how to cook a pig in the ground?
A New belt is what I was thinking when I started reading your message. I suppose that the 'bearings/rollers' could be sticky after all this time too. When you open the drive up, try rotating all the rollers in the tape path to see if one of them might be binding-up. Whether any can be lubricated to spin easier is debatable. Also, the rubber roller that touches the tape may have dried-out. Do NOT use alcohol on ANY rubber components. But I don't know what to use to restore the rubber. Good luck with your museum piece!
You can cover it with something thick like a piece of cardboard or such, or you can remove it completely, and place it somewhere in the room so it still does it's intended function. Be care full though, you can get into trouble for screwing with SD's depending on who your Sergeant/CO is.
