Vidor 369A. The finishing off.

[Heatercathodeshort]

Following on from this thread the Vidor is now completely finished.
https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=127497

It is some months since the electrical rebuild of the Vidor 369A was completed.
Since then the chassis has appeared on a working display for over ten hours at the BVWTVM television day on September last.
The cabinet work was also completed by way of a complete French repolish. It all came to a halt due to the lack of a suitable rubber mask. It is always the cosmetic bits that catch you out.
Recently I unearthed a tatty cream coloured mask [together with some other treasures I had forgotten I had..]originally from a scrap Pye LV30. It was now my task to see if this could be adapted to fit the Vidor.
The aspect ratio was changed in 1950, the Pye being one of the first to use the later format. The Vidor being a 1947 model had the older more square ratio as in the Bush TV12. Personally I prefer the old format.
Taking everything into account this was of little importance and work was started on shoe horning the mask into the smaller aperture of the 369A.
To cut a long story short I literally sliced off the thick edges of the old Pye mask with a Stanley knife and a straight edge. It was then finally 'sanded ' down with my rotary grindstone. After many frustrating attempts it finally dropped into place.
The mask was then sprayed with around five coats of satin black from a car type aerosol to match the original fitted in the Vidor.
The inside edges of the cabinet openings were painted black gloss as original and the whole lot left to dry overnight.
This morning I reassembled the receiver, sliding the HEAVY chassis into place and connecting the loudspeaker. The result is one of the most attractive television receivers of the 1940's and I think I am going to vote this my favorite of all time. Many come a very close second but the Vidor beats them all on outstanding build quality, the use of top quality components, ease of service, performance and appearance.
The pictures show the final assembly and how it probably would have looked in 1947.
Regards, John.

[chriswood1900]

John
A very nice set of the period with a lovely picture, you are to be congratulated on the rebuild.
Chris

[Heatercathodeshort]

Thanks Chris. The whole project was hard work but very satisfying.
Looking at the pictures, the 4th is the correct cabinet colour as can be seen from the earlier pictures. The 2nd was taken outdoors and three taken with flash. John.

[McMurdo]

Nice to see it fully complete after the exciting chassis repairs, I'm sure the mask problem alone would've foxed many restorers.
What's next on the bench I wonder.

[FERNSEH]

Hi John,
Absolutely brilliant. The truth is these Vidor sets were often much better than the offerings from many of the other manufactures around at the time the 369A was made. I've mentioned this before that if Vidor continued to use the Burndept brand the company might have been making TV sets far longer than when it withdrew from making TVs in 1955.

DFWB.

[Heatercathodeshort]

Originally Posted by McMurdo

What's next on the bench I wonder.

For a couple of years I have been tripping over a Ferguson 405T. 1958 vintage so not really exciting but it is a very rare fringe model that looks identical to the 406T until you take the back off..It's on the list but maybe I should uncover something a bit more exciting.
The Vidor is a very hard act to follow. John.

[FERNSEH]

Hi John,
How about a TV22?

DFWB

[Horris]

John, A great an interesting renovation.

Dave

[Heatercathodeshort]

Originally Posted by FERNSEH

How about a TV22?

Oh please! I have two TV22s a TV12 and a TUG24. There may well be a couple more cowering in my summer house [well it was once..] fearful of YOUR recycling bin. I see you are attempting to revive that nasty TUG26. Remember your promise that if you ever discovered a good metal cone MW41-1 or English Electric T901 you would surrender it to me for my Ferguson 989T.
None of this nonsense with the Vidor, it just keeps working with it's Dutch built Philips MW22-7. John.

[FERNSEH]

Hi John,
that TUG26. Well if the metal cone CRT is duff the big idea is to install a 17" MW43-69. Of course this won't be an easy job but as you know I don't do easy and it's likely the conversion job will take many years to complete.

I'm on the lookout for a Vidor CN369 or any of the two deck chassis versions.
Later single chassis sets are good but not so interesting.

DFWB.

[peter_scott]

A great result!

Very nice.

Peter

[sexton_mallard]

A fantastic job! Well done.

[Jac]

John,

That certainly is a smashing set with a fantastic performance.
Thank you for the write-up.

Jac

[Mikey405]

Brilliant. What a tip top set John and a lovely restoration and write up to boot.

[MonochromeMarc]

I've enjoyed the write up too, lovely restoration

Marc.

[line sync]

John you have worked wonders with that mask.
I`ve tried painting a mask black and it looked good until it got fitted to a crt and the flexing of the rubber made the paint crack and flake off.
I even tried spraying the mask already fitted to the crt but when the chassis is pushed back into the cabinet and pushes up against the glass the paint cracks.
I also tried black renovator shoe polish which worked and looked good but a few months later it had reacted with the rubber and the mask is now scrap.
You have done a lovely job on the cabinet but I notice the vidor badge is missing.

Robin

[Heatercathodeshort]

Yes Robin! I noticed that earlier today. I will fit it...John.

[Restoration73]

Is there a warranty for the set and the tube separately ?

[thermionic]

An excellent result, John and well worth the considerable effort.

Forget the TV22, the Fergy 405T should be next. Ferguson were always clever with their design solutions, and I bet it will be an interesting restoration.

Cheers. SimonT

[Heatercathodeshort]

Originally Posted by Restoration73

Is there a warranty for the set and the tube separately ?

I tried to register the guarantee cards a few weeks back but the Post Office returned them stamped 'gone away'.

I believe receivers were guaranteed for a year, valves for three months and tubes for six. This was later changed to 12 months for the tube. This was the case with Mazda but Mullard tubes may have been 12 months from the start. John.