[Ed in Tx]

Pull off the front panel, remove the front loading assembly, and it will be easy to work on. If you don't want to remove the reels if you put a tiny drop of oil, like thin sewing machine oil, on the C clips and shafts on tops of the reels the oil will gradually migrate down the shafts. Better than nothing.

Pinch roller works in Play or Record modes. A bad one will cause the tape to skew up or down against the exit guides and mistrack at the audio-control track head next to the capstan. Linear audio gets recorded on the top edge of the tape, the speed control track is on the bottom edge. Very important that tape path is smooth, no wrinkling at the top or bottom edges of the guides.