Because if I didn't, it would take a lifetime to restore everything. 
:grim:
It takes long enough as it is.....
Example:
Take this Aiwa TPR-955. Bought it a year, maybe two ago. Locally, in the wild. Generally crappy condition. As you can see, missing the balance knob. Didn't notice it at first but I also see that the shaft is missing too. Months, maybe year later, Along comes Geoff Hartwell who generously sent me all the way from UK, a replacement pot + knob to complete my boombox. 
The replacement part sat in the bubble wrapped envelope on top of the boombox for a very long time. You'll also notice that like almost all 955's I see come up for sale, the silver front cheeks are in terrible shape with the paint having wore through along the edges. The edges on the side is far far worse and not visible. I guess I should've taken more before pictures but photographing something ugly isn't really fun. Here it is:
Recently, I finally got around to opening this sucker up. Boy did I hate it. It took several attempts and the chassis really didn't want to come apart. And when it finally did, I found that the speaker cables needed to be desoldered and the headphone jack needed to be unscrewed from the front case to completely free the chassis. Most rely on precision chassis mounted alignment without resorting to a remote front cabinet mounted/tethered jack. Then the deck didn't want to come out without more disassembly than I liked. And when it finally did come out, I hated how complicated Aiwa designed it from a servicing aspect. Simply terrible but then again, I think many members have commented on other Aiwa models how they hated working on them so I guess why should Aiwa do this one any differently. Anyhow, once the deck was free -- I immediately cleaned and rebelted it without hesitation. Let's just say that this is a box that you DO NOT want to leave it open for very long for fear of losing any parts or tearing any tethered wires. The deck does not come off clean and is rebelted while tethered. Then once the deck was reassembled back onto the chassis, I cleaned the switches and controls and put the chassis away. Then came the task of working on the cosmetics. I won't describe the work too much -- just use your imagination (and the photos). And someone is gonna ask: (how much would you charge to do this to MY boombox). All I can say is no no no. YOU must do it yourself unless you are a basketball player or movie star with commensurate income, because like others who do this will tell you -- if our hours and labor are charged commercially -- the work costs MORE than the boombox costed you. Anyhow, the back case was also quite oxidized to where the plastic was chalky and I never could get an even finish to it, so the back cabinet was likewise refinished.
See how badly the edges were worn? I sanded them but they were pretty much like this.
After installing the chassis back into the front cabinet, I readjusted centered the FM stereo and adjusted the tape playback speed which was spot on without any adjustment (very rare as most boomboxes will require a speed adjustment after a rebelting). Then the back cover went back on after refinishing, detailing the covered installed accessories............... As you can see, here is the result:
Alright, so the other day, I finally reassembled it and the result is displayed above. It's not perfect and some cosmetic issues can't really be corrected 100% such as some nicks on the knobs, etc, but I think anyone would agree that it's at least 353% better than before. The new finish is hard to describe. The color is dark which is how I like it but the color seems to shift depending upon which angle you view it. It's really stunning compared to before when you see it in person. A video would do a much better job of showing the new finish dynamically as the boombox is moved.
As for the operational condition.... I am happy to report that aside from forgetting to clean the R/PB switch (I'm not going to open her back up so I'll just flip the record button a couple hundred times if necessary), every works A-OK! The music search works -- woohoo! Also, the sound is night/day 1000% better. Initially, I could hear some potential but it was truly barely working. The volume couldn't be turned up past 3 or 4 on the scale without falling flat on it's face. I thought -- well, what do you expect from a 9-volt boombox. How wrong I can be -- this thing can now go virtually full scale on the volume dial with minimal distortion. Yep -- I confirmed it since RBJ said none of his could go over 1/2 on the volume dial without distorting. After viewing the layout, it's not suprising actually. The reason: This boombox although only 6-cell (9v) employs dual BTL output amps. So the 9-volts would behave almost like 18volts on a non-BTL amp. This guy clearly is a top performer in the 6-cell boombox class. I imagine this is the guy to beat in it's class for power, as well as sound quality. Treble is clear and crisp. Bass is nice and full. Repair challenges aside, this one is definitely one worth having in any collection. I'm very happy with how it came out and I thought I would finish this to sell but now, after hearing it working in top shape, I don't think I'll be able to sell it. Unfortunately, seems that happens sooo frequently that something has got to give. Now, another similar project (after I begin and finish some boxes for other patient members) will be the sister to this: The TPR-950.
Enjoy!
:grim: It takes long enough as it is.....
Example:
Take this Aiwa TPR-955. Bought it a year, maybe two ago. Locally, in the wild. Generally crappy condition. As you can see, missing the balance knob. Didn't notice it at first but I also see that the shaft is missing too.
Months, maybe year later, Along comes Geoff Hartwell who generously sent me all the way from UK, a replacement pot + knob to complete my boombox. The replacement part sat in the bubble wrapped envelope on top of the boombox for a very long time. You'll also notice that like almost all 955's I see come up for sale, the silver front cheeks are in terrible shape with the paint having wore through along the edges. The edges on the side is far far worse and not visible. I guess I should've taken more before pictures but photographing something ugly isn't really fun. Here it is:
Recently, I finally got around to opening this sucker up. Boy did I hate it. It took several attempts and the chassis really didn't want to come apart. And when it finally did, I found that the speaker cables needed to be desoldered and the headphone jack needed to be unscrewed from the front case to completely free the chassis. Most rely on precision chassis mounted alignment without resorting to a remote front cabinet mounted/tethered jack. Then the deck didn't want to come out without more disassembly than I liked. And when it finally did come out, I hated how complicated Aiwa designed it from a servicing aspect. Simply terrible but then again, I think many members have commented on other Aiwa models how they hated working on them so I guess why should Aiwa do this one any differently. Anyhow, once the deck was free -- I immediately cleaned and rebelted it without hesitation. Let's just say that this is a box that you DO NOT want to leave it open for very long for fear of losing any parts or tearing any tethered wires. The deck does not come off clean and is rebelted while tethered. Then once the deck was reassembled back onto the chassis, I cleaned the switches and controls and put the chassis away. Then came the task of working on the cosmetics. I won't describe the work too much -- just use your imagination (and the photos). And someone is gonna ask: (how much would you charge to do this to MY boombox). All I can say is no no no. YOU must do it yourself unless you are a basketball player or movie star with commensurate income, because like others who do this will tell you -- if our hours and labor are charged commercially -- the work costs MORE than the boombox costed you. Anyhow, the back case was also quite oxidized to where the plastic was chalky and I never could get an even finish to it, so the back cabinet was likewise refinished.
See how badly the edges were worn? I sanded them but they were pretty much like this.
After installing the chassis back into the front cabinet, I readjusted centered the FM stereo and adjusted the tape playback speed which was spot on without any adjustment (very rare as most boomboxes will require a speed adjustment after a rebelting). Then the back cover went back on after refinishing, detailing the covered installed accessories............... As you can see, here is the result:
Alright, so the other day, I finally reassembled it and the result is displayed above. It's not perfect and some cosmetic issues can't really be corrected 100% such as some nicks on the knobs, etc, but I think anyone would agree that it's at least 353% better than before. The new finish is hard to describe. The color is dark which is how I like it but the color seems to shift depending upon which angle you view it. It's really stunning compared to before when you see it in person. A video would do a much better job of showing the new finish dynamically as the boombox is moved.
As for the operational condition.... I am happy to report that aside from forgetting to clean the R/PB switch (I'm not going to open her back up so I'll just flip the record button a couple hundred times if necessary), every works A-OK! The music search works -- woohoo! Also, the sound is night/day 1000% better. Initially, I could hear some potential but it was truly barely working. The volume couldn't be turned up past 3 or 4 on the scale without falling flat on it's face. I thought -- well, what do you expect from a 9-volt boombox. How wrong I can be -- this thing can now go virtually full scale on the volume dial with minimal distortion. Yep -- I confirmed it since RBJ said none of his could go over 1/2 on the volume dial without distorting. After viewing the layout, it's not suprising actually. The reason: This boombox although only 6-cell (9v) employs dual BTL output amps. So the 9-volts would behave almost like 18volts on a non-BTL amp. This guy clearly is a top performer in the 6-cell boombox class. I imagine this is the guy to beat in it's class for power, as well as sound quality. Treble is clear and crisp. Bass is nice and full. Repair challenges aside, this one is definitely one worth having in any collection. I'm very happy with how it came out and I thought I would finish this to sell but now, after hearing it working in top shape, I don't think I'll be able to sell it. Unfortunately, seems that happens sooo frequently that something has got to give. Now, another similar project (after I begin and finish some boxes for other patient members) will be the sister to this: The TPR-950.
Enjoy!
:annoyed: 
