Verizon Pay Phone

[bubba]

Well, when you tell all your friends you are always looking for stuff, you never know what they will show up with.

I don't know what the keys look like, but I want to open the coin box, and the main door so I can clean it up and mount it somewhere...

Will these work if you just connect to a phone line? Would it require money to make a call from a regular line? Can I get in trouble for having this? If so, can I get caught somehow if its plugged in?

[www.memorylanerestorations.com]

Your friends wouldn't be doing 5 to 10 would they. I would think with the name Verizon on it and the fact that they are still in use, could cause some trouble. Better keep this one on the hush. I do think you could just hook it up though. I didn't see anything.

[loman4ec]

At least with the older phones they can't be just hooked up. What we used to do was buy regular corded phones and use their guts inside. This was a long time ago and we used rotary phones for older pay phones but if you get a cheep phone from walmart you could use the existing keypad and wire up the rest. It shouldn't be that hard and if it doen't work you arent out anything.

[loman4ec]

If you drill the lock and screw it up here is another coin door on ebay that looks like it will work. Its also bell south and they are no longer in business so you can't get in trouble.
170098029550

[Eric]

You can't get in trouble... I see these at flea markets all the time.
Contact Dave at oldtimephones.com
He could tell you how it can be connected to use.
Payphones seem to be getting phased out... with cell phones on the rise.
Don't worry....
Dave is a great guy will be able to help or stear you to someone that can.
Cool phone!

[bubba]

I saw a bunch on ebay, so I figured it would be ok to own. There is a phone wire on the back that could be wired with a plug and tested... I'll drill the lock out and see what happens....

[Ken Layton]

Verizon and other regulated Bell telephone companies are radically down-sizing their payphone operations. Many phones have been pulled out of service and sold as surplus.

Here's a source of parts and an instruction manual:

http://www.payphone.com/shop/catalog/Personal_Pay_Phone-p-16186.html

You have a genuine "Western Electric" (a.k.a. "AT&T") payphone case. As originally shipped from the factory, you need to turn two locks at the same time to get into each section of the phone. The coinbox area is called the vault. There will be a lock on the side next to the vault door that takes a flat key similar to a safe deposit box key or a mailbox key. That lock has to be turned first. Then you stick a "T" key into the hole in the front of the vault door and turn it. the vault door then pulls straight toward you. Now you can pull the coinbox straight out. Caution the coin box may have a special lid on it. Once the coinbox is pulled out a latching mechanism triggers inside the lid that latches a lever to prevent you from pushing the coinbox back in without resetting the latch. Most people take that damn lid off and throw it away cause it's such a pain.

Now to get into the top housing you also need two keys: another flat key similar to the one that was on the side by the vault door except this lock is situated higher on the side of the phone case. Turn that lock and now you can stick a "T" key into the "T' key slot on the side of the phone. Now youcan turn the "T" key and you'll hear a big 'clunk' of the heavy steel plates unlocking. Carefully slide the upper housing (with the dial and handset) toward you and off it's track about 6 inches. Now you'll see a cable coming from the keypad and it plugs into the circuit board in the back half of the phone. Unplug that cable and you can now set the upper housing aside. The interior of the phone is now fully exposed. Be careful when sliding the upper housing away from the rest of the phone---it's heavier than it looks. If you drop this on your foot you're gonna have broken bones!

Wiring and mounting the phone is explained in the manual download at the link I provided.

[bubba]

Thanks Ken... Welcome to SMC.. I've learned a lot from your posts over at KLOV..   

I gave up on this phone.. I'll post some pictures of it in its present condition... The locks on the side were not touchable with a carbide drill bit. I brought it in to my shop and hit it with the plasma cutter... It is still not opened, and it is basically a pile of molten metal right now... 

[Ken Layton]

When I used to work at Capitol Amusement, we operated 12 payphones on our route. Several were Western Electric cases. One day we lost the keys to the vault on one of them. We called a locksmith and I watched what he did. He simply took a cold chisel and a hammer to the lock. He pounded the chisel into the keyway far enough to clamp vise grips on the handle and turn it hard. Popped right open. Total time the locksmith was on location: 15 minutes. Total cost for his 'services': $60.

Once the phone was open we had replacement locks all ready to install and we did that ourselves.

Oh yes, I also own 5 payphones myself.

[bubba]

So drilling out the lock was the start of my trouble. It must have been a small cold chisel to get through the center of that lock.. I have a machine at work I have been eyeing.. I think it'll rip off the block wall fairly easily.