Basic tape repair 101 Most tapes carts, once you get them open, are the same inside. So the repairs shown here are nearly universal other than the pressure pad. Two styles of mechanics are used to maintain constant tape pressure on the head. The first and best is a copper spring with felt squares which are easy to repair. DO NOT USE ANY TAPE WITH THE FELT SQUARES MISSING! Anyway, (sorry for yelling) most carts use the foam strip to maintain tape pressure and that is the second style of tape. This too is fairly easy but requires opening the cartridge to get to the offending bits. Our example this time is my prized Queen "Night at the Opera" cart that I picked up in 1975 when I was 16 years old. A look into the end of the cart tells the sad tale. The pressure foam has lost it's springy nature these past 36 years and the tape has separated... with one end lost inside around the reel. This incidentally can happen to a sealed NOS tape you purchased off eBay incidentally. So DO NOT PLAY any tape you buy that is newly purchased until you examine the sense-tape and pressure pad. (more on that later) This cart has only one hooky thingy so with pressure on the plastic hook and gently pulling apart the two half's.... ... with the back half of the cart uses just friction pins so it only requires a gentle twist of the screwdriver to pull apart. Now, pull both ends of the tape out the front and make sure neither is twisted. The ends of the seam are re-cut clean losing only a minimum of tape and taped down to the desk using removable tape since I do not own a proper tape block. The seam is sealed with (see the first pic) Model Master chrome foil. This material is available at most hobby shops and is used to apply chrome trim to model cars. I do not suggest you use "Baremetal" brand foil as that is too thin and the adhesive too light. But for this purpose, I have found none better! Trim and remove the holding down tape. This step is easier than it might seem. Lightly place the left finger on the reel to maintain that the tape coiling up does not pop up while you pull tape using the right hand. As the tape is pulled the reel pulls and the tape loop you were working with slowly reduces in size. This trick can actually be done with out taking the two halfs of the cart apart! Done, just make sure that the tape is on the INSIDE of the cart before putting the halfs back together. More later....
Part 2, replacing the pressure pad. The pressure pad is made up of three parts: Styrene strip backing plate, 1/4" x 1/4" foam and a strip of tape. Cut a piece of new foam into 1/4" by 1/4" strip and cut to length. Clean the old foam (icky) off the styrene backing strip. The cut a length of packing tape which incidentally is the same width as the length of styrene. Then glue the foam to the styrene and lay the whole thing onto the tape and trim the excess. The new pressure pad needs a relief cut in the middle, do this with a sharp #11 blade. And install into the lid of the cart. On this design the pressure pad installs on the lid. Some of them it fits into the bottom. Now pop the two half's back together and you are done! Just watch the open end and make sure you don't pinch the tape. This time I broke the locking pin opening the cart so had to use little strips of packing tape to hold it together. I chose to run the tape like so as tape along the sides would rub while inserting it into the player. Personal preference only. Works perfect and I saved the cart for a while longer. Just a word on Pinch rollers. The Pinch roller is the little wheel in the forward edge of the cart. The capstan spins against this pinching the tape and pulling it along past the tape head. Very early rollers were a soft rubber. Some of those rubber rollers tend to turn to goo over time. But not all!!! There were many later carts built with improved rubber pinch rollers and I have more than a few in my collection. The best thing you can do before putting your money on the table is look into the end of the cart and see visually that the pinch roller is solid. Touch it and poke the pressure pads to ensure they pop back. If the felt pads are missing, the foam remains collapsed or the tape is broken... the cart will need repaired before putting it into your player! But... do not fret if you find a great tape with a gooey pinch roller! I probably have the only still-working copy of "The Astronauts - GO GO GO" from 1965. Because I took the time to clean up all the melted pinch roller and replace it with a later roller that popped right in along with replacing the sense-tape. But now it plays beautifully. (Can be seen in my tape box on the front seat by the way, middle column - bottom row) Next.... we tackle how to repair the tape player in your car! So stay tuned to this same 8-track channel!
Thank you Andy. I'm just a retroheaded hipster burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night.
Hey, somewhere around here I still have a roll of 1" 24 track recording tape~ I don't lament the demise of tape. Still have an old Yamaha MTX 4 track cassette recorder.
My buddies mom still has a 8-track recorder! At one point i had a 8-track cassette and cd of the same music!
Yup, that is the plan of the corporations. Change the format and we have to buy up the Beatles "White Album" all over again! Basic consumerism as was voiced by Tommy Lee Jones in "Men in Black"! I actually have many of the same albums in Vinyl, 8-track and CD. But the only one, that I have in 5 versions of is Fleetwood Mac - "Rumors" which is in Vinyl, 8-Track, CD, Cassette and .... on my iTunes (digital) in my computer! Weird huh?
oh ...im gonna torment you.... i have about 300 tapes and about 20 players(home) and about 30 (car) so Jairus.....i gotta ask....whats your 'holy grail' tape? get ready for some pics...
Easy question. Dick Dale and the Del tones! Been searching for one for quite a while and nothing has come up yet. Think I might have to make my own. Which is not a big deal. Did that with the modern rock group "Jet" when their first album hit the U.S. market. Printed labels, re-arranged the songs to miss the 'ka-thunk' of the the track changes even. But so far Dick Dale (King of the surf guitar) is my holy grail.
hmm....might have to dig for that one...i think i have one...not sure....this is a 40 year old collection that i havent looked thru in years
this is just the junk sitting in the hallway... and my 'holy grail' car player...the Craig Powerplay...Tranny hump mount...new in box
Well now... those are very cool, especially the hump mount thingie. While I have never been one to acquire tons of tapes and players, I can appreciate those that do. I have one home player, 4 portables and two car players only. Nothing much to write home about other than the three Panasonic TNT players in blue, red and yellow. Beyond that everything is pretty much pedestrian compared to your first picture Rev. Guess I am just a lover of the concept more than I am the devices. In fact, on Monday I plan to borrow a friends 8-track car player just so I can show how to fix the belt. Hahahaha P.S. looking forward to seeing more pictures of your collection... please!
My `81 Cutlass Calais had a stock Delco 8-track player in it; I made sure to keep it after the car was gone. Years later, I decided to put it in my `84 Delta, and, although it didn't fig quite in the hole for the stock AM/FM, it fit good enough to give it a try, and it works! Still have it along with a few tapes, just no car to put the deck into at the moment!
I love 8-tracks! I can listen a few of my favorite songs at the same time! The Buick will definitely have one! David
