Victor Victrola - IV - with a bent gear tooth

The Victrola that I picked up last year at Kutztown has some damage.  You can see in the video wher the casting was once broken and welded back together.  This was presumably from someone bashing the spindle to try to get the platter off.  The spindle is bent slightly and there's a clicking in the governor.  The bent spindle only makes the platter wobble, and doesn't affect music playback.  The clicking is apparently from a smashed tooth on the gear that runs the governor.  I de-greased and re-greased the entire mechanism, but the tooth is still causing a problem.  Carefully removing the spindle again and filing down the offending tooth seems to have fixed the problem.

The old grease from the 1910's was petrified and had to be chiseled off.  Soaking everything in PCS-1000 parts cleaner helped tremendously.  When I re-assembled it for the final time I used Tribol Molybdenum grease.  This stuff is amazing!  Even if it wipes off or goes dry the Molybdenum gets into the crystalline structure of the metals and continues to provide lubrication.

For your enjoyment a little Harry James and his Orchestra!

What it really needs is a genuine Victor Exhibition reproducer.  The Tip Top that came with it is deteriorating so badly that I dare not remove the screws to replace the seals.  The potmetal is cracked and falling apart.  The search is on.