Just came across this site while googling how to fix a dial cord for my Philips B3G63A. Don't know how I missed your forum before now - appears to be a good one. I'm relatively a newcomer to vintage radio restoration only been at it for a little over a year but increasing my knowledge and skills slowly. Started off as a teenager in the 1960s with building a dynaco hi-fi kit amp and have only come back to the hobby since retiring. Still enjoy messing with valve hi-fi amps but find radio work more challenging. Looking forward to picking up some tips from you guys. Best wishes, Bruce (a retired yank in ol blighty)

G'day Bruce and welcome to the forums.

It's always good to hear of how people started out with vintage radio. The dog's beanie reminds me of the teapot warmers my parents and grandparents used to use so often. They are seldom seen now, along with valve radios.

The thing with dial cords is that they are best replaced rather than fixed. Every time I've ever tied one back together it either stalls where the knot is or the knot causes the cord to come off one of the bobbins. It's not easy stuff to obtain but worth the effort once you hit the jackpot.

Many thanks, Brad, for the welcome. It's exactly as you describe where the old cord keeps coming off the bobbin. I've come to your conclusion and will just replace the cords. It will be a challenge as it has two separate cords for the AM & FM and feeds through cables. What's your opinion on using nylon fishing line or kite string? I've read where some have had good results. Thanks for the help.

I've never tried fishing line because I never thought it could work, particularly on the complex arrangements in some Australian radios.

As Australian valve radios never had FM I've never seen a set with two dial cords. Was this in place so each band could have its own tuning condenser?

If realistic dial cord is unavailable my guess that brickies string line may be a satisfactory alternative, though it is slightly thicker than the real thing.

Yes, it has two cords (actually four) where the AM bands (LW,MW,SW) and FM bands are tuned separately. Pretty nice in that you can switch immediately to an FM band and then to an AM band without tuning.

Here's a before pic:

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The FM cables run underneath to the condenser that's shielded in it's own box under the chasis.

I may give fishing line a try as I have some lying around. It's about the same thickness maybe a tad thinner which may be an advantage.

Fly fishing line can be used if no other replacement can be found. It does have a taper to help in fly casting, but this is not evident in the length used for restringing.