[David Dunlop]

I am giving some thought to restoring this Connectors assembly next in the 52-Set Project. That is a bit of a concern as this particular part is the lifeline for being able to operate the set and I would hate to unscrew the cover on it and have the innards fall apart on me.

From the outside, there does not seem to be much wrong beyond the usual cleaning.

If you back up to the last photo in Post #705, you will see the hardware set in the upper left corner of the front cover plate has been missing since I acquired the Connectors. Having removed another of the hardware sets, I found it to be a 4-40 x ½-inch RH machine screw with matching flat washer. I still had a few such machine screws available but was out of 4-40 flat washers, so borrowed a reasonable replacement washer to at least finish off this corner until I order in more washers. Fortunately they can still be had for around $5.00 Cdn per 100, which should do me a very long time.

According to the Illustrated Parts List, the raised letter identification caste into the top of the Connectors should be topped with white paint. I can still see traces of it and the lettering is in excellent shape, so that should be relatively easy to bring back to life.

At the lug end, the cotton cording wrapped around the Negative Cable Lug has broken and started to unravel, so will need to be replaced. I think there is a wrap of black, cloth electrical tape just under the cotton, so I may need a new spool to hockey stick tape for the toolbox. I think I am out of that as well.

Where this Connectors assembly gets interesting is in regards to the colours of the two cables. The Parts Manual states a red cable for the Positive line and a black one for the Negative line. The black one is alive and well, but from what I can determine so far, there is no trace of a red colour to the Positive cable at all. The present visible length and the fuzzy bits that provide a glimpse into the interior of the cotton loom all show what is now a dirty tan/white cotton. Adding to the mystery is the presence at the lug end of the Positive line of a red, paper tape wrap, very similar in size to the paper tape Butcher Shops use for wrapping brown paper packages of meat. So if any red colour on the Positive line still exists, it is likely going to be found inside the Bakelite body of the Connectors.

If no red cotton looming shows up inside the Connectors, I wonder if these Connectors were rewired at 202 Workshop as part of a normal 52-Set overhaul and in the 1960’s they were using tan, or white, loomed cable for the Positive lines and marking them with a red tape at the lug end to comply with the descriptions in the manuals?

Maybe two versions of these Connectors now exist: factory originals still in red and black cotton looming and overhauled ones in white and black.


David