William Stearns wrote:

up to snuff as an electronics project for my oldest and I. Does
anyone have any hints and possibly and specific vendors that they've
had good luck with in the aid of restoring a vintage radio? Thanks in
advance and 73 de KE4RGH.

Hi,
I've never worked on a GT550 but I've done three of the Galaxy V models
which I think are somewhat similar in many respects. The main gotcha
that I encountered was a bad output bandswitch on 2 of the 3. Its a
rather under-rated looking rotary switch and not impossible to find a
replacement for.
Don't know if the GT550 uses the same switch but I thought I'd mention it.

I love the silky tuning and the way the dial is backlit on the Galaxy V
models! I had the hots for the 550 when I started hamming.

Oh, on the dual vernier drives if they are goofed up...I've heard of
guys prying them open for cleaning. I've never had to, though.
Sometimes just an extra little crimping tighter helps a worn one. At
any rate, you can find them easily enough if you need to replace them.

Good luck with it!

-Bill