[visman]

I thought I would answer my own question for the sake of anyone else in this dilema.

The part that I thought was a worn rubber washer was in fact the device which engages the turning shaft to either of the two tuning dials which wrap around the shaft on a pair of pulley's (one AM and one FM).

I removed this broken "rubber washer" which turned out to be a hard composite material with a gripping surface on both sides (to grip the tuning dial pulley on either side). The clutch mechanism pushes it against the appropriate pulley).

This "rubber washer" was spinning freely on the tuning shaft and this was the problem.

A rubber gasket was cut to size - center drilled slightly smaller than the shaft diameter and carefully cut to the drilled hole - then slid into place (tight on the shaft). I then glued the cut closed (with contact cement and small vice grips).

I decided to cut the rubber gasket so I could slide it into position versus taking the entire mechanism apart and sliding it onto the shaft (which would have been the better way to go for those handy enough).

Now it works as designed - the rubber surface of the gasket catches either tuning dial pulley as the clutch mechanism is engaged.