restoring A7's

I have a pair of 1969 16 ohm 500's that I got off craigslist. Someone painted them orange for a church halloween production. Cabinets and horns are orange, drivers are not. Can anyone help with matching the paint for the cabs, don't know what to do about the horns. Also,will need decals. Thought about keeping them orange and using them for deer season but they clash with the carpet and drapes. Have seen photo's here of others A7's and see that the ports have been modified, any info on this would be helpful. They sound great and with all that paint on the horns I've not noticed any ringing. For the most part they were only overdriven on sundays. Thanks


bt

Have you considered changing the carpet and drapes to orange?

I would scrape some orange paint off the back and see if you could get to the factory gray color and then take a gray chip to the Depo for a paint match. I would safely assume the paint in that day was oil-based not latex so you may be dealing with different coats of paint (e.g., latex over oil). Ask the paint professionals how to best prep the boxes for a new shade of gray.

As far as the horns are concerned; that is more tricky if you want to remove the paint. Modern paint removal chemicals are not very effective IMO. Glass beeding and repainting the bare metal factory black is a possibility.

The painter of orange did some serious damage to these units but you know that, I suppose.

Please post pictures.

Here is a link for the decals. Set of 4 for $20, And one step I highly recommend is to prime the cabinets first for a long lasting finish.Have the primer tinted the same color as your finish coatings/top coat.This way it will minimize color change(tint) after drying.

Altec Voice Of The Theater DECAL set of four (4) - eBay (item 280453569200 end time Jun-17-10 17:13:03 PDT)

If you live in the East Coast, try Erik Wayne at Gabriel Sound in NJ. He has a glass bead machine that he used to clean the gunk off my 2405 top plates that worked well.

Glass beading is not rocket science so you may be able to find a machine at a shop close to home. Anyone that does powder coating probably has one.

I the past I have used the solvent product "Goof Off" to remove house paint, most likely water based latex, from Altec horns and drivers. It melts the latex away, leaving the Altec finish unaffected except for the driver decals which unfortunately dissolve.

first try at photobucket.
http://www.hostboard.com/forums/hbmc.../2010/06/6.jpg
http://www.hostboard.com/forums/hbmc.../2010/06/7.jpg

My eyes! My eyes!!!!!

I remember seeing those on CL awhile back....... in MO, if I recall.

How gummy is the paint? If it's not gummy, I'd try sanding it off. If the paint didn't stick real well, a sharp razor blade my take much of it off, with out too much trouble...... maybe a gasket scraper. I'm just throwing out ideas. If I were doing it myself, It would be trial and error to find the right method.

If I were to use a chemical, I'd probably try one of the newer "safe" chemicals. They tend to lift paint one layer at a time, and I think that may be to your benefit if you've just got one layer of nasty paint......... you don't find pink, and then lime green underneath the orange.

If I were repainting, I think I'd find a nice pre-mixed grey that I liked, or experiment mixing white and black. Probably a flat black, adding gloss white until I was happy. I don't think Altec was super sensitive about the particular grey they used. It's been mentioned that they used the grey that meets the standard for electrical equipment, but I don't know how to find that........ I don't know what the standard is called.

The high frequency horns could be media blasted if you've got a local shop that does it cheap. I'd bet that the good old fashioned "unsafe" paint strippers would work well on them, too........ shouldn't be too bad a job since they're metal. Some people poweder coat them after being cleaned of the old finish, but I don't think I'd bother with the expense. Flat or satin black spray paint should be fine....... I say should be, becasue I've never actually painted mine after blasting. After that, you can work on dampening them if you'd like. We've had a couple of good examples here on the board lately...... one using silicone in the cavity up front, somebody did wax.... or was thinking about it. Also latex paint and sand on the outside is an old trick, but has been recently done. When I first read of the paint and sand, I thought it sounded hokey, but it actually looks pretty decent. Then there is also Aquaplas (Anti-vibe) that Altec used on large format horns. We've recently had a discussion about it, but it's pricey compared to the other options.

OMG.... What the heck are some people thinking.Hey let's paint them orange for Halloween. Too bad Halloween isn't every day of the year.:D

The horns should be glass beaded,if you can't find one there is a gel you spread on it that works good.It only requires one coating it is time activated meaning the longer you leave it on the more paint it takes off.Ditto for the cabinets(Gel)

I hope they are cheap.Because of the time involved of cleaning them up could get expensive(In terms of your time).But is very cool to see someone trying to save them. :2thumbsup: Best Wishes Toby Regards ~ John

Here's an auction style listing even cheaper with a starting bid of $10 for 4 stickers.

ALTEC VOICE OF THE THEATER (VOTT) LABELS A2,A4,A5,A7! - eBay (item 160445358642 end time Jun-17-10 12:01:58 PDT)

Don't get too fussy with the shade of gray. I have several original Altec cabinets here (A-4, A-5 and A-8) of different generations and no two are exactly the same shade. I've had some custom paint made up at Home Depot, but actually Behr "Evening Hush" 770F-6 is a surprisingly good match and available "off the rack".

If the orange paint is well applied I'd forget trying to remove it. I'd give it a light sanding, and then get a good primer like "Fresh Start" tinted to match. With a coat of primer and a good top coat or two you should never see the orange again.

- Gary

Removed the horns yesterday to refinish and found one of the terminals loose. Pulled the cover to tighten the connector and the edge of the fram is broke in pieces. What now?

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Originally Posted by badtoby

Removed the horns yesterday to refinish and found one of the terminals loose. Pulled the cover to tighten the connector and the edge of the fram is broke in pieces. What now?

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I don't mean to nit pick, but some people don't appear to know this......... the horns are separate devices from the drivers. You have 511B high frequency horns and they don't have terminals, covers, connectors, or a diaphragm...... that's the driver that is bolted to the back of the horn that has all those parts.

What did you decided on your method of refinishing the horns?

glass beading for the removal. first I'am taking them to a paint guy to see if the paint can be matched (green). Yes I know the horns and drivers are two pieces assumed everyone would know what I was saying. still wondering what to do about the frams,where to get them (16 ohm).Is this something I can replace myself? Bought new stickers off Ebay and if weather is good this week hope to do the cabs.

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still wondering what to do about the frams,where to get them (16 ohm).Is this something I can replace myself?

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Great Plains Audio.

Great Plains Audio's Homepage

Do some looking around their website, you'll find a very comprehensive instruction sheet covering diaphragm replacement.

Actually, Todd WW has done such an excellent job with the website that i've already found it for you.

http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/SmDrvrDiaRpl.pdf

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Originally Posted by badtoby

glass beading for the removal. first I'am taking them to a paint guy to see if the paint can be matched (green).

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You still have some green showing? ...... or are you talking about matching the green of the woofer baskets? Early horns were green, later ones were black.

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Yes I know the horns and drivers are two pieces assumed everyone would know what I was saying.

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Well after I see so many "speakers" being advertised by the crossover model number on ebay, or a horn being called by the driver model number, I don't assume anymore.

Thanks bowtie, there is a local guy here in KC but I don't know if his stuff is original or aftermarket and from what I've read there is more than one type, aluminum ect. Don't know what I need.

Someone got lazy and didn't paint the bottom of one of the horns orange so original green paint still there. Hope to get them looking original however the stenciled white model # and name (altec) are lost due to being painted over.

Wow - the orange paint is horrible. I guess now every day is holloween. Did you consider filing a police report so they could find the person who is responsible for this criminal behaviour?

I would send the HF drivers back to Great Plains Audio and ask them to recharge the motors and replace the diaphragms.

I like restoring old classics to the exact way they left the factory. However, in this instance, I would glass bead the cast horns to remove all paint and then paint them black not green or white. The bass horns need to be gray IMO.

When you restore them to their former glory they will become a cherished family classic that will remain a gem to enjoy for many decades.

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Originally Posted by badtoby

Thanks bowtie, there is a local guy here in KC but I don't know if his stuff is original or aftermarket and from what I've read there is more than one type, aluminum ect. Don't know what I need.

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For hifi and critical listening you need 34852's, if you want to regularly blast rock n roll to cop calling SPL's, go with 26421's.

IMO, there's not a lot of difference in sound between those 2 phragms on the 511 horn, but the Pascalite 26421's will withstand considerably more abuse/higher SPL's.

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I would send the HF drivers back to Great Plains Audio and ask them to recharge the motors and replace the diaphragms.

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Robert is spot on w/ my opinion here, but this doesn't always fit everyone's budget.

However, the cost is less than you might imagine. In most cases it's just a wee bit over 2 C notes including return shipping for a pair, unless of course you live in Timbuktu or one or both drivers needs serious labor(misaligned pole, broken screws, etc). The end result is a sonically, and electrically NEW pair of drivers that should perform without issue for another 20, 30, 40, ??? years.

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Originally Posted by badtoby

Have seen photo's here of others A7's and see that the ports have been modified, any info on this would be helpful.
bt

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In 1988 I asked Jerry Hubbard (Altec engineer in OKC)
for the following port openings on the A7, A7-500;

8.25"H port when horn mounted on top
13.75"H port when horn mounted inside the cab

One of many:

http://www.hostboard.com/forums/alte...port-size.html

You can also search on:
A5
825
828
... and 'port'.

other suggestions:

1) locate/read the "small v.o.t.t." paper
(and the large v.o.t.t. paper if interested).

This may be titled "smallVOT.pdf" (google)

2) Also of interest may be:
"soundpractices_spaltec.pdf"
Title: Altec "Voice of the Theater" Speakers for Hi-Fi ...a 1993 article by Jeff Markwart and John Tucker.


3) decide if you want wings, before defining the port size 'irreversibly'.
(per GM suggestion, possibly the thread above).


My wings and any mods are on hold for now, I am getting by with some 'subs' (as the kids would say) below 100hz.

A smaller (and maybe longer) port will help, for sure. I actually have bass out of my cabs now. =)