I've had trouble with my 1948 HMV, I could only get one station, Port Pirie 5CS, but no other stations across the whole dial, even then it intermittently cut out and touching the tuning knob, even flicking it would bring the station back for a bit, until it sketched out again. Pulled out the chassis only to find nothing seemed out of order but the tuning variable capacitor seemed when looked at closely that one was a bit bent and they all seemed a bit close to one side. clipping my multimeter to each side, I selected the continuity tester which beeps if there is continuity only to find it beeped across over three quarters of the tuning range. After sitting there for hours placing pieces of flat cardboard between the plates, attempting to isolate the source of continuity and carefully trying to bend them apart, I succeeded after many hours of reversing the situation so that now I have good selectivity over more than three quarters of the tuning range which is a big improvement but still not 100% perfect. Just asking is there a special tech secret way of straightening these things out? Which doesn't take hours and hours?

What I do is mesh the tuner plates completely, then looking from underneath bending the rotor plates only with a very thin
screwdriver. Until they are all evenly spaced and parallel with the stator plates.
Then unmesh slowely looking from the top and adjust if necessary.
Usually it’s only the rotor plates that are bent.
End play adjustment is also possible with most tuners, Or with a bit of experience a tap with a hammer in the right place, on the actual
frame.
I have a lifetime collection of tuning caps, so if you need to replace it, send me a picture and I should be able to match it.
JJ

Thank you Johnny, I'll have another go at it on a rainy day!