Beogram 4000: Installation of New Dust Cover and Aluminum Trim

The customer of a Beogram 4000 that I restored in January-February 2025 recently let me know that the new DKsoundparts hood that I installed during the restoration broke off one of the hinges. He included this sad picture:

I decided to replace the cover under warranty since it cannot be ruled out that this was caused by mounting screws that were tightened a bit too hard.

He sent me the hinge. And I installed a new hood and aluminum trim. See here if you are interested in this service. This shows the parts before installation:

First I improved the design of the plexiglass cover by installing small 3D printed plastic bits into the top ends of the 'channels' they designed into the side areas where the aluminum trim is supposed to adhere: 

These channels make it difficult to achieve a perfectly sharp bend with the trim, since it is not supported when it is bent, causing a more rounded corner.

The next step was to check whether there is any interference between the metal back and the plexiglass part when the hinges bend. The new hoods seem generally a bit tighter than the original ones and bent metal hinges can cause interference between metal and plexiglass. The resulting stress can crack the hinge areas of the plexiglass cover. I bolted the metal back onto the hood and checked if the metal would touch the plastic in any way during bending the hinge. On both sides I saw a minimum 1 mm spacing between the parts, i.e. this was a pass:

I removed the metal back again and centered the aluminum trim using my alignment pieces:

I usually use a strip of blue tape to make a pencil mark between strip and the hood:

Then it was time to bolt the metal back in. I put some white wood glue on the threads of the holes in the hinges:

This holds the bolts in place even if they are not tightened very hard.

The final step was applying the aluminum trim

and bending it down on both sides:

Nice precise corners due to my little plastic inserts! Beolovely! Here an impression of the entire dust cover assembly:

Time to send it back to Australia!

Beogram 4002: Installation of a New Dust Cover and Aluminum Trim

I recently received the back of a Beogram 4002 dustcover from a customer in California for the installation of a new dust cover and aluminum trim (Beolover now offers this as a standard service). This shows the received parts on the bench:

My customer already had the hinges removed. This made it easy to check if they were not bent using a special tool that I made a while back when a new hood cracked due to bent hinges (they caused it to chafe on the metal back, and after a while it simply cracked off the hinges due to the stress that occurred every time it was opened or closed). In this case the hinges were perfectly 'spec':

I re-installed them on the black back part. This one was an earlier design that still had the nice set screws for the dowel pins that hold the hinges in place. The set screws are located under separate screws that cover the threads for the set screws:

After removing the screw the set screw can be screwed out. This shows it all the way out for clarity:

Normally, they only need to be loosened a turn or so and then the dowle pin can be stuck in from the side. This shows one of the hinges installed

and here the other:

This shows the components before putting them together: DKsoundparts hood, Beolover aluminum trim and the original hinge:

I strongly recommend doing a quick test with a new hood if it really works with the assembled dustcover back. The new DKsoundparts hoods are a bit 'tighter' than the original ones and the metal back gets closer to the plexiglass than an original one would. Therefore, it is crucial to make sure that there is no chafing. If there is the plexiglass will likely crack after a while. So I now always bolt the metal part in for a quick check if there is any contact between metal and plexiglass:

Once the parts are bolted together, I manually crank the hinge and watch closely if there is any issue. If there is interference, it will most likely be close to the sides. This shows the right hinge in the position with closest metal to plexiglass proximity. A satisfying ~1mm gap can be observed:

And there the other side with a similar gap:

This was no surprise since both of the hinges had passed by calibration tool at the beginning of my process. 

Sadly, later Beogram 4002/4004 do not have the set screws for the dowel pins anymore. Their pins are pressed in and in many instances they cannot be removed without the risk of damaging the black metal back. In such cases the only remedy when the hinges are bent enough to cause interference is Dremeling the plexiglass a bit until friction-free operation is achieved. Luckily, the 'region' that usually needs to be Dremeled is not visible during normal use of the turntable, i.e. this can be done without harming the appearance of the unit.

On to the installation!

I removed the hinge part and installed small 'filling pieces' in the channels that they designed in the back of the hoods where the aluminum trim needs to be installed. Not sure why there are these channels, maybe a requirement for the casting process. The original hoods do not have it. These channels are a bit annoying in that they make it difficult bending the aluminum trim smoothly. There is nothing under the trim when it gets bent, and so the bend is less 'sharp' in the area of the channels. These little 3D printed pieces try alleviating this issue. I epoxy them into place and then trim them with a razor blade:

The next step was determining the perfect center position of the aluminum trim. I do this with my alignment tools that clip to the hood. They make it very easy centering the trim:

Once the trim was centered I made a pencil mark across the trim and a piece of blue tape on the hood:

Then it was time to bold the back part in again. I usually put a bit of white carpenter glue on the threads in the hinges:

The idea is to hold the screws firmly in place since they cannot be bolted in very tightly. If they are bolted in too hard, the hood can crack again after a while. The white glue is soft enough that the screws can still be removed if need be, but it will hold them in place against vibrations etc...

Then it was time to glue the aluminum trim on and bend the side pieces. I use a specially designed bending block. It makes it easier to get a good bend around the corner:

The final step was inserting the hood bumpers on the front corners:

These bumpers come with the DKsoundparts hoods. And here a picture of the final result!

Beolovely! This hood assembly is ready to be returned to its Beogram 4002!

Beogram 4002 (5513): New Wood Plinth, Dust Cover, Keypad and Installation of a Commander Remote Control System

I recently functionally restored a Beogram 4002 (Type 5513) for a customer in Virginia. He decided to also get its cosmetics upgraded with a new walnut 4000c style wood plinth, hood and keypad, and also get a Beolover Commander remote control system installed.

This shows the final condition of the unit:

Beolovely! Almost like new!

My first project was replacing the cracked wood plinth:

Its left front corner had taken a hit at some point:

I put the frame into the oven at 250F. After baking it for 30 min I took it out and with a carpet knife cut the wood panels from the metal fixtures. The glue gets weakened by the heat treatment and the metal parts are easily liberated when hot. The more difficult task is the removal of the hardened old glue remnants. I usually soak the parts in Goo Gone for 24 hrs. I spray the product on and then wrap the parts in plastic foil to prevent drying out:

After 24 hrs the glue can be rubbed off with a bit of effort. This shows the cleaned parts after washing them with dish detergent:

I use 3M 300LSE double sided tape for glueing the parts into the new frame. This shows the tape backed parts together with the new 4000c style walnut frame:

I use two small Beogram 400x aluminum cover plates as alignment help for gluing the metal frame pieces at the right height into the wood frame:

I also use a strip of parchment paper on one side of the metal parts for keeping it from sticking while pushing it into the corner on the other end. The aluminum plates have a thickness that matches the machined recess in the wood frame perfectly, which makes it easy to glue the metal parts at the proper level. This shows the nice alignment achieved with this method:

Her a shot of a corner:

Beolovely! On to the keypad.

This shows the original keypad with finger smudges (on the right) together with the restored keypad that I installed:

The first step was replacing the cracked original plastic brackets that hold the RPM panel in place. They often crack when people pry out the RPM panel in an off angle:

Luckily there are perfectly reproduced replacements available at the DKsoundparts store in Denmark. This shows the two new replacements together with the extracted original parts:

All one needs to do is transferring the metal springs to the new parts:

This pictures shows them installed:

And here bolted into the new keypad:

The new brackets need to be adjusted that the RPM panel is flush with the left keypad side:

Before I put in the new keypad I installed the Beolover Commander remote control receiver board:

It plugs directly into the keypad jack of the main PCB. This shows the keypad installed with the Commander auto-repeat indicator LED bolted in under the keypad screw:

My customer also wanted a new Beolover Carriage Motor for Beogram 4000, 4002, and 4004 installed. This upgrade makes the carriage run more quietly while drawing less current, which protects the H-bridge transistors. This shows the original motor still in place:

I unsoldered the leads and took it out. This shows the original motor still in the enclosure together with the new replacement:

The new replacement fits perfectly into the space with the two provided rubber rings for damping its vibrations:

This shows it bolted in with the leads soldered back on:

The final upgrade was a new hood. This shows the new hood together with a new aluminum trim strip:

The first step of the transfer is unbolting the old hood from the metal hinge. The screws are easily accessed after prying off the aluminum trim on the sides of the hood. This reveals the mounting screws:

The centered alignment of the new strip is a snap when using the Beolover alignment aides (orange):

I usually use a blue tape strip for making a pencil alignment mark:

Once the alignment has been marked, the hinge can be bolted into the new hood and the trim can be installed:

A crucial moment is the bending of the side parts. The Beolover bending block that is included with our trims helps getting a precise corner fold:

This shows one of the corners:

Beolovely! And here a picture of the completed hood assembly:

This Beogram was now not only perfectly restored on the inside, but also in perfect cosmetic condition on the outside! Here a few pictures showing off its lovely looks: