And it begins....

I have officially begun THE project.  It's taken me a while just to get motivated enough to get started on the piano.  I'm excited knowing what it will look like when it's finished, but I can't say I'm exactly jumping out of my chair to take on all the work ahead of me.  Anyway, the fun has started, so no turning back now!

The particular piano I'm working on is a Wurlitzer 1203.  I started out by removing the the spoolbox along with the sliding panels that cover it, the music shelf/fall board, the bottom panel,  the keyblocks, the keys and the two front legs.

I've discovered that old pianos are similar to a grandmother's attic.  You never know what you'll find in there!  Here are some of the things I found:

mouse droppings,

an old mouse nest,

a 128mb SD card, lots of cobwebs, lots and lots and lots of dust, and about 34 cents in loose change.  I vacuumed everything out, and removed the lid last night.  I'm hoping to get this project done and out of the garage by the end of October (before it really starts getting COLD!).  If everything goes well, the piano will look something like this with a nice ivory satin finish:

Here we go!