[37silverstreak]

That is the question!
I've had my Labrador Gray 513 for about three years now and she is a favorite Philco in my collection. It has the matching speaker as well as an aftermarket metal stand in the same color scheme as the radio. It is also completely original, apart from the shredded speaker cloth that I replaced after I got the set, it has never had any repair work done to it and even came with a complete set of balloon shaped Cunningham tubes. It also has a low serial number of 002042 which I believe is pretty early.
Right now, I'm on the fence. I would love to restore it to working condition, but on the other hand it is so original that I kind of feel funny about restoring it electrically. I know that the speaker would have to be gutted and replaced with a modern pm type speaker as the original one is unusable mechanically.
So, I guess my question is how would this radio be best served. Restore it to playing condition or to just respect it's originality and leave it unaltered as a "Shelf Queen"?
you guys might think I'm nuts ( and maybe I am?!!) but any thoughts on my dilemma would be appreciated, thanks!
Kevin

[Jamie]

I respect both ways of handling it, but if it were me, I'd restore it. Just think about the future, 100 years from now.. who knows where that radio will end up?.. it will have a far greater chance of someone cherishing it, and keeping it around, if it works. On the other hand, if you leave it like it is, it could fall into the hands of someone ignorant who thinks it's just a broken piece of junk. Or someone who cant find anyone to fix it, so they throw it out.

[gregb]

Post a picture Kevin! If it was me I would most likely restore it and go about getting that original speaker fixed up as original. There has to be a good one around with a bad cabinet, a little searching would yield something I am sure. Do a real good restuff/ hidem restore so it looks unrestored.
What ever you do its yours and enjoy it!

Gregb

[37silverstreak]

Unfortunately, from what I understand, finding a usable speaker of this type is next to impossible. they use old style pot metal which warps and cracks. The method for restoring is to use a modern permanent magnet speaker with a impedance matching transformer, which will actually make this radio sound better as the original speaker was already dated when used. I do have a speaker shell for a 511 which I could put the original speaker guts into just to keep them.
Here are some pics of my 513.
[Image: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...e08b46.jpg]
[Image: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...a21f1c.jpg]

[gregb]

Great looking radio and I love that stand! I do understand the pot metal issue but it is a strange thing as I have seen a radio with pot metal so bad there would be no possible way to fix it without doing all new castings. And then come across the exact same radio with absolutely perfect pot metal. I wonder if it has something to do with storage or temperature or a combination of things.

Gregb

[Mondial]

If it were mine I would leave it as is. There is something to be said for a completely original radio, even if only as a reference for future generations of restorers. Once every radio has been restored, how will anyone know what they were like originally, as they came from the factory?

Not every radio has to work. Once you have heard a 1920's triode TRF set, you have basically heard them all and their performance does not come close to a 30's radio. I have a couple (AK 40 and a similar Stewart Warner ) which are original and unrestored. I power them up occasionally just to see that they still work, but really don't listen to them on a regular basis. 30's radios are just so much more practical for everyday use and sound and perform much better.

[Arran]

I think that I would probably restore it, since the majority of caps are inside a potted metal can nobody would be able to see the replacements anyhow. As for the speaker I've seen people manage to repair or replicate pot metal parts. Even if that were not possible who says that you have to tamper with the matching speaker anyhow? I would just get a similar high impedance speaker from another radio, like an American Bosch, plug that into the set and play it through that.
Regards
Arran

[OldRestorer]

I love to restore but It is not in that bad of condition. Original is good with this one for me. plus how would you get that art work back on there.

[Ron Ramirez]

I have a Mandarin Red 512. The paint is in poor condition. I decided some time back to leave both the metal cabinet and the chassis as is. Nothing wrong with having one or more "shelf queens" that are left original.

Mondial raises an excellent point. With so many radios that have been refinished incorrectly over the years, people in the future will be arguing over what an original finish really looked like. The same goes for how the original components looked.

[37silverstreak]

Thanks for the input guys! This weekend I took it apart to clean the chassis and look it over, and as I thought it has never had any work done to it! It did house a little critter at some point long ,long ago judging by the ancient shreds of newspaper I found. Fortunately there was no other damage. I have to say that I am floored by the quality of this radio. THIS THING IS BUILT LIKE A TANK!!!!!!!! It took me 45 minutes just to figure out how to get the chassis out of the cabinet
My plans right now are to just clean it up and go from there. Just to be clear, I am talking about an electronic restoration only! There is no way I am touching the cabinet. As for the speaker, I am leaving it alone. I remembered that I have an empty 211 speaker shell that I can modify and use if I decide to restore my 513.
Kevin

[PAradiogeek]

I would vote for restoring it. Let it again be what it was meant to be.