A bright idea for yellowed Aquaplas

[Steve Gonzales]

Hello again,
After getting such great feed back from my last thread, I decided to share my technique for restoring yellowed,tired Aquaplas. I am a Jouneyman fine finish man of about 20 years and it has REALLY come in handy while trying to figure out the right products to use in my many restoration adventures. I have asked my friends around the world about how to brighten yellowed Aquaplas. The best answer I got was "shoe polish" . I have done multi-million dollar homes and have taken part in among other big projects, the $52,000,000.00 Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong buildings on the Nike World Campus. I figure I have a good idea of what various materials do and can't do. Here is a couple pictures of the LE14A's before.

[Steve Gonzales]

another..

[Steve Gonzales]

I used good ol' 2" tape, being careful to press it down as I go to assure good contact

[Steve Gonzales]

I use a utility knife with break-away blades so I can keep a SHARP edge. I DO NOT cut over the lead wires!!!!, I simply follow the glue outline and use just enough pressure to cut through the tape. Keeping a new blade makes this easy to do.

[Steve Gonzales]

I then mask off the rest of the basket and shake my can of good ol' flat black paint and shoot a few LIGHT coats instead of one heavy one and also have a blow dryer at the ready to speed the drying up

[Steve Gonzales]

black it is

[Steve Gonzales]

wa-la

[Steve Gonzales]

I have my set-up ready to go. This 1-2-3 is a stain blocking primer that is waterbased and drys to a matte luster. I use a high quality PURDY 1-1/2" brush because it allows me to "trace" the edges very well. I thin the 1-2-3 down to about the viscosity of shampoo. I am careful NOT to start with a fully loaded brush at the edge, instead, I brush out the most of it on the main "field" of the cone. "Scrape off most of what is on the brush on the edge of your paint container. Too much material on the brush is asking for alot of "redo' work. Less is better. Spread the paint out, dont let it puddle, just a very thin coat at at time. See how I've got some of the paint off before I went to the edge?

[Steve Gonzales]

Thar she blows!

[Steve Gonzales]

even after the first coat the difference is Amazing!

[Steve Gonzales]

Here is a macro shot of the dust cap glue line

[Titanium Dome]

I've used Purdy brushes for many years. Good choice.

Also, the snap-off blade Olfa® knife has been a long cherished companion of mine.

[yggdrasil]

Very nice work. Were there any impact on sound?

[Steve Gonzales]

Look at them now!. I want to say a word to those who might not think that this is a good idea. First, if you thin and spread this material properly, there is VERY LITTLE gain in cone mass, about NIL. Second, this primer is tough, it doesn't "chaulk" up and is semi-flexible to boot. I think that most of us care alot about how our JBL's look. So if you have some good functioning woofers that look like hell, what have you got to lose? Being CAREFUL is the key to this job. Be careful with that blade. Test it on something first to get a feel for how it cuts. As for the viscosity of the paint: add water a little at a time and test to see if it runs. It should NOT run! If it does, you're too thin. 2 or 3, VERY thin coats is better than one thick one!. My cones still have the same "texture" as they did before because of this . If your paint is too thick, you will lose the fine texture of the Aquaplas and it won't look right. Have that blow dryer ready and with alot of movement, dry the first coat . don't let it sit in one place for too long, MOVE IT AROUND!. My next step is to M.E.K the flanges and install the plastic beauty ring and I think they'll be good as new!. Thank you for letting me share this project with you all. Take er' easy, Steve Gonzales

[4313B]

Nice!

if you thin and spread this material properly, there is VERY LITTLE gain in cone mass, about NIL.

Rather easy to determine with an old cone ripped out of a reconed driver. Measure before and after with a gram scale and plug the difference into a TS parameter calculator.