Ok I'll take a stab at this as a preservationist, auto hobbist, and someone who has done something similar...
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...threadid=17244
I wonder first of all, why not use one of the re-pops as a starting point? To 99% of the world, they look just like the real-deal. Perhaps you could have even purchased an empty re-pop case at a cost savings, or discounted with a (little) cross-promotion at the event. Even if you had to pay full price, the unrestored Predicta Pedestal probably would have brought enough eBay money to pay for the telestar repop.
Secondly, why choose the (more rare/valuable) pedestal style? Seems rather impractical for a PC application anyways. To get the monitor down to a "normal" height, you'd have to hide much of the cabinet behind a desk. Seems that a "holiday" model would have been a better choice.
Telestar Holiday
On the plus side, it does appear that the workmanship is of very good quality, which would make this project much more acceptable to me. Even though my "modern" porthole project seems rather crude looking in the during photos, (Sawzall and all) I assure you that it's well detailed in the execution. Most guests think it's a very high-dollar Zenith from the 90s.
I don't know if the automotive analogy applies, since no one is building re-pop '57 Chevys. If enough of my Porthole set had survived (face mask, knobs, bezels, etc. not to mention chassis and CRT) I probably wouldn't have converted it. Those Chevy's were cranked out by the damn-near millions, and didn't have the "issues" of the Predictas which spelled a small survival rate. A better analogy might be a '56 Packard... If turned into a hot-rod, that would make me very sad.
To me, part of what makes a piece of vintage electronics (or vintage car) interesting is the technonolgy itself. The glow of the tubes, the warm-up time, the HV crackle, and so forth. The idea that a near-dozen vacuum tubes and a spaghetti of electrical wire eventually does the same thing as a micro-circuit. To me, if you need to add disc-brakes, tilt-wheel, fuel injection and a CD player to an old car to enjoy it, you should simply admire from a distance, for you don't really want the time-machine effect, but simply a better looking new car. Items like newer tubes and capacitors are just consumable parts, like tires, shocks and brake linings. Replacement doesn't change the design intent. (Of course with cars you have the added safety factor, nobody could get killed watching a picture with jittery vertical hold.) As an aside, I've never understood why people who would ride a motorcycle feel the need to add seatbelts to an old car?!?!
But you of course have the right to do as you please, just as one could paint flying saucers into the background of another artist's painting. Just not something I'd do myself.
Good job on the workmanship, and I wish you sucess. However, I do hope you won't be flattered by imitation!