Insane Gibbet Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 I inherited a pair of 1975 La Scalas that need refinishing so the wife will accept them I found the thread about refinishing Khorns very informative. One question I have is if I take the Scalas apart to refinish will it be a bear to reassemble? Any other experience/advice about refinishing these would be appreciated. If you care to look at the condition feel free to check pix here below Click here for pix. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Boone Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 ---------------- On 6/16/2003 3:29:25 PM Insane Gibbet wrote: One question I have is if I take the Scalas apart to refinish will it be a bear to reassemble? ---------------- I have a pair of 1979 La Scalas that I bought about 2 months ago now. Take ALL of the components out before you start the refinishing. It will come out easy and go back in easy. Just takes a little time. It will also take you some time to sand the cabinets so don't try and rush it. Took me four days to do my two cabinets and I still need to put the finish on them. Have them down to their raw birch but still need to put the finish on them. Got tired and wanted to enjoy them for a while so I put them back together. Since they're sanded and ready for stain I'm happy with where they are. No hurry to continue. The bottom cover requires you to take the 16 or so screws out and them gently pull off the lid. There is a black weather strip that you'll need to replace. I put a bead of clear silicone on mine. Some say that that's not a good idea but I like it better. Only requires a small putty knife to pry top off and have good seal. I'd hand sand like I did using a rubber block. I used a petroleum stripper before I sanded but realized after I applied the stripper I didn't wait long enough to allow it to dry. I would take all the components out and apply one good coat of stripper. Let that dry for 24 hours and then start your sanding. Mine were hanging over a bar for the last 25 years so I had quite a bit of work to do. I used 100 grit on the first pass and 150 grit sandpaper on the second pass. Have 600 grit for the final stain when I get around to that point. Be sure you remember which tweeter and squaker came out of which cabinet. You'll want them to go back into the cabinet they came out of. Hope this helps. Tony B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Boone Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 I just looked at your pictures. You have a LOT MORE work to do than I did. While mine were mostly dirty the cabinets themselves are in good condition and intact. I see where yours have some surface area missing. This shouldn't make a difference in how they sound though. Tony B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 Dear Insane G. Welcome to the forum. One thing to be careful about on the La Scalas is that the birch veneer, which is the outermost layer on the plywood, is REALLY thin. It wouldn't take too much to sand through it, definitely do not want to use a belt sander. Also, it is hard as heck to get around the dog house in the bass bin to do much there. The easiest refinish job would be to fill and sand the chipped places, then finish with a nice black finish. There are some members of this forum who would recommend the use of Bondo rather than wood putty to fill chipped places because it is thought to hold up better with the vibration of the cabinet. I've had satisfactory experience using wood putty. Regards, Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 P.S. Did you have these on Ebay a while back? Thought I may have remembered seeing them there. Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 P.P.S. There are some nice posts including pics of La Scala grill mods which leave a really nice OEM look and definitely better on WAF. They put a half-round moulding trim around the front and a brand new grill cloth w/ klipsch logo is available from Klipsch parts dept. You could have these looking like they came right out of the factory. Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 If you don't want to paint them, you could also consider applying a new veneer over the damaged sides... It isn't very complex, and most DIY do this on their MDF boxes. Basically strip them, fill the voids of the missing veneer and sand smooth. It is very important that you get a good smooth base, and bumps and lumps will show through. Once this is done, glue on a new birch veneer on the damaged sides... and trim off the access. When you strip the boxes, I too recommend a chemical stripper as well... but I scraped it off as the paint bubbled as per the instructions on the container. Here are pictures of my 75 Heresys before and after... I still have to install the components to finish them: Before: 1975 Heresy Before.jpg After: 1975 Heresy after.jpg Later... Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insane Gibbet Posted June 17, 2003 Author Share Posted June 17, 2003 Thanks for the tips. I'm partial to the look of dark wood rather than black finish, so may do the veneer thing that Formica suggests (great job BTW). We'll see how I feel once everything's stripped. Then the grill mods maybe as a final touch. And yes, these were on eBay. Sheesh, you guys are good! The deal fell through, however, because they were a local sale (Bay Area) and the winner was in Florida and not willing to pay the hundreds of $ to ship. Oh well, guess I get to enjoy them awhile longer. Sell or keep, they need refinishing either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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