Remember awhile ago you responded to one of my posts:
"..another old Kay bass brought back to playable condition...good for you! Good luck and enjoy your new old bass...I know us plywood lovers are way out numbered here, but I love old American made basses. They are a piece of our American history and one of the few "made in the USA" items I am very proud to own. I can't play roots music and bluegrass on a China bass...oh you can, but it's just wrong."
Great Aunt Dottie Kay finally came back from the luthier. I've been wondering if the Engelhardt-Link Gambas are made in the same original Kay assembly jig that Dottie came from.....
In October I took a 400 mile round-trip drive over to Idaho and bought a 1940 Kay O-1. When I got Dottie, she had a few problems: white paint specks and splotches everywhere (hard oil-based paint not latex, dang!), end pin and thumb screw were rusted and seized up, about a 1/4 pound of electrical tape acting as the end pin tip, bridge 1" away from the f-hole index notches and cut wrong so the A and E strings buzzed badly, sound post in the wrong place and shimmed up with aluminum foil, Kluson tuners oxidized and gears very stiff, tailpiece "coat hanger" wire bent and gnarly, and scratches, dents, and some minor edge de-lamination.
The good news was that the basic structure was still sound, neck never broken, original finish and edges still pretty good, neck and fingerboard not warped, no bulges or cracks in the front or back from the soundpost, and the original Kay bow was included.
I got most of the white paint off with 4-ott steel wool and about 4 hours of elbow grease, freed up the end pin and replaced thumb screw and tip, silver polished and lubed the tuners, filled some dents with plastic wood, used a Minwax stain pencil on the rough edges and big scratches, glued and sealed the edges, and applied some matching Watco oil finish.
Then I took Dottie to the luthier (Carmen Galt) in Billings, MT. She did a great job and it was worth the 3-month wait. I guess I was lucky to get it since she had 8 basses she was working on at the time in addition to violins and cellos. She suggested that I name the bass "Dottie" since there were still some tiny white paint specks on the bass. Seemed like a good idea since my favorite Aunt from Texas was also named Dottie.
The luthier dressed the fingerboard, fit a new adjustable bridge, cut down and reset the soundpost, installed a flexible cable for the tailpiece, and strung the bass with some Super Silvers. I fit a Revolution Solo II pickup and finally got to play the bass. Dottie sure does sound sweet, full, and loud. Low B and C on the A and low G on the E are soooo much nicer than on my first bass "Uncle Crook Neck." Yessirree, I am a happy camper now!
My next challenge will be Uncle Crook Neck, a 64 Kay S-1 pawnshop special with a badly repaired neck and about 2 pounds of poorly applied bondo and lacquer finish. I'll show some photos another time .........
Here's Dottie:
enjoy your Kay bass and play it proudly happy camper. 
