SP10 Mk II vs Mk III

I take the position that any modern electrolytic of recent manufacture (and of proper value and voltage) will be fine to use anywhere in the MkII. Ergo, I use Panasonic FC or TS-ED types, depending upon voltage needed. They are cheap and have vanishingly low ESR, compared to anything that was made back in the 70s and 80s. Others might tell you that they can "hear" the differences among electrolytics in this circuit and would therefore use boutique brands of caps. I don't choose to argue that point either way. IMO, the caps on board the main chassis are every bit as critical as the PS caps, and maybe moreso, since they reside in proximity to the ICs and transistors that function in the servo circuit. Getting at them to replace them looks to be not too bad. I am going to give it a try myself.

If I wanted to restore an SP10 cosmetically, I would have it done professionally by an experienced company. Such a one can be found in the UK; I don't know their web address. Google will find it, I think. Unfortunately, their service is not cheap. Fortunately, the workmanship looks excellent.

Vantage audio in UK does repairs and upgrades.
http://vantageaudio.com/

Gallery of works done on various units.
http://www.vantageaudio.com/info/L07Drepairs.htm

OK - so I'll go to Mouser and purchase the replacement caps for the boards. I did a quick count from the replacement parts list in the service manual and it looks like there are about 30 electolytic caps on the boards. One thing I just don't get: the specs for these caps are strange. I'm used to seeing capacitance followed by minimum voltage. Why does the service manual show a variety of units for the spec following the capacitance. I see a number of units, examples include: 50WV,50W, but no 50V. What gives???

Also, regarding restoring the deck - I don't think I'm so perfectionist to pay 500 pounds to restore the surface of the deck. I was thinking of something on the order of an auto body place - something where I could tape up everything except the top and side surfaces and have them do a nice job. I know it would be a departure from the original, but this is a second deck - and it wouldn't bother me, as long as it looks good!

I think all those units really are for voltage.
Re the body shop approach, go for it; it belongs to you. I agree that 500GBP for a re-finish is way too high. That's why I was very fussy about cosmetics when I bought mine. It's quite possible you could find someone to do it well for less money than Vantage Audio.

"Also, regarding restoring the deck - I don't think I'm so perfectionist to pay 500 pounds to restore the surface of the deck. I was thinking of something on the order of an auto body place - something where I could tape up everything except the top and side surfaces and have them do a nice job. I know it would be a departure from the original, but this is a second deck - and it wouldn't bother me, as long as it looks good! "

My first SP-10 mkII looked real bad. Scratched and oxidized. I stripped all the parts from the alu chassis and carefully sanded it down. Took it to an auto-body-shop and had it spray-painted in jet black 2K enamel. Looked ultra sleek. If you do it properly it will look great.

BTW - You did get the SP-10 mkII in matt black - they are just very rare. My friend has a black SP-10 mkII. I can send a photo if you like.