I could spend all day looking at this site. I love it.
I love old radios and tv's.
One project I had fun with was fitting a modern tv inside this old RCA cabinet. I know some of you will be mad at what I have done by gutting the tv but I wanted something reliable but with a cool look. I am also almost done with a Predicta Holiday model. That one I bought off of craigslist and it was already gutted, so I didn't do that one! I'll share some pics of that shortly.

I would one day like to restore an old TV but know there is a lot to learn before I even atempt that.
First I'll go to the radio forums for advice on a good radio model for beginners and books I should get.

Look forward to lots of advice in the future.

Thanks,
Sam

Well...you stumbled upon a room full of purists, who would no sooner install the guts of a modern TV into a vintage cabinet then they would...well, metafor fails me.

You can learn alot. I did.

A lot of unloved 50's televisions go to the dump. A least you saved a cabinet and did a very nice job of that modification. Now if it was a Zenith porthole or older DuMont, I might have not been so nice.

I have no problem with any mod if the set can be put back to stock, or if it's in such a condition that original restoration is not possible, like finding a cabinet with no guts or like your Predicta. I'm also of the mind that someone can do whatever they want to their stuff, although I don't have to like it.

But Sam, we are all about saving sets not modding them. In my mind, there is nothing greater than firing up a 1950's (or late 40's) television, hearing the HV spool up and watch a vintage program, then shutting it off and watching the screen go to a white dot in the middle.

Hi guys,

Believe me, I agree with you. In fact a few years ago I owned 6 or 7 old tv's all original. I had someone get 3 of them up and running, including a 17" predicta hotel model. I loved watching "It's a wonderful life" on it each Christmas. Problem was eventually all but one had issues eventually and I don't know how to fix them and the gentleman that did had passed away. I eventually sold them all but the RCA because I loved the cabinet too much and found a way to have a reliable tv put in it.

If I had the knowlege to fix it or unlimited funds to fix it whenever it broke I would have preferred to keep it original.

Anyways I understand where you guys are coming from.

Hi

You did a really good job on that retrofit, the picture really fits in the mask nicely. If you do this again and don't want the guts, you can post in the classified as may of us could use some of these old parts. I gutted a RCA combo unit for a lady last year so she could re-purpose the cabinet, I got a good 21FJP22 and ctc11 chassis out of the deal.

Mike

I also hate to see a set gutted but the truth is that there is a real glut of mid-50s consoles, and will be for the some years to come. I agree that, from here, that looks like a very nice conversion, much better than some I've seen. Lots of folks either eliminate the mask or don't get the fit right. As ggreg said, it is best if you can do something reversible, and that wouldn't be difficult in a case like this. It mostly means not butchering the mask or trim.

That actually looks very nice. I sure can appreciate the desire to have a modern TV in a nice wood cabinet, especially with the swivel base, it sure beats the heck out of the black plastic world we now live in. Now I'm curious what model RCA cabinet that is, and is that the original finish? I really like that cabinet.

The RCA is a model 21-D-7488. From what I could find on the web is it was a 1957 model.
I couldn't find any pictures of this exact tv.
I believe it is the original finish because the metal cover for the controls is the same color.
I really like the design. It has wood slats on the bottom instead of speaker cloth.
It almost has a heywood wakefield look to it.

As for the predicta, Like I said I bought it off of craigslist already gutted. I put a 19" lcd in it and added some usb powered speakers to the cabinet. I just watched an episode of Andy Griffith on it and it looked great. Much better than the picture shows. Maybe one day if I ever want to tackle a Predicta I can just find a chassis and picture tube for it. (original knobs as well)

I think that your RCA retro-fit looks really great. That is one nice looking cabinet.
While the cabinet may be slightly rare, the fact is that in the 1950's and thereafter, B&W TV sets were pumped out in the millions. There are many, many of them still around, which is reflected in the rather low values for most of them.

I think that there few truly rare 1950's sets. The Predicta's are popular but there doesn't seem to be any shortage of them even presently and I think the majority of them were probably dumped 35-40 years ago.

I'm not opposed to retrofitting an example of vintage technology to make it useful today, assuming that it is done in a manner that permits it to be made original again.

I like your Predicta as well. I wonder if a larger lcd would fit?

I wouldn't mind doing the same thing to a Predicta if I found one with a bad crt and I could one day make it original again.
I'd like to find one in the condition you found yours in.