What an amazing find! And it is in excellent cosmetic and working condition too! - yes auctions like this are interesting. I personally find things often go for at least 'normal' prices, and have seen things go for more! I sort of came to the conclusion that people think they have found something knowone else has, so they become more convinced

Looks great

ok It does look like someone has pulled the mech apart before, there is a broken retaining pin on the arm return lever. Not essential to operation but makes you wonder! There are a few interlocking pins and levers under that large cog that can become out of sinc not to mention the latch mechanism and the secondary cog - it will probably need to be removed

Ah ok I can see more clearly now yes it looks ok then - sorry about that! Out of interest is the solonoid able to move freely both ways on the pcb?

Thought I would add this to make things a little clearer... Yellow line is where spring should be.

Hi look at the picture below... I think it Looks like the spring has indded jumped out, permenantly forcing the worm against the gear. Gently lift up and put back into the slot you can see on the left of the strip as above, and that should hopefully sort the issue out.

You did all that with a standard vice, pillar & hacksaw? Wow I am even more impressed!

Actually I only ever go for the recap if I know the unit is fully operational. I think this should always be the case personally but I prefer the challange of actually locating the fault(s)... The unit I lean't to Llewelyn still has the original bipolars in despite replacing all other electros in the amp section - I will now correct that when I

In this case Yachadm the bipolar (part of the fault detector) in the left channel was the culprit. replaced and it is just fine :) Currently listening to radio 2 with it right now :)

While it is 90% certain to be the cartridge maybe worth plugging into another phono input on a different amp? Just a thought really!