Saga of the STD4 Upper Door
Sa-ga, noun: a long story of heroic achievement. And indeed….isn’t jukebox restoration, the very revival of a long dead piece of machinery, a saga of (almost) heroic achievement?
It is in this case. I’ve restored several of the 1977 STD4’s. It seems like I do one of them every year. Often the chromed aluminum strips on the upper and lower doors are in bad enough shape that I would have them rechromed. Then I “discovered” polishing. When a plater does a metal piece the last work done is to polish it. Much like painting a car the prep work defines the finish. Smooth polished metal turns into brilliant mirror-like chrome. Polishing is also much much cheaper than having a part chrome plated. And aluminum, once polished, shines as brightly as chrome. Ergo…polish it.
I got lucky with the lower door in that the metal trim pieces were good as is. Not great but very passable and attractive enough. Not so the upper door. This juke was a literal barn find. No telling how long it sat dormant but stuff rained down on it for years. The titlestrip door was in sad shape. I got very lucky though. A fellow in Beaverton, Oregon had a door from a STD3 Sun Star. It was in good condition and I used it. The chrome pieces on the upper door were in sad condition as well. There are three U shaped pieces that surround the glass and graphics and two long L shaped pieces that go around the outside of the door. Five pieces in all. About half the chrome was flaked off. My first thought was to have them polished as I had always had done. This started the saga.
I started checking into chrome platers in the Vancouver / Portland area. I came up with three in Vancouver. Two were shut down. The third wanted to charge me $500 to polish the pieces. Polish, not chrome plate. In Texas I had paid about $125 to have these done. I kind of haggled back and forth with the guy asking about just the two big pieces or just the three smaller ones but he told me like it was. It wasn’t worth his time etc. unless he made a certain amount and he wasn’t hurting for work. He told me that he would have to strip the chrome off and then polish. Well, chrome pieces get dunked in a tank and through a process known as reverse electrolysis the chrome comes off. There isn’t much work involved at all. In fact, at my old chrome platers one time I got dissatisfied with some pieces that weren’t working out as they just couldn’t get chrome to stick well. I don’t remember just what the pieces were, some jukebox stuff naturally, but he handed me the pieces then changed his mind. They were chrome plated and looked mostly good. He wanted to strip the old chrome off. I waited and watched. Took all of 5 minutes to strip off the chrome plating.
I found a metal plating place in Portland through research on the internet and decided to visit. I got there mid afternoon on a Friday and the guy that quotes work had already left for the day. I left the metal and my phone number with the counter guy and went on my way. Monday I get a call from the estimator. Turns out they don’t do chrome plating. Matter of fact chrome plating has been outlawed in Oregon. My first plater Economy Plating in Dallas was ran by a fellow by the name of L.R. (whose brother was named R.L.). I got to know him pretty well stopping by often to chat. We got along great. This is where I learned a lot about the chrome plating process. I also learned how the EPA stayed on his ass about all the chemicals and disposal. He bitched often and loud about them. So I went back the next day and got my metal from the Portland shop. So much for Oregon.
Stuck between the hard rock of my cheapness and the reality of jukebox cosmetics and value I wracked my brain as to what I could do. I could not sell this jukebox with the upper door looking so badly. I did not want to invest $500 on polishing. These jukeboxes only go for so much. They are solid attractive jukes with excellent sound. I’m hoping to sell it for around $1200. With all the other work done, not to mention the time involved, this upper door could make or break it. I came up with the idea of sending the three pieces to a good friend in Garland Texas who would take them to my old chrome shop in Terrell. I would take the two large L shaped pieces to a fellow in Tigard Oregon who polishes metal boats. I met him at the Portland Boat Show and talked with him a bit, got his card. Some weeks later I called and explained what I needed done and described the two pieces. He said he would charge me $50 to do them. Wow! A break!
I carefully packed the three pieces and sent them off. They are so light the shipping was very minimal even to Texas from Washington. I visited my new buddy in Tigard. He took one look at the two trim pieces and said the chrome plating would have to be stripped off before he could polish them. After a quick lunch at Red Robin I went back to the fellow in Vancouver. How much to strip the chrome from these two pieces please? $150. What could I do. I left them with a phone number and went home to sulk. My buddy Juan called. Teresa wanted $200 to polish the three pieces. What could I do? I said, “Do it! thank you”. That’s what I did.
When the two pieces were stripped of their chrome I took them back to Tigard and left them with the man. He called about a week later and said they were ready. We made an agreement to meet at a time and date. I went and the shop was closed! I was in a turmoil. I didn’t really want to make another trip. I had left my cell phone at home and so had no way to call him. I went to the truck repair place next door and asked if I could use their phone explaining the situation. Turns out the shop owner knows my guy quite well. He called and explained there was a man waiting. Told me he was on his way. I went back and waited til the man showed, got my two pieces which looked pretty good, not perfect, but good enough in this case. Stopped at Red Robin for lunch. Love their “bottomless” fries and drink option with the 9.99 burger meal. In fact if I know I’m going anywhere near exit 292 on I5 I plan so I’ll be wherever I’m going to be about lunch time.
Juan called about a month later and said the three pieces were done. They looked good. The best part was that I was only charged $150. Teresa wanted to mail them, I said “NO! you mail tehm please”. Not gonna pay excess shipping. Poor Juan. The receiver in his 1961 Seeburg AY stopped working and selecting records. It’s a pretty large and heavy piece. He put it in a large plastic tote wrapped in blankets and took it to UPS. They packed it and charged him about $150 to send it to me for repair. I was shocked he paid so much. I sent it back to him without the tote and blankets for about $25. I was keeping a close eye on shipping from Texas. Turns out Juan said to just pay for the polishing. I hadn’t charged him anything for the AY repair. He returned the favor by paying the return shipping for my trim pieces.
I had painted the two screen pieces eons ago and with all the trim pieces back I could now put the upper door back together. I always take pictures when I’m disassembling these doors and even then end up putting something on, then taking it off because something else goes on first. I like re-assembling new, shiny, painted pieces into a finished product. It really looks good. Putting this back together is just another process. The door turned out quite well.
So, after all this time and trouble I ended up paying a total of about $350 which is better than $500. But oh the hassle. Not to mention this is the last 70’s jukebox I’ll bother restoring. The profit margin is just too thin to cover excess costs here the PNW. But this is what happens when you pay burger flippers $15 an hour.
My Seeburg Life 