How to Remove Driver from Cabinet

[atdamico]

I recently picked up a pair of Altec Bolero speakers. The cabinets are in rough shape and I want to do some restoration work on them but...the drivers and horns seem to have been glued in place along with the retaining screws. The drivers are inset. Any suggestions or tricks on how I might break the bond and get them out without destroying the cabinet front they are mounted into?

[duaneage]

I guess it depends on what they are glued in with. Some adhesives respond to the heat of a hairdryer. You could try solvents like MEK or lacquer thinner but that might destroy something. I would try to heat the area and carefully slip a putty knife in and see if it lossens up. Steve Schell is the resident expert on the really old stuff, he might have done it already. Try and PM him.

[boputnam]

My old Bolero's were not "glued". Weird...

Are the woofs stuck, too? If you can get one of them out, you should be able to push the horn / driver assembly out from inside the cabinet. Try both LF's since one is a PR and might have been installed "differently"...

[atdamico]

My old Bolero's were not "glued". Weird...

Are the woofs stuck, too? If you can get one of them out, you should be able to push the horn / driver assembly out from inside the cabinet. Try both LF's since one is a PR and might have been installed "differently"...

I was able to get the 10" passive woof out, but the horn and active driver are glued tight. I certainly don't want to damage either of them by rocking them too hard, so before I got really rough with them was just wondering if anybody had a trick. To the first poster, I can't use a putty knife as the drivers are inset and there is now way to get anything to break the seal.

[4313B]

I certainly don't want to damage either of them by rocking them too hard, so before I got really rough with them

Oh pew! If they can't handle this they aren't worth saving.

[Earl K]

- These pics demonstrate that glue is usually involved with Boleros woofers.

- Apart from that I don't have any experience with dislodging things like this from particle-board ( without breaking the particle board ).

- You can see from the pics, the relative success that others have had .

[boputnam]

I didn't think it glue so much as a dried sealant.

[Earl K]

I didn't think it glue so much as a dried sealant.

Okay then,

What would soften up an old-style sealant ?

[boputnam]

What would soften up an old-style sealant ?

[boputnam]

Well, semantically you are right, Earl - at this point they are glued!

[atdamico]

So I am guessing that if I can't loosen them up by rocking them from inside the cabinet, I just have to pry them up from the Particle board and hope for the best

[Earl K]

So I am guessing that if I can't loosen them up by rocking them from inside the cabinet, I just have to pry them up from the Particle board and hope for the best

- Well, you now know what you are dealing with & you can see the relative width of the sealing bead, bonding the drivers to the porous particle board.

- One thing , don't bang on the magnets hard with any metallic object / you risk demagnetizing those alnicos .

- From the pictures, it appears a bead of sealant was applied to the flange/lip of the speaker-basket while it was overturned. Then it was quickly flipped & installed before the bead dried. The evidence of this is ( in the pictures ) where the flange was tightened the most ( the 4 points of the compass ) the bead has penetrated into the particle board the deepest. These points are where I would assume the bonding is the greatest. Those 4 points may be bigger / but in the same way I think they offer the biggest opportunity to break-off the metal lip. So be careful !

- Personally, I'd just take it slow & easy for this whole extraction process. - Give it a few days while you research ways to soften that goop under the metal. Localized heat from a hair dryer may work. But you need to be real careful that you don't create a runny mess from the surround goop that's applied to the accordian , peated surrounds. Likely best to build some sort of heat-sink or air-dam to protect the actual cone edge. Another idea is to plunge a wood-workers awl into the empty hole socket ( it needs to fit tight, metal to metal ) / & heat the awl instead of the flange . This will offer better control of the process. Pin point heating may be the ticket to break the bond, one corner at a time. Maybe one of those older style "Weller" soldering irons could deliver the BTUs / just a thought. Anyways, there are some ideas.

- It does appear the particle board gives way before the thin metal edge of the speaker basket from cold prying. I know that JBLs' squared off ten inchers are also a bit fragile in these same lip areas. ( For a while JBL sold just the basket frame / no magnet / no cone / just the frame ) .

- I've never seen a 406-8Y offered for sale on eBay with a broken-lip / but then maybe that is just a self-fulfilling event .

- I happen to track the sale of these woofers on eBay. ( Never heard one though / so don't ask me ).

[atdamico]

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I put a metal awl into each eyehole, heated it with a soldering iron, and each one popped free after only a few minutes. All drivers and horns are out and I am good to go. Great advice from great people.

[Datubie]

I'd just drip some paint thinner on the frame, wait a couple of minutes & then try to crack it loose.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I put a metal awl into each eyehole, heated it with a soldering iron, and each one popped free after only a few minutes. All drivers and horns are out and I am good to go. Great advice from great people.