"Resoldering them was difficult because the boards would out-gas badly when the griplets were heated causing cold joints."

We learned to cookem. Seriously, lay the iron on it and watch it bubble for a while. Some of them eventually stopped bubbling but some didn't. Those that didn't were usually sufficiently cooked to work.

I remember those AB chassis'. Now, they wouldn't even be considered for repair or anything like them. Even a flat screen that size today, if it is not fixed in five minutes it goes into the dumpster.

But that was then.