Black HMV 102 without a Pakawa carrying handle...

[nostalgia]

I bought a black HMV 102 last week, since the motor board and case looked so good. When watching the seller's photos, I paid attention to the fact that the carrying handle was not Pakawa, or at least not the normal fittings that goes with the Pakawa carrying handle. Since the machine looked so good, my immediate thought was that someone at some stage had changed the carrying handle, since we know the Pakawa handle often break, or rust, or both.

However, when today screwing out the bolts holding the carrying handle, I witnessed there were no traces from what we know as the original slots and fittings for a Pakawa handle, and this machine actually seem to have been released from Hayes with this carrying handle! I have myself never seen a similar handle and fittings on a 102, but maybe someone else has, if so,,it could be interesing to know it. I actually had to release the nut holding the bolt belonging to the handle close to the winder area to be able to release the motor board from the case, without releasing the nut and pulling this bolt the motor board would not release, since the bolt prevented the horn to be released.

(Post) wartime shortages? The paradox, is that this carrying handle seems more sturdy than the Pakawa too...the metal fittings were rusty as we can see, but are now in a rust removing solution.

[Phono48]

The handle you have is a wartime replacement for the Pakawa version. Dealers were warned that due to a shortage of some components, different ones were to be fitted. It may well have been that the factory that supplied the Pakawa handles suffered war damage, but we shall probably never know the real reason. This handle has been seen on many 102s.

Barry

[Inigo]

Mine is a black unit, MOS for exportation, and has a Pakawa handle. Number is B/9-10282.

[epigramophone]

As Barry says, this handle is not uncommon. It is also much easier to remove and replace than the Pakawa.
The "Made in England" plaque on your machine identifies it as an export model.

[nostalgia]

Thank you friends, great to know. And yes, after removing the rust and spray painting it, it will be easy to re attach.

[shoshani]

I have a black (I think that's the only color they came in!) MOS HMV 102-D, and when I installed the replacement handle I was mystified to discover that it had a similar arrangement to yours. "Surely someone replaced the Pakawa fittings with something they could just bolt in", I thought, but when I removed the motorboard and horn, I discovered that the cabinet had, in fact, originally been drilled for the bolts holding the fittings that were there. There was no indication that the Pakawa handle was ever used.

As mentioned upthread, this was probably because these were the first production runs after the war, and third-party articles like the Pakawa handle were probably in very short supply. (I sent pictures to the late Graham Barber at the time I discovered this, and he also was amazed at this.)

[Inigo]

Michael, which is your MOS 102 serial number?
Just to see if we're "neighbors"

[nostalgia]

I add some photos, after restoration, since I just finished it this evening. I removed the rust, and added black car paint to the carrying handle, and also the lock.
What color should the corner shields be? Copper? I put one of the corner shields in rust remover to remove some corrosion, and this is the result. I now will need to do the same with the other corner shields.

Apart from it, I have never seen a black 102 with more shiny fittings under the cover. At an early stage someone had over winded the spring, it was destroyed at the end, and I added another spring. Because of it, it can not have been used for decades.

For the first time I used black leather paint on the rexin, I first tried shoe cream, but it would not cover white marks that was all over the right side of the case. You can now see how the leather paint looks on the right side. It works far better than shoe cream, and also does not interfere with the texture in the rexin.

The motor board is more shiny/glossy than I am used to from this machines, but I don't know what is causing it. There is one small mark on the lower right side, I don't know if someone has removed a dealers decal or not....

I will also try add leather cream to the leather part of the carrying handle.

[Inigo]

My no. 10282 has black key lock, and the corners seem to have been black painted, but where the paint has gone they seem to be brown metal, as yours. I didn't paint mine, only applied black shoe polish to the rexine and handle.
This dark brass or oxidized bronze metal ages well, for when the black paint is gone, they seem really old. Just clean them from rust and leave them, they add to the age of the machine....

[Phono48]

The corner protectors were originally blackened brass. It is possible to replicate the finish, but it's a bit of a laborious process. There is a product called Brass Blue, which has to be applied to a scrupulously clean surface and repeatedly rinsed off and reapplied, then lacquered. Personally, I'd spray them the same black as you have done with the handle ends. Whatever you do, don't strip them back to bare brass, there is a seller on ebay who does it with every 102 he sells, and it looks dreadful! I don't think the mark on the bottom right of the motorboard is a result of a dealers plaque being removed (unless there are two tiny holes when the brads would have been?) It's more likely that it's a result of years of pressing on that corner to hold the machine steady whilst winding, it is often seen on portables, the HMV 101 grey crocodile machine I've just bought has a similar patch that has completely worn away the top finish, revealing the canvas backing.

Barry