This past week I started a thread called REPAIRS: What scares you the most. I was interested to know what you guys will and won't work on.
As my skills have gotten better I am looking for "Bargain" radios that need work and might be something others would pass on.
Today I received one of those "Questionable Fixes" radios. A Sharp GF-8989z. It's rough to say the least. Filthy on the outside, some dings, a crack in the tuner glass, but most of all a HUGE SMASH in the top right corner of the case.
The real problem with the smashed section is that it's where the handle supports the radio when being carried.
But the eBay seller said it was functional and they were right. The deck plays, fast forwards and rewinds perfectly. The tuner works, and so does the line in.
With the Smashed corner not included, the rest of it cleaned up well. Below are pictures.
The packing job was sufficient to get it here.
BEFORE CLEAN UP:
The cassette deck did play, but the cassette didn't fit properly in the deck and the door didn't want to close.
More on that later.
Notice NON Factory Screws!
Got a FREEBIE, A little Lady Bug jammed in the vent!
OPENED UP:
AFTER CLEANING:
I Deoxit'd all the controls, the volume needed it bad. The knob was stiff and cut out on the right channel. All switches were also cleaned. The deck was fully cleaned, but the belts are good. The tuner cut in and out before, but after cleaning the switches, that all went away. Plays like a dream. The reason the cassette door didn't close properly is because the plastic finger that activates the RECORD feature when the cassette has that little button punched out on it was bent to the side and had popped out of it's mounting. It popped it back in a that fixed the problem.
I still need to rebuild the case corner, put in some bracing, body filler and paint the case. I also need to replace the tuner glass and replace the antenna.
All in all, it cleaned up well and since I got it cheap and I KNOW I can fix the case corner, I think this was a good deal. It still has some battle scares, but hell, it's a survivor from 1982 and It plays beautifully. Tuner, Cassette and Line In work awesome!
This is my first 8989z and I have to say, this thing ROCKS. I was kind of expecting to be let down, but it sounds really good! I do want to swap the piezo tweeters for real ones. I kind of wish it had a Loudness button or a Stereo Wide, but it's got a great deck and the tuner has a fine tuning feature.
http://youtu.be/Xq0CDTZMSH0
As my skills have gotten better I am looking for "Bargain" radios that need work and might be something others would pass on.
Today I received one of those "Questionable Fixes" radios. A Sharp GF-8989z. It's rough to say the least. Filthy on the outside, some dings, a crack in the tuner glass, but most of all a HUGE SMASH in the top right corner of the case.
The real problem with the smashed section is that it's where the handle supports the radio when being carried.
But the eBay seller said it was functional and they were right. The deck plays, fast forwards and rewinds perfectly. The tuner works, and so does the line in.
With the Smashed corner not included, the rest of it cleaned up well. Below are pictures.
The packing job was sufficient to get it here.
BEFORE CLEAN UP:
The cassette deck did play, but the cassette didn't fit properly in the deck and the door didn't want to close.
More on that later. Notice NON Factory Screws!
Got a FREEBIE, A little Lady Bug jammed in the vent!
OPENED UP:
AFTER CLEANING:
I Deoxit'd all the controls, the volume needed it bad. The knob was stiff and cut out on the right channel. All switches were also cleaned. The deck was fully cleaned, but the belts are good. The tuner cut in and out before, but after cleaning the switches, that all went away. Plays like a dream. The reason the cassette door didn't close properly is because the plastic finger that activates the RECORD feature when the cassette has that little button punched out on it was bent to the side and had popped out of it's mounting. It popped it back in a that fixed the problem.
I still need to rebuild the case corner, put in some bracing, body filler and paint the case. I also need to replace the tuner glass and replace the antenna.
All in all, it cleaned up well and since I got it cheap and I KNOW I can fix the case corner, I think this was a good deal. It still has some battle scares, but hell, it's a survivor from 1982 and It plays beautifully. Tuner, Cassette and Line In work awesome!
This is my first 8989z and I have to say, this thing ROCKS. I was kind of expecting to be let down, but it sounds really good! I do want to swap the piezo tweeters for real ones. I kind of wish it had a Loudness button or a Stereo Wide, but it's got a great deck and the tuner has a fine tuning feature.
http://youtu.be/Xq0CDTZMSH0
keep us posted on the body repairs 
