This morning my wife called me 'obsessed' with getting this thing to work. It's only been about 7 years, and with two different repair people. When I got it back from the first guy, it worked properly for exactly one week in my '63 Ford Falcon with the Stromberg-Carlson AM radio. Sounded fantastic, worked great, didn't skip (even when going over train tracks). Then it stopped changing, and here we are now. I didn't want to go back to the first repair guy because he moved further away from the Baltimore area, and he had the thing for 6 years the last time (definitely tested my patience!).
Units like this regularly go for $400+ in bad condition. Restored ones are about $600-$800. I've had everything else done on the player, and it's all come down to this cam/gear. So it would be a bit of a waste for me to have come this far and to be defeated by one part.
If the filing of the teeth doesn't help matters, I'll seriously consider contacting the seller on eBay about that other non-working unit. But that's an additional $200, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the revitalized teeth are the solution!
Car Record Player Parts / Machinist????
Graham -- thanks for your continuing interest in this most assuredly non-motorcycle-related-quirky-thing! I did speak to Eric (the repair fellow) this week, and he was surprised that I was able to the work on the cam. He also thought that it may solve the problem, and he felt that all the cam needed was a bit more 'bite' to actuate the rubber roller. However, I have not yet brought it to him -- presently, he has another record player of mine (a 1950's Crescent Gold Top) and I'm waiting for him to complete the service on that before bringing this other unit back to him. Hopefully shouldn't be more than another week or so, as the Crescent only needs a slight adjustment -- that one takes about 15 minutes to warm up to speed (33 rpm), which is way too much time. I should probably do a photo of all my record players, just to show you what else I have. They're nothing exciting, but they do provide plenty of enjoyment. The RCA EY-3 (45rpm) usually is going in the morning, and the house is filled with the strains of whatever 45 I happen to plunk down on it....usually 1960's R&B or classic rock. I also have a gorgeous Columbia Grafanola that I've had since I was 12, and it plays many of my 78's from the 1920's-1940's, including two that my dad recorded in 1950 when he was living in Brooklyn for a short time while taking singing lessons (then the Korean War broke out, and either the US was going to draft him, or he would have to go back to Canada. Needless to say, I think he made the right decision!). I'll keep you posted on any new developments.....
I just got a note from a fellow Forum member inquiring about the progress of the record player project, and whether my little filing job did the trick. Well I'm happy to say that the answer is YES!
I picked up the player yesterday, and my repair fellow told me 'try it out and see if it works, then bring it back and I'll fine tune the unit'. So I did, and it works! What Eric (my repair guy) now needs to do is to adjust the tonearm position (where it drops on the record at the beginning, and where it lifts off the record at the end), and the 'reject' switch needs to be grounded in order to work properly, and he's installing a pre-amp to help boost the volume a bit. So we have success! Once it's all finished up and working perfectly I will do a little video of this beast in action.....maybe even take you guys for a ride in the Falcon..... Fantastic!!
Great news, Vince. I was trying to be patient and avoid pestering you about it. I just love it when you can get dead stuff working again. I'm in Philly on 12th May. Don't think I've got time to come and beg a ride.... G '60 C77 '60 C72 '62 C72 Dream '63 CL72
'61 CB72 '64 CB77 '65 CB160 '66 Matchless 350 '67 CL77 '67 S90 '77 CB400F
May 12th? Well I will be around, and if you can make it to at least to Maryland-Pennsylvania state line, it's possible.
Here are some photos of the record player unit - it's only in temporarily, as it's going back to Eric for those little tweaks and for the pre-amp. If you didn't know any better you'd think it was an air conditioning unit!  Front door flips open to reveal the mechanism and to load the records.  It plays upside-down!  The trusty 1963 Ford Falcon sedan -- 144 inline 6 with a 2-speed Fordomatic. I've put 90,000 miles on it myself in 11 years. 
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