Classic Hifi Care

Hi everyone, my name is Nick Mangiapane a parent of 2 both under eight years old and a husband in the southern California area. A friend of mine gifted me an RC 4851B coffee table that I love and I’m just now starting to try to make it work. I’m really excited to get to know you guys and work with you.

Outside of this audio experience, I’m about to run through. I’m a corrosion engineer and a civil engineer by School. I enjoy snowboarding. I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback and currently being a father to 2 has kept me pretty occupied.

Nick, I may owe you an apology. You wanted to post about your GE stereo. I was getting ready to approve your post when my wife called me for something she needed help with. I THOUGHT I just backed out of the forum, but, apparently, somehow, your post got deleted. If you would be good enough to try again, I'll try not to delete it this time. Thank you for completing your registration. We hope you will enjoy the forum. There are lots of good folks here who will be more than willing to help you.

Thanks for letting me know! Not a big deal to gather those thought and images again.

nmonj84 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2026 12:18 am Hi everyone, my name is Nick Mangiapane a parent of 2 both under eight years old and a husband in the southern California area. A friend of mine gifted me an RC 4851B coffee table that I love and I’m just now starting to try to make it work. I’m really excited to get to know you guys and work with you.

Outside of this audio experience, I’m about to run through. I’m a corrosion engineer and a civil engineer by School. I enjoy snowboarding. I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback and currently being a father to 2 has kept me pretty occupied.

Nick, it's great to have many interests and kiddos and dogs. But what is a corrosion engineer doing in southern CA where nothing ever rusts? Here in MI we are intimately acquainted with rust. My sweet old 2005 Ford Ranger resisted bravely for a long time but in the last 3 years has been eaten up.

Before seeing your post I had just posted a comment on another thread about using Pettit's Rustlok primer on aluminum. I've been applying it on a marine propeller and outboard lower unit in a sort of wet-sanding method using small wire brushes. Problem is, it comes in quart containers, and because it's a urethane, it tends to glue the paint can lid on. Opening the can again destroys the can eventually--meaning by the second try, no matter how carefully the rim is cleaned, and then the bad seal lets the whole can react to ambient moisture and solidify. The stuff is wonderful but $$$ and losing most of the quart is heartbreaking.

But tell us about your GE project. With photos....

Chris Campbell

Nick, I recovered your original post that I thought I deleted. I approved it, but may move it to its own topic so you may get more exposure. Sorry for the mixup, I still don't know for sure what happened....

Chris,

Sorry to hear of your struggles with re sealing. I have seen folks use cling wrap to prevent curing where you dont want curing to occur.

I work mainly for petroleum refineries (also not big in California but i came from one small one near long beach owned by Valero. I help client prevent or predict failures due to corrosion and cracking in various process streams; not typically marine plaforms though. I do know prep work is everything when it comes to costing parts. Getting a good bond is paramount.

And yea; my ge stereo coffee table was mainly home decor until a thanksgiving party when two vintage audioheads took an interest and popped it open to explore what might been keeping it from running. I could use some tips on repairing it without making a mess of the living room and breaking the bank with tool and parts. Ill save the details for the post i added to elsewhere. My stereo has a sticker on the bottom “rc 4851B” and i cant seem to find a parts diagram or really anything that’ll help me get it to life again.

Welcome, Nick, it is good to have you on board. Feel free to post as often as necessary and please share your other interests. We are a diverse group with many of us enjoying lots of other hobbies. Again, welcome aboard.

Bill

Welcome, Nick. You have found a good site with friendly people who enjoy this hobby and enjoy helping others in their pursuit of it. Good luck in bringing life to your coffee table,

Big welcome to you Nick.

I'll look to find some info on the G.E.
stereo.

Thanks, Mr. Mogul, I knew we could count on you. Good luck, I looked around but found nothing on a GE with that model number.

Bill