Makeshift Boombox Repairs. Lets see 'em

Transistorized

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Jun 19, 2012
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I would like to create post where everyone can post their project. This is for those who have ever repaired a box with a bobby pin or miscellaneous parts around the house. Everyone in this hobby knows you have to get creative when parts are no longer available. Everyone who knows me knows that I source stuff around the house to get things going if I have to. Often, my brainstormed ideas last years and occasionally seem to be stronger and more durable than the original design.

I got a VCR working with 3 staples and a lighter.

My Conions lower cassette drawer latch pin was fixed using the plastic plug on the end of an ink pen tube. 5 years ago. The lower cassette deck play/stop cog gear stop shaft screw came loose because the plastic shaft cracked causing the screw to loosen and the deck would not play. Cut the shaft off the swivel shaft, drilled out the center hole slightly bigger then used a laptop screw to secure. Still works. My silver C100 lower cassette door spring was made by hand from a Harbor Freight wire kit. Works great. The Gold C100 tape counter spindle was worn causing poor rewind performance. Solved that with a picture hanging brass kit from Wal-Mart...lol. Hey. You gotta do what you gotta do! The lower cradle that supports the cassette when dropped into the door of my silver c100 was fixed using this same method along with epoxy. The pause button on my M70 needed a new "foot" on the leaf switch to turn off the stop circuit when paused. I glued on a rubber foot to the pause button lower tab to press the leaf switch down when paused. Works great! The front cassette door had pin holes through the brushed aluminum finish. Used aluminum tape on the backside of the door to cover the blemishes. Looks good :-)

^^This kind of stuff ^^

What stories and/or pictures do you have on your boombox project? My hope is this thread can be referenced to see the Genius ideas we come up with. Either for a laugh or for a "Hey, that's a great idea" moment. Below are a few already saved pictures of my various projects. From Home Depot to Wal-Mart to safety pins. What ever I have to do, I do it :-)

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JVC Floyd

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May 6, 2009
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Maryland USA.
I'm glad you brought it up , I been working on all my boxes but the one I been wanting to work on my pc11 fitting PC 55 speakers to it and then I replaced the tweeters which made no sound with ones from my Sony fh 7 junker. I went through 3 different tweeters to find ones that sounded right and finally the fh 7 tweeters kick ass
.The only reason I'm doing this **** is i like cobbling things together lol. I have all the original parts from my PC 11 but I also have PC 55 parts so I said **** it . now this box is bigger and badder than ever because the PC 55 speakers sound better hooked up to the PC 11. Lol. This is a nasty ass boombox
.
I fine tuned the speaker cabinet with egg crate foam to dampen the sound and upgraded the wires to carry more power to the speakers. Now my next step is to paint the speaker plates champagne gold it'll look like it came from the factory that way.
 

Fatdog

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Staff member
May 3, 2009
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This is a great idea for a thread! I wish I still had pictures of my GF-777 power switch repair where I drilled it out and used a nail to fix it. It can be fairly crazy what works when necessary. :yes:
 

JVC Floyd

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Maryland USA.
Here's what I have so far , I made a metal filler for the bottom of the main units I still have to Polish it yet . the PC 55 speakers are the same depth as the original but they are taller so I had to fill the gap at the bottom of the stack.
The speakers are tuned for maximum sound that you can get from them and the **** thumps. These Sony fh 7 tweeters really woke it up lol.
IMG_20190303_142108.jpg
 

Van Presence

Member (SA)
Jan 27, 2015
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Parnassus, NZ
1 of the sliders in my super jumbo had lost the side bit, couldn't find it. Turns out a bread tag was about right thickness to fit into the holes. Took a few attempts to get right shape and size. Works alright
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Gluecifer

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May 6, 2009
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Hahah, top work! I'm quite happy to use 'whatever works' in many repairs, but the best one I've heard of was when AgentOrange on S2Go used a condom to rebelt his walkman.

That's spectacular improvisation!



Rock On.
 

Lasonic TRC-920

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Feb 16, 2010
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Naples, Italy
Gluecifer said:
Hahah, top work! I'm quite happy to use 'whatever works' in many repairs, but the best one I've heard of was when AgentOrange on S2Go used a condom to rebelt his walkman.

That's spectacular improvisation!



Rock On.
Now thats a good one! :clap:
 

Fatdog

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May 3, 2009
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Gluecifer said:
Hahah, top work! I'm quite happy to use 'whatever works' in many repairs, but the best one I've heard of was when AgentOrange on S2Go used a condom to rebelt his walkman.

That's spectacular improvisation!
AgentOrange is a name I haven't thought of in a while. I wonder what Cris is up to these days. The last I heard from him, he and his family had moved to Austria.
 

Gluecifer

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May 6, 2009
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Fatdog said:
Hahah, top work! I'm quite happy to use 'whatever works' in many repairs, but the best one I've heard of was when AgentOrange on S2Go used a condom to rebelt his walkman.

That's spectacular improvisation!
AgentOrange is a name I haven't thought of in a while. I wonder what Cris is up to these days. The last I heard from him, he and his family had moved to Austria.
He's still rockin on. I'm friends with him on Facebook and he's active on the Stereo2Go group.
It's funny, we've been friends and interacting with eachother on there for 5 or 6 years and it was only a couple of months back he realised I was Gluecifer on the forums, haha.


Rock On.
 

MyOhMy

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Jul 26, 2015
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Great thread! I like the first fix with silver tape as I tried silver tape on a deck door but it didn't quite look right but, having seen the op, applying the tape to the reverse of the perspex with the sticky side in view certainly gives a good result. :thumbsup:
 

Transistorized

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My Silver C100 tweeters grill chrome finish was looking tired so I used aluminum tape and trimmed with razor. Thing looks amazing now. You'd almost never know.

Looks better than before :-)

Before
20190523_174828.jpg

What it looks like when process starts
20190523_175939.jpg

Completed :-)
20190523_191410.jpg
20190523_191344.jpg

So, if your C100 trim is scuffed or just plain worn off, now you know the easiest way to make it look great again. Best part is it can easily be reversed if you wanted or if damaged.

Edit - Added a shot with flash to grab details
20190523_174916.jpg
 

Transistorized

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Jun 19, 2012
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caution said:
Or you can buy a set already cut from Superduper :-)

Made one of these for both my Conion trays

Oh wow! That would've saved me a bunch of time Eric. Didn't know that. Thanks. I'll have to remember that for future reference:-)

Nice job on the latch post. I ended up installing metal in both of my drawers as well. It's the way to go
 

Dbzerk

Member (SA)
Oct 28, 2017
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Melbourne Australia
Transistorized said:
My Silver C100 tweeters grill chrome finish was looking tired so I used aluminum tape and trimmed with razor. Thing looks amazing now. You'd almost never know.

Looks better than before :-)

Before
20190523_174828.jpg

What it looks like when process starts
20190523_175939.jpg

Completed :-)
20190523_191410.jpg
20190523_191344.jpg

So, if your C100 trim is scuffed or just plain worn off, now you know the easiest way to make it look great again. Best part is it can easily be reversed if you wanted or if damaged.

Edit - Added a shot with flash to grab details
20190523_174916.jpg
I have heaps of this tape at home and I didn't even think to use it for this! I ordered chrome vinyl film but I must say yours looks way better.. this weekend, going to redo mine your way 😉