I have a friend whose elderly father has a Crosley 148. Fortunately, unlike some people who may want to gut it and put a modern chassis in it or make it into a cigar humidor, this man is the opposite, wanting to not disturb anything because it will make it less valuable; on the other had it has not been played in at least 20 years.

What can anyone tell me about this radio - how much effort / replacement of parts would be required for it to operate safely and perform well?

If I owned that radio and wanted to restore it, I would replace all the resistors because I;m sure their all out of tolerance, thus, significantly affecting operating voltages. I would also replace all of the caps, put a CL-90 inrush thermistor to protect the transformer, remount the tuning assembly on new grommets, clean or replace the volume control, possibly replace the power cord, test the tubes, check the speaker for any loose items, dust out the chassis, and align the radio. Cost of parts would be around $30 to $40 not including any possible replacement tubes. The other cost is time and the only real challenge are how much room, under the chassis, you have to work with and if there are any major parts that need to be replaced such as a burned out speaker or transformer. I've restored a couple of 148, over the years, and their one of the easier radios to work on.

Schematic: http://www.nostalgiaair.org/PagesByMode ... 003276.pdf

As far as the cabinet is concerned, I wouldn't refinish the cabinet. Just a little GoJo to clean the finish, Old English to rejuvenate the finish and some furniture polish for the final touch. The grill cloth can be replaced if you can find a proper replacement. The exact generic pattern used to be available.

To be honest, I'm kind of surprised that you'd be asking such a question for someone who has been active in antique radios as long as you have.

Did Crosley use Magnavox speakers ? Cause if not , the "value of originality" has already flown the coop , and any other capacitor or tube replacement ain't gonna devalue it further .

I ask the speaker question only because the schematic shows a 2800 ohm speaker while it is stamped 1100 ohms on the one in the radio . Well , That , and that I've not yet seen a Magnavox speaker in a Cathedral Crosley (I've got a couple of Crosleys , and I don't remember any labels on the speakers . Just an ink stamp model number ) .........

My 148 has the same speaker in it.

Speaker is correct. Crosley used Magnavox speakers for these early 30s models.

Concur with the previous posts. I would add the following:

1. Crosley was an "affordable" set, hence they used cheap construction and components. This often leads to some wonderful problems that one would not encounter in other sets.
2. Check everything. All transformers, all resistors, and replace all wax and electrolytic caps. It's been awhile since I did a 148, but I believe that it has the _____ (bad word) cardboard electrolytic mounted under the chassis. They often go bad and leak on other components around them. If this is the case, expect some problems in the set like shorted or open connections.
3. For what it is, the 148 is a decent receiver, but don't expect high-fidelity sound. A long antenna is a plus.

Thanks for the info on the Magnavox speakers , and now I'll have to check and see if there are any such Id stickers on my Crosleys .

I'll report back my findings ....

The chassis uses 'double ended' caps. The center band is common in most cases.
I have recapped 5 of these and had no issues on any. Replaced a power trans on one.
The Magnavox speaker was most common, but I saw 2 Rola speakers. Probably replacements.

So I checked my 3 Crosleys . Yep , you guessed it , THREE DIFFERENT speakers !

One does indeed have a Magnavox , one has a Rola , and one has a no name speaker .

Amazing the changes ya can find in a 60 or 70 year old radio ...