Just thinking about the chassis underside appearance of that set.
I use some pretty simple solvents when cleaning that area filled with parts and wiring, kero, turps, metho etc.

For parts of the bakelite era you cannot go wrong with turps.
It fits naturally with the valve sockets, switches and windings of the era and simply wont hurt anything.
It will flush out dirt and solder rosin deposits gently. I would would wash the thing draining into a container and use fine paint brushes and low pressure air to dig out the s....err.. muck. It will not displace moisture so sun drying the washed area (UV treatment!) is a benefit.

I know there are advocates of plunging the lot into hot water and then baking to remove the water.
Please lets not be violent with old school brittle bakelite, paper varnish and rubber/plastic wire.

The top side really needs the rust removing, but, every thing you scratch the surface with will show up through any finish you apply.
Nothing looks worse that a chassis full of crude scratchings.
My tactic sometimes has been to brush off the rust, apply and etch or kill coat, and then apply a coat of "Hammer" paint.
The multitude of reflecting angles in the hammer paint tend to disguise any surface defects and looks very "workshop industrial".
I have used greys and blues in some of my projects and that looks very original.

Please please do not wire brush it all and slop a coat of SILVER paint over the lot.
I have seen some "fully restored" shelf queens with that method and it just reflects the lack of professionlism of the perpetrators.

Gee, I hope I do not sound like I am lecturing you!
Cheers, Fred.

Robbbert:

I've shovelled a bit of the dirt out of the chassis. The 240V that goes to the back plug on the chassis does just that. There is a dummy plug plugged in but there is nothing connected inside. This appears to be just a cover over the socket. I have the remnants of the labels for the front controls and there is no mention of a phono and the selector only has two positions which match up to SW and Broadcast bands. I've sent the pics to Kevin Chant and he believes it is an STC model. I'm currently trolling through the schematics on his site for a match.

I think you are right about the speaker connected to the capacitor but its a bit hard to see under some of the capacitors with out removing them and i'm not up to that as yet.

Cheers again and thanks.

Peter

Looks like it could be a Calstan 529. The pics on radiomuseum look very similar.

Brand/Make - Year - Model - Description - Valve count - IF (kHz) - Valve Line up - Circuit ref - Page
Calstan - 1948 - 529 - AC DW Con. - 5 - 455 - ECH35, 6SK7GT, 6SQ7GT, 6V6GT, 5Y3GT - AORSM '48 - 101

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/zenithau_calstan_529.html

cheers,
Ross

Yep, likely a 529 or a near relative.

Schematic here: https://www.kevinchant.com/uploads/7/1/0/8/7108231/532_529_1.tif

RJother: Just had a look at the link you posted and yes that is the radio. I've sent a pic of the cabinet to Brad but its not been uploaded yet. they certainly spent some time on the cabinetry in those days. Its still in very good condition. The veneer is really well done and still attached. A couple of chips on the edges but if as my mother used to say if you run past with a mouth full of boiling soup you'll never see it. I've sanded it back and put a couple a couple of layers of shellac on part of it and it looks as if it will come back a treat. The big disappointment is that the dial is missing.

Fred Lever:

Thanks for your suggestions.

I hope I can do the radio justice. So far I've found that a good squirt of compressed air and a fine brush has done wonders.

All I've done so far is to give the transformer cover a bit of a hit with some 1200 grit wet and dry. It still has some scratches so I might have to find a finer cutting compound.

Based on the comments of Rjother and GTC above I have identified the radio. that will help with any work that I do with it. The cabinet looks as if it will come up well.

I promise not to just slap a coat of silver paint on it.

As I mentioned above it didn't come with the dial. Are there any sources of these parts or high quality photographs of them.

Cheers and thanks.

Peter

Ahhhhhhhhh Peter!
Do you have a patent on the "mouth full of boiling soup" description?
I just laughed out loud when I saw that!
Priceless!!
Go to work that into something I write somewhere................................
Fred.

Hi there.

Just wondering if anyone has the contact details for a Stuart Irwin.

He's restored one of these radios and i'd like to make contact with him. His facebook page doesn't seem to have been touched for some time as far as I can tell.

Cheers

Peter Brighton

Just wondering if anyone has the contact details for a Stuart Irwin.

His member name on here is Sirwin.

If you unhide your email using Control Panel I'll send you his email address.

Stuart Irwin’s (sirwin) contact details are not hidden here.

Just go to Members List on the top of the page and find sirwin.

I've sent a pic of the cabinet to Brad but its not been uploaded yet.

G'day Peter. The pictures haven't arrives as yet.

Photo uploaded to Post 20.

If that's meant to have an ECH35 (not common in a non SW set ) that's not what I see. ECH35 should have metallisation like the one in my Breville 730 and none I see have any sign of it.

Perhaps 6A8, or 6J8, they all tend to run in one another's place. That is an odd shape chassis. I would clean that outside & wear a P2 respirator whist doing that. Also consider new photos after that & beware of the fine wire on the tuning coils.

Marc

I've seen ECH35 without the red metal paint, but not nearly as common as the red ones. It's not a case of the paint having fallen off, as the valve type is clearly printed on the glass.

This radio was actually made by Zenith and was available as an unbranded set.

Zenith sourced radios were common among store branded sets, including Calstan.

As this radio is missing it's dial glass we'll never know if it was actually a Calstan or something else.