Fix up a Conn 36K

[nycbone]

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[P@rick]

Those flares are plastic and (when new) were as white as the finish on the adjacent fiberglass. Over the years, those plastic bell flares (as Ian has noticed) have yellowed.

I noticed this also while sanding the plastic flare. After removing the black paint I ended up with a yellowish plastic flare. While smoothening the plasic flare with fine sandpaper it became white.

[Dan Schultz]

I am also working on a 'project' 36K. I discovered yesterday that 'Aircraft Stripper' does a bang-up job of removing the heavy paint on the fiberglass Conns. One coat of the stripper and that heavy 'pebble-finished' paint comes off like sheets of rubber leaving behind the very hard polyester fiberglass base. The stripper has no affect of the fiberglass base since polyester is a thermoset material.

With that heavy layer of paint/gelcoat/whatever gone... what is left reminds me of the old Reynolds/King sousaphones. In my opinion... those horns played much better than the 36K and it could have been due to NOT having that thick outer material. Sort of like the raw brass/heavy lacquer argument.

HOWEVER... I would not use the stripper on the bell flare... which is a thermoplastic material... probably ABS. That stripper contains methylene chloride and other solvents that I'm sure will attack the plastic flare.

[P@rick]

I am also working on a 'project' 36K. I discovered yesterday that 'Aircraft Stripper' does a bang-up job of removing the heavy paint on the fiberglass Conns. One coat of the stripper and that heavy 'pebble-finished' paint comes off like sheets of rubber leaving behind the very hard polyester fiberglass base. The stripper has no affect of the fiberglass base since polyester is a thermoset material.

Wish I new that before I started sanding

How do you do the paint job? What layers will you apply and do you intend to paint the plastic bell flare?

[Dan Schultz]

I am also working on a 'project' 36K. I discovered yesterday that 'Aircraft Stripper' does a bang-up job of removing the heavy paint on the fiberglass Conns. One coat of the stripper and that heavy 'pebble-finished' paint comes off like sheets of rubber leaving behind the very hard polyester fiberglass base. The stripper has no affect of the fiberglass base since polyester is a thermoset material.

Wish I new that before I started sanding

How do you do the paint job? What layers will you apply and do you intend to paint the plastic bell flare?

I just used satin-white quick-dry enamel from a spray can. Nothing special. I think the age of the fiberglass has something to do with being able to just apply paint without primers or base coats. I worked on Corvettes for several years and getting a good paint job over fresh fiberglass is sometimes a real challenge. Painting the 36K once the top layers of paint were removed didn't seen to present any problems.

I couldn't believe that the paint and top coats came off like sheets of rubber! I must've thrown away a couple of pounds of material!

Excuse the 'fuzzy' images. I need to ditch the phone and go back to my trusty old Panasonic digital camera!

[Dan Schultz]

Oh.... by-the-way... I spoke with the parts guru at Conn/Selmer/Steinway today. Production of the original Conn 36K actually ended two years EARLIER than I thought. Production of the Conn 36K sousaphones halted when the Abilene, Texas plant closed and all Conn 36K sousaphones that left Eastlake from 1985 on were actually rebadged 2370 King sousaphones.

I think you can put that one in ink and forget anything else that may be lingering on The Internet. Of course... there is always the possibility that some of the Abilene 36K sousaphones were sold after then but they would have had to have been 'old stock'.

[nycbone]

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[MvHooft]

Hi Patrick,

That's funny to see my old sousa here on this site!

I'm looking forward to see the result of you fixing up, maybe I will regret that I sold it and didn't fix it up myself.

Mark

[P@rick]

Hi Patrick,

That's funny to see my old sousa here on this site!

I'm looking forward to see the result of you fixing up, maybe I will regret that I sold it and didn't fix it up myself.

Mark

Haha nice to meet you on this board!

P.s. The teddy was not part of the deal...do you want it back?

[MvHooft]

Was that teddy realy in the tubing? Never noticed that, I just blew harder
None of my kids miss any teddy, so you can keep it (or do whatever you like).

[P@rick]

Was that teddy realy in the tubing? Never noticed that, I just blew harder
None of my kids miss any teddy, so you can keep it (or do whatever you like).

Yes, it was in there! When I put the water hose in the body (after removing the bell and brass part) I noticed that the body was filling up. Water came out in a small amount…then suddenly this hairy thing flushed out with a big gush of water. I didn’t recognize it and fear took over…but luckily it turned out to be a Teddy

I immediately put everything back together and a big smile on my face appeared

The smile disappeared of course when I started sanding

[Minkrott]

I have a new project too. Serial puts it at 1960. I began stripping the base today with stripper from Lowes. The bell is heavy from layers of paint. Any advice on stripping it?

[Wunschdenken]

This thread will certainly come in handy when it comes to stripping what little paint is left on mine... I just wish mine's bell was in as nice of shape. (Chipped where someone probably hit a doorway...)

[imperialbari]

From a 1985 catalogue:

[P@rick]

I have a new project too. Serial puts it at 1960. I began stripping the base today with stripper from Lowes. The bell is heavy from layers of paint. Any advice on stripping it?

If the stripper worked fine on the base you can also use it on the fiberglass part of the bell. I would not trust it for the plastic part of the bell. Maybe Dan knows if stripper works. I sanded the plastic part of the bell. I used 3M sanding sponges (google it) and did wet sanding. With dry sanding the sanding sponge or paper will fill up too quickly.

[Minkrott]

I used 3M sanding sponges (google it) and did wet sanding. With dry sanding the sanding sponge or paper will fill up too quickly.

Thanks P@rick. I'll definitely try the 3M sanding sponges.

I also need to reattach the bell collar. Lowe's has J-B weld steel reinforced epoxy rated at 3960 psi and lists both metal and fiberglass. Is there a better recommendation for this application?

[Minkrott]

I bought the 3M sanding sponge to sand off the circus motif. The enamel just got shinier and laughed at me . I decided to get even and hit it with paint stripper. Much to my surprise, I found that the 1960 bell is 2 piece fiberglass, no plastic. No wonder it's not chipped like my previous 1967 36k. Now I need to get more stripper to finish the job.

[nycbone]

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[Minkrott]

Finished painting my 1960 36k this morning. There were multiple coats under the circus colors. The bell is rough but it looks nice from a distance.

[nycbone]

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