Victor Credenza Barn Find Rescue And Info On The Restore

[Herderz]

Thanks guys for the encouragement, while I wait for parts I started on the tonearm and internal accessories.

[Herderz]

So I been working on the tonearm. As most I have seen, gold plate at about 50% with scratches filled with dirt and brass tarnish. The copper plate under the gold at wear points from handling the tonearm. It will not clean up to my liking trying to keep what gold plate that is there. I know some of you might not like this but my opinion is the next best thing to gold plate is high polished brass. I buffed off all the gold plate and then the copper plate to get to the brass and finished it at a high polish. The brake stop pin had plate metal mounts along with the elbow rest bracket. I just used ammonia to clean the gold plate and they did not have much wear on them. I cleaned the bearings and races along with the mounting flange and screws. Put I all back together and mounted it to the tonearm board. I like the look. I cleaned the needle holder and installed it on the wood base. Thanks, Jerry. also the victor tag.

[Herderz]

So on to the reproducer. I found on the forum Wyatt Markus instructions on how he rebuilds these orthophonic sound box. Read through it twice. Made a lot of since. Said you need a "lot of patience" which I have with good instructions stating that. I did more research and found a little more info but most refers back to Wyatt. I started with the blow pressure check for holes or cracks on the diagram. Applied pressure by mouth for 5 seconds and did not feel any leakage and it held pressure. I felt good that the diaphragm was in good shape. So I decided to go through the motions of the rebuild by Wyatt. Here is the backview of the reproducer.

I can see that the backplate is brass but the retaining ring is pot metal. There is probably a spanner wrench that was made for this appreciation, All I have is a snap ring pliers with 90 degree tips that fit the ring. I gave it a try, no luck. I put a few drops of oil on the ring, Like Wyatt said and waited a day, then two, then three. No luck, one problem I will not clamp the reproducer in any kind of vise. So on to the next thing. The rubber bushing for the back plate to the tone arm was hard and cracked. Wyatt method was to not use any replacements on the market but to make your own. Per his instruction I dug out the old rubber and cleaned the inner and outer surfaces.

Using reproducer round tubing to center the inner sleeve in the back plate.

Then filling the gap with GE Silicone II. Not to bad to do with a little patience. Turned out nice and is very flexible compared to the hard rubber.

Next I went to the needle arm bearings. Removing the cover one at a time per the instructions the inside looked clean and the bearings were shiny but dry. The brass reproducer is different from the pot metal ones. The brass OSB has magnetic ball bearings that keep them in the race to were the pot metal reproducers have a cup race and use a rubber ring to hold them in place. Removed the bearings one at a time, they are very small. I used a tooth pick to move each one out of the race and a magnet to pick up each one and move to a container. I used tooth picks to clean the race and needle arm shafts. There was no dirt to speak of.

I re-installed the bearings one at a time using a magnet and tooth pick to move them back in the race. After installed I put a couple drops of clock oil on the bearings.

Replaced the cover. then went to the other side. After both sides I checked the side to side movement which was tight.

I polished the front brass plate which turned out nice.

I can not wait to give it a spin.

[Inigo]

Looks clean and fantastic. Will give an astounding performance...! You'll enjoy it very much!

[JerryVan]

Did you gease the felt gasket ring under the tone arm mount in order to make it air tight?

[Herderz]

Thanks Inigo & Jerry.
I greased the felt ring, also a little on the elbow flange at the threads.

[Herderz]

I started on the dash pot rebuild per the victor instructions I got off the forum. Broke them down and cleaned all the parts one at a time. The neatsfoot oil was dried and gummed up on all the parts. My guess as to why they used it back then was for the leather plunger cup. Neatsfoot oil is made from animal fat and was used for years on anything leather to keep it pliable and in this instance to seal the leather cup to the cylinder bore. Easy to clean up with a little patience. I used a 12 gage shotgun cleaning rod and solvent to clean the bore of the cylinders. Cleaned up nice and no grooves to the bore. Cleaned both vent holes that where clogged with gum on the cylinder and the lower body valve. I used a small #80 wire gage drill bit to clean the lower vent hole. It was smaller than a needle point.

The lift rods that where gold plated looked ruff and were brass based. I polished them to a high gloss brass finish.

I reassembled the dash pots and they are ready to be adjusted when I complete the lid.

The second dash pot went through the same process except I and missing one pivot screw to the mount. Working on that. It also is missing the 3/16" check ball bearing to the lower valve, what happened to it is beyond me. I looked through endless can of hardware on hand and could only find !/8" and ¼" bearings. Bought new bearings off of amazon, $4.10 delivered for 100, need one, that is the way it goes sometimes. Anybody need any I got 99 for free.
The gold guides on the tonearm board are steel plated gold and have rust. Polished them down to steel and then used some 70 year old gold leaf that I have used on clock details in the past. Polished the screws and the lid plates to finish them off until the lid is done.

On to the motor.

[Herderz]

I have got plenty.

[Herderz]

Well I got back on the motor, having all the parts now. The bottom spring in each barrel was a bear to get in. I had to seat the spring down with each loop. It took about 15 minutes to load. I had to rest a bit before starting the next one. I must be getting old. I did the final cleaning before installing each piece. It went together smoothly. I wound it up on the bench with my VV-IX crank and it is very quiet. I mounted it to the motor board with the 2 screws that I have. I got to hear this thing play.

I decided to make a crank until I can get a original one. I started with a ⅜" steel rod stock.

Rounded the end and cut threads with a ⅜" x 24 thread die. Bent the rod to form a crank.

Got everything installed to spin it up and gave it a play. I cannot believe how good this thing sounds compared to my other machines.

[Inigo]

Like new!
Post a video of it playing, please...