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Old 5th Sep 2020, 2:06 pm   #1
MurphyNut
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Default Murphy A90 (1940) car boot find

This radio was in a poor state, it looked as if it had spent quite a few decades in a loft.
As I didn’t have this model in my collection and the set was complete apart from a missing back I decided to take it on, I guess I felt a bit sorry for it too! I’m glad I took it home as I’ve spent many happy hours turning it around, I think it appreciated the attention and responded with deciding to work very well for me.
I decided to tackle the cabinet first, as this model dates from 1940 I suspect due to the situation at the time, cut backs were made here. No veneers, in fact the construction of the cabinets is not made of the usual plywood but planks of what looks like oak. This had not warped or had wood worm, but was very knocked about and scratched badly. I sanded it down lightly and spayed it with a silk finish black aerosol. It was difficult after 80 years to tell what the original finish might have actually looked like but I’m more then pleased with the results. It keys in well with the black Bakelite panel on the front with a similar sheen.
This attractive panel is this rather plain radios nicest feature, the Bakelite just required a good clean and polish and came up like new!
The speaker fabric was ripped and badly marked so this was replaced with something I had that was fairly close, it wouldn’t be difficult to replace this again if something closer is to be found at a later date. I’ve kept a sample of the original fabric that was hidden under the Bakelite panel for future reference.
The chassis was extremely dusty and dirty, not helped from the missing back. There was evidence the radio had been expose to damp so I decided to replace all the capacitors. Much of the wiring was in desperate need of replacing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen wiring insulation so badly deteriorated as this before. A new period style fabric covered mains lead was also fitted.
All the valves were removed to have their pins cleaned, a difficult job as they were very reluctant to budge!
The only evidence of work done on the set was a broken tuning chord replaced with string and a wrong value pilot bulb. This was addressed and I moved onto the speaker, again like much of the set in a rather distressed state.
The speaker diaphragm was very fragile and the outer rim pulling away from the frame. I’ve found a couple of coats of a 50/50 mix of water/wood glue painted on the diaphragm really improves its strength. I re-glued the rim and in doing this it realigned the voice coil to the magnet and now moves freely.
I was a bit apprehensive when I switched it on for the first time after spending quite a few hours on it. In case it still had issues or perhaps not even work! But I was delighted, it worked really well, and sounding rather nice with plenty of volume. It has a pick-up facility on the back and this works extremely well too and I’ve been playing music though it and enjoying it very much.

Perhaps not one of Murphy radio’s most interesting or attractive sets but never-the-less still a good radio that has grown on me the more I look at it!
I’ve just got to make a back for it now………. unless someone can help me out.
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Old 5th Sep 2020, 2:27 pm   #2
Boulevardier
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Default Re: Murphy A90 (1940) car boot find

What a beautiful job of restoration Clive! You say that you "polished" the bakelite panel. Do you mean that you literally just rubbed it with a polishing cloth, or did you use mild cutting compounds, etc? It's certainly come up beautifully!

Mike
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Old 5th Sep 2020, 2:34 pm   #3
MurphyNut
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Default Re: Murphy A90 (1940) car boot find

Quote:
Originally Posted by Boulevardier View Post
What a beautiful job of restoration Clive! You say that you "polished" the bakelite panel. Do you mean that you literally just rubbed it with a polishing cloth, or did you use mild cutting compounds, etc? It's certainly come up beautifully!

Mike
I used Autosol Chrome cleaner, yes, a mild cutting compound. Though it's for polishing chrome it's recognised as a very good product for getting Bakelite nice and shiny again.
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Old 5th Sep 2020, 2:37 pm   #4
sexton_mallard
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Default Re: Murphy A90 (1940) car boot find

A lovely job, and another piece of history reactivated to be used and enjoyed again!
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Old 5th Sep 2020, 10:38 pm   #5
Richard_FM
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Default Re: Murphy A90 (1940) car boot find

Well done for restoring this set, it was lucky after all the work the cabinet needed to it that it didn't need much doing electrically.
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Old 5th Sep 2020, 11:47 pm   #6
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Default Re: Murphy A90 (1940) car boot find

Absolutely beautiful job. Lovely!

Steve.
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Old 10th Sep 2020, 11:05 pm   #7
Phil G4SPZ
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Default Re: Murphy A90 (1940) car boot find

Well done, Clive, nice work! I owned one of these sets some time ago and the cabinet was like a flat-pack kit of parts when I first got it. I eventually restored it to some semblance of working order, but I could never get the SW band working reliably due to badly worn bandswitch contacts.
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 8:43 pm   #8
Ian - G4JQT
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Default Re: Murphy A90 (1940) car boot find

You've done a lovely job there. My A90 also has the knobs' white markings fading away, and unfortunately many (most?) of Murphy's sets of that period don't have deep enough embossing for white infilling.

I believe some of these sets were stained quite dark to disguise the fact that various types of wood was used - whatever was available. Mine even has a burnt piece underneath on the bottom side!

There were various minor circuit modifications to take into account component shortages during this very difficult wartime period.
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