So, in a previous post I fixed mechanical issues with the broken loading gear. Now that tape loads and unloads correctly, it's time to address other issues. Everything seems to work fine, but the picture doesn't seem to track well. Depending on the tape, parts of it are white noise. I *think* the heads are ok though, as the picture that is not white noise looks very good and accurate. Better than the VCR I had back in the day.
I'm not sure if it's a tracking issue or something else. I cleaned the tape pathway with isopropyl alcohol, put some rubber renew on the idler wheels / pinch roller, fwd/rwd works, tape moves steadily during playback. The drum, I just cleaned the drum very carefully with the heads always far far away from the q-tip. I had to loosen the drum to fix the loading gear issue but it is screwed in rock solid and doesn't seem to have any play.
Does this thing have a tracking setting somewhere? Service manuals are also welcome...is it worth getting the Sam's photofacts for this one, or a similar model with the same chassis? I have never had one of those so I don't know if it's a comprehensive service manual or just a tutorial with poorly photocopied pictures.
Video of the best tape I could find (most are worse) below. Note that the 'green' screen is due to the recording, all but the top white noise part actually looks great in real life.
https://youtu.be/og7nsUoeQHM
EDIT: Found the tracking button, forgot the front flips open, duh.. anyway, doesn't have any effect on the white noise, it's centered which seems to be the right position for it. Also, the picture rolls vertically easily, though this *may* be due to my monitor, have to swap that one out to confirm.