SONY WM-F107 total restoration

I don't use to restore my stuff (I take it to a tech) but with this walkman I felt I can do it and encouraged to start. It has been a long process but the result is very good I think.
The unit is in very good overall condition, but it's seriously yellowed (it's really a white unit) and the cover of the radio knob is missing.




First, uncover the screws of the shell and unscrew them to open the door:



Remove the volume knob. It's dirty inside.


Now I remove the mechanics:

Sadly the solar battery has leaked acid. Ugh! I'll have to replace it. The belt is melted.



So I cleaned them thoroughly:

And then installed a new belt from Fixyouraudio.com

The solar panel is OK:



Time to replace the battery. It's solded to the PCB:

The acid also spread in the shell:

So first unsold the battery:

Get a new one:

Remove the tabs:

Charge the new one:

PRepare it to replace:

 

Finally I solded it:

Now continue removing selectors:

Now I open the other door where the radio is:

Luckily is in excellent condition; just a bit dirty.
Finally the entire mechanics is off:

I removed the rubber seal:

Now the shell is totally empty:

Now I clean it thoroughly:

So it's ready for a good retro-brighting!

 

I cover them with hydrogen peroxide cream (not sure the proper name in english, in spanish is crema oxigenada) and wwap with plastic to leave them for one entire day under the sun. The chemical will do the job:

In the meantime I restored the rubber seal with this, which applies a silicone film that protects it from the air, light and UV:


After an entire day it end up like this:

So I decided to give it another day. Finally it end up like this:

Finally I washed it and this is the result:

Cool, huh?

Ok, now on to assembling it and restoring a few things. The radio dial panel fell off:

So I had to remove the adhesive and create a new one, with high quality double-sided adhesive:

Cleaned and relubed the knobs:

Mounted the solar panel and the mechanics:


And basically assembling it back. The final touch, a SONY sticker from @doublecee :

 

And the final result is a walkman that works without the external compartment, sounds very good and looks very cool! Not only that, the solar panel apparently works!

And the yellowish coloration almost went out completely (there's still just a smaaaall rest there).
As I have another one in better condition, I'll put this one for sale.

 

Nice photos, and a cool player on top of that, thanks for posting!

 

Thanks. Well, the photos are actually poor and not at the level I use to do, but this time I really didn't have the energy to do them while restoring but I think they do the job.
I though this entire restoration could be harder but it wasn't so hard in the end.

 

You're welcome. glad you liked.

 

It seems not to affect the lettering at all. I haven't noticed any -even slight- damage.

To me alkaline are the typical AA cells (not batteries). NiMh don't usually leak, at least I haven't seen any in years. But NiCd can leak acid as you saw. The big problem with acid leaking is motherboard damage.