cost of restoring admiral bakelite television

[init4fun]

Originally Posted by bmcgarth13

I have been a big collector/fan of antique tvs for a while, and I have finally acquired an admiral bakelite 20x122 model and I am looking to get it fully restored. I must admit, I do not know a thing about restoration. I split my time between connecticut/nyc and I was wondering what kind of cost I am looking at to restore the set to new working condition. everything appears to be intact, but of course I am not sure if everything is ok. just wondering if anyone could give me rough idea of what I'm looking at, and if someone knows a repair expert in this area who I could show the set to. thanks a lot
Bryan

Hi Bryan ,

First thing to know , is that if you spend the money to restore the set , many times you'll spend more than you can ever sell the set for later . If this is to be a "keeper" , and your doing it specifically for the love of this old TV , well go right ahead and get it done . If this is with the desire to restore it , and then "flip" it for profit , well that usually never pays of financially . If you do decide to attempt it yourself , and you have no real experience , put it away for a bit and start small . Most folks will restore a couple of small table radios first , with tubes of course , to get their schematic reading and soldering skills up to par for the job at hand . Maybe even restore a "junk" (read , not terribly valuable VS actually trash) TV in preparation for the job on the "keeper" also . The Admiral will wait patiently for you to attain the skills needed , and making your "learning curve" mistakes on "throwaway" projects will save you from making any big mistakes with the Admiral .

Best of Luck to whichever way you attempt this