Greetings fellow Elcaset tape enthusiasts. I am new to this forum, but seeking assistance. I am the proud owner of two elcasets. An EL-7 and an EL-5. Both have been in extended storage (along with an awesome Sony TC-765 10" R 2 R) for over 18 years. They are still in pretty good shape. (although they have that moldy smell) I have spent a lot of time on the R 2 R and it is cleaned up, greased, new drive belt, pots cleaned with contact cleaner, etc. and is now working wonderfully! So my next project is the EL-5. After a lot of disassembly (and admiration for an awesome design of both electronics and mechanics) and cleaning, greasing, replacement of the two small reel assembly brake pads (new 1mm thick felt), its working pretty good. My REAL problem and the subject of my question is this.... does anyone know HOW to remove the reel spindle assembly from the mounting shaft? The spring loaded cap on the supply reel has some sort of binding issue and will not freely spring up and down (or front to back) and thus will not properly engage the sprocket hubs (or whatever they are called) in the plastic elcaset tape shell. I have the repair manual and it shows the exploded diagram of these parts, but there is no clue as to how to remove them. I don't want to break it, as there is no replacement part. Because of the 4 holes in the "base" ( i.e. the flat part) of the assembly, I was thinking that there was probably some sort of tool - a puller of some sort - to actually pull the assembly off of the axle. But I am not sure.. I want to try to find out what is binding in the spring loaded cap assembly and try to repair it so that it will easily and properly engage the supply reel hub. Is there any experience with this out there? I would sincerely appreciate any advice!