Vintage Thorens TD-165 Turntable for Restoration

With Black Walnut custom plinth - looking and sounding good. Next order of business is to order a custom dust cover from the UK:



Before this I had mounted a thrust bearing for the motor

 
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So I buggered up the Thorens Tally plate from Australia with a crazy glue spill. Not heartbroken as it wasn't really what I was looking for. Have opted for ordering a black 3d printed name similar to the chrome one listed above from a fellow I bought my RCM from which you can see herein:



Here is a quick mockup in 2D as to what I expect the 3D lettering to look like when I receive - I think it will look very cool!
IMG_20160310_215222.jpg
 
Wasn't sure if I should revive this old thread of mine (still enjoying the table immensely). I done gone and done it again. Found me another Thorens TD-165 turntable that needs a little help so I am refurbishing this one for my man-cave system to replace a Pioneer PLX-500-K just to stay in the Vintage realm. Of course I have a thing for old Thorens tables since I lived in the town where they were built (Lahr, West Germany at the time). Issues:
1. It was missing a headshell assembly which I ordered (along with the alignment jig) off of Canuck Audio Mart from a fellow Canadian who lives in Quebec - I of course live clear across the country in British Columbia so it will be a while before it arrives. In the meantime I pulled the headshell off my TT shown previously and it sounds pretty darn good except:
2. Belt keeps slipping off the motor pulley assembly on 33 1/3 and 45 - falls off the bottom when spinning up to 33 1/3 from stop and tends to slip off the top when in 45 mode. I am able to get it running to speed after playing with it a bit and keep it spinning to change records. That is where the good sound comes through. Suspect the springs are waaaaay out of adjustment so will need to tweak to get it running....
3. Old plinth it was on was in rough shape. Good thing I kept the previous plinth as it is in terrific shape even though it is a vinyl veneer version. I may entice my neighbour to work his magic again...
4. Needs a dust cover - will order same as above - love that one.
5. Belt shot - used my spare Thakker - ordering another.
6. Typical of the TD 165, the face plate has a few nasty scratches hence the real purpose of this post. I can order a NOS version from Switzerland that is perfect. I am unable to find any info on the web regarding how to remove the old face plate and put a new one on?????? Can anyone point me in the right direction? Do I absolutely need to remove the tonearm to do so or is there a work around??????
Thanks
TMF
 
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Your thread is one of the ones that inspired me to get a 165 off of BT and restore it and I am glad that I did! I was thinking of replacing my faceplate at one time too, and I believe that once you remove the screws in the corners, it can just be pried off. You may be able to lift it carefully over the tone arm, but it would probably be safest to remove that too. The faceplate was adhered with just a bit of adhesive. I ultimately decided it wasn't worth the investment considering the other upgrades I wanted to do, so I never changed my own.

I am interested in changing my plinth to a custom one as you have done. I have the original vinyl wrapped plinth. Do you happen to have the dimensions used to create your custom plinth?
 
ajward549 said:
Your thread is one of the ones that inspired me to get a 165 off of BT and restore it and I am glad that I did! I was thinking of replacing my faceplate at one time too, and I believe that once you remove the screws in the corners, it can just be pried off. You may be able to lift it carefully over the tone arm, but it would probably be safest to remove that too. The faceplate was adhered with just a bit of adhesive. I ultimately decided it wasn't worth the investment considering the other upgrades I wanted to do, so I never changed my own.

I am interested in changing my plinth to a custom one as you have done. I have the original vinyl wrapped plinth. Do you happen to have the dimensions used to create your custom plinth?
Click to expand...
Many thanks ajward549 - glad it has provided some use to someone. I had heard that the face plate is easily separated from the ebay listing for the new face plate as there is only a little glue used to hold them on. My main worry though is getting it up and over the tonearm assembly. I really don't want to remove the tonearm if I don't have to since each time I mess with it I risk damaging it and replacements for anything Thorens are not cheap I am finding out. As for dimensions I just used the inside dimensions of the old plinth as my baseline - will measure up the dimensions of the plinth when I get home from work tonight - I basically gave carte blanche to my neighbour to build the plinth as he sees fit. I may get him to do me up another one for this table.
;-)
 
Timothy Flath said:
Just got a Thorens TD 165 today for restoration. Thought it was in better mechanical shape but I new it would take some effort. Here are the three video clips I have done today to show the condition of it. The third video is the one that has me the most worried. Wondering if there is any advice on which direction to go - Do I need to replace the motor and spindle assembly or are there some spindle fixes to sort out the noise? I have ordered a new belt and the ant-skate arm that was broken on the TTshown in Part 1

Part 1 Overview of TT Top view

Part 2 Internal view

Part 3 Motor Noise
Click to expand...
My 165 does the same thing but ONLY with the belt removed. I think it's the motor bearing that's worn out. I read that if you don't use an OEM Thorens belt, that a generic replacement belt will not stretch properly like a Thorens. I think that's how my bearing got damaged. There is a device on ebay to stop the noise. It steadies the shaft to lower the noise.
 
Timothy Flath said:
How did you get it up and over the tonearm assembly - Did you have to remove the original TP-11 tonearm?
Click to expand...

You might be able to get the old plate up and over the tonearm, but you'd probably end up halfway dismantling the tonearm to do it. I suggest just bite the bullet and remove the arm. The old faceplate is easily removed with a thin, flexible paint scraper, BUT YOU'LL STILL HAVE GLUE RESIDUE to remove before you install your new top.
Warning: the new ones on the bay are as thin and susceptible as the original, easily marred and bent. I chose to have some CNC cut out of heavier material, and powder coated. I was going to try my hand at screenprinting the graphics, but chose instead to leave them with no printing (I mean, gosh, there's 2 knobs...easy enough to figure out without directions).
 
triode17 said:
My 165 does the same thing but ONLY with the belt removed. I think it's the motor bearing that's worn out. I read that if you don't use an OEM Thorens belt, that a generic replacement belt will not stretch properly like a Thorens. I think that's how my bearing got damaged. There is a device on ebay to stop the noise. It steadies the shaft to lower the noise.
Click to expand...

Actually I think the motor and bearings are really good on this one. I believe you might be referring to a thrust bearing on the motor - If you see my post #62 I posted a video of the one I installed on the previous table which made it quiet as a mouse. This motor doesn't need it. I believe it is either a tension issue or perhaps that springs are not adjusted properly causing poor alignment between the plastic pulley and the inner platter where the belt rides - not really worried about that as I am sure I can get that adjusted. My main concern is really getting the top plate off right now.
Thakker belt is on order which I find are the best. The one I am using is quite worn. Thanks for the response and the ideas though.
 
Todd Dodds said:
You might be able to get the old plate up and over the tonearm, but you'd probably end up halfway dismantling the tonearm to do it. I suggest just bite the bullet and remove the arm. The old faceplate is easily removed with a thin, flexible paint scraper, BUT YOU'LL STILL HAVE GLUE RESIDUE to remove before you install your new top.
Warning: the new ones on the bay are as thin and susceptible as the original, easily marred and bent. I chose to have some CNC cut out of heavier material, and powder coated. I was going to try my hand at screenprinting the graphics, but chose instead to leave them with no printing (I mean, gosh, there's 2 knobs...easy enough to figure out without directions).
Click to expand...
Thank you Todd - you bring up some very valid points (and ideas). My first inclination is to try and powdercoat or paint over the current top plate and see how that will look. Lucky for me I work at a construction engineering section on a Military Base up here that has a pretty skookum paint shop with guys that do side jobs (not with DND equipment of course). I have one of the guys doing up a Quad 44 preamp (I lucked into it for a song) with an Austin Powers Theme (like the Austin Powers Car since the preamp is British) in a British Flag Wrap like they do on cars. The guy runs a side car-wrap business. If I get this top plate off relatively intact and not bent, I could probably get him to do up a pretty funky-assed wrap (maybe a German Flag theme since it was built in my old town of Lahr, West Germany) if I bribe him properly....
:rolleyes:
Hmmm, I think I have my answer:thumbsup:
Might be a pretty cool concept table - will think about design options...
Did you happen to keep a copy of the pre-fab CNC template you made for the top-plate?
Cheers
TMF
 
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Timothy Flath said:
Thank you Todd - you bring up some very valid points (and ideas). My first inclination is to try and powdercoat or paint over the current top plate and see how that will look. Lucky for me I work at a construction engineering section on a Military Base up here that has a pretty skookum paint shop with guys that do side jobs (not with DND equipment of course). I have one of the guys doing up a Quad 44 preamp (I lucked into it for a song) with an Austin Powers Theme (like the Austin Powers Car since the preamp is British) in a British Flag Wrap like they do on cars. The guy runs a side car-wrap business. If I get this top plate off relatively intact and not bent, I could probably get him to do up a pretty funky-assed wrap (maybe a German Flag theme since it was built in my old town of Lahr, West Germany) if I bribe him properly....
:rolleyes:
Hmmm, I think I have my answer:thumbsup:
Might be a pretty cool concept table - will think about design options...
Did you happen to keep a copy of the pre-fab CNC template you made for the top-plate?
Cheers
TMF
Click to expand...

I'll PM you....
 
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