Honestly, I wasn’t sure about this, I could have bought a new faceplate for between £100-150 depending on the colour. Silver was cheapest, Black, my preference the most expensive. But that would have been too easy, besides it wasn’t the brief for this refurb. That said the faceplate was as important as the platter if it looked crap then the entire project would crap.
Could I convert the TD160 faceplate into a 160B style? The plan was give it a go and revert to plan b - buy a faceplate - if it didn't work. To begin I’d have to fill in the holes for the tonearm rest and the stylus cue, spray it and find some way to reapply numerals to the speed indicator.
First job, fill the holes. I used ordinary clear tape to create a base, applied on the reverse side of the faceplate, and filled the tonearm rest holes, with some fine plastic filler I already had. Some careful sanding later and they were smooth. I wasn’t confident that technique would work well enough on the larger cue hole - that’s where the second silver switch comes through the faceplate on the TD160. So a bit of lateral thinking was required. Instead I found a small, black circular spirit level, (yet another eBay purchase) to cover the hole, which would be glued in place when the turntable was rebuilt.
Although the final process was fairly simple, arriving at it took a lot of thought and trial and error. How it ended wasn’t how it started. Specifically how to deal with the issue of the numerals.
First, I removed some of the silk screen black that ran across thebottom of the faceplate – I didn’t want a line to show on the final respray, so used automotive rubbing compound to smooth it out. Looks a mess, but It worked better than I’d hoped. This also delt with the ‘up’, ‘down’ triagular graphics used for the stylus cue.
I thought about finding a way to reapply the numeral but couldn't find a satisfactory solution that I was happy with. So the only other option was to preserve them. I masked off the speed numerals and the Thorens logo, the mask was raised so as not to create a firm line, and I sprayed the faceplate in auto gloss black. Lots and lots of light coats to build up the depth of colour. Trouble was that the gloss black and the original matt black were obviously different. I could have sprayed the entire faceplate but that would have meant losing the speed numerals and the Thorens logo and I really didn’t want to do that because I wanted to keep that authentic look, and based on my earlier investigations they would have been difficult, perhaps impossible to replicate.
So, I took a gamble, and it paid off.I did get some black spray on the lettering but careful use of rubbing compound using a cotton bud soon cleared it away. Then the only problem to solve was the mismatch in the gloss and matt blacks.
The solution to that was much easier than I'd imagined. I sprayed the faceplate with a clear matt protective coating. It could have been gloss, it just happened that I already had some the matt spray and the point of this project was to use stuff I had. This clear layer masked the difference between the new gloss and the original matt black and made it all look as one. Perfect!
The new faceplate was created from the old using some rubbing compound, a can black paint, some filler, a can of clear protective coating and some hard work. The old TD160 faceplate looks as good as new. Even better is that it’s an original one off - not another like it on the planet.
Unless this blog has given you the desire to do it for yourself!
Enjoy your vinyl.
Other blogs in this series.
Refurbishing a Thorens TD160 – An impulse Purchase
Refurbishing a Thorens TD160 – Veneering the Plinth
Refurbishing a Thorens TD160 – Soundproofing the Chassis
Refurbishing a Thorens TD160 – Soundproofing the Platter and Sub-platter
Refurbishing a Thorens TD160 - The Finished Turntable