Hi all,

Long time no post. I have finally acquired a space for my hobby, (old phones and TTYs) so I am busy restoring several old units. I have a 564HL in 'moss green' that came from Kirtland AFB, and it was in horrid shape. The plastic had oxidized to a nice shade of brown, and was quite scratched up and dirty. I washed the shell in hot soapy water, then tried the plastic polish kit that was recommended to me. It did not cut the grimy discoloration. So, I went to my friendly auto paint supplier, and got a sheet of 1500, 2000, and 3000 waterproof sandpaper, and sanded the shell. I spent about thirty hours all told carefully going over every square inch. Once I was finished, I used the plastic polish heavy scratch remover, then light scratch remover, (again by hand), and the result is a very nicely polished telephone. Then I removed the finger wheel from the dial, and washed it as well as the key buttons in hot soapy water with a tooth brush, and they are now crystal clear.I likewise cleaned the coiled cord with soapy water, and it cleaned up quite nicely.

However, the dial face is quite grungy. I don't want to sand it because the white letters will come off. Again, the polish will not cut the grime.

Does anyone know a way to remove the oxidation and get down to the green color without ruining the dial mechanism or removing the white numbers?

Thank you very much!

(I will post photos if anyone would like to see this.)

All the best and 73's!

Joe

Real comms took 200lb teletypes, hand keys, sounders, operators and cranked phones!