Recapped the Admiral! - Still having issues...

[Reece]

It doesn't have to be a "vintage" radio to use as a signal generator, just one that has a 455 kc IF. Maybe there's another radio in the house? Just wrap the wire around the IF tube in that radio to pick up its signal or else stick the end of the (insulated) wire down inside the second IF transformer.

The static may be from a faulty resistor. Get a can of computer keyboard cleaning "air." Wait for the static, then work fast: turn the can upside down and use the extension tube on the can: freeze each resistor in turn and see if freezing one of them makes the static stop. Check by letting it heat up again to make static and then refreezing.