I've got a couple CT-970s showing up from overseas next week, basically the CT-9R but without the complexity of the reverse function. However the CT-970s I picked up are in pretty rough shape with some surface corrosion on the body and tons of grime on the faceplate. I've got no idea what exactly the champagne material from the communication series is, not sure if it's paint or what. I just want some recommendations on what cleaners and cleaning methods I can use to scrub these tape decks up and get them looking pretty again. Any advice helps!
Champagne Face Plate Restoration
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mild dish detergent and a soft cloth- the lettering on most equipment from that era rubs off quite easily, especially Onkyo... Pioneer holds up a bit better, just be very careful.
I did a few test spot on an old parts unit with some different methods, soap and water is what I'll be starting with to clean the CT-970s up but I think I'll graduate to more aggressive means at least with the second CT-970 as it is ROUGH. I tried some isopropyl alcohol on the face plate, body, knobs, and even over the lettering. Did not damage anything, didn't pull up anything unwanted. For corrosion and surface rust I tried used a little bit of WD-40 Contact Cleaner NOT the standard WD-40. I swear by the contact cleaner for internals because of how gentle yet effective it is so I tested just a bit on a patch of surface rust and the rust came right off with no noticable adversity. I also tested a dab of it on the side of the face plate and on the knob and the surface became a touch lighter, but seemingly returned to normal color when rubbed a little bit, not sure if it's due to residue as the contact cleaner is supposed to be residue free. Either way, soap and water first, isopropyl alcohol for the rougher stuff, and WD-40 contact cleaner for rust patches is what I'm thinking.
Just as an idea of the current condition of the CT-970s pre-clean. Here's the cleaner of the two first, 
Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I imagine with a bit of effort it will clean up nicely. As for the second one, I'm a bit embarrassed to say I paid money for it, but at least I got a good deal on it.
The yellownwess isn't due to lighting, it really is just that grimey. And on closer photos, evidently rusty as well.
They arrive in about a week so I'll post some before and after photos and a report on what worked and what didn't!
Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I imagine with a bit of effort it will clean up nicely. As for the second one, I'm a bit embarrassed to say I paid money for it, but at least I got a good deal on it.
The yellownwess isn't due to lighting, it really is just that grimey. And on closer photos, evidently rusty as well.
They arrive in about a week so I'll post some before and after photos and a report on what worked and what didn't!
Looks like a lot of nicotine residue from a heavy smoker... that stuff is hard to get rid of.
It's coming over from Japan and smoke damage is unfortunately a pretty common issue over there. The way I see it at least it's an opportunity to test some stuff on these champagne units. Not a very popular series but I've grown to love them, so the more I can learn about them the better
On the Communication Series the section that is black should be carefully cleaned. The faceplates are often plastic and the black background is just paint. The gold tone base is a little more durable but the faceplates of these units are the most delicate ones of the era. A good stack does look outstanding and quite uncommon.
I've definitely heard that before about the black portion, a lot of the touch points on some of the components feel like some sort of metal or at least metallized. No idea what the CT-970 has. Really excited to add these to the stack, I think I nearly have every component after I add the tape deck.
nakmandan
Vintage Nak enthusiast
Why are so many units from Japan in such miserable shape? I have worked on a bunch of JDM decks lately, and most of them have been pretty rough. Is it just a culture of smokers? The ones I have dealt with haven't been nicotine so much, just a general grunginess, lots of dust, etc.
Heavy smoking is pretty normal over in Japan. I think some improvements have been made, but in general it seems to be socially accepted. Last I visited I saw designated smoking zones everywhere in public, kept them from smoking wherever they want, but you could still smell it from a ways away. Either way it's not surprising a lot of import components have nicotine staining. On the plus side if someone finds an easy way to clean that staining, importing components is way cheaper than buying them in the states. Makes for some good value
Got the 970s in today and started to clean them up.
The cassette door was cleaned with dawn ultra and some water, pretty night and day difference. Corrosion was taken care of with WD-40 Contact Cleaner. Unfortunately the main buttons on both units seem to be pitted, so the temptation to pick up a third unit is definitely there, but I need to stop being a perfectionist. Maybe I can find some parts that fit it.
The cassette door was cleaned with dawn ultra and some water, pretty night and day difference. Corrosion was taken care of with WD-40 Contact Cleaner. Unfortunately the main buttons on both units seem to be pitted, so the temptation to pick up a third unit is definitely there, but I need to stop being a perfectionist. Maybe I can find some parts that fit it.
I've done some further testing on the worse unit. It definitely seems as though allowing the nicotine stained parts (in this case some knobs) to soak in a bath of dawn ultra overnight has removed pretty much all of the staining passively without so much as touching the printed details. Much better than the scrubbing I was having to do. And fortunately the entire front comes apart in pieces with no electronics attached. The center display cover is absurdly brittle, moreso than I expected for 80s plastics, and I will need to repair it as it has chipped on the corner. But everything else came apart easily and is now soaking. It seems like the method for these components is essentially to disassemble them, soak them in dawn ultra overnight, and remove any corrosion left over with contact cleaner. Will update with the final cleaned product whenever it's finished
I decided to fully clean the worse of the two in case any methods would potentially cause damage and I am exceptionally pleased with the results
Before:
Testing:
Cleaning:
And the end result after using dawn and #000 steel wool for the most part:
Still a little bit of pitting, and the top cover still shows some damage. But overall I am exceptionally pleased with how it turned out. Makes me think the nicer of the two is going to clean up to looking practically brand new.
Before:
Testing:
Cleaning:
And the end result after using dawn and #000 steel wool for the most part:
Still a little bit of pitting, and the top cover still shows some damage. But overall I am exceptionally pleased with how it turned out. Makes me think the nicer of the two is going to clean up to looking practically brand new.
Yes, both the center buttons and all of the buttons on the right panel. they are metal so I figure I'd try it, wasn't sure how it would effect the enamel of the writing on the center buttons but it didn't touch it at all. The buttons were heavily corroded and they still have a fair amount of pitting, but they brightened up better than I expected.
Et Voila!
You can still tell which one was nicotine stained, especially since I was a bit scared to go hard on the printed display, might go back over it again in the future, but for now they're at a level I'm much more happy with. I'll be having them professionally serviced as I don't really trust myself with casette decks and these are too collectible for me to risk screwing up while learning. I'll enjoy the both of them for a while but I'll probably end up letting go of the non stained version of some point. The before and after of the stained one has genuinely made me like it more interestingly. Guess because it was more a labor of love. Either way, very happy to have TWO CT-970s in my collection when it's practically impossible to get just one!
You can still tell which one was nicotine stained, especially since I was a bit scared to go hard on the printed display, might go back over it again in the future, but for now they're at a level I'm much more happy with. I'll be having them professionally serviced as I don't really trust myself with casette decks and these are too collectible for me to risk screwing up while learning. I'll enjoy the both of them for a while but I'll probably end up letting go of the non stained version of some point. The before and after of the stained one has genuinely made me like it more interestingly. Guess because it was more a labor of love. Either way, very happy to have TWO CT-970s in my collection when it's practically impossible to get just one!
supereagle
Well-Known Member
Looks awesome I want to try that on my CT8R and my 2 sx-8 s
They can clean up pretty well especially if there's minimal damage. These 970s unfortunately had some damage, corrosion, and the long-term nicotine staining. Even then they cleaned up surprisingly well. Plus it's a pretty fun project