[EvanCampbell]

Some updates on this 707. The play and stop buttons were broken and just hanging on. Both buttons still had the cracked pieces attached at their bases, so all I needed to do was reposition the loose pieces and glue them back together with black epoxy resin. Those will be ready to snap back on tomorrow.

pioneer reel.jpg (197.63 KiB) Viewed 102 times

The brake tension was also an issue. When playing and pressing stop, the take-up reel would spool out a bit, making the stop function uneven and delayed on one reel. In the picture above, you can see the reel, and that brass band secured by two screws directly in the middle of the picture is a brake band that wraps around the reel drum. It is almost like car brakes—when you press stop, that brass band gets pulled down on the rotating drum, halting the rotation. Over the years, those bands can loosen and create uneven tension when stopping. I cleaned the drums and brass bands, unscrewed those two screws, and tightened the loose band. It took a few times of repositioning to get an even, dead-stop action on both reels, but it is resolved now.

pioneer vu.jpg (88.43 KiB) Viewed 102 times

Screenshot (582).jpg (70.75 KiB) Viewed 102 times

Also got the new bulbs and counter belt. The old counter belt was like a dried-out, crispy worm. Replaced that and soldered in new bulbs. Last week, I cleaned everything internal, including all contacts, boards, pins, potentiometers, and switches. All old grease and oils were cleaned out and relubed. Things are functioning very well now. One of the last things I need to do is fix an auto-stop issue before I can focus on the outside frame and cosmetic issues.

[static14]

Awesome work!

[ScoJo]

Superb…. ‘good as new’ comes to mind.

I dearly wish I was better at understanding/diagnosing/repairing machines. It’s mostly like a magic eye picture that never swims into focus for me. Beautiful life skills.

[EvanCampbell]

Superb…. ‘good as new’ comes to mind.

I dearly wish I was better at understanding/diagnosing/repairing machines. It’s mostly like a magic eye picture that never swims into focus for me. Beautiful life skills.

Thanks, Scott! It’s definitely coming together and cleaned up better than I expected. I have my limits with this stuff and can only go so far. Thankfully, nothing was catastrophically wrong like fried boards or leaking capacitors. If that happened, I’d have to send it off to an experienced tech.

[EvanCampbell]

Awesome work!

Thanks! Hoping to finish it by next weekend!

[EvanCampbell]

frame edge side.jpg (243.52 KiB) Viewed 28 times

Finishing up this Pioneer RT-707 there are a several ways I could cover up the faceplate edging damage. One option is a full wood cabinet with an overhang lip. Another is using simple U-channel edging, a thin metal trim that you see around mirrors. Eventually, I might build a high-gloss mahogany enclosure in the future. Right now, I just want to wrap this up the simplest way possible. I visited several local hardware and frame stores but could not find the exact trim I needed. I had to order it online, but it won’t arrive for several weeks. Temporarily, I used some plastic frame molding I had on hand. It will do for now. Later, I will swap it out for a satin black aluminum squared trim, which will better match the style of the metal cabinet.

frame washer finished.jpg (247.56 KiB) Viewed 28 times

When adding the trim, I had to be cognizant of the frame's forward protrusion. The frame thickness must be very shallow. The reel does not allow much space from the faceplate, and you do not want it scraping. That limitation narrowed my choices. This current edging, and the one on order, leave plenty of room—even for a warped reel rotation. As you can see, the frame width is thin and did not fully cover the side mounting holes. To fix this, I added four finishing screws and washers to cover the holes on each side. They serve no purpose other than hiding the damage.

heads.jpg (192.16 KiB) Viewed 28 times

I secured the temporary frame with black RTV silicone in a few spots behind the faceplate. It is held firmly but can be easily removed when the new trim arrives. Finally, I demagnetized the head and cleaned the tape path.

rt-707 side.jpg (200.75 KiB) Viewed 28 times

Finished for now!

I made a quick demo video linked below. Even with crappy little bookshelf speakers, it sounds nice. I am looking forward to hooking it up to my full speaker system later for a real listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrANGLp20Sk

[static14]

that turned out amazing! :)

[inksb]

that looks beautiful