, it's a valid approach used by many. If you find a later handle (with the slide-off caps), make sure it comes with the screws and all the hardware, as there are differences.

Looking forward to seeing how this one goes - it might persuade me to get on with one of mine

[canonman75]

Time for an update

First up, the tuning dial. I don't have any gold paint yet, but I was reliably informed that if I mixed some red acrylic paint with a tiny bit of blue I should be able to get something very close to the deep red (almost burgundy?) colour required. I had a few goes at mixing the colour but never quite got it right. I ended up having two goes at actually painting the dial but could never get a straight edge because the masking tape (posh blue stuff) took some of the paint away.

I've decided the best thing to do is pop down to Hobbycraft with the dial and go through every colour of acrylic paint they've got until I find the best match, then just keep trying and trying until I finally get it looking good.

I haven't let the disappointment stop me from working on other areas though.....

[canonman75]

I have managed to sort out the bent parts of the handle, using a small hammer and some small blocks of wood to hammer out the dents from the inside. I had to use a small file to get rid of the rough edges around the holes where the handle fits onto the case screws.

The whole lot was then cleaned up with Brasso wadding and the rexine was stuck back on with Tesa double-sided sticky tape. I then put the end caps back on and spent a while bending the tabs back down with a screwdriver and a small hammer. It took about an hour to do in total and looks pretty good now it's finished. It's a pity I forgot to take I photos of it though

Still feeling quite confident at this stage, I decided I'd have a go at replacing the foam on the front panel. I didn't even bother with the hairdryer this time, I found that using plenty of IPA was enough to dissolve the glue holing it all together, so it didn't take long to take the piping off in one piece then peel up the edges of the rexine. Fortunately, it came away without any damage.

When I refoamed the back cover on the Autocrat, I learned that it's not a good idea using four separate pieces of foam, so this time I measured up properly, cut out a large square of foam and then cut out a smaller square for the grille. Once the rexine was pegged back out of the way I found it fairly simple to test fit the foam to see if it'd got the dimensions right. After a little bit of trimming it was right so I lifted it up a side at a time and glued it down with PVA. It was so warm in the workshop that the glue had set when I went back to it twenty minutes later, so I've flipped the whole lot the right way up and left the rexine to settle back down to it's original shape. I'll go back to it later and tidy up the edges of the foam and stick the rexine back down.

When that's all done, I'll do the same thing all over again with the back door. That's going to be slightly more difficult though as the plastic grille has almost completely fallen off and needs some new pegs making for it. Luckily I've just been watching Radiocruncher's latest video so I have a good idea how to fix it. Cheers, Graham

[canonman75]

Even more progress to report....

The rexine has now been glued back on using good old PVA glue. No dramas to speak of, it all went back on okay with no rips and the glue dried really quickly as it's so ruddy hot in the workshop. I gave it a wipe down with some Lord Sheraton before I took the photos, just to get an idea of what it'll look like when the case is back together. It's looking good so far

I also attempted to stick the piping back down with PVA as well and even after a few hours it still wasn't sticking properly - it peeled more or less straight back off again. I had a bit of a mishap while cleaning the PVA off it and snapped one of the corners. D'oh! Fortunately it's a bottom corner so it won't show up much once it's glued back on...

Would I be correct in thinking I need some Evo Stik for this job? The kind that you apply to both surfaces, leave for ten minutes then bring them together? I want to call it contact adhesive but I'm not sure that's the right name for it?

[canonman75]

Originally Posted by SteveCG

It's nice to see a set that could have been used for the Brighton Local Radio when it was at the 'bottom' of the dial. Good fortune with the restoration - the set is worth the effort.

Thanks

[canonman75]

Originally Posted by audiomagpie

Nice set these. I happen to own the one that was featured on the cover of the BVWS Bulletin a couple of issues back.
A tip with the front speaker grill - it might look better if you turn it through 180 degrees. The gold on mine that hadn't had years of crud settling on it, because it was on the upper surface was much better preserved.

Wow, that does look good!

Thanks for the tip. I've tried it and it has improved the appearance. The chip in the red paint isn't quite so noticeable now

[Boater Sam]

Masking tape will not give you a sharp paint line and it sticks far too well, pulling paint off.
Buy some 3M fine lining tape from a vehicle refinisher supplier, its about 6mm wide.
Uhu glue is handy, not contact but sticks fast and is fairly viscous.

[canonman75]

Thanks Sam, I'll bear those suggestions in mind

[canonman75]

While waiting for the Evo Stik to arrive in the post, I thought I'd try attaching the piping to the back of the front panel using the expensive double-sided sticky tape I'd bought for doing the handle. It worked well enough for this job, but I'm not sure I'd trust it for holding down the piping on the back door.

The cabinet has now gone back together and it looking pretty good. I've still got a few jobs to do though:

1) Repair the lugs on the rear grille, then strip the rear door and refoam it.

2) Touch up the paint on the tuning dial (I'm so not looking forward to that!) and the pointers on the knobs.

3) Take the rexine back off the handle and reattach it with new tape. It took me three goes to get the position right and it's obviously knackered the tape as the rexine keeps coming loose

4) Find a new top for the aerial and a couple of small countersunk brass screws for the hinge. I have hundreds of screws but nothing small enough for that job!

I'm getting there.... slowly!

[Radiocruncher]

Great job so far Dave. Glad that my RP18 video helped with a solution to the broken rear grille pegs. The last radio that I removed the rexine from the rear door I glues the white trim back on with epoxy. A bit drastic and it was mentioned that it may yellow with age but I used it sparingly and tried not to get any squeeze out of the top edge. I cut 3 pieces of batten to size and used some quick release clamps to clamp it all down. I didn't apply full pressure to start with as I used another piece of batten to gently tap the white trim so it was straight then fully clamped it down and left overnight. Worked great.

Incidentally, Jon Ti Pwun has repainted the dial plate on these before so he might be worth a PM to find what he used. I have the details somewhere so if I can find it then I will post it with his permission.

Nice work so far and you will end up with a very nice radio.

All the best

Graham

[canonman75]

Thanks for the info (and compliments!)

If you could pass on the details about the dial plate you would be doing me an absolutely massive favour! It's the one part of the entire restoration I'm dreading doing, because to my mind it's what gives the radio its character and it has to be perfect.

Just out of interest, do you reckon Jon Ti Pwun would paint my scale if I ask him nicely and offer him some beer tokens?

[Radiocruncher]

Hi Dave

I have sent Jon an email but I know he is really busy at the moment. He is not doing any restoration work now so I doubt he would have chance to paint it for you but you never know. I have a few red dial plates to do here so will make a video on restoring one when i get chance. Incidentaly the video i shot of sticking the white trim back on is here https://youtu.be/akqN8fQXa4M?list=PL...qQZr4CkwDaD9Yb. This was only the second one i did so dont take it as gospel but it may help.

Regards

Graham

[Nickthedentist]

Very nice work indeed, Dave, an inspiration to us all.

[canonman75]

Originally Posted by Radiocruncher

I have sent Jon an email but I know he is really busy at the moment. He is not doing any restoration work now so I doubt he would have chance to paint it for you but you never know. I have a few red dial plates to do here so will make a video on restoring one when i get chance. Incidentaly the video i shot of sticking the white trim back on is here https://youtu.be/akqN8fQXa4M?list=PL...qQZr4CkwDaD9Yb. This was only the second one i did so dont take it as gospel but it may help.

Thanks Graham. I'll keep an eye on your YouTube channel