Ok, gentlemen... I was able to successfully detach the dust cover from the hinges.
.. removed the mat, the platter, the little c-clamp and the contraption labeled #5. Put it all back together. It tracks beautifully on the stock setting. Plays records all the way to the end without a hitch. One problem. No sound now. I can hear it on the table, but its not sending a signal to the amp.. Any idea what could have caused this? I can post pictures of the table dismantled and put back together if anybody is interested...
It doesn't seem that this mod would affect any of that, right? Ideas? To be fair, I only tried an older integrated, but it did work the night before with the other technics table.