CTS1S Restoration (First bona fide Cal-Spec bar!)

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Long backstory to this bar here ----->https://elightbars.org/forums/threads/is-it-worth-trying-to-snag-this-or-not-update-i-did-d.83976/

Short backstory: Purchased this CTS1S up in Williston, ND from a nice couple who moved up from Carson City, NV. The husband's godfather was lead inspector for the San Francisco underground municipality for a long while (dates unknown). When the gentleman passed away 5 years ago at 80 (R.I.P), the folks I met on Sunday inherited a lot of items from him. I walked out of there with the lightbar, extra set of lenses, and an extra speaker grill.
CTS1S 001.jpg

I began going into tear-down mode with this and made some rather....interesting....observations when it comes to large city police department maintenance shops and its technicians. You'll see what I mean in the next few photos...o_O

CTS1S 002.jpg
CTS1S 003.jpg
CTS1S 004.jpg
CTS1S 005.jpg
CTS1S 006.jpg

Yep....whoever maintenanced this CTS didn't take time to put the cable UNDER the speaker tray and instead opted to cut a hole in the lense, wrap the un-used wires with electrical tape, drill in the middle of the back of the speaker tray, and go out the middle of the bottom of the lightbar. Guess they were on a tight, tight schedule to fix stuff and get it back on the street :confused:!

Well, I decided not to futz around with the way it's set (character, ya know?), and went to wrapping up the lead wires with Super 88 and re-tuck the ground connection under the Steady-Burn, Rear Amber Flash lead wires to make it more nice at the terminal block.
CTS1s 007.jpg

By the way, this bar came off the assembly line in June of 1979. This dude is only 8 years older than me, LOL :D !
CTS1S 008.jpg

Other than the FUBAR shop modifications, the interior was pretty damn clean for its age.
CTS1S 009.jpg
CTS1S 010.jpg

More to come soon! Next time: Lens restoration....and I got FOUR of 'em to do...:eek:
 

H20

Member
Jun 20, 2010
65
USA / Washington
Awesome, excited to see your progress... I'll be doing the exact same thing before too long.
 

southpaw

Member
May 7, 2015
723
South-West
That does look really clean compared to what one normally sees when these things come apart!
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
I was surprised at that too, Southpaw. Good thing I don't need to mess around with the rotators as they are already perfectly timed ;)
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Awesome, excited to see your progress... I'll be doing the exact same thing before too long.
Thanks, guy! BTW, PM sent :)
 
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ex416

Member
Apr 28, 2011
1,021
West Central Wisconsin
i seem to recall quite a while ago someone having a short r/b CTS listed for sale on ebay claiming it was from (IIRC) San Diego with the wiring harness coming from the center of the bar, which was suppose to be the verification that it was a San Diego bar. don't recall any pictures posted of the interior of the bar showing how the wiring was routed inside. may have been routed similar to yours and the way they usually wired them.
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Thanks so far, folks! I will try to keep this thread updated as the resto progresses along.
 
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Jun 18, 2013
3,709
PA
Were both sets of domes cut like that?
At least you can hide it..
 
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jph2

Member
Apr 21, 2012
2,122
USA Michigan
Nice find. Interesting how they cut the domes. They probably figured it was easier to cut the dome once than be bothered with properly routing the wiring each time they serviced the bar. Too bad they didn't realize defacing a Twin would be like putting holes in the Mona Lisa to hang on nails in the wall instead of properly mounting the painting.
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Were both sets of domes cut like that?
At least you can hide it..

Yep, both blue domes had that cut in the corner...o_O

You bet it's a good thing it can be hid under the speaker grill!

Nice find. Interesting how they cut the domes. They probably figured it was easier to cut the dome once than be bothered with properly routing the wiring each time they serviced the bar. Too bad they didn't realize defacing a Twin would be like putting holes in the Mona Lisa to hang on nails in the wall instead of properly mounting the painting.

Yeah, but considering that was the late 1970s and blue domes were in total abundance from Federal Signal, it didn't really matter to them. Nowadays, if somebody even attempted to cut a TwinSonic dome in such a lazy manner, they'd better be ready for the ELB posse to string them up :eek::D!
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
All righty! So today I took time this afternoon to clean up both spare lenses before moving to the original set. The blue one definitely had more issues though. But, both lenses cleaned up well for the most part. Besides the spare blue being more "war-torn" than the CTS lense, both had crazing from sitting in the California sun when they were in service.

Eh, for display and clarity, they came out good to me :)

Blue lense "war scars." This crack was fixed with Gorilla Super Glue and weight applied to solidify effectively. This is what happens when someone, with ZERO knowledge of how these bars come apart/put back together, is given the task and a flat tip screwdriver to reinstall the speaker grill over the lenses. Lucky the red side didn't do this....but still...:mad:
CTS1S 011.jpg

Oh hey, another cut-out for that lazy wire harness install work :rolleyes:!
CTS1S 012.jpg

Somebody didn't bother to move the gaskets enough so the lens lip didn't jam up against them when tightening the end cap plates....:rolleyes:
CTS1S 013.jpg

Anywho....let the wet sanding commence! Before shots of its previous condition...
CTS1S 014.jpg
CTS1S 015.jpg

After the 2000 grit and soapy water did the grunt work, I then hit the lens with the Plastix and Powerball treatment. I used the CTS1S to show how well the polishing went :D
CTS1S 016.jpg

You can see the repair work on the cracked side.
CTS1S 017.jpg
CTS1S 018.jpg
CTS1S 019.jpg

The CTS red lens's turn! Before wet sanding and polishing.
CTS1S 020.jpg

After the whole rigmarole...
CTS1S 021.jpg
CTS1S 022.jpg
CTS1S 023.jpg
CTS1S 024.jpg

Of course....complimentary video included :)!
 

H20

Member
Jun 20, 2010
65
USA / Washington
Those cleaned up nicely, great video too
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
No room for a speaker in a bar that short? Would an STS24 or STS100 fit?
I would guess only a round bell speaker would work, Wailer, but I won't be putting one in the lightbar.
 
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Jun 18, 2013
3,709
PA
TS100 fits no problem...

I have a 12XS that has one in it... I have pictures somewhere.
 
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Great job on the domes!
The model 12-S is designed for a single TS-100 to fit (snugly!). Don't know if the FUBAR wiring technique would interfere with the speaker installation, though.
Back in the day, on the standard size bars installed with a single speaker, we installed it on the driver side position instead of the middle. That way a second speaker could be added without having to reposition the single speaker.
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Great job bringing those domes back to life! Nice to see them on the Twin and the video is a joy to watch. :)
And those are just the spare ones! Still got the original pair to get after yet. Yeah, it makes me happy to see old lenses given a new lease on life :)
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Big Long Picture/Video Post Ahead!!!

Yesterday morning, I got off of ambulance call in Riverdale and wasn't too tired to go back to bed, so I decided to get the original lenses done and get this CTS1S project marked off the list!

Before treatment...
CTS1S 25.jpg
CTS1S 28.jpg
CTS1S 26.jpg
CTS1S 27.jpg

Shortly after I had taken the original domes off the bar, I took the Dremel after that stupid cut-out for the wire harness and made it more presentable and refined. I also put a wire keeper on for extra measure. The refined cut can't be seen unless you really look for it, so that's a plus.
CTS1S 29.jpg

The final result: A darn good-looking CTS1S ready for the lightbar wall :cool:
CTS1S 31.jpg
CTS1S 34.jpg
CTS1S 32.jpg CTS1S 35.jpg CTS1S 33.jpg
CTS1S 36.jpg

I guess y'all gotta see this boss in action again, eh :D?

Thanks for staying tuned to this thread and have a great day out there :)!
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Thanks everybody! This was a fun project to work on. Once I get my new lenses for my Model 25 AeroDynic, I'll get some updated pictures of my lightbar wall ;).
 
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southpaw

Member
May 7, 2015
723
South-West
Big Long Picture/Video Post Ahead!!!

Yesterday morning, I got off of ambulance call in Riverdale and wasn't too tired to go back to bed, so I decided to get the original lenses done and get this CTS1S project marked off the list!

Before treatment...
View attachment 209628
View attachment 209629
View attachment 209630
View attachment 209631

Shortly after I had taken the original domes off the bar, I took the Dremel after that stupid cut-out for the wire harness and made it more presentable and refined. I also put a wire keeper on for extra measure. The refined cut can't be seen unless you really look for it, so that's a plus.
View attachment 209632

The final result: A darn good-looking CTS1S ready for the lightbar wall :cool:
View attachment 209633
View attachment 209634
View attachment 209635 View attachment 209636 View attachment 209637
View attachment 209638

I guess y'all gotta see this boss in action again, eh :D?

Thanks for staying tuned to this thread and have a great day out there :)!
Very nostalgic for me personally!! Thanks!!
 
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Wailer

Member
May 24, 2010
2,290
Canada
I would guess only a round bell speaker would work, Wailer, but I won't be putting one in the lightbar.
I'm not saying you have to put one in, but the STS series speakers (with round bells) were designed for shorter TwinSonic bars. I just wasn't sure if one would fit in a bar that short.
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
I'm not saying you have to put one in, but the STS series speakers (with round bells) were designed for shorter TwinSonic bars. I just wasn't sure if one would fit in a bar that short.
I knew that ya meant, dude ;).

I was just tacking on more info to answer other folks' questions if was going to or not :D
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Hard to tell, but that looks like the cable is coming from the center of the bar!
That must have been the way they had to wire it up, I guess. Who knows? Maybe mine is from one of those very patrol cars:D!

Very nice to share those photos on this thread, Southpaw!
thumbsup.jpg
 
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southpaw

Member
May 7, 2015
723
South-West
Indeed I've seen the wires run from the center and from the side so its whatever the shop master wanted.. I was thinking the same who knows one of those could be yours!!
 

coop359

Member
Apr 16, 2012
495
USA Tennessee
Which way do you display it against the wall. I always liked the amber light mixed with red and blue. But the PAR-46 red to the front is cool also. I don't have a CTS but I do have a Aerodynic with a drivers side amber. I displayed it on the wall back side out.
 
Jun 18, 2013
3,709
PA
I have a R/R CTS that I usually display amber flasher showing.. but I flip it around every once in awhile when I do my cleaning..
This may stop once I get my R/A CTS finalized.
 
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CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
Sorry for not posting the picture of this bar on display. This is how I have it orientated :)
wp_20171229_009-jpg.209782
 

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