1958 ADMIRAL TV Set - CRUSH IT OR PART IT? I need you guys to decide!

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classicfan1

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
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Location
Ohio, USA
Today, I demolished a shed at my step-dad's house. In it was all kinds of stuff that 20 years ago, back in the 90s, could have been saved. Now it is all rotted and hardly anything can be salvaged. It is all going to the crusher tomorrow. I wanted to know if parts from circa-1958 Admiral TV are worth anything? The cabinet is TOAST, and the speaker grille has decayed. It was put in there over a bad picture tube. All of the trim pieces, knobs, glass, and possibly the chassis is either good or rebuidable.

So, do I CRUSH it or PART it? Let me know, I will check this thread tomorrow and save the TV for last.

So, no pics (yet, anyway).
 
Part it!

I would love to see a photo of it as I rebuilt a 1952 Admiral TV and all I need to complete it are some knobs, so I would definitely be interested in them!
 
Save its tubes-many TV type tubes are no longer made-they may be useful to someone else trying to repair or restore an older TV.The tuner might be useful to an older set restorer as well.
 
I would part it out. Keep the knobs and the trim pieces and the chassis. Throw the picture tube out(assuming you are for sure it is shot) and throw out the cabinet. Keep the rest(reason I'm saying to keep the whole chassis, is that there are several parts besides the tubes to keep, such as the flyback, yolk.
 
Status...

Well I saved it and worked around it. There was a Montgomery Wards sprayer thing with a 3.5 HP engine on it inside too. I took the engine off since the cylinder was clean and I crushed the rest. Other things I had to crush were an antique sled, old gardening tools, etc (not mentioned the very shed itself). It took all day and two full loads to haul it all away.

I'm also parting out a Montgomery Wards lawn mower as well.

Anyway, the TV. I checked it out and the chassis is rebuildable and complete. It has all the knobs, and one of the trim pieces needs to be rechromed. I have it under a tarp outside (it can't get any worse) and will take it apart Sunday. I would post pics but I'm having trouble getting them off our cell phone.
 
Oh, and the bad...

To give you all an idea of how bad it is...the legs have decomposed, the speaker grille at the bottom has decayed, the panels on all sides of the cabinet have fallen off and partially decomposed, and to top it all off, a critter dug a hole through the backboard and through the bottom into the ground.
 
When you say things that are unwanted get "crushed" just what kind of crusher is it?RL trash truck,SL trash truck-dump site compactor?Just curious-since I also like crushers and shredders,love videos of them being "fed".
 
The Crusher itself...

The place I was going to had a large scrap crusher/baler in which things such as a old bicycles, appliances, sheetmetal, etc all get dumped in it and crushed into cubes. Had everybody sai "crush it" that would have been the fate of the TV.
 
Scrap metal balers are mean machines-probably the most powerful of "crushers"-some even have a shears in them to cut the bale into smaller peices.These beasts may have engines or motors of 1,000Hp!And really large hydraulic systems.No hoses on them-pipes instead to handle the pressure and fluid flow.Really large hydraulic cylinders on these!Scrap metal balers can even take on cars!!!Crush them-and shear the bale if the baler has the shears.Awesome machines to watch.
 
No kidding!

Yes, those machines are quite vicious! This yard had a baler AND a standard car crusher. The only two notable cars on death row was a 90s Thunderbird (I love T-Birds of any vintage!) and a circa 1984-1989 Dodge Caravan. The K-Cars and minivans are what saved Chrysler in the 80s, so seeing such a history making vehicle in such a sad state is depressing. This was a very modern place with almost NO human itneraction and they sell nothing once it gets unloaded. I hate those types of yards but it was the closest one and I had to get the job done.

Anyway, I now have pics and I got some of the knobs off. I hope to dismantle it completely this week.
 
Does the scrap metal place you go have a car-junk shredder-another HUGE mean peice of machinery.Largest is the LYNX shredder that has up to 10,000 hp engine-motor that can shred a car in less than a minute.Truck or bus in less than 2 min.Hammers on the rotor can weigh up to 800lbs-and the rotor rotates up to 400-600 RPM.These things are used to grind loose scrap and white goods,too.Somewhere on YouTube there was a video of a shredder grinding a car and the gas tank blew!a really cool video-don't know if its still there.A large flame belched out of the shredder intake!Glad no one was hurt or nothing damaged.Something a shredder operator doesn't want to happen.
 
Well...

No, they crush it up and sell it to another yard that does have a shredder. There is only one locally that does but they are in a very bad neighborhood and I will not go over there. I know they have one because the local news was over there during the "Cash For Clunkers" program and they were throwing perfectly good (well except for the engines that get blown up) cars, trucks, and vans into the shredder. A large magnet would pick them up, drop them on a large conveyor belt, and SMASH!

I don't care what side of the political spectrum somebody is on, that program was one of the most wasteful I've ever seen. I was a teenager at that time trying to find cheap, honest transportation and right when I had enough money to buy something, the prices shot up! They're still up! I drive a handme-down Taurus daily, but it has a V6 and that sucks up my money yet I can't afford a $5,000 car! To make matters worse, we all PAID for that program!

sorry, I digress. That subject stirs a fire inside me.


My usual place is an OLD operation from the 1930s. They still have a 1965 International R190 sitting in the lot, the owner refuses to crush it and he still has the original window sticker for it. The truck was used for hauling stuff around the town until about 1999 or 2000. IF it is still there when i go up there today, I may offer to help sell it since I'm on many classic car and truck forums.

The place doesn't have any crushers except a small baler that takes in copper, aluminum, small bits of steel. They do have a backhoe though but thats it.
 
Presenting....

Fresh from the bowls of a delapidated structure, sits a once-great marvel or home appliances, a marvel with class, style, and functionality. This marvel was left to rot for 35 years until today, here it is, a 1958 Admiral!

classicfan1++5-13-2013-08-40-16.jpg
 
More...

Yes, I demolished the shed around it, it has not been moved. Here is a shot fo the chassis. Believe it or not, it is more solid in person. No holes and hardly any pits. Mostly surface rust! Remarkable!

Whats more outstanding is the fact that the wooden frame isn't too bad except for the legs being gone.

classicfan1++5-13-2013-08-42-43.jpg
 

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