When is a heavy sixer no longer a heavy sixer

[Dripfree]

Well good news I found a heavy sixer for $20 at goodwill today. I was pumped till I got it home and started it up. Nothing but a black screen! Well I tried all the obvious stuff. Still nothing so I opened her up... No obvious problems. After a few hour of tinkering and checking voltages I decided to pull out my light sixer open it up and 1 by 1 I swapped out the socket'd chips. Bingo the little one in the middle fixed it. I didn't want to swap out the guts completely cuz I figured then its just a light sixer in heavy sixer clothes. But my light sixer is mint and the heavy sixer looks good but the wood grain has got some marks and the orange trim has definitely taken some wear. Now im considering swapping the tops. I know I cant fool the experts but I think it would make me happy to make my heavy sixer look perfect... But then again it wouldn't be perfect because I'd be cheating. What would you do?

[JamesL]

Great find and great job saving a heavy sixer! IMO they are only original once, so I would keep it as it was assembled in the factory (chips notwithstanding). They can't all be mint, but can be cleaned up and enjoyed.

Edited August 27, 2014 by JamesL

[iesposta]

Unless your light six is a Sunnyvale, the trim paint on a Heavy Sixer is more yellow.

But that is up to you.

 

I swapped the entire logic board from a Heavy Sixer to get a Sears Heavy Sixer working,

Then I didn't like the behavior of the TIA because is was too early so I put the Sears model TIA in.

Now it has a more normal TIA, but as it warms up it gets a hard-to-describe comb pattern on the edges of colors.

I don't consider it original enough to submit either serial number to the official list.

What do you think?

I think just a chip change like your fix should still be a serial number on the official list.

[onemoretime]

They are only original once, but where is the restoration versus repair line drawn? In my opinion, if you are using "correct" replacements, you are repairing the unit. If you go into cosmetics, it would be a restoration. If you use parts that work, but are not original, you are building a hack. And, if you are scratch making one with original parts, you are making a recreation. I always engrave mine on the bottoms after a MAJOR overhaul, or recreation is built. It is getting harder everyday to find an unmolested original unit, so putting information out there is key.