So here we are! I recently acquired an Audiosonic TBS 8900 made in Japan. It was lets say "on sale" but turned out to be a real disaster as far as its cosmetic appearance. Deep scratches on the chrome colored plastic,foggy glass and discolorations enough to make you want to throw this box away or let it rest in peace in some basement. However i want to give it a new start and maybe new life! I want to make it shine again and give some character to the box! So this is my "Frankenstein" and since its going to be the first time for me to restore plastic and chrome parts scratches blurs thunders snakes and sea monsters i hope experienced members can advice on how to proceed! I encourage members here to post their opinions of how they would like, "Frankenstein" to be and create him with me from scratch! Anything goes: From led colored tuner display to color combinations to chrome parts painting e.t.c Have fun and post some cool ideas!
Nice box. I have one of these I still need to fix. If a box is beyond restoring then I'm up for modding. Doesn't look too bad this one? Though pics can make them look better than they are...as we all know from eBay lol. This one has clear separate sections to the constructions so could be painted pretty easily I think
I cannot get out the plastic under the cassette deck even with ceramic iron or have to try harder and be very gentle! Another problem speaker chrome parts cannot be taken apart there is no screw left maybe with other method than drilling holes into it! The other thing to tackle will be what to do with the lettering bass volume tremble etc i would like to keep those in place...maybe impossible with paint! The box was pretty easy to disassemble even for a rookie like me. What about a new color combo maybe black chrome and red details?Something like the victor boxes maybe. More detailed pics will follow
Interiors are working just fine and the box is producing a decent sound however i would not compare it to the sound of a crown 950 or a sharp gf 9494 no way! I don't know if authentic Conion sound better!
I wouldnt paint it , i would wait for a parts one to make it complete if there is something missing. With a deep clean this will shine again . It s just the speakers that need to be painted because they are faded.
Τhis unit is complete and the pictures shown is after the bath! It lost its shine somewhere collecting moisture in Holland for years! Maybe another color and some love to the plastics can make it shine again I will not compromise the front center plastic panel only if someone is able to remove it safely i failed doing that. I want to try to save the letters on top but have to speak to some pro about that Again magic marker is out of the question!
I saw one for sale but are kind of rare around here, not much information floating around either. How did it clean up?
I'd love to see a video of the giant presses making the cases for boomboxes, has anybody seen one? From the Singapore Newspapers I've been browsing through it looks like there's a handful of big plastic injector companies over there, they probably made most of the cases for everyone.
Last time you mentioned it I found. https://www.chessplastics.co.uk/manufacturing/ in the London Science Museum they had the moulds for a Tupperware jug, and it was surprising for large and soild it was. Not the sort of item that would be a one man lift. On the subject of injection moulding, Amstrads first big break was getting a tool made to make the transparent covers for record decks. Alan Sugar reckoned the tool cost twice what he paid for a house. However, once finished they could churn out said lids in a fraction of the time (and consequently cost) with better quality than by blow moulding which was what competitors were using.
Most of the factories are super clean with a ton of colored pellets, they were everywhere in Michigan cranking out parts for the auto industry. My college professors would get excited about some of the advances made in the 80's when they really hit their stride and plastics became an acceptable product part. The feeling in the 70's was toys, radios and interior car parts made of plastics were cheap, not as durable or prestigous as metal. The boombox makers were really front and center with amazing design and construction of the plastic parts and probably were a major reason plastics became widely accepted. Of course on the other hand, the audio component guys hated BPC (Black Plastic Crap), most components went from silver faced metal to black plastic that all looked the same and with much lower quality. There's always exceptions, I have a few units I love but there were a ton of similar looking audio that was really underwhelming.
I recall it newsworthy in the electronics press when a U.K. Tv manufacturer commissioned a plastic back for a portable colour TV. Back then larger 20" + sets were still using chipboard cabinets with cardboard backs. In fact a surprising amount of 1980s HiFi (e.g. the Sharp VZ3000 still used cardboard/hardboard backs. You are right that the person given the challenge of designing something like the VZ2000 must of initially thought it was a big challenge. Certainly more so than something the size of a Walkmap. p.s. Imagine what you could make with a machine like this https://www.onsiteinstaller.com/onl...w_pressure_injection_molding_machine_revealed
We have a large plastic (chemical storage) tank company in the Midwest, I used to sell their products. They have something similar but it's rotational molding, you put the pellets in a giant mold and then it spins on several axis to get your tank. The room is huge and it's impressive to watch the slow spinning. The process can get a very uniform covering and some added plastic around the middle where most of the stress is. I forgot about old TVs have pressboard, I think of my monster 42" set from 20 years ago that was all plastic and very strong for the amount of weight it had to carry. I'm sure CAD and FAE coming out strong in the 80's helped designers make the most of the plastic parts. Just look at the support structure and fastening points. When I worked for the audio guys, one of the engineers did some small design work on the cassette cleaning cartridge shells. I remember quizzing him on some points like the amount of draft (slope) needed so the parts would slip out of the mold and other boring stuff like that, some of the casework engineering might have taken more thought than circuit board design. If you like this stuff, AvE on YouTube pulls apart tools (among other things), he talks about the motors, bearings, switches and the plastic housings. Beware, he's funny as heck but he has a major potty mouth.
