Hi again. You have reached the "fun" part of a Beogram 400x restoration...the mechanics of the cabinet. The floating chassis alignment with the deck and the trim pieces can be time consuming and quite frustrating at times. I have to keep telling myself that at one time the turntable came out of the factory with everything aligned properly. So theoretically we ought to be able to get it back to that state.

There are some factors that cause problems with that.

For one, who knows what someone else adjusted (or misadjusted) in the Beogram's past.
Second, the various alignments are related so if one piece is out of slightly out of place it will require something else to be shifted. Often to the point where the only way to get back to where it needs to be is to press the reset button. Except there isn't actually a reset button.

The deck pieces will fit together but the two aluminum plates have to mate with the metal locking frame of the wood trim and with a metal post from the cabinet frame (one post on each plate). 

Those posts fit in a small, indented hole. The post can be carefully bent to change its position which will shift the position of the plate. The other mount points of the plates are the posts on the bottom of the plates that fit into the guide slots of the wood trim frame. I have seen where those metal tabs with the slots get bent out of shape. Then there are the eccentric guide washer/bolts for the wood trim frame (to the cabinet) that affect the position of the locking trim piece.

I would start with the aligning the metal plates and control panel together so they look correct. Then identify which mounting holes are off and preventing the panels from staying where you want them when you have everything locked in place.

A Beogram 4004 turntable I recently restored was from an original owner who took excellent care of it. That is one of the few Beogram 400x turntables where the only mechanical adjustment I had to make was recalibrate the tracking force of the phono cartridge. Everything else was still at factor settings and everything was mechanically perfect. I only mention that to assure you that it should align properly and once was.

Take a break from it and start again fresh.

-sonavor

Hi Sonavor,

You are completely right. It's good I'm so patient :D

I did what you suggested - started over and also adjusted the metal posts this time.

Everything is aligned perfectly now. It's just as i imagine it would have looked from the factory!

Thanks again! I'll post some pictures when it is assembled again.