Zinky Superfly blog - Part 72: Bite My Shiny Metal Chassis

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Yes, this post is all about bending, although no parallels between BZ and a certain Futurama character apply.

Having established at least that the amp worked, I collected together some g-clamps, blocks of wood and other tools and applied myself to the task of bending the chassis back as much as possible to its original shape, the prime objectives being:

  • Get it to fit in the case
  • Relieve the PCB of the strain it was under

By loosening the screw that held the PCB to its mounting turret at the point of most flex, I was able to allow it to revert to an almost flat state. Then by clamping the most bent part of the chassis end to a thin block of wood I kinda persuaded it to straighten out some. The end result looked close enough to the other end to fit back in the case.

So what about the extra-long bolts that had got bent? Well of course I had received no reply from Bruce to my request for replacements, so I had a go at bending those back too, which wasn't too hard once they were fixed in a vice with plastic jaw covers to avoid damaging the threads.

Finally then, I got the amp chassis back in the case - not the head-only case that Bruce agreed to supply me with all those months ago, but the original combo case.

But what if anything was happening Stateside? See part 73.