Refurbishing a 48K Rubber Keyed Sinclair ZX Spectrum – Pt.6 Reassembly

It was finally time to reassemble the machine. I had one last cursory check of both sides of the board, just to make sure it hadn’t picked anything up that may cause an issue and placed the board in the lower case tray. I fixed it in with it’s single screw near the center.

ZX Spectrum PCB Back in the case lower half

ZX Spectrum PCB Back in the case lower half

One more check to see that the Upper RAM module was OK and then to plug the keyboard ribbons in. Typically, the keyboard ribbons are quite delicate so a lighter touch is required but in this case, the after-market membrane had slightly more substantial ribbons. I still took my time and made sure not to put too much pressure on them. Once the ribbons were in place, I placed the halves of the case together and inverted the machine to screw in the brand new set of screws I got from Retroleum.

New Screws In Place

New Screws In Place

It is important not to overtighten the screws, especially on an old case. When you are getting to the point where the screw is tightening, slow down and just tighten it enough to hold the case securely shut. Old plastic, especially if it has been left for years in a loft, will go brittle and it is really easy to break the screw colums or to strip the threads.

Also, from Retroleum, I purchased a brand new set of feet to really finish the job off.

Fitting New Feet

Fitting New Feet

At last, a fully refurbished 48K Rubber Keyed Sinclair ZX Spectrum!

Fully Refurbished 48K Rubber Keyed Sinclair ZX Spectrum

Fully Refurbished 48K Rubber Keyed Sinclair ZX Spectrum

The last step in this long process was to give the machine a test with one of my favourite games. I plugged in the ZX-HD and divMMC Future interfaces and fired up the Dell monitor. I loaded Batty and played a few rounds, all was well.

Testing the Refurbished Machine

Testing the Refurbished Machine

I hope this series has been helpful and enables collectors of older ZX Spectrums to maintain them in working order. Help in reparing these machines can be sought in two great Facebook groups, Spectrum4Ever and Spectrum For Everyone.

Series Index: Refurbishing a 48K Rubber Keyed Sinclair ZX Spectrum

 

 

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