Kitchen Table Electronics Repair: TEAC MV-375 VHS VCR

Given that just about any "modern" VHS VCR transport will be of "just good enough" (and I'm giving them lots of credit here) quality and no more standalone VCRs are being produced, keeping the old, well made machines running is very important. Please don't destroy an old VCR, even if it doesn't work.
Although this is a fairly low end two head VCR (actually made by Funai Corporation for TEAC), it's still fair to say that it is a better quality unit than just about anything made today. Older VCRs typically have more individual assemblies that come together to make up the tape mechanism as a whole, but this unit's transport is still made up mostly of metal parts and the design is relatively well thought out, with the major parts easily reached for service.
Also featured in this video is a quick explanation of how VHS video tape machines work. Much of this would also apply to any other helical-scan tape system, whether used for video, audio or computer data.
I'm not totally finished with this repair just yet. I still need to get the proper belt (or at least a better rubber band!), the heads could use a cleaning and I haven't proven that it will play a tape--only that I think it will.