Hi David
Your right they are a good looking set. The dial cord on mine seems fine although I will probably replace it as i have the things to bits. How did you go about replacing the valve caps....more details please because I have never dealt with valves that have top caps before and how are the top wires on yours mine look like they will need replacing
The guy who I bought mine from said it belonged to his mother and was working untill the late fifties, it had been in his attic since then so at a guess its been unused for 49 yrs
This is probably a good thing as less chance of some one having a tinker with it.