It's rare to buy a radio on Ebay, receive it, and find that it's in better condition than you expected. I purchased a Metrodyne Super 5 set off Ebay recently, primarily for the wood case, as I have the same model in garage with some extra holes drilled in the back of the wood case along with some large dents. When I received the Metrodyne from my Ebay purchase, I noticed the wood case was in very good shape, and with a little gluing and alittle spray lacquer, should finish out very nice. In the Ebay listing, the black metal faceplate with dials looked very dingy and gold lettering/dial markings faded. But that was OK, as the one in the garage was in pretty good shape save an imperfection or two. However, after clearing dust and grime off the metal face plate with a damp sponge, the faceplate began to shine, though as the moisture from the sponge dried it became a little hazy again, yet none of the gold markings are missing/rubbed off.
What is the proper procedure to clean and preserve these black metal face plates with gold markings to bring out the original mirror shine?
Britt
Chesapeake, VA

I'm curious about the same thing with my Zenith Super 7.

I have delt with a few of these type face plates including the Zenith 7 . What i usually do first is what you did by cleaning it . I use some form of cleaner and move onto stronger cleaners to see if it will remove any more dirt or tarnish without taking off any paint or markings . After that is done i will try some fine cut cleaner such as McGuires or i suppose Novus would work long as it does not have any wax in it . Test to make sure it does not destroy anything .
If that works then some sort of wax should work . If not i have had good luck giving it a couple quick coats of gloss Deft spray can lacquer . Caution of coarse ! Test a corner first . No heavy coats , a quick moving whisk across the piece . The Zenith 7 had a haze of some kind on its face plate that would not clean off but it went away when it was wet . The lacquer got rid of the haze and made it look much better . It was not a mirror finish but it looked almost perfect , deep in color again and not dry anymore .

Spraying lacquer on things is taking somewhat of a risk . I have done this for so long i kinda know what to expect and have practiced alot with it .

I'll probably use a sponge with a diluted 409 type cleaner (surficant) that I use on 78 and 45 rpm records. It appears that these metal faceplates are painted with a black lacquer paint, so I was thinking using either a very lite polish like Novus if there is a constant haze when dry, and/or finish with a light lacquer spray as you mentioned. I would think with a couple thin coats of lacquer would give it the wet look, especially if you use the "rubbing out" method used on lacquer on wood cabinets to bring out a bright gloss.
Britt

Sounds good . I dont know if novus has wax or polish in it ? if so it may cause a problem with the lacquer going in it right . Another good washing should remove any wax . McGuiers is a cleaner only with no waxes in it .

[quote="wbaradio" When I received the Metrodyne from my Ebay purchase, I noticed the wood case was in very good shape, and with a little gluing and alittle spray lacquer, should finish out very nice. In the Ebay listing, the black metal faceplate with dials looked very dingy and gold lettering/dial markings faded. But that was OK, as the one in the garage was in pretty good shape save an imperfection or two. However, after clearing dust and grime off the metal face plate with a damp sponge, the faceplate began to shine, though as the moisture from the sponge dried it became a little hazy again, yet none of the gold markings are missing/rubbed off.
What is the proper procedure to clean and preserve these black metal face plates with gold markings to bring out the original mirror shine?
Britt
Chesapeake, VA[/quote]

Hi, Britt. It's interesting that yours has a metal faceplate with lettering. Mine is bakelite with gold engraving. It still looks pretty good although a little (maybe 10%) of the gold has worn off. As far as the cabinet goes, though, I did the alcohol test (for the radio, not me!) and found that the original finish was shellac, which was pretty common back in 1926, so I'm refinishing mine that way. Actually, I originally wanted to do this to sell it on Flea-bay, but looking at this nice old set I decided to just keep it, even if I don't have any room.

Does your set work?

Bob

Bob, I have two Super Fives that look like they would work, but unknown at this time. I also have a Super Six that does work. All three have metal faceplates. One of the Super Fives has a slightly more "ornate" cabinet than the other. Must have been an upgrade. Still have not had the time to try cleaning the faceplate, just have too many projects !!!

Britt

Hi, Britt. Yeah, I know about the too many projects problem. It's right up there with the "no room to put 'em" problem that I also have. Let's see.. solution to the first problem: quit my job, work on radios full time, and starve. Solution to the second... rent a storage space and go broke. Guess these will remain problems.

It really is interesting that they made the faceplates for the same radios in metal and in bakelite. I haven't seen any others that that's true for. Getting these to work is usually pretty easy as long as the coils and transformers are good. Not much to go wrong.

Good luck!