RCA Victor K80

As a child I used to play with this radio. Pushing the buttons, turning the knobs, all while it never worked. It's been in my parents house for longer than I can remember. Now, my parents are moving and it's got to go, so it's going to my house.

Removing the radio internals was easy enough with just four screws, disassembly of the tuning cord, removing the knobs, unplugging the speaker and antenna connectors. The remaining original power cord insulation was so old that it literally turned to crumbs when I touched it. I soldered on a new power cord and hooked everything back up. The tuning assembly cord took a while to hook back up. When you turn the tuning knob it turns a potentiometer that has a two pulleys and a string which turn the needle on the display. Getting the cord wrapped around all the pulleys properly was a bit of a chore.
Internals

Turning it on for the first time was wonderful. The green tube in the center of the display is amazing. After a bit of warm up, I was able to tune in some shortwave stations. I'm a bit wary of running it much or even keeping it plugged in. The wiring is so old and brittle. The capacitors are the vintage paper type and need to be replaced too. This should be a fun project.
First time tuningFront Display