Beogram 8000: Installation of New Rubber Bumpers on the Hood and Beneath the Aluminum Lid

I still have a few odds and ends to clear up on the Beogram 8000 that I recently restored. While it is now playing nicely and all functions are restored, the hood was still missing its rubber bumpers and so did the aluminum lid. These rubber parts decay over time and then they break off. But they are important to give the user the correct feel and sound when letting the hood or the lid close on their own. I have not seen a 8000 that still has all of them. Luckily, my own 8000 still had an original one, so I was able to take some measurements. Since these bumpers are not available anywhere, I resorted to using a 1/16" rubber sheet and double sided tape to repair the one under the aluminum lid. The bumpers on the hood cannot be fixed that way, but a piece of .1" O-ring does the job...see below.

Here is a picture of the small cavity that holds the bumper under the lid: 

This shows the hole punched pieces with the double sided tape on them:

I found that a 3/16 punch generates perfectly fitting bumpers:

Pretty! On to the hood. This shows the missing bumpers on the right side:

And with the 0.1" O-ring section forced in but still too long:

To get the precise 1mm height of the bumper, I 3D printed myself a mask for cutting the rubber segments off in parallel to the hood edge with a razor blade:

This picture shows the fit of the hood after cutting the rubber segments off:

Perfect alignment with the control cluster. This is Beolove!

Beogram 8000: Glueing the Aluminum Panels Back On

I still have to see a Beogram 8000 that did not have aluminum panels that came loose from the aged double sided tape that holds them in place. And the one I am currently rebuilding was not exception. I usually glue the main panel that encloses the platter with epoxy using 4-40 washers to bridge the gap between plastic enclosure and the panel. The washers help avoid bonding issues since the panel does not sit flush with the underlying plastic part due to a lip on the outer perimeter on which the panel rests. I use carpenter clamps and a weight to hold the panel down while the epoxy sets:

For this particular Beogram 8000 we decided to not use epoxy for the tonearm cover since it has a small flaw on one corner, and later exchange needs to be possible once a suitable panel has been found as replacement. Therefore, I used double sided tape like in the original setup:

This shows a couple of tape strips carefully applied to the hinge:

After orienting the panel to sit parallel alongside the hood and lining up with its back I pressed it into place, and that was it:

All good now...Back to playing some vinyl with this unit to make sure I did not miss anything. I always like to give restored units a couple weeks of intense play to make sure there are no intermittent issues.