Hallicrafters S38E Restoration

With the band conditions as they are Ricky, N2ENM, and I decided to restore a S38E receiver to working condition. These rigs have a built in hazrd in them, that being, it is an ac/ dc set. That coupled with a non polarized plug can be a recipe for serious if not fatal electircal shocks. The first thing Ricky did was to cut off the cord to prevent anyone (me) from plugging it in to test it. When tested it had a horrible hum, as you can imagine caused by bad, old caps. I contacted Hayseed Hamfest for replacement caps. We highly recommend them for fast efficent, and helpful service parts and info. You can find them at Hayseed Hamfest.
The caps arrived in very short order and Ricky replaced them . When that was accomplished we began the work on restoring the metal case and markings.  The hardest part is restoring the control labels and markings on the radio. Fortunately, there is a wonderful online vendor, Radio Daze that provides replacement decals for many vintage radios. Find them at Radio Daze  It is impossible to tell the replacement from the original.

The case of the S38E is metal so Ricky worked it like it was an automobile body and finally finished it in an original Gray metallic hammertone.

Here are a few photos of the work:

Chassis removal and Cleaning
Notice Added Fuseholder

New Speaker

New Paint

 

Looking Good

The old speaker had deteriorated and left a sand like residue surrounding the magnet on the original speaker.

Special Thanks to Bill K2LNU for his advise and endless supply of parts to help us out.