'57 Zenith, finally openned the back

[DaveWM]

yea I cant really form a mental pic of that, a real pic would be helpful.

I few things to check would be are the filter cans hot? not good. If they have a cardboard sleeve on them leave that on as it could be a doubler circuit in which case the can will have a high voltage potential and would be a shock hazard (thats why the cardboard is there).

If it has the orig filter caps then there is a good chance they could be open or shorted. same for any wax paper caps it may have.

a good test for overall health is a current reading of the B+ to see if its in spec, also a good idea to check the cathod current of the HOT to make sure its in spec so as not to stress out the flyback, which may be hard to get.