This thread is for those interested in vintage car electronics like equalizers and cassette players. I already have a thread for you eight track guys.
Step one: Identify what you have
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3604/3391646752_bc53c5674b.jpg)
well, that's not a great pic, but you get the idea.
Step two: Identify wires and look for diagrams
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3390837253_92b178f25d_m.jpg) (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3622/3390837197_e6d5f9e6b3_m.jpg)
As you can see, my eq has a diagram on top. The one on the cassette player is gone.
The cassette deck has one large wire with a plug for antenna.
There are 4 wires on the back of this deck (it's not internally grounded, meaning you will have to ground your speakers. If you have pairs of speaker wires, skip ahead to the next paragraph now. Grounding speakers is easily accomplished by running a wire from the (-) terminal or small terminal on you speaker to one of the screws holding the speaker to door/deck. This will not work if you mount the speakers in a plastic panel! It has to be grounded to metal. Do Not be tempted to run all of the 'ground' wires to the same screw, your balance control won't work. My wires are:
red-power
black-ground
green-left speaker
brown-right speaker
Other common aftermarket configurations:
power
ground
yellow-memory
power antenna
speaker wires may be 2 or 4 pairs depending on your set. Common colors are grey, white, green, and purple.
Cassettes are fragile!
Cassette players need to be clean and oiled!
Next part will be cleaning/oiling, stay tuned!
Chuck
Part Two: Cleaning and maintenance.
These pics are the inside of the stereo in the first part. Most cassette players are similar, or the parts should at least be identifiable after you read this.
Step one: Remove the top cover
Mine has two screws on the front next to the center plastic housing and one on each bottom corner of the back.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3605/3391719304_d44f8da8af.jpg)
See the screws removed? Ok, I had to bend the two screwtabs on mine up (by grabbing the bottom of the back and gently rocking it up) to get the tab to come out of the plastic housing. Now the cover's off. Remove any foreign matter from the inside of the unit, this includes scraps of eaten tapes, styrofoam packing peanuts, leaves, rodent droppings, peanut butter ??? etc.
Now we're going to locate the motor and check to see that there is a belt, and what condition it's in. New ones are available on e-bay, helps if you have an old one to measure.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3454/3390911607_7598990599.jpg)
My belt is ok, now we move on to the head:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/3390908323_f038acdaa0.jpg)
Clean the head with a head cleaner (vcr cleaner works here) and swabs, be gentle-if you're too rough you'll knock it out of alignment. If you can't get all the dirt off with a damp swab, apply a thin layer of solution and let it stand and repeat. When you are done, you should be able to see yourself in there. This player ate a tape. Cause? Someone left a cassette in the player in the car, in the sun. The tape melted to the head and roller, and the next time it was turned on, it ate the tape. Don't let this happen to you!
Now is a good time to demagnetize the head. The demagnetizer is sold at Radio Shack.
Moving on: The pinch roller assembly
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3635/3390908375_b4913c4360.jpg)
Place one drop of sewing machine oil on the pin that holds the rubber roller. Take a break. ;D
Your oil has had a chance to run down that pin and it's time to clean the roller and pin. Once again use your head cleaning solution and swabs. Keep going until your swabs don't show dirt. I used 20 swabs to clean this radio! I 'faked' the radio into thinking there was a cassette in the player for this shot, with the cassette ejected, the platform is tilted up and blocks the mechanisms, and the roller is clear of the pin by about 1/4 inch. You will need to master this technique. You will need both positions to effectively clean the rubber roller and the metal pin.
Now we need to clean and oil the 'friction' points, basically anything that moves during operation. Be careful not to get oil on the head or roller, it will damage your tape and may cause malfunction.
I use sewing machine oil, it's recommended for a number of uses. Use one drop at a time! In hard to reach places, try this:
Hold a toothpick horizontal in one hand. With the other hand apply one drop to the toothpick about 1/3 way from the tip. Now you can tilt the toothpick to 'roll' the drop to the target. Too fast and and you'll drop your drop :lol:
Here a few oiling points:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3390908523_1ff3826f24.jpg)
The tracks that move the head
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3544/3390908577_d7b6b6cf3f.jpg)
The roller pivot
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3587/3391719540_26fd64c815.jpg)
The fast-forward mechanism
That's it for now, after you've cleaned and oiled it, you may want to 'bench' test it before you install it to make sure all is well.
Chuck :afro:
You can move your radio around to suit your needs too, here are a couple pics of variations:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3418/3289883692_3e22512153.jpg)
In the console, after it went to it's new home in Missouri
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3549/3377856124_337a0c6ce4.jpg)
In the dash with A/C style console and custom trimmed panel
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/3249539716_a3dd024d58.jpg)
In the dash with base console and custom steering wheel
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3424/3391079651_392a8b0414.jpg)
My first "resto-rod" redo, 2004-2008
Quote from: discolives78 on March 28, 2009, 12:28:33 AM
Clean the head with a head cleaner (vcr cleaner works here)
I know this is an old post, but I am still catching up after a six month hiatus.
Just figured to help out a bit: FYI, 'head cleaner' or 'VCR cleaning solution' is nothing more than denatured alcohol. (They USED to use amyl nitrite, but it's use in some sorts of illegal recreational activities led to a switch to either cyclohexyl nitrite, or denatured alcohol. Either ethyl or isopropyl will work fine) This info is nice because a 16oz bottle of alcohol from your local pharmacy is only about $2, where as if you bought a head cleaner for a VCR, they only come with a tiny little bottle of the stuff.
--Doug
I inherited a box of VHS tapes with the other stuff. There were 3 head cleaners there with bottles of fluid. Smells like alcohol, and my dad always used alcohol. Thanks for the clarification. :read:
Chuck :afro:
P.S. I remember "poppers" :hangover:(the street name for amyl-nitrate) This is why we can't have anything nice! Quit sniffing toxic stuff, Y'all! :police: It will ruin your fragile :lost: little :look: mind and we'll all have to use acrylic spraypaint :( and elmer's glue for everything! >:(