[Kenneth F. Besso Jr.]

Don't know the exact size you all are using,,,for Belts,,,,But,,I have found vacuum cleaners (round) belts work great,,,just go a store whom has variety of them,,,you know pick and choose,,,,CHEERS

[morzh]

Ken

A belt from Adams (which I bought yesterday, so....) is made exactly for your model, and costs under $7.
Last time I was looking for a belt/o-ring (for my Philco 16) in such a store, it took me 1) going there, 2) trying to explain the attendant what I need and 3) spending like 30 minutes going through drawers that required me to use a stool to stand on loking through like 20 of them, under a ceiling in a non-air-conditioned warehouse-style building.

Why would I not spend $7 when exactly what I need comes to my mailbox?

[Kenneth F. Besso Jr.]

YOUR are Correct,,,MY Friend,,,just a long Shot,,in thee end

[morzh]

The belt came yesterday, I have just installed it, the vernier now works well, I can tune the cap by the tuning knob (which is quite mishapen but... Can't have all at once).
The procedure is a PITA.
There are 2 C-clips, old style (no notches or holes for the tool) that are at the opposite ends of the shaft, and then the volume pot has to be unscrewed and the bracket that holds it unscrewed and turned to let the shaft go far back so it clears the way for the belt to be put over it.

But I did it.
Ready to put it back in the cabinet.

[morzh]

When I said "ready" I forgot I had to put the metal shield back.
Proved to be a bit of a challenge.
I was a bit nervous about shorting things so I lined it with fish paper which I glued in.
Seems to work fine.

Maybe this weekend: the one that ended yesterday I spent in the circus and then cooking meals.....

The knobs seem to be sold in the RR, will call tomorrow.

Boy does that radio sound good or what....

[morzh]

....2-1/2 months after starting.....

Finished it today.
The few things I had to do were:
1. Unfreeze the preset switch for Micro FM. Where the shafts were going through the panel there was some white silicon rubber-like substance. Very flexible but it somehow really impeded the movement.
Picking it out with tweezers and scalpel, lits of PBBlaster, WD40 and Lithium grease eventually did the job.

2. Ordered the new tuning knob from Ed. Mine was really warped.
3. Glued the grillcloth. I ordered it when I bought the radio, from Kenny, the herringbone one. Somehow there were two pieces there, not sure why.

Today I assembled it.

Piece of advice to Mike: mark the screws. Bag them separately for each piece. The lengths are different.
Putting antenae back took some remembering and mental 3-D modelling but went fine.

This radio is a pain assembly-wise.

Results: the base of this thing is overpowering. Has to be subdued with the bass knobs, or it is really booming. Also need some weatherstripping under the glass: it vibrates when the base is strong. But I do like the sound.

[morzh]

With a new knob and grillcloth.

   
   

[KCMike]

Very well done Mike . That's a really nice looking cabinet. I wonder if the big bass sound is inherent to the type of speaker used in it.
I had to hunt down the correct speaker and one of the rotating antennas. Luckily I found both on the Ebay over a several month search.
 Great thread that I'm sure will be a helpful to anyone working on one of these Zeniths.

[morzh]

Mike, the speaker is being sold on eBay. The guy couldn't sell it, relisted. He has the sound board too.

Yes it seems like even while on the bench, out of the cabinet, the speaker was still pretty heavy on bass.
If I do not depress at least one of the bass buttons, it becomes too much.

After I wrote this I had to take off the bezel again, plus button assemblies and put some weatherstripping between the glass and the tabs, between the bezel and the woid and small pieces under the lower buttons panels, something was buzzing when bass was heavy. Seems ok for now.

I will make a nicer photo of the grillcloth tomorrow, these were taken with my tablet, not my camera.



PS. The speaker sold for $20.

[KCMike]

Yea I seen that speaker when it first listed. I already found one but almost bid on it anyway. They don't come up very often.

[morzh]

Some pics:

   
   
   
   
   

[KCMike]

  Well done.

[morzh]

Mike

If you will be re-clothing the grill, here's what I experienced:

The cloth does not go around the board on the sides: the board has no space in between it's​ sides and the board surrounding​it, so the cloth should be trimmed to the size.
At the bottom it can go around but the original doesn't​.
The only place where it goes over is the beveled top.

The cloth is glued, not stapled.

The board's surface is not smooth and, given the size of the cloth, it does not move freely when you try to stretch it.
If on top of that you are using the fast drying spray glue, you are racing against time.
Be aware.

[KCMike]

Thanks for the heads up on grill cloth. Sounds like pain from start to finish.

[morzh]

Oh yeah....well, truth be told, not as much pain as it is.... Inconvenient

Some AA5 are more painful