I have the same turntable and the same task in front of me. I bought it new in the late 80s and used it until the early 2000s. It has been in the attic ever since. I don't know when I'll get around to restoring it, but at least now I know a little more clearly what to expect :)

I have one of these, i bought it new about 40 years ago, played it for years, trying all sorts of mods, weights , clamps and plinths to set the deck on etc. Along came CD's and slowly the deck became dusty. It is now in its original box in a cupboard in our house since we moved in here 28 years ago, and I recently began to itch to revive it, hence finding your video. I am fortunate to be a toolmaker giving me access to lathes and milling machines, so before i retire, a restoration project should be no bother, I just hope none of the electrics are damaged from age, also I don't recall my RD40 having speed controls or switchable 33/45 (I remember changing the belt position on the motor) I'm sure it was just on or off. so there may have been different models available at the time.

There is a "captive" ball bearing in the oil cavity. The original tables came with a measured amount of lube.

First class restoration on the old Ariston.

This is very cool looking turntable. 👍🏻

Did chuckle at the "like a Linn" comment! Interesting story - my old boss bought a container of shop tools (compressors, lathes, pillar tools, etc) from a local auction here in Ayrshire quite a few years back. As well as tool stuff we found loads of Ariston hifi parts and some complete items all marked up with labels like Prototype 001, etc. Funky looking CD players, tuners and parts for decks like yours. Nobody cared (we were a truck workshop) so it all got binned. What a shame.

I had one of these but when I bought it the brass mass weights were missing. Tweaks I did were to put it on sorbathane pucks for clearance and isolation and to use dynamat on the inside of the platter which made a big difference though with the even heavier platter will sit lower so needs adjustment assuming the springs still have spring in them.. With a very good if vintage tonearm like a SME3009 and good cartridge it comes to life. Started to develop some AC motor hum but got a really tight yet open sound out of it. A new belt can be easily bought as well as springs (Linn replacements). Getting it level was very time consuming. Overall it has a good amount of mass and the bearing is precision engineering. Added bonus is you can take it apart and put it in your suitcase if you travel

I was lucky enough to get an older version of this and paid next to nothing for it at an estate sale. Covered in dust and mouse crap! Got it home started cleaning in, polishing the aluminum bits realized it was really good quality. Is is the center piece of my system and the reason I started my vintage audio hobby. Meet some of the nicest people! If I ever do a full restoration this will be my go to video. Thanks for the great video! Cheers

Great job.

With the RPM app, if you sit something fairly light over the spindle... Toilet Roll! and then sit the phone on top of that - directly over the spindle, it seems to produce a more accurate reading, depending on the phone. And also, yeah, the static numbers blows my brain.

It's such a cool turntable. I almost bought one a few years ago. I feel some regrets now 😅

If you check on line you will see there is a spring that goes from the switch box to the turntable frame to counteract the the pull of the belt on the turntable. I have the same unit with no spring and no counter weights and it sounds great with Ortfon red cartridge.

A good video. Much appreciated! I would love to have one of these turntables. It looks brilliant. Mind you, had I had been in your position and then had to read the comments made by @exenx2995 then like you, I would most certainly have NOT have given him the satisfaction of you giving up and effectively 'slashing your wrists'. Please keep up the excellent work with your videos!

Really like the look of that tonearm i dunno what you mean :D

That’s a shibata needle?

These were good decks if you couldn’t afford an LP12

What's happened to the original arm that's a lot better than the Rega why why not put it back?

Surprised you don't favour S-shaped arms. Cute deck, but man I hate belt drive. For the money I'd rather have an SP-10.

hi the price of records is now got silly went over to 1/2 tape and bigger reel to reel please i did £50 for one i have seen there was a shop in london i could get a record 50p each was along time ago there was a place in the shop they had them that you call them 2nd bad covers and small things made them hard to sell i watched the cassette deck one as well with the big gears you had to make

I thought Ariston made stoves and washing machines. Ariston ... and on ... and on

HOW did you get the spring pods apart and install the new foam in the springs?