We finally got our hands on a Tiki Grail from an online auction here in Denver, of all places. We didn’t know whether she worked or not and this is how she arrived:
We couldn’t test her because the wiring to the wall was completely shot, so I just started taking her apart to see how she worked and what kind of shape her internal parts were. There’s not a lot online about repairing these lamps, so I flying pretty blind here.
- https://jpmoeller.com/2017/01/01/dodge-hula-girl-lamp-repair/#:~:text=A%20watchmaker%20was%20suggested%20so,are%20added%20for%20the%20screw
- https://jpmoeller.com/2017/06/28/a-second-hula-girl-lamp/#:~:text=The%20bushing%20for%20the%20longitudinal,lamp%20and%20reattached%20the%20skirt.
- https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic_id=51090
- https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic_id=53084
- https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic_id=30335
It was all pretty easy once I got some gunsmith screwdrivers https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/search#q=gunsmith%20screwdrivers, which I’ve found work better on these older flat-head screws.
I think there are different models but ours has the following motor:
The base is removed with three screws that gives you a better view of the motor connections. Then the hula woman splits in half at the waist with two screws in her buttocks.
- Hagen Synchronous Motor
- Patent No 2,157,435
- Volts 115
- Cycles 60
- Watts 7.
- Model 2
- No. 730
- RPM 15
The wiring is:
- Plug hot to L on Switch
- Switch wire 1 to the White wire from the lamp base, which should be the small inside conductor that connects to the center of the bulb
- Switch wire 2 to the Yellow wire from the motor (polarity shouldn’t matter).
- Plug neutral connected to the red/orange wire on the motor (polarity shouldn’t matter) AND connected to the Blue wire from the lamp base, which should be connected to the part of the lamp base with threads for the lightbulb.
The hula action happens because:
- The output shaft of the motor has a T shape that slips in between a split in the main shaft that is inserted from above at her waist. Once the T and the split are aligned (which I found is a lot easier when the base is removed), the motor turns a vertical gear in the center of her bottom half.
- That gear meshes with a horizontal gear mounted on a shaft that turns when the motor turns.
- The shaft is held in position with two slip bushings on each side of her waist.
- There are two arms at the end of each shaft positioned 180 degrees from each other. The two arms turn with the shaft inside the slip bushings.
- The arms have clips attached that rotate independently of the arm that attach to an internal re-enforced material connected to the skirt. As the arms turn, they raise and lower both sides of the skirt to give the hula motion.
One of the arms was missing from the shaft, but I found it attached to the skirt; so I was able to take it to a jewelry repair shop in our area. It’s a good idea to actually bring the girl in so you can show the repair person how it is supposed to work. It took a couple of tries to get right, but they did the repair for around $70.
Then we cleaned her up with just water because we didn’t want to mess up her patina.
While we were waiting for the repair, we had to decide what to do with the skirt. It was in pretty good shape, but I went looking around to see if I could find a better one. I found out that Hula Lamps of Hawaii (https://hulalamps.com/collections/lamp-accessories/products/lamp-skirt?variant=18514957959227) did sell them, but they were out of stock. I reached out to them directly and it turns out they are in stock, just not on the internet for some reason. We chose copper gold:
Then the woman asked if we wanted a finial. (https://hulalamps.com/collections/lamp-accessories/products/pineapple-lamp-finial) We did! They only had the pineapple, but I found the palm tree on amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGVQNGGL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title.
Then we discover the lamp shades. Oh my! She suggested that the Extreme coolie 18 INCH look the best for original lamps (https://hulalamps.com/collections/lamp-shade-extreem-coolie-18-inch-3-1-2-x-10-x-18), but the 18″ medium coolie have more designs (https://hulalamps.com/collections/lamp-shade-medium-coolie-18-inch-5-1-5-x-10-1-2-x-18)
It took a while, but we finally settled on one of the Extreme ones.
Then she suggested a clip to hold the lampshade that we hadn’t even considered.
I didn’t think I would be happy with the clip, so I also bought an 8 Inch Heavy Duty Lamp Shade Harp Holder for Table and Floor Lamps with Antique Brass Finish https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008UWASJI?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1. Then I wasn’t sure about the height, so I also bought a 6″ and 6.5″ one to try out. https://grandbrass.com/search.php?search_query=Antique+Brass+harp§ion=content. It turned out we liked the 8″ one the best and I made sure to put the base on between her head and the lamp base before I started putting her together.
We got all the parts and I started putting her together. I unscrewed the bulb base from her head and pulled out the wiring so that I could add the harp base. Then I made sure the wires were threaded through the correct holes and screwed the bulb base back on. Then I cleaned all the moving parts with alcohol, meshed them all together, and lubricated all the moving parts with some jukebox oil (https://victoryglass.com/product/seeburg-special-purpose-oil/) and slick 50 (https://victoryglass.com/product/slick-50-mech-lubricant/) because I didn’t know which was the better choice. Then I put the two halves together, made sure they lined up, and inserted the screws back in buttocks.
The internal wiring was fine, but the wire nuts I used just made a mess of the wiring. So I bought several different options, but settled on the new lever-style connections to make it easier to change wiring in the future if anything goes bad. I needed two, two-pole ones and one, three-pole one. They worked very well. I think I’m going to use them for all wiring connections in the future. Once again, most of this part is much easier without the base attached
I wanted to use some wire from Sundial Wire https://sundialwire.com/collections/wire) I had bought years ago for any restoration projects, but it didn’t fit through the original hole. I did buy some cord sets from https://grandbrass.com/search.php?search_query=cord+set§ion=content that would work, but then I saw this knurled bushing https://grandbrass.com/1-8ips-male-threaded-brass-cord-inlet-knurled-bushing-antique-brass/
It fit perfectly, but it didn’t come with a back screw to hold it in place. Luckily, Ace hardware had what I needed and you wouldn’t be able to see that it was the wrong brass finish. https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lighting-and-electrical/replacement-parts-and-accessories/lamp-parts/3336641
Actually, Ace hardware had all of the missing internal screws I need that were missing when we got her.
I put her back together and wired her up…only to find out that the switch was broken. So I took everything off the bottom and found a three-way switch at Ace. I put her all back together and she worked…but I was not happy with the bright brass switch. Luckily, I was able to find this antique brass switch. I disassembled her and put her back together again. https://grandbrass.com/3-8in-shank-two-circuit-four-position-3-way-rotary-switch-antique-brass/
One more disassembly and re-assembly and we were back in business.
Now it was time to attach the skirt. Hula Lamps of Hawaii recommended that put the clip on both sides parallel to the ground at the same height (another disassembly to make this easier), then attach the new skirt around her waist (ours was missing one-half of the clasp, so Lina had to sew a new one on), adjust the height of the skirt to where we want it on her waist, and then press the skirt onto the exposed clip edges to make a make on the inner skirt. Then we used an exactoknife to make the slits that the clasp wraps around.
I added some marker to the edges of the clips and we followed the direction. If I were to do it again, I would just use the old skirt as a template and use it instead. But at the time, I was convinced that the skirts were different lengths. It turned out that they were exact same size.
It worked and she was ALIVE:
However, her skirt was janky, so we asked for help again and the Hula Lamps of Hawaii told us “Looks good as is, but you need to trim away as much excess backing as possible. Look At the original skirt. Let us know if you have more questions”
That’s what we did and she looks pretty good:
Almost done. Except her base had one foot left that attached to the base with the tiniest screws I’ve ever seen.
I couldn’t find anything like them on the internet…and I almost broke my hand trying to make replacements from some Koa wood I’ve had hanging around for more than a decade waiting for a project. I did find these (https://www.mcmaster.com/products/9540k901/), which were close.
I could not find the correct screws anywhere, but found out that M2 screws would work https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CT54JJZ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title.
Then I found some felt for the bottom https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1ST8R3P?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1. I wish it was a little thicker, but it does the job it needs to do.
Once we finally had all the parts, I tie-wrapped all the wires in place, put all the unused original parts in a bag, and tie-wrapped it all inside the base in case the next owners want a restoration instead of the renewal we were performing.
And her renewal is finally finished!
Now we only have two Tiki Holy Grails left:
A Blue Lady Painting:
And a Witco Fountain:
