[morzh]

Thanks Arrsna, Ron, Ed - that is a big help.

I was wondering why it is "hotwired". The capacitor in series......I wonder why. The wire is from the chassis so short of the radio's transformer leakage and someone getting zapped.....or the RF filter C75 leakage, they decided to remove the wire and replace it with a cap; 0.01uF will limit the current to a safe, if still appreciable, sensation. I think I will start with direct connection as I have replaced C75 with two Y-rated caps as I always do.

So I need to find the service info on that VM record.
The rubber wheel idler feels hard. It is smooth and not chipped around, but no longer feels rubbery.

This radio had several problems that would stop it fro working so no wonder people gave up on it. Two tubes with shorts, one resistor which is a load, fully open......

The phono input works - when touched it produces hum.
Again, it seems hand-wired, a pluggable old stype RCA jack.

So the reason the turntable is not moving out is, it probably did not fit the old shelf so the shelf was either replaced, or...
I wonder why they decided to immobilize it.