[Hammarlund] questions for sp600-jx26?

[Eugene Hertz]

howdie folks. Just acquired my very first SP600! and it is a jx26 model.

Few questions...

1. Any one have the little plate that sits above the s-meter and the four little screws that go with it? I believe it identifed the R-274A/FRR designation, (or whichever would be approp. for the 26) etc. I dont care if its repro

2. Know anyone who will respray the front panel? Its in pretty good condition but has some scratches etc. Could use some touch up here and there.

3. I am trying to determine how "Free" my tuning dial is. If I give it a really hard spin and let it free-wheel, I can get about 20-25 log numbers (in right dial).  Any one get about this or more? I guess I had expected more range.

4. Did any sp600 ever come with rack handles? Mine does not but it seems it would be useful when racking/unracking or even for use in a cabinet.

5. Seems like mine has a whole added for a hardwired power cord (2 wire).  I know the current best practice is to change to a 3-wired (and I know this has to be done correctly. I will check on this).  Has anyone tried to cut a hole to allow a standard IEC 3-prong receptacle for this? I may have my terminology wrong, but its the standard receptacle used in, say, computers. Any one ever use the built-in 2 prong receptacle? This seems dangerous to me as the power cord would have exposed male prongs that one could accidentally touch when putting into the receiver. 

6. Mine has an IF OUTPUT jack that *seems* original because the rear skirt has the words "IF OUTPUT" engraved into it.  Anyone use this? I would like to use it for a panadapter. Any one know if this is buffered and bypassed?  

7. I have yet to power it up or anything.  Will there be any detrimental effect if I use an 8ohm spkr with it? I believe it had a standard 600 ohm output originally. Any quick and dirty easy way to determine if it had been converted at any point? (I dont even know if this could be done with something like a parallel resistor).

By the way lots of caps had been replaced (not all), but it looks like there are still those funny square caps with color coded dots on them from AC-gnd-AC. I was told this is a working set that was used all the time even recently.

thanks in advance, I am sure I will have DOZENS more questions in the future as I bring it up .