Well.....I went and picked up the Zenith porthole set that I posted about yesterday in the curbside forum. I gave the guy $30. The thing needs a lot of work, but I'm pretty good with cabinet restoration and I've wanted a porthole set ever since I (regretfully) sold my old porthole back in the 80's, so I'm going to keep this one. The 12UP4 picture tube is really flat, so I'm letting it cook at 7V for a few hours to see if I can wake it up. May be looking for a replacement tube at some point. The set is pretty complete except for the antenna tuning knob at the top of the screen and the back panel, and its really dirty. This one is going to need a full cabinet strip-down and refinish.

What are you planning on doing with the doors? If memory serves, those are photo finished.

That is eye candy to my eyes.

What are you planning on doing with the doors? If memory serves, those are photo finished.

They could be Veneered, not original but it would look nice.

I would touch up the doors. If you need a crt I have a spare for that set.

Yeah, I suspected the doors were photo finish. They're so scratched up, I don't know if there's a way to save the finish. They look worse in person than in the pictures. I'll probably strip them and then take a look at what the wood looks like underneath. If they're mahogany like the rest of the cabinet and look decent, I may just do a dark stain after stripping.

Yeah, I suspected the doors were photo finish. They're so scratched up, I don't know if there's a way to save the finish. They look worse in person than in the pictures. I'll probably strip them and then take a look at what the wood looks like underneath. If they're mahogany like the rest of the cabinet and look decent, I may just do a dark stain after stripping.
With a nice refinishing it should look okay. Not original, but at least that nice set will be saved. There's actually ways to do a faux-finish and recreate the original pattern, but it'll be time consuming for sure. Likely you'll want to leave the doors open anyway. Good luck with it!

I wonder if there is a way to reposition the doors so they're facing inside out? Probably have to reset the hinges. They look like they're a decent mahogany veneer on the inside.

Some progress on the Zenith porthole combo. I had a chance to do some partial disassembly and clean-up. The set was pretty dirty from sitting around for who knows how many years, but the packrat damage wasn't as bad as I was expecting. There are only a couple of wires on the underside of the TV chassis that have had the insulation nibbled upon (easy repairs) and a few spots on the cabinet that I should be able to fix with some wood putty. Both the tuner and TV need to have the dial cords re-strung. The tuner chassis is in real good shape, and the TV chassis will need some general clean-up (and obviously electrical restoration), but I think it will turn out pretty good. Need to remove the record player and escutcheons, and then I can begin the cabinet restoration. I always try to save the original finish if I can, but I think this one is going to need a full strip-down and re-do. It looks like, with a little care and careful cleaning, I should be able to save the original grille cloth. Here are some pictures of where I'm at so far.

A couple more pictures.....