Vortalexfan. I've been checking on this thread from time to time and I have gathered up quite a few comments, so this is going to be a long post.
First of all, you are not doing this for money so take a break from time to time, this thread is not going away. If you are working until you are too tired you are going to make mistakes and will not be thinking straight.
You experience with the Meck is an exception not the rule. Take a look at the restoration articles at Phil's Old Radios. Lots of electrical and mechanical problems.
https://www.antiqueradio.org/restoration.htm
Also notice the thousands of posts on this forum. Do you think that if everyone just did a good job of re-capping they would not have anymore problems? Maybe they are just stupid, eh?.
Boo-hoo, school did not cover electronic repairs. Only the repair schools run by a few companies offered repair classes and for a fee. My repair knowledge is completely self taught from reading magazines like "Popular Electronics" and "Radio Electronics" (available online now) as well as books and from experience. I read many posts on the forums even if I don't have any of the units just so I can learn more. Never stop learning.
Comments like "which end of a capacitor to disconnect" shows you don't know much about how electronic components work. Your statement about DC voltage loss across a capacitor is further proof. (Capacitors do not conduct DC current.) I've suggested before that you look to sources outside this forum to learn about how electronics work (like how a tube is biased).
You comments about reversing the meter leads so that the meter would read a negative voltage as positive was nonsense, (if you did that then the positive voltages would read negative), or were you trying to be a smarta$$.
I'm sure Kevin was confused as I was with your "Alice in Wonderland" reports on the circuit measurements. They do not make sense.
When you have results that don't make sense it usually means some of you assumptions are wrong.
You THINK the meter is correct. You THINK you connections are good. You THINK you don't have any shorts. You THINK the new parts are good. You THINK you installed the new parts correctly. Something is not true.
EDIT: Anyway, I've said enough.