This relates to my post about fixing two of these units. (This post is one of 3 related posts. I'll remove this line when they are complete.) https://www.stereo2go.com/forums/threads/aiwa-hs-j09-hs-j600-etc-belt-replacement.9345/ Most of these units are unfortunately devalued by missing parts. Here are guides for making the white and black switch knobs, the tape direction indicator windows, the precious battery compartment lid and transparent trim panels. If you don't have original parts to duplicate, use the best photos you can find in ads or posts. I regard my creations as crude, but much better than nothing. Presumably with more practice and better tools, or by outsourcing to a professional model maker, I could get more exact replicas. The materials I use: - aluminum roofing flashing - .5 mm thick polystyrene sheet stock - 1.8 mm thick polystyrene sheet stock - polystyrene glue - epoxy, preferably Plastic Bond Tools? Too many to list. The most important tools are: micro saw, xacto knife or equivalent, tweezers, very small files. White Switch Slide Knobs (The green knob is very different from the white ones. Luckily it is very well attached because duplicating it by hand would be almost impossible.) 1. Cut and shape a piece of the thicker plastic stock to match the side profile of the original knob. Cut a notch in one side of the protrusion on what will be the bottom of the knob. This notch will be 3 sides of the tiny narrow slot that jams onto the knob sticking up out of the actual switch. 2. Use the polystyrene glue to attach a layer of the thin plastic stock to one side of the knob. Cut and file it to the same profile. This creates the slot on the bottom. 3. Glue a second piece of the thin plastic to the same side of the knob and trim it to shape so it forms the wider top of the knob. Remove material from the other side so the slot will fit through the knob's opening in the control panel. One of the 6 white switch knobs is a replacement. Black Switch Slide Knobs 1. Cut a channel in the edge of a piece of the 1.8mm stock, twice as long as the length of the hollow post on the bottom of the original knob. The depth of this channel will be half the dimension of the thickness of the white post in the actual switch. Cut this piece off, cut it in half, and glue the sides together to form a square hollow post. Make sure this post fits through the slot in the jack panel and is a very snug fit on the white knob on the actual switch. This piece has to be small enough to allow full travel of the switch. 2. Cut and file a piece of flashing to the length and width of the original slide knob. Cut a hole in this flashing, centered exactly. This hole is to accommodate the post from step 1. If you don't have one or both of the original switches, these pieces have to be the right length to fill their channels but not interfere with each other in all settings of both switches. 3. Epoxy a piece of the thin stock to the aluminum piece and clamp to harden. Trim this plastic layer to match the metal layer. 4. Use the polystyrene cement to glue the post to the plastic layer through the hole in the aluminum layer. 5. To simulate the original grip surface, cut a round piece of the thin stock, glue and position it on the assembly. After the glue hardens, use a small triangular file or the micro saw to cut the grooves. I reduced the number of grooves to make this easier. It takes some care to get them straight. 6. Use a tiny drop of partially hardened epoxy to simulate the tiny button on the knob. Make sure of the positioning. 7. Paint. Note a black satin finish is better than gloss paint. The replacements aren't nearly as good as the originals, but better than nothing. Tape Direction Window The tape direction window is made from a flat piece of clear plastic food container, such as vegetables or desserts are sold in. 1. Cut to fit in the recess in the chrome control panel and tape it in place with some clear tape. 2. Skip to step 4 if you wish to avoid creating the white triangle border. Cut the tape on both sides of the white lines and remove the strips. 3. Use white paint to create the lines. 4. Cut the tape to match the clear triangle window and remove all the tape except this triangle. 5. Paint the taped side black. Remove the triangle window tape and let the paint dry. Glue or use thin double-sided tape to secure the window in the recess in the control panel. Not hard to pick out the replacement tape direction window. Battery Cover Lid The neat thing about the aluminum flashing is that it's pretty strong, but it can be cut with metal snips, scissors, micro saw or an xacto blade. It might be good to make one out of paper first for practice. I've provided a template. Bend at the red lines. 1. Cut on all the solid lines. Note that at H I got the drawing a bit wrong. There will be an angled cut there for a flange to simulate the latch knob on the battery latch flap. 2. Bend the metal at C to match the curvature of the corner of the battery enclosure. 3. Bend the metal at D to match the curvature of the corner of the battery enclosure. 4. Bend the metal at H, at 90° to create the latch knob function. 5. Bend at A, 90°. 6. Bend at B, 90°. Portion D, E, G should wrap around outside and line up with portion C, F, H. 7. Epoxy the overlaps together and clamp them while the glue hardens. 8. Trim the metal to get an exact fit. 9. The 1.8mm plastic filler piece needs 2 fittings. One is a bevel to clear the battery plate hinge. The other is that it has to be narrowed for clearance at J. Epoxy and clamp. 10. Next is to make the 2 channels for the sides of the battery plate. These are U-shaped 1.8mm stock with the slot cut using the micro saw. Use polystyrene glue to attach them to the filler piece. Make and glue them one at a time. Positioning is critical. Their length and positioning has to exactly match the original. One has to match the curved corner of the lid and both have to accommodate any epoxy. 11. Using the thin plastic stock, make and position the little bumps between the channels. 12. Shape the .5mm stock to mimic the round grip surface on the outside of the lid. Carefully position, glue and clamp it in place. Use the micro saw to cut the grooves in it. A tiny triangle cross section file would be better to make these grooves. Duplicating the lettering on the lid is beyond my capabilities. 13. Paint. Avoid painting where the battery plate makes contact. Transparent Trim Panels These units often have lettering etc. printed on transparent plastic and stuck on the case pieces. An example is a radio tuner dial on the HS-J09. Sometimes these prices are missing or damaged. I haven't had to replace one, so this is a speculative repair. 1. Obtain a photo of the panel. This will have to be a compromise between being close up for detail and distance to minimize distortion. 2. Photoshop it to the real size and shape. Reverse the image. Practice print it onto paper to refine the dimensions. (This technique can be used to repair old wallpaper.) 3. Use a color laser printer to print it onto heavy overhead transparency sheet. 4. Cut and glue it into place. Other Repairs - My AM antenna was broken. Epoxying the ferrite rod back together is the fix. Brace the aerial straight and secure the ends tight together while the epoxy cures. The magnetic field around the ferrite rod is what's important and the field survives such a break. - A long narrow metal plate borders the battery compartment from the guts of the unit. This plate is held on by 2 screws and includes a tab that connects a tiny spring to the metal chassis. This spring is vulnerable to escaping and disappearing. You may want to secure it with drops of glue on the ends. Little or no work requires removing that plate anyway. - The paint on the back of my unit was badly marred. Masking all the miniscule lettering is impossible, so I masked off an area and sprayed the rest of it. I couldn't find an exact paint match. I masked and painted some black lines etc. that were worn off. It may not look great but it's a big improvement. - Cracks in the case panels can be epoxied from inside and taped in position while the glue hardens. Then use a sharp knife like an xacto to clean up any leaked epoxy on the outside after it hardens. - Broken traces in ribbon or flex cables can be repaired by soldering lengths of fine transformer winding wire to the cable terminals. This bridges the whole ribbon cable. The ribbon cable can be used as a support and guide for the wire. - Broken plastic hooks on case panels can be reinforced with shaped pieces of flashing epoxied on the inside. - The equalizer outside trim panel is often separated from the cassette door. Use epoxy and clamps to repair. - Dents in the aluminum cassette door panel can be pressed and bent from behind back into shape. - Dents in the equalizer trim panel can be pressed out from behind if they are accessible with the equalizer board detached. - If the "bridge" on the unit's back cover, that forms the other half of the battery lid latch, is broken, fashion a piece of beverage can aluminum to epoxy inside the cover. Flashing is too thick and will jam the batteries. Use an xacto knife to cut the hole needed for the latch. Drill out the hole needed for the cover screw, and the 2 vent holes on newer production. You also have to remove a mylar washer from around the screw hole because it's thickness is no longer needed. Epoxy the new piece in place. It must fit snugly or the batteries won't slide in and out.
