Sansui Seven Faceplate

[quatsino]

Folks,

Picked up a "near mint" Sansui Seven receiver today. The unit is perfect except for the aluminum faceplate which had some words scratched into it. I tried to get 'em out with no avail - looks worse.

Wondering if anyone has a line on a mint Seven faceplate that I could grab to finish this one off correctly....Thanks!

 

[LBPete]

It looks like you sanded through the anodizing. There is no good way to correct that short of stripping off all the anodizing and starting over. Keep an eye on the Sansui parts swap forum. It will come up at some point.

- Pete

 

[KingBubba]

Looks okay to me. I've always liked that model's look.

 

[spaceman]

Congrats on the score. :thmbsp: I like the older ones too. I can understand why some servicemen would etch their ID into the BACK of their gear somewhere, but right on the faceplate. (?) :nono:

 

[quatsino]

Sanding through the anodizing

Yeah - not too pleased about sanding right through - but I wasn't happy with the inscription right on the faceplate either.

I used wet 1500 emery - oh well live and learn.

I will need a new faceplate and I'm sure I'll get one somewhere....

 

[Hyperion]

I sympathise with you regarding the faceplate - a suggestion...if you can make friends with a local metal treatment company - they may be able to re-finish it for you good as new - it just depends where you are located for this kind of luck.

Good luck

 

[nosirrah]

re-anodize

it's possible, typically it costs a min lot charge of about $35.
any good metal finisher can do it, most major metropolitan areas have at least one company that does this service.
If you can get it in with somebody elses load of work, check local manufacturing places and ask, anyone that needs bright shiny appearance aluminum parts, boaats, cars, aircraft, interiors, etc.
Casey

it would be helpful if your sign on had where you hail from to help you...

 

[quatsino]

Aluminum Refinisher

Thanks - I found the address of a refinisher in Delta, BC. I thought that I would go that route if nothing came about with a replacement face. (I've added my location to my signature).

I've cast the net about this faceplate to a couple of local stereo repair shops and via some random contacts on the I-net. This week I plan to call two shops - one in San Diego and one out East.

The one thing against the metal refinisher is getting the lettering screened back on. In this case the lettering is recessed so it may be doable depending on how much material the refinisher needs to complete the reface. We'll see...

 

[KingBubba]

If your lettering is engraved you should have little trouble restoring it. If it is silk screened that is a different story. Do a search on AK for engraved lettering. There was a thread a while back about a guy restoring an SA model pioneer integrated amp and he did a blow by blow on the restoring the engraved lettering. Good luck.

 

[totem]

quatsino how many more lower mainlanders can we handle here, there will be no one watching the store!

 

[quatsino]

Refinisher Option

No luck locating a donor Sansui Seven faceplate over the past couple of days and I have limited patience waiting around so Ok - I decided to go the aluminum refinisher route. They'll gladly handle this faceplate for $35. We talked about restoring the stamped lettering and the answer was to "bring it in - let's have a look".

I'll supply some before and afters.

I searched AK for stamped ("engraved") faceplate letter restoration but no hits. I'm hoping this shop has some ideas but if there's any experience out there I wouldn't mind hearing about it.

Thanks!

 

[Hyperion]

Engraved Panel Lettering

Regarding restoring engraved panel lettering - I can't believe they will need to remove more than a few thou' off that faceplate to re-finish it - it depends if there are any dents in it, and how deep they are. The engraving on your faceplate looks fairly robust to me - so I think it should be a straightforward job, if any paint does come out of the engraving grooves its just a matter of running some more paint in, wiping off the excess, and waiting for it to dry.

I'll be interested to see how this turns out so do post pic's :yes:

 

[quatsino]

Seven Heaven

OK - the aluminum reanodizing route proved too expensive. Patience (what little I have) paid off when I found another Sansui Seven for $35 with a great faceplate.

So now I have a sweet Sansui Seven that is finally completely mint just the way I like 'em but...

what to do with the "Beater" unit - burn marks on the case, faceplate basically ruined, FM doesn't seem to work. Looks OK from 10 feet away... Hmmmm.