Cap Replacement

[Yorkie]

The owner of the Bonneville probably just stripped and assembled the bike and sent bits to professionals for painting, chroming, engine rebuild etc. The equivalent on a radio would be to send the cabinet to a french polisher and the chassis to an electronics repair shop. With vintage radios, like many hobbies, you can spend a fortune or do it on a shoestring. I suppose for those who know they will regularly be restoring sets in the years to come it is worth keeping an eye open for bargains in bulk quantity high voltage capacitors. It is frustrating that capacitors can't generally be salvaged from more modern scrap equipment as they will be low voltage components.

You're right of course - he'd stripped the Bonny down in a nut and bolt restoration - professional engine rebuild - crank reground, new big ends and small ends, new valve seats, speedo refurbished, paint job, wheel re-build, re-upholstered seat, new electrics. Basically, like a new bike, but as in vintage radio circles, who wants to buy a restored radio (and what exactly is 'restored'?) Same problem with kit cars - the fun is in the building and they don't then find a ready market if the builder wishes to sell.

Many people such as myself, who served an apprenticeship and earned a living 'on the tools' before climbing the 'greasy pole' of management, quickly discovered that there's much more satisfaction from working with your hands than there is 'flying a desk' and though I came 'off the too's' 47 years ago in 1964, there's rarely a day goes by when I'm not performing some task or another, and deriving much enjoyment from so doing.

As to what constitutes 'restoration', I've attached a pic which is so scary that it needs to be viwed from behind the sofa. It's the underside of an Ecko A86 ('Dougal') which had (allegedly) been professionally restored. Not got the right value resistor? No problem - string a few together in a daisy chain or two. Simples!

It helps explain why most of us only tend to buy unrestored radios.

David