Hot Rodding a Harman/Kardon T20 Part 2.

So the plinth and bottom was somewhat disappointing. Making a new plinth in solid wood or at least cover the old one in some nice veneer together with a new sturdy bottom would be the right thing to do. But I don't even know if I can get this thing working or how it will sound, so I will tread lightly. Maybe I could just cover it in some nice color? Why not continue the same theme as I used with my PreFUNK and PwrFUNK? RAL 2004 to the rescue...

The cheap MDF body seems to be covered with something, probably some sort of vinyl. It has a bit of a texture and a silvery color, like in the picture below.

I did not know how it would react to spray filler or paint but I gave it a try. I started by cleaning it with denaturalized alcohol and then let it dry before I wet sanded it lightly with 800 grit. Mainly to dull it down, get rid of some of the texture and to make sure the spray filler will stick to the surface. This is what it looked like before filler was applied.

I got a bit lazy again and only applied two layers of 1K filler. One more layer wouldn't hurt but I sanded it a bit extra instead. Not perfect but good enough.

I then applied four layers of paint (RAL 2004) and another two layers of clear coat. Again, a couple of more layer of clear coat wouldn't hurt but I guess I got a bit lazy. It now has to sit for a week before I can buff it up and make it shine. But I can already picture the orange, black and aluminum theme. :) 

Next issue was the broke rubber/coil spring suspension feet. I had an idea of how I could construct new ones using the helix coils from the stock feet but I also needed something dampening. I was trying to think about something that is bouncy and dampening at the same time and I immediately pictured a squash ball. A couple of Google searches later and I realized that the idea was already in use. So I used Tinkercad to make my own design (you can download it here if you want to reuse it) and 3D printed a new set of feet fit for a set of 40 mm squash balls.

The design worked perfectly and I post processed the prints with some filler and semi-gloss black paint. Stock feet are made of rubber and I was a bit afraid of point forces between the flimsy bottom and my new feet. I therefor added a thin washer out of cork between the feet and the bottom. I reused stock M3 mounting nuts and screws.

And this is the final result. They actually exceeded my expectations from a functional point of view. I got four squash balls cheap from Decathlon, total cost less than $10. They look pretty nice too. :)

More to come, stay tuned...