Hi Bob,
I had an idea about RF interference on the Motorola 7VT3.
Sorry you didn't have the right test gear at the ready. I know I hate switching between projects for logistical reasons - but that is the way of the world, yes? On the RF interference, short of getting your signal injection / trace gear out, here are some ideas.
o On the IF alignment, could it be that the extra hump in the passband is where the interference is creeping in. Maybe the speckled interference is just snow from noise in the hump portion of the IF passband. We see the picture from the normal passband information, and we add noise to it with the hump band information (noise).
o Are the low-end and high-end traps swapped? At time 7:50 in ''Motorola 7VT3 restoration pt3o?,'' try to keep turning the low trap through the passband and use it to knock out the hump on the high side. It seemed like the tuning slug was all the way out. Maybe it has to go back in a lot of turns.
o I don't remember what it was for, but you took out an inductor - the one you forgot to order from Mouser. Could this be a trap for the extra hump?
Anyway, good luck. I really like your videos. Best of all, I like that don't have to do the work.
Cheers,
Steve