Bush AC11 'Woody'

[russell_w_b]

I was given this old Bush in a working condition, but very tatty. One end was painted with brilliant white gloss! Not having a 'woody' in the collection, I set about doing it up...

The chassis on this model slides out very easily, being on brass locating pins, and the frame aerial, output transformer and dial lamps are on plugs and sockets. Once out, the valves were removed, tested (all OK - phew!) and set aside. The speaker, grilles and dial were then removed leaving the cabinet as shown below. The chassis was remarkably clean underneath, but was covered in a black goo on top, and I guess this was residue from years of being in a coal-fired room.

The goo came off after a wash down with methylated spirits and a wipe over with WD40. I used a 'Scotchbrite' pad soaked in WD40 - gently - on a couple of stubborn stains. There was evidence of aluminium corrosion on the back of the tuning dial which came away with 'Scotchbrite', but some remains on the tuning capacitor. I took the worst off, though. The cream inside of the tuning dial was cleaned with a foam cleanser ('Glare') to good effect. The loudspeaker had shed its plating in parts, but a rub over with 'Scotchbrite' cleaned it up sufficiently.

A glance underneath the chassis revealed over a dozen gooey wax capacitors, nine of them on a handy tagstrip. This was removed and all were replaced with polypropylene equivalents, as were the waxies elsewhere underneath. C's 27 and 33 (combined HT smoothers) checked out OK ESR-wise and were left. C22 (V3 cathode by-pass) was leaky and so replaced. The original capacitor was left mounted in position. All resistors were in tolerance, if rather high, except HT smoothing R21, which had drifted from 10K to 15K. I replaced this one. Having managed to snap the (fragile) tuning-cord, I re-strung the dial as per trader-sheet.

The knobs and grilles were given the nail-brush-and-hand-cleanser treatment, bringing them up a treat. GPO bakelite polishing paste was used on the knobs, with white furniture-stick wax (as per AVO) being used to pick out the lettering.

The speaker / dial-lamp wiring was completely perished, with the insulation peeling off the cores as soon as it was touched! I replaced this with (purists look away now, please) four-core extra-flexible mains-rated control cable, splitting it at the output transformer and leading it to the dial-lamps and extension speaker plate accordingly. I dressed up the ends of the internal frame aerial similarly. Once I had the chassis singing away on the bench, attention turned to the cabinet - at least, the outside of it! The inside would do: 'a'right for a country spot...' A new section of three-core mains-lead was fitted, replacing the old brown flat twin; safety, and all that...

Never having done this sort of thing before, I didn't know what to expect... First step was to apply a liberal coating of 'Nitromors', followed by some severe sanding with medium grade paper to get all the rags off. I was heartened and pleasantly surprised to find the grain of the veneer still evident beneath! On to the fine stuff now, washing with white spirit in-between rubbing with a 240-grit flexible sanding block. Once silky-smooth, Peruvian Mahogany 'Colron' wood-dye was rubbed in, this being the colour I considered nearest to the original finish.

I was now left with a matte-finish lighter-than-expected smooth wooden cabinet. It darkened on application of white spirit, however, so I guessed that lacquer would have a similar effect - and I was right! Six coats of 'Halfords' acrylic lacquer later (rubbed down with the 240-grit sanding block in-between coats), I had a lovely smooth, if rather shiny, finish. I flattened this with a light sanding (the lacquer was slightly thicker in parts than in others; I'm not a brilliant hand with an aerosol spray-can), evening out the finish. A generous layer of 'Hannant's' mid-brown thick furniture wax was then applied, allowed to dry, and polished off. The cabinet was taking on a lustrous finish by now! One last going-over with a fine steel-wool and a final application of furniture wax later, the finish is as shown below.

On reflection, I could have spent more on the cabinet than I did and achieved a better finish, but that's for the next wooden set! This one has passed muster by Mrs RWB and is ensconced in our living room.

[Darren-UK]

That looks splendid Russell, well done. I can't be bothered with postwar woodies and therefore seldom comment upon them.......so yours must look good to prompt me into responding here .

[Colin]

Russell, congratulations on an excellent restoration. That cabinet has come up looking really nice. I hope it sounds as good as it looks!

Regards
Colin

[russell_w_b]

Originally Posted by Colin

Russell, congratulations on an excellent restoration. That cabinet has come up looking really nice. I hope it sounds as good as it looks!

Regards
Colin

It sounds great, thanks! I sat listening to BBC Radio Cumbria on MW as I wrote the article (Brisco, Carlisle, 1kW MF transmitter, 11 miles north) and it boomed in on the internal frame aerial. Replacing the capacitors associated with the tone control (C's 30, 31) has enhanced the 'crispness', and the large wooden cabinet rounds off any sibilance.

BBC R4 is a little weak, but listenable all the same, so I'll add a length of wire and drape it behind the sideboard for an external job.