Advice Needed re: Back Panel Removal Heathkit AS-101

[Reo]

Hello,
New to forum but longtime JBL fan and owner of a pair of Sovereign IIs. I will pick your collective brains on those later, but I have a more immediate problem. I'm preparing a pair of Heathkit AS-101s for sale and am having difficulty removing the back panels of the cabinets. Screws all extract cleanly but the panels are still solidly in place. It almost feels like they are glued AND screwed. I gingerly tried using a skinny pry bar but the chipboard panel just wants to flake away. I also tried inserting a fatter screw in the existing holes and pulling, but the screws want to pull through the material. My main reason for needing to get in the cabs is to clean the 'HF Balance' pots. I'd also like to do a visual inspection of the drivers (although I think they're fine). Has anyone out there run into this same dilemma? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Reo

[SEAWOLF97]

I've never seen a pair, but thinking .... can you take out the woofer
and push the backs out from the front side ?

[Reo]

Hi Seawolf,
Front grills are fixed as far as I can tell and I think woofers are only removable from back. I think the woofers slide over threaded posts and are retained by a nut. Thanks for the reply,
Reo

[speakerdave]

It's possible, though I think unlikely, a previous owner has glued the back. Did the screw slots look tooled-on?

Such panels will stick over time from something--maybe resins in the wood. The one time I had to deal with this I was able to remove the woofer and tap the panel loose with a long dowel and a hammer. In your situation here's what I would try. I have a Bosch 18v impact wrench. I would protect the speaker with a small pad of hardwood-- something like ipe, ironwood, lignum or oak--and vibrate the panel. I would keep out in the center regions of the panel so the impacts would set up waves that would travel the panel to the edges. I wouldn't do this 'till Christmas, but it might work, maybe.

More drastic measures would involve making holes in the panel (which could be patched), and I would set them aside as not worth it except to a long-term owner. Leaving the problem as is may cost you fifty bucks in the auction, if that. Your buyer will think he can solve it. If he asks here, we can try to help him.

[Reo]

Thanks for that suggestion. I may have to resort to such measures if I want to pursue this any further. No, the screw heads don't looked fussed with. I don't think these cabs have ever been opened. I think you're correct in that the panels have just affixed themselves by decades of inactivity.
Much appreciation, Reo