Cabinet and Grill
Cabinets were made of medium density fiberboard (MDF) and covered in a variety of wood or vinyl veneers. On earlier boxes the black surfaces on the face and rear were painted, later units had a laminated paper-like finish. When damaged this stuff seems quick to peal.
I recently got an early set of TC-50s off eBay for parts and finding the grills were in better shape than mine went to swap them out, only to find they didn’t fit. In reading, Spica apparently used differing suppliers for cabinets and so the actual size may vary.
Internal Bracing
The later TC–50i cabinets included a front to back internal brace mounted beside the tweeter to stiffen the cabinet (reduce flexing). A similar mod was used in the Crosby Modified Spicas. Adding the brace requires basic skills and the opportunity for damage is small and provides a clear mechanical advantage. See the Tommy Tube site for an example of adding the brace to a TC-50.
Here are some photos of the factory in brace a TC-50i,
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| Inside box looking up. The factory TC-50i brace mounts front to rear |
Same brace inside the right side of the tweeter cutout. |
Stripped Screw Holes
Stripped screw holes can usually be taken care of by inserting a short length of toothpick into the hole. Dip the toothpick in glue and the slip it pointed-end first into the hole and first and then trim it off flush with a knife. Now when you drive the screw it will snug up. You should do this while the glue is still wet as the screw will clamp the toothpick tightly to the wood while it dries. Larger holes (say someone has mounted the box to a bracket etc with large screws or bolts can be restored by drilling the hole out to a larger size and inserting a correspondingly sized fluted dowel (fluted dowels sold at hardware stores)