Recently i bought a used FT-817 (non ND version). I knew that it had a damaged PA but i should have read about the FT-817 in common before buying it ;) The PA finals were totally dead as well as one of the drivers.
Therefore i bought new ones at DL2JWL and replaced them. Especially at the finals unit this is not very easy and it is suggested to replace the complete final unit for unexperienced users.
In addition it is necessary to change some other parts at the final PCB as well. Now the amplifier stage works well again. But there are still some steps to do. For example exchanging the rotary channel encoder which is hard to get and to do all the adjustments in the service menu. In the end i hope to get a nice transceiver for usage as transverter IF stage.