Refurbishing a General Electric C403D Tube Radio Part I

So a while back I purchased from ebay a radio similar to this:

 for parts not working.

Well I got it working but the clock would not keep time, the plastic case was ugly, and I do not like clock radios anyways.

I pulled the guts and gave it a newer better speaker.

 I decided to put it in a new cabinet. However it is 108 here and I had no interest in trying to build a cabinet in the heat. I went to Micheal's and picked up a small non square box to put it in for $5.00.

I then removed the lid and hinges, and glued in some supports for the components and for the back.

I drilled holes in it for the tuning knob and volume.

 

 I temporarily mounted the board in the radio sideways like it was in the original. I will be drilling 1 or more holes in the bottom of the cabinet later to get some air flowing over the tubes.

 I made a cutout of the speaker so that I could place it correctly. The tuning dial and volume knob are from the old radio and will probably not be going on the new cabinet. I found that I needed to move the speaker over about 3/8" from my initial placement. The speaker hole will be cut out and some cloth I picked up will go over the speaker, then I will make a decorative flange to go over the speaker and cover up the speaker hole.

 I had purchased some large beads for the feet and attached them.

I went looking for a prefabbed cutout for the speaker and could not find anything, both at craft stores and on line. I will have to keep looking as I do not have the proper tools to make what I want. I did cut out a hole in the bottom and found a small chrome fan grill to keep probing fingers out.

I also gave the wood I nice stain. However that uncovered a flaw on the bottom of the craft box. It has scratches at right angle to the grain. I had sanded the face (with the grain) but did not see it till it was stained. Oh well it gives it character. 

I have the following completed. I have figured out where to wire the pilot light. Installed the mp3 input on the board, and put on a thin coat of spray varnish. Now she needs to dry overnight. When I put the feet on this time it sits perfectly without rocking.