JoeRiff Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 I plan on starting my strip and re-finish job on my Belles this weekend and I'm pretty sure this will involve some disassembly. I know some of the forum members have built their own set of Belle's, so I'm hoping for some good advice. The top section doesnt look very daunting. I've already taken the very top board off, and it wasn't too difficult other than getting the screwdriver in there and turning it in close quarters. Are there any problem areas or anything I should worry about? Do I have to disassemble the bass bin to get the bottom grills out? Am I opening a can of worms if I try to take out the grills? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 what is the current condition of the cabs....are you just going to use chemicals or are you going to use sanders to strip the existing finish? your not mentioning if you are removing all drivers, including the bass driver. issues with re-finishing...assuming your going to do some sanding...is that the dust from the sanded material will find it's way into the front of the woofer area. also, the metal screen in the k-55 driver will not keep saw dust out.....same with the screen for the k-77 tweeter. there is not much wood on the veneer plywood used on the lascala's, k-horns, and belle's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 No problem removing the Grills - you should. I also completely refinished a pair of Belles. After the top is off. Take off the bottom plate and remove the woofer from the bass bin. Take out all the screws from the top and bottom holding the grill frames on. Take off the Grill Frames. Veneer is thin, sand carefully. Take off the riser on the bottom also. Might as well put in new copper wiring, while it's apart. I did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Bell Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 How do the bass grills come off the Belles? MB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunburnwilly Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 How do the bass grills come off the Belles? MB Hundreds of staples . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorjen Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 The Belle grille frames are held in place by screws that come down into them from the top section and come up into them from the bottom of the cabinet. If you remove the bottom cover(woofer access door/panel), you will see a line of screws that follow the path of the grille frame. Same from the top of the bass bin. Pretty easy. Just remember which grilles are which and the up or down orientation. Otherwise the screws are not going to line up with the screw holes during reassembly. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Bell Posted May 13, 2006 Share Posted May 13, 2006 Thanks, Jordan. Very helpful. Mick Bell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeRiff Posted May 13, 2006 Author Share Posted May 13, 2006 Thanks for the tips, guys. Sounds like I should be able to figure it out (hopefully). The current finish is a Laquer. I plan on chemically stripping it off as it is pretty scratched up. I will also give the veneer a light block sanding with some 220 or so grit sandpaper for good measure. I plan on refinishing them with an oil finish, probably Watco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeRiff Posted May 14, 2006 Author Share Posted May 14, 2006 Ok, I took off the woofer access panel on the bottom and I see the screws you are referring to. I don't see anything on the top section, however. I just see the three screws in front (under where the motor board was) and the three in back. I presume these hold the top section to the bass bin? If I remove these will I see the grill screws? The reason I'm asking is because two of the screw heads in front look pretty rusty, and I don't want to have to try messing with them unless I have to. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeRiff Posted May 14, 2006 Author Share Posted May 14, 2006 OK, I did some digging on the forum, and found a pic by Al K in a thread about moding Belles. I assume those two screws on top to the right of the spacer are the one's I'm looking for? I hope so, because I really don't want to disassemble the bass bin. I'm going to try taking a brass bristle brush to the rusty screw heads (those would be the same screws that Al has popped up out of bottom board of the top section) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeRiff Posted May 15, 2006 Author Share Posted May 15, 2006 Ok guys, at this point it looks like I'm pretty much talking to myself, but I'll post just the same. I managed to get the rusty headed screws out fine, but now I've got a much bigger problem. Each side piece in the top section is held down by two bolts with a nut on them. It looks like the head of the bolt is under the board, as the threaded end points up. One nut on each side will not come off because the bolt simply spins with the nut when you try to loosen it. Any tips on how I can get these off? It's really pissing me off that just two tiny nuts are all that stand between me and really getting this project going. Is there any easy way to fix this? I don't want to try cutting it off with a wheel. How about trying an easy-out? Any ideas? I've tried having some one lift up the speaker by the board to try and put some pressure on it, no luck. I've also tried gripping the bolt with a pair needle nose to no avail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Spray some WD40 on the nut and threads and let it soak good for an hour or so. We used to use this method on rusted Semi-Truck trailer bolts on the Wheels. IT loosened them about 90% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I did this on my Khorns. Same problem. I used a nice new pair of needle-nose pliers to hold the tip of the screw while loosening the nut. after I ran out of screw tip I was able to hold the screw again by going under the nut. I epoxied the screws in before putting it back together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 in case the "needle-nose plier" suggestion does not work, I ran into this problem and was not able to use an easiy out due to the thread directions of the bolt shaft seem to dis-engage the easy out as you turned the nut. My solution was to use minature bolt cutters to grab the bolt shaft while I loosend the nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeRiff Posted May 18, 2006 Author Share Posted May 18, 2006 Thanks for the tips guys, but unfortunately none of the above suggestions worked. First I tried applying WD40 3 times per evening for three nights, no improvement. I also tried the bolt cutter idea, no dice. These things must be rusted up good inside. Needless to say, between the needle nose and the bolt cutters, the threads are pretty well shot. Tonight, I get out the cutting wheel and off with their heads! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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