Looking for a few hints for my S40B restoration: dial flattening, making the chassis look pretty and labels on back

[Bob and Bettina Groh]

Working away on my S-40B restoration - one of my problems is finding a 
way to 'flatten' the main dial which has a bit of a curvature (about 
1/4"). Dial is not in great shape but certainly adequate so I would like 
to flatten it out and use it. My plan would be to place it on a wood 
board (on a paper towel) face down with the hub pointed up (the curve is 
such that the back is up in the air in this orientation), put a 
light-ish weight on the hub, put everything in the oven set at maybe 175 
degrees F and bake it for a while.

The 2nd question has to do with making the chassis look pretty. With the 
front panel off, the dials and the speaker removed, I am going to wash 
everything down with mild detergent (e.g. 409 and water) and a medium 
brush and then spray everything off with water from the garden hose. 
Then I am thinking of tackling the chassis grime and dirt a bit more 
aggressively and shine up the chassis. LA5TI 
<http://www.qsl.net/la5ki/s40b.htm> did a super nice job on his 
restoration and I wouldn't mind following his lead!

3rd question has to do with the labels on the back of the chassis. With 
my luck, they are going to get a bit ruined (I may try protecting them 
during the cleaning but that may not work). I was going to consider 
making a close picture of them and then using Photoshop and my printer 
to make some new ones. Any ideas along that line?

By the way, I did get the knobs off after buying some left-hand drill 
bits (who knew!). One did back out while being drilled but the the other 
needed to be drilled out all the way. One knob is toast (for other 
reasons) and one is probably salvagable if I run a tap through the set 
hole threads.  Thanks to the group for the ideas.

73 de WA2CKY
BOb Groh

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