Rockola 1448 Glass

[greenmartian]

Hello.... I am restoring a Rockola 1448 and am currently working on the grill.  The grill on this box was dented and in parts but the icicles are good. I will repair the grill and improvise to fix the punched steel but the glass dividers are no longer available.  I have purchased substitute panels and purchased the front and back chrome strips for them.  However, I have no idea how the panels are secured in place.  The grill was pre-drilled and a support rod is present on the inside of the door that corresponds to the placement of the panels.  Were there brackets to secure the glass to the back chrome strip and then to the grill? Were the rear chrome strips supposed to be drilled to then go through the grill holes into the door rod? Help would be GREATLY appreciated. 

[rebo]

Hello fellow jukebox member! We recently purchased a 1448 and need to replace the lower outer glass as well. Did you find out how to do that? I see you didn’t get a lot of help from the group. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Rebo

[rebo]

I meant to also ask in my earlier note, where you got the substitute glass for the Rockola 1448. Only one panel of waffle glass is missing on ours. We are reluctant to change out all of them, especially since it is unclear how to do it at this point.

[greenmartian]

Hello Rebo... I am sorry I didn't respond sooner to your question. I finished the 1448 and am now working on a 1957 AMI 100H.


To answer your question, I couldn't find the glass so I went to a local glass company and had them cut me the four pieces for the glass panels.  The glass I purchased was called the "rain pattern' glass and was a thicker panel.  It was good for distributing the light both down the panel and through to sides. As I stated, the grill was dented and cracked so I fabricated the grill from half round dowel rods and a white sequenced fabric which I purchased from a local fabric shop. I'd send you a photo of the completed jukebox, but I don't think I can and/or don't know how to add attachments to these posts.  The glass panels fit into the open slots in the top of the door and then dropped into the lower slots at the bottom. The chrome bottom strip was then slid across over the 'floating anchors' which were then tightened, by small nuts under the bottom edge, to draw the strip down tight and hold the glass panels in place. There was no other way to secure the panels in place. However, unless you tilted the box flat, forward or backward, or stood it on its head , the glass was totally secure.

I do have one panel of waffle glass but it is from a 1952 Seeburg and it is wider and shorter than the Rockola panels.  If I can assist you further let me know.

Again, my apologies for the lack of a timely response.
Marty

[rebo]

Hey Marty,
THANK YOU so much for getting back to me. I lost hope and stopped checking this website daily. That turns out to be a mistake! We will go to a glass place and see if we can get a piece cut. I’m sure it can’t be that daunting a task. What puzzled us was how to get the glass out! Your clear explanation helped enormously. Of all the jukeboxes we have, Rockolas are in the minority. We have worked on Wurlitzers from 1937-148, Seeburgs from 1952-1959, and a Rockola 1422 and 1428. The newer ones are an adventure for sure!
we currently have a 1939 Mills Empress we want to restore when we get finished with a few of the jukeboxes in the garage!
your truly,
rebo

[greenmartian]

Hi Rebo... again, I apologize for the tardiness of this reply. I am up to a tall giraffe's butt with the AMI H100 I am restoring now and get on here for help but seldom check the old threads. The lack of good H100 manuals and knowledgeable techs is challenging to a 70 yr. old neophyte like me. I am very thankful to Jukebox Norman, he is great! Like you, I have lost hope on this website as well, but Jukebox Norman and Jukebox Marty (Not me) have helped me. I am glad the explanation worked, when I re-read my message, it even confused me. I have recently worked on the Wagon Wheel Wurlitzer and have a '47 1015 coming in later this month. I have worked on Seeburgs from 40s Trashcans to 60's AYs, Rockolas from '53 to '73, and AMI's from the Mother of Plastic to this '53 H. Like you I currently have a Mills 'Swing King' that I work on in any spare time. It is quite the 'boat anchor'! I prefer the vacumm tube models to the transistor, diodes, zeener, and resistors. If I can assist you at any time, send me a personal message. I don't check new threads often and would likely not know to replay.