Michigan Beogram 8002 Restoration: Cabinet Repairs

In the previous post on this Beogram 8002 restoration, the turntable electronics and record playing related functions were tested successfully.

Now it is time to work on the Beogram 8002 cabinet components.  

As with most Beogram 8002 turntables, the original double-sided tape that secured the aluminum platter deck, the metal lid over the tonearm compartment and the tonearm compartment panel had completely deteriorated.  All of those pieces mentioned are typically loose prior to this type of restoration.

The first step is to remove all of the old double-sided tape residue. It's not difficult but it is messy and not my favorite restoration task.

Here are some photos of the afore-mentioned components and the tape residue.

This photo notes (with a red dotted circle) that the metal spring that should be underneath the aluminum deck is missing.  The Beogram 8000 turntable did not have this spring. At least not during most of its production.  I believe the spring was added on the Beogram 8002 to remove any static electricity from the aluminum deck.

I will supply a replacement spring.

I soaked the tape residue in Goo Gone fluid for a couple of hours.

I did that with all of the cabinet components requiring tape residue cleanup.

Here is the hinge plate for the metal lid over the tonearm compartment.

Here are the loose components - aluminum deck panel, tonearm compartment panel and the metal tonearm compartment lid in soak mode.

The cleanup process involved scraping, cleaning up the messy residue goo, applying more Goo Gone and repeating.

After the residue is gone, the cabinet must be thoroughly cleaned to remove all of the residue traces.

Some of the old tape outlines could not be removed from the aluminum deck, even with a razor blade.

To re-attach everything I use VHB double-sided tape. It is more durable and should not deteriorate over time like the original double-sided tape did.  I use the RP32 VHB tape which has a thickness of 0.8 mm.  That is just high enough to connect the aluminum plate to the plastic platter frame. 

Note that I also installed a new spring (circled in red).

As you can see in the next photo, the aluminum panel fits perfectly onto the frame.

While I was working on the platter deck I decided to tackle the small rubber bumpers that are always worn down or missing from the front of the dust cover.  There are supposed to be two rubber bumper pads on the front of the dust cover where the dust cover rests on the aluminum deck.

Fortunately Danish Sound Parts supplies these rubber bumper pads.

I cleaned out the old, deteriorated rubber pad residue and inserted the new pads.

Here are the pads with the dust cover lowered onto the re-attached aluminum deck.

Now for the metal lid over the tonearm compartment.

The lid installation went smoothly but I discovered that the damper mechanism for the metal lid had absolutely no damping grease.  The lid would open and lock in the open position but when it was lowered, it just dropped down with a bang.

To access and apply the damping grease I had to remove the metal deck lid along with the damping lever.

The easiest and safest way I have found to do that is to push the metal hinge bar that holds the dust cover and metal lid to the rear cabinet frame.

I only push it out towards the dust cover side far enough to allow the metal lid to be removed.

I then use a spare hinge rod to insert from the metal deck lid side for re-testing the lid damping.

The rod is inserted for testing and removed to take the lid off for more application of damping grease.

After a few iterations of applying damping grease the lid started lowering at a slower, steady rate.

The cabinet was now ready for me to start re-installing the Beogram 8002 turntable components.

Unfortunately, I discovered the other metal hinge mechanism, the hinge between the cabinet base and top, had a broken piece for one of the hinge sections.

The red outlined area in the photo below show the broken area.

I could probably get the internal components installed with the broken hinge area if I am careful.

When the Beogram 8002 is put back together there is no activity on that hinge.

That wouldn't be very Beolovely.

I will attempt to repair the broken area using some very strong Bondo epoxy.  However, I only anticipate a 50:50 chance that will work.  Pressure from the metal hinge rod will likely be too much for the repair to hold.

Another consideration is to design a 3D printed part that spans past the broken area.  In that case, I would both epoxy the repair piece and drill holes for some screws into the plastic frame.

Of course sourcing another Beogram 8002 cabinet is also an option.