VTLA General and Restoration Questions

[tonystardis]

This post may show up twice sorry if it does,I got booted first time I hit submit and think it logged me out and when I did it a second time it put me as a guest.

My Ebay find of the week,always wanted to find something like this but never had the money to buy one,now I got me one.VTLA serial number 2478 Think it looks way worse than it is.
First the cabinet.Any tricks to removing paint and hopfuly save the finish underneith if it is still there. How about gluing some joint seperations.is there a need to somehow get in there and prep joints? It has rollers on bottom,is this correct for the machine?
2nd Turntable is too high and above the brake,there are no felt washers between motor and board,I assume it should have some? You can wobble/lift turntable a little when the record spindle is screwed on,is a spacer missing under turntable or a washer missing under spindle nut? or is this normal?
3rd reproducer,thumbscrew missing and tried one from another exibition but it bearly starts. Are threads different on earlier ones or is it possible the one I used wrong.WHat is propper thread size and pitch?
4th tone arm. I need to do some soldering repairs,will this ruin plating? and what is best for cleaning and polishing plating?

http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa4 ... 0_0908.jpg
all pics below
http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa464/tonystardis1/

[penman]

I saw this on ebay, it looks like a good machine. As to your questions, I can help with a couple of them.

2nd: This is the "yielding" turntable. There are no washers. It should "give" when pressed on the edge, this is to prevent damage to the spindle from accidental pressure. Make sure the turntable slot underneath is sitting all the way on the spindle pin. Then screw on the spindle cap, it should be the right height. It's also possible the spindle itself is not adjusted properly.

3rd: The thumbscrews should all be the same for the Exhibitions, although it's possible the threads are stripped on the soundbox. I'm not sure of the pitch.

4th: It might be easier to find a new arm. I think this is the same as a Victor 6 arm, just turned upside down. Depending on exactly when this was made, the arm from a B or C VV-XVI might also work. If you decide to work on this arm be very careful or you'll polish the gold right off.

As to finishing I leave that to other members to comment, also I think this model has metal casters.

[tonystardis]

Thanx for the input penman! I was so happy to have found it where I did and was kicking my self for days for not using the 300.00 buy it now.Fortunatley I only cost myself two bux. I was just thinking before your reply maybe the turntabe is supposed to be like this because it is heavy and sits on such a wide surface. Its not much of a gap but just enough to do as you said. I will also order some reproducer rubuild parts and run a tap that matches new thumbscrew through the hole to clean it up. And for now till I find a new arm I will take a shot at repairing it,cant hurt it any more than it is.

[Zeppy]

I guess I'll tackle the cabinet questions. I really don't think there is a way for you to save any underlying finish. Depending on the condition of the finish before some rocket scientist (appologies to actual rocket scientists) threw a coat of paint on this, you very well may have paint embedded in the grain, and this will require some agressive stripping. If this is the case, while I have not yet had to opportunity to test it out personally, I have been told that actually putting a coat of shellac before stripping again helps pull the paint out of the grain. Can't say one way or the other how well this works, but I thought I'd throw it out there. I figure either way, you're going to have to try serveral things to get the decorative trim clean (I don't envy you that part). I don't know how much experience you have refinishing these machines, but I figured I'd throw out the reminder of, don't forget to use a grain filler. It will save you much agnst later (I recently did a complete refinish of an oak VTLA, and am currently doing a mahagony XII, so if you have any questions feel free to fire away).

As for regluing loose joints. My attitude has always been it depends on how loose they are. If you can easily pull them apart, by all means do, and give it a good cleaning. It will make for a better joint. However, if you can only pull it apart a few millimeters, I really don't think forcing it apart is a good idea. You might not get as solid a joint, but do you really want to risk making a bigger mess of things, and having more complications down the line? I would just pull them apart as the naturally go, don't over due the amount of force you apply, and do the best you can to clean it out. There probably isn't that much glue left in the joint anyway (being the reason why it failed).

[FloridaClay]

I seem to recall somebody posting here not too long ago that they had managed to get off a coat of paint with GoJo, some 0000, and elbow grease. It could work if, say, whoever slopped on the paint did not clean the surface of old wax and gunk first so that there is not a good bond between the paint and the old finish. And looking at things that could well be the case. As somebody has said, whoever did it was not exactly a rocket scientist and there look to be some spots where the paint is already seperating.

Anyhow, couldn't hurt to try on a test spot or two. Nothing to lose really and if it works you are way ahead of the game. My working theory is to start with the least aggressive measurers and work your way up to the next level only if necessary in order to preserve as much as you can.

Clay

[alang]

Congratulations on the nice find. Looks like you got your work cut out.
Before really starting with any kind of stripping I would also first try some softer removal options. Some paint comes off with Mineral spirit, which would not really hurt the shellac below. It would still be a major pain to remove it all, but safe the finish below. Of course, if the finish below is shot you might still have to strip it later, but I would first try to safe it.
Good Luck!
Andreas

[tonystardis]

Thanx for the tips guys. I hopefuly will have an hour or two in the next week or so to spare to see if saving the original finish is even possible. If not Oh well will try and make the new finish look as original as possible.
tony

[FloridaClay]

Thanx for the tips guys. I hopefuly will have an hour or two in the next week or so to spare to see if saving the original finish is even possible. If not Oh well will try and make the new finish look as original as possible.
tony

Good luck. Let us know what works (and doesn't) and post some pics as you go.

Clay

[tonystardis]

Well mineral spirits did nothing except for lubricate the steel wool.Acetone really didnt do anthing either so it will get stripped and refinished.It sort of does look like they did not sand or strip it before slapping the coat of paint on which should help. First off source a piece of vintage vaneer to replace one side panel before I start as Jerry suggested.