ah  the  outstanding  one   has  come up with the goods once  again,   were i you id  mostgratefully award    him his   pernts  for correct  answer.

i might add that    J/W usually  always   says to  blow off the main board  and its connections.   because   the variax 300 being very old    could  have  accumulated  a bit  of dust and crud possibly even  a  cat hair  or two. and  since  you have  already got it  apart at this  point   he  would most likely  tell you to  clean the pots  and   the   5 way switch  with  contact  cleaner.  then blow everything  out with dustoff.

and i can pretty much guarantee  tht  J/W would  also tell you that the only way your gonna get contact  cleaner   in the pots  is down the  shafts  as  there  not  open pots.   he would also say  to give  the model change pot a good  cleaning as well.

  and  then blow that out with  dustoff. he would defenitly tell you  to work  these  switches  while wet  .  hed  also   let you know  in the absence  of  electrical tape  or loquid  electrical tape  you could  use   a non conductive paint done  in a few   coats. and  also to leave the large cover  off the  coffin case  as  its just not a necessity.  as  with the two ground  wires going from it to the wood  body.

i tell ya  man   hes a genious  and  if  he werent  in a hurry to  fly off  to help  the next person  in trouble  much like  superman.....   he  would  have   told  you these  other  things. but duty calls  and    off  he  goes  faster  than a speeding bullit 

yep   ITS A BIRD...ITS A PLANE ..   NOPE   ITS OUR  MAN JELLY WHEAT   off to save  another   variax  owner...     simply put ...  hes  my  idol...

signed------------  robin----------OOPS.... jimmy olsen

uh  um.... slide it back a bit?

ok  if this is  really that big  of a problem  you may be in over  your  head  and   so id suggest   put  the screws  in and take it  to an authorised  repair person..