Hey Findlay, thanks for your great and helpful reply as usual!
Yeah I agree the 244 sounds great, especially with the built in DBX as with my old tapes.
I thought the same about the plate that holds the flywheel and only loosely replaced them, even doing so while playing a cassette to see if it made a difference. Plus adjusting the nylon screw to see if it made a difference. I am tempted to maybe pull the flywheel out if possible to see if can lube below it and see what it's like. I would be worried about upsetting the control mechanism cause that pot is also on that bracket.
I have also read that sometimes the old capacitors can make the motor run weakly and can be replaced but don't know much more and also which to replace.
As I did replace the pinch roller with an old but good condition one, I will look at it as you suggested. When you say spin freely, do you mean with no tape?
When I put a rewound tape in, it often, initially, plays too fast and fluctuates then after about a minute or so it settles down and eventually plays normally. Sometimes stopping and starting also helps it settle down. Then towards the end of a tape it gets slower and often stops! Could it be the pinch roller slipping(?). Even when playing normally, I can still hear the wow problem too. I have replaced the idler tyres as well.
The belt supplier says my machine is faulty and it probably has a worn bearing and needs pro lubrication. It probably has additional problems but at least now the replacement belt works now so I can move forward. He simply keeps saying, we've never had any problems before blah blah, so why does the new belt work then, I said!
Anyway stay tuned for the next exciting installment
Cheers
Update; Without a cassette, when I press play, I can easily stop the pinch roller spinning with my finger. Maybe it's not contacting strongly enough? Findlay, can you please tell me what yours' is like and how much pressure it takes to stop it spinning?