Seek and ye shall find they say....well I hit the jackpot of sorts. After mail delivery mix up happened I realised I had my elderly neighbours mail so I promptly went over and delivered it.

We got to talking tools for woodworking and out of the corner of my eye, I spot a very familiar shape. I pulled it out and offered to buy it and he just handed it to me and said he doesn't use it anymore and forgot about it! Below are some pics before and after a quick cleaning and assessment.

As you can see it's in a dire need of some TLC but I'll update you as I found out. I hope I can turn this ugly duckling into a swan

SCORE OF THE YEAR!

and it's only JANUARY!

I was just gonna say that!  Doesn't look too bad condition at all, just clean the battery comaprtment..

I wish I could write one of these "Discovery stories" one day....

congrats brutus awesome find,they dont get better than that

My jaw is on the floor.

Dude...

DUDE...

Congratulations...I will go ring every doorbell in the neighborhood now 

man!! you not only find a box but you found a m90 and for free !!

it doesnt get any better than that. 

Man, I'm not sure what could be a better score than a free M90. One in quite decent shape none the less!

eric

a nice free m90 -

from  kind old folks -

right next door

= DREAM !!!

Someone pinch me! Wowsers!

Just wow, that beast had been sitting just yards away for x amount of time.

Just goes to show you never know whats right under your nose.

mmm i must call in on some of those old neighbour's of mine!!! lol

well done mate and what a nieghbour

Hopefully they won't be offended when you post it on ebay

Thanks gents!

@Reli there's NO plans to Ebay this. I've "adopted" this unit into the family!

Some updated photos after a thorough cleaning (apologies for the fading light..)

The left speaker has a residue from something that penetrated the grill and I can't get that off, the power button and volume knob areas show signs of wear, the battery springs are in need of replacement as is the left antenna...

The radio postion works flawlessly and the various selectors all work.

The cassette deck is showing signs of life, but I'm in need of some experienced tech support on this one.

-DECK

 -fast forward OK

 -rewind starts then stops after about 2 seconds (mechanism dis-engages)

 -will not "play" but mechanisms engages. Pinch roller assembly finally moving again

 -both take-up and supply reel moving when FF or REW selected

Any and all suggestions welcome!

HOLY SMOKES!

I just can't react big enough!

Scott

Get back round there, have a good look upstairs, in drawers, everywhere !!!

WELL DONE great score and best way to recive it ~ with love and respect

Buy a lottery ticket.

Now.

...clearly, it's your lucky week 

As I'm sure you'll know, you'll do no better in the world of boomers than a free M90... good for you!

One question: what was your heart-rate like when you saw it there? 

About the deck: it sounds to me like new belts & a clean & lube of the mech will get it working again. If you can do this yourself, all good, but if not this one is definitely worth investing a repair cost in.

This is some of the best luck in ten years.....i mean what is the chance of your nextdoorneighber having an m90...wish you were in the uk brutus i would fix her for you....it's one of the easiest boxes to change the belts on......congrats my friend you diserve it.....btw i agree with isolator....get a lotto ticket while your luck is like this mate what do you think of the sound????crap innit lol

Thanks again gents,

On the good news front I got the tape deck working again!! Just like Isolator said a little lube and cleaning did the trick! Slowly but surely the mechanism started to move and the belt(s) seem to work. I ran a tape through it twice and all functions work perfectly (haven't tried the record function yet)

I'm going to buy the lottery ticket tomorrow!

Thanks for the supportive comments everyone and at RR, I wish I was in the UK. I'd feel better knowing there's a M90 doctor nearby should it get "sick"! 

Now I have to search out some M90 antennas battery springs which will probably be a tad difficult. Does anyone have any particular sources for parts like these, or do I just hunt Ebay?

great story and what a great find , contgrats

Looks like your quite compitent at fixing m90's yourself bro...i doubt you will need my help...one thing...if you do have to do a TOTAL strip down...you don't have to worry as all those connectors have there place to go...in other words you can't put the connectors in the wrong place lad

what a find ! but the story is worth as much as the m90

i won $750 on the lotto but finding an m90 at your nabours by bring them their mail and he gives it to you for free that truly wont happen agian ! Great story man !

Nice. Do it up, then, stick it on the bay for 4k.

Amazing find !

Wow! Didn't see this thread before too! What a find! Do you still have it Brutus? Guess you do!

Wow Brutus; I've  not seen this thread before  either, great story mate!  Just goes to show every now and again a good  bit of luck can come your way!

Cheers JT!

Oh yes Michiel, this is not going anywhere

Normally I have only one type of luck Seb...bad

Couldnt have happened to a nicer person !!

Geoff i ve missed the story too on how you ve got your M90 !!

Thats a so sweet story !!

I'm going to join this wacky revival and echo exactly what everyone else has said, a free M90 cor blimey!!

I'm glad it happened to a bloke like you is all else I will say.

Thanks gents!

An m90 Sitting in a garage forgotten about for years! amazing story and I'm so glad it had a happy ending!

I Have a 575 for parts and the springs look very similar 

I dont have a M90 so i cant say Ill take a photo tomorrow and send

Its late here ( Im In Tokyo ) and im of to bed

Great to see there are still wild boxes out there

Congratulations

^^^^^^^^^^Good Morning to Tokyo !!

Shit now how am i going to get to sleep

Not meaning to get away from the subject of the free m90, but to suggest on how to get a good nights sleep while listening to deech 's choice of music, may I recommend a good pair of over-the-ear headphones? 

old posting but how i originally missed it i dont know,what a great find and a terrific story too

This score will never die! Again, congrats!

I wonder how many M90's are in toronto or GTA. Im guessing less than 100. 

I wish Gold and Silver was easy to spot... LMAO

Robb posted:

I wonder how many M90's are in toronto or GTA. Im guessing less than 100. 

 

I wish Gold and Silver was easy to spot... LMAO

Survivors...Yes I'd agree with less than 100. I'm sure there are more sitting on garage shelves, and basement window sills. Toronto does seem to have it's share of big JVC's and Conions...

Yeah it's a shame you not in the UK - Would love to help out with the electronic & mechanical restore  I love making these things sing again!

You could do the 'Deep Bath' thing with the case once we have stripped her down! lol.............I DO like cleaning & respraying speaker grilles etc but give me the 'works' to fix any day!!

It's a JVC so it will be sensibly designed & built thus making it like new again really isn't as hard as you think - cleaning & cleaning again will only improve the end results!! I'd say that removing the shit from the battery compartment is gonna be harder than rebelting & servicing this machine & like I say about many of my own, this will have another 30 years of use ahead of it

Not had one & unlikely to own one as they are not really my thing (I am a Sanyo man) however my 656 which I got fit for the dump hints at what's possible higher up the range..........very good bouncy bass indeed for a mid ranger & beautifully silver after her bath  You seem as pleased as I get when I score a really nice stereo - there's no feeling like it  I just sit & look at them for a few days lol & don't care what anyone thinks

I got her all cleaned up to near new Nick. I sorted all of the issues she had (most originated around the old belts) and now she purrs like a kitten. Like you said even just sitting on shelf these boomboxes look awesome

Cleaned up very nicely, congrats.