Restoration of RCA AR-88

This front panel is very heavy.  It is solid steel and probably 1/8 inch thick.  If you decide to work on an AR-88 make sure you have a solid bench.   The chassis is about 75 pounds.  And inside the cabinet it weighs in at 100 pounds.  The one I have is a Navy receiver.  I sure wish I knew where it had lived most of its life....

The coils are covered with a steel plate which has been removed for cleaning.  The bottom of the chassis is very well shielded and very solid.

A couple of do's and don'ts....  When you get ready to clean a radio, always test chemicals on a spot that is out of sight.  And never, never use any kind of chemical on the dials.  You will wreck the lettering.  Even water can destroy ink that is water soluble.   You can clean the back of the dials with a damp, soft cloth, but never the front.   On the front of the dials simply use a soft cloth and lightly brush away any dust.  

Years of dust, grease, spider webs, and general crud needs to be removed.  I chose not to bead blast the chassis because of the lettering on it.  Just a thorough cleaning and she looks much better.   I failed to mention in the video that you can also get grease off with WD-40.  I have used it a lot.

It is not unusual to find problems in old radios such as components missing or added where they should not be.  Previous owners do strange things sometimes.