About the only way to fix a coil is to rewind it. Sometimes if there is a break it can be repaired. If you don't see any defects with the coils then they should be fine.

Im getting here late on this. I've read the entire thread, and you have really come a long way, and gotten a really nice floor model GE out of the deal! That cabinet is really nice, and I hope that you have years of trouble free performance from it.

Bruce

Thanks Bruce. I plan to enjoy it for a long time to come, but hopefully not too trouble free. I kind of like tweaking it around a little. ;)

finished product
 

I think this is it. It sure is a proud thing!

And about 74 years old. Wow.

I still need to do a little with the grill cloth but I thought I would rather turn it around had have original color since it was so bleached out before. I can put up with the unevenness. I should turn it bottom up though.

Gorgeous!!! That is a radio to be proud of. What did you end up using on the cabinet? If you aren't happy with the grille cloth you might see if grillecloth.com has a reproduction of the original.

I love it! Very classy looking cabinet. Good work pays off....:thmbsp::yes:

Thanks for the comments. The cabinet had 3 gashes and 1 bad cigarette burn that I was a little concerned about. I thought I would have to do some wood restoration. After I did some testing around, it was clear that it was covered with about 15(?) coats of shellac so I quickly did a rub down with denatured alcohol to disrupt the surface a little then I just went through a series of sand paper routines to remove about half the surface finish. The gashes and the burn disappeared completely. So, I put 2 new coats of shellac on it and voila! I was surprised how simple that ended up being and I hardly had to disturb the original surface.

That may be a lesson to me when making furniture... many, many coats of shellac are great for preservation and restoration.

Has anyone ever tried soaking a grill cloth in something to clean or rejuvenate it?

It might shrink. Some have tried a little quick hand washing. If you can find K2R dry cleaning spray, that would be less intrusive. I haven't seen any lately but then I haven't been looking for it, either. It's a dry cleaning fluid in a spray can with fine chalk suspended in it. Shake it up, spray on, let it dry completely over half an hour or so. The fluid dissolves the dirt and the chalk absorbs it. When dry you brush off the chalk with its dirt load.

Another way might be with the cloth removed, lay it on a clean towel. Sponge on lightly upholstery cleaner foam (spray can) and immediately blot with another towel, section by section. Avoiding soaking maybe it won't shrink. All this is experimental with the particular cloth and you may end up replacing to be happier with it.