Modification time!

[hermitcrab]

Time to install the R2R I have collecting dust... I gotta tell you , these magnavox consoles are built like brick s**t houses ... screws and nails everywhere. I had to remove the speaker switch board because it sits too high to the slider doors then removed the cleats because the whole thing needs to drop 1 inch so the sliders will clear the R2R when installed... in the pics you can see the cleats removed and the board separating the record storage had to be cut down by 1 inch to give the clearance for the tape unit... more to come ...

[William]

Elton, this is the stereo from your niece.

Bill

[hermitcrab]

Yes, this is the one that had the bad power switch ..

[hermitcrab]

measuring the template to cut it out, you can see the real estate the speaker switch was taking up ....after making the initial cut then I had to keep finessing the edges to accept protruding things like wires and the tape counter ... after about a half hour of cutting and testing the fit , it dropped in easily...there was no cleat on the back to support the speaker board so I put one in to help handle the weight of the deck. now I need to vacuum out all the saw dust , I had a towel under to collect as much as I could to keep it out of the speakers ...now the speaker switch is relocating to the rear center of the board above the reels ...will show the finished product when I get there...

[William]

Looking good, Elton.

Bill

[walyfd]

What model r2r is that? Nice addition!

[hermitcrab]

Here is a pic of trying the deck out before buttoning it up...

and here is one with the cover on and playing also note the speaker switch is in its new home...

What model r2r is that? Nice addition!

Panasonic RS-766US... same deck that magnavox rebrands as their own. only difference is the head covers say Magnavox on them .. Now the last thing I need to to is paint and re-letter the faceplate(benzel) and I can re-install the radio chassis and button it all up...

[walyfd]

Cool!!! Nothing like a r2r in a console.

[William]

That looks very professional, Elton, you should be proud. How does it sound?

Bill

[hermitcrab]

It sounds good , a little heavy on the bass...I just painted the benzl ,it turned out just a shade darker , but the original could have been faded after 60 years? ....so now I can install the radio chassis .. now trying to find a font from 1964 to match will be a daunting task... but thankfully the computer allows you to redo mistakes before using the laser printer to print them out . I will install them on the set , so I can use the knob pointers to show me where they should go... this will be slow going ....

[William]

A Magnavox with heavy bass....count yourself lucky.

Your bezel looks good, I can't wait to see the finished product.

Bill

[electra225]

A Magnavox with heavy bass is something to hold onto! Nice job on the R2R and the bezel looks great, too.

[hermitcrab]

Here it is with the lettering done, just have to get a can of Testor's dullcoat from the local hobby lobby to seal the decals on ... I actually printed out the little lines for the step controls .... but I fought hard enough with the function lettering being so small , I gave up on those ... my son suggested to just mark them with a fine tip marker. I will take some lacquer thinner and remove the arrow from the tuning knob ...kind of a pet peeve of mine ,that the assembly guy just grabbed pointers for all the controls and not a blank for the tuning ... other than that this console is done ..

[walyfd]

INCREDIBLE!!! That looks amazing.

[TC Chris]

Very nice job.

Chris Campbell

[William]

That's awesome, Elton, great work and now I know where to come if I ever need decals made.

Bill

[electra225]

It looks great! Nice job, Elton!

If you would like to, you could list whoever did your decals on the Suppliers board. They might be able to help somebody else...

[Motorola minion]

Great job and looks like original.

How did you get the letters onto the bezel after you put that nice finish on it?

[hermitcrab]

It looks great! Nice job, Elton!

If you would like to, you could list whoever did your decals on the Suppliers board. They might be able to help somebody else...

Thanks Guys... I did the decals on the computer and printed them out on decal paper. Tedious job to apply them , I had to reprint a couple words because I got too heavy handed and wrinkled them trying to apply them...

[walyfd]

Amazing what we can do ourselves (except fix cars) nowadays. 3d and decal printing can save a lot of otherwise impossible projects.