[ARC5] BC-455 front panel staightening

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

On 4 Jun 2015 at 7:39, Andrew Kopke wrote:

> Hello everyone , There was a post on this somewhere and I can't find it now. It
> looks somewhat east to remove the variable cap. Remove dial ,knob ,antenna
> insulator with proper wrench ( maybe ignition wrench) and then some solder
> joints. My question is how do you go about straightening the front panel ? It's
> bent inward so much that the edge of the dial chaff's on the plastic indicator .
> I was thinking of some wood blocks in-between a vise. I also have a slight dent
> in the rear corner back by the connector ,but I don't think there's much I can
> do about it.

Andrew:

I have straightened almost every dent and bent front panel and chassis in 
every receiver I have worked on. The process is fairly easy since the entire 
receiver is made of aluminum and therefore very soft.

As you say, removing the tuning capacitor is easy: there are four larger 
screws in the front panel to remove, and 4 soldered joints. 3 of those joints 
go to the coil-box connections, and 1 to the antenna connector.

There is a nut on the rear of the antenna connector which holds it together. 
Be aware that almost every antenna connector I have removed was broken 
in pieces, so save the pieces. Super-glue will put those back together well 
enough to enable reinstallation of it.

Straightening the various bits requires the use of wood blocks, often cut to 
size and then drilled in various places to enable any protrusions to be placed 
into those holes.

I have made and kept special wood block with appropriate holes to enable 
me to straighten just about every part of the receivers I work on.

In my experience, there really is nothing you can "hurt" by removing what 
must be removed to enable you to straighten the bent or dented parts.

For dents, I lay the part down onto a wood block of the correct size, then 
using a ball-pien hammer and a regular screwdriver of the approriate size, 
the wider the better, carefully hammer the dent out from the "high" side.

None of this is "rocket science". It simply takes thinking things through for 
each step and going carefully.

I apologize for not getting back with you before now, but family matters have 
intervened. BTW, I cannot make out that square crystal you mentioned from 
your photos, but from what I can see, your receiver looks to be in excellent 
condition otherwise.

Whatever is wrong with your receiver is, in my experience, minor.

Ken W7EKB