Got the replacement for VR2 in today. Dropped right in, which was nice. Since the radio is electrically complete, minus any solder joints I may have missed, I decided to start playing.
Receive seems to work all modes, transmit not so much. Sideband is fine, but no output in AM.
I'm using the old (MB8719) McKinley schematic as a reference, because that's the closest I've got to the good stuff. Transistor and IC numbers all seem to be the same. Other components... might match.
I found TR35 was bad, replaced it. Doesn't seem to be shorted any more. Since it's in a Darlington pair config with TR34 I replaced that, too. But still no go. Voltage on the emitters of both transistors more or less drops to zero when the radio is keyed. Sounds like a short, and I would normally suspect the final or driver, but I'm getting around 12 watts in sideband.
So, yeah, I'm confused. Haven't given up just yet, though. Seems to be something only present in AM transmit, but that's about all I've got for the moment.