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It feels like it's trying to spin but can't quite manage it.
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This is what you would expect with the pinch-roller not gripping the tape against the capstan. During playback, the tape is pulled off the supply (L/H) reel and across the heads exclusively by the capstan and pinch roller. The takeup (R/H) reel is driven at low torque via a slipping clutch, so that it takes up the available tape as it leaves the capstan, but doesn't itself pull it through the machine.
I have recently worked on one of these and although I didn't have this problem, I did think the pinch-roller condition was a bit marginal. Don't butcher the mechanism to make up for a bad roller!