Creature Prototype Restoration

[johnwartjr]

Nice, ugly tar stained formerly clear tubing



I've been told that smoking is a family value in Europe, I truly believe it after working on some of these pins. Reminds me of my earlier days as a computer repairman, and working on some computers that were in closed up offices that allowed smoking, when you could get sick off the contact from the tar all over the inside of the computer!

A stop at a local farm and fleet store turned up some nice new tubing. I got 3 sizes. Will go back for the 4th later, only need 2 sizes for this restoration and have them. The 4th size is the size used in the later WPC games that the power harness from the transformer to the power box runs through.



New ground braid needs one of these ends so it can attach to the ground stud in the backbox



After searching around online and getting ready to place a $2 pinrestore.com order, I realized I'd ordered a bunch with a previous order



Time to carefully run the new ground braid alongside the old in the harness



Braid run through the nice new clear insulation



Now, something that previously would've stuck out will blend in nicely.

Hacked up speaker wiring spliced in with color correct replacements. Will terminate once the harness is installed properly, so it isn't too short or too long



Time for the next problem, one I've been pondering for a couple weeks now...

When I installed the new enhanced leg bolt plates, the power box has to be shifted back ever so slightly. In the past, I've done this several times, and never had the problem I'm currently facing. The power switch can't be flipped, due to interference from the cutout that is routed into the cab



So, I debated my choices.

My first choice was to pull the power box, and move the hole the switch goes through, so it's back centered in the original hole.

After pulling it, and taking some measurements, I realized it wasn't super likely to work. I don't have a bit large enough to drill the hole. That's not a big deal, I could buy a bit, and then find someone with a drill press that fits a 1/2 inch bit, or borrow a hand drill with a 1/2 inch chuck, but the two holes would be really, really close - if they don't run together and turn into a slot.



I debated having someone trim the leg bolt plates up for me, or trim part of the flange off the power box. I decided that didn't work well for me, either, as once again, I'd have to depend on someone else, and it wouldn't look 'right'.

So, I did what I'd been pondering for awhile, and decided to massage the hole slightly. It wouldn't be noticeable from the top, and it wouldn't be common to be seen from the bottom, either. The guy who restored the cabinet for me could also cut me a new switch plate if necessary, and a little wood glue and a couple brads or staples, it would be back to original too.



After a bit of massaging, it worked! And it looks 'right', and the hole doesn't look horrid from below, either.

Before I hit it a bit with a sanding drum, I snapped a picture.



From below



Harness for cabinet switches is run, too.







Now, I need to clean some corrugated tubing for the harnesses from a junk game - the originals from this game were the same color (black) instead of one black, one grey, and were hand cut and are kind of ugly. I cleaned them up, but I want some nice clean looking ones. Any of the parts I've replaced on this game are going into a storage bin, and should I ever have the desire to go back to 'original' on something, it won't be impossible.

[johnwartjr]

34 new pics uploaded tonight

They start here:
http://gallery.myhomegameroom.com/gallery/proto_cftbl_progress/DSC_2504

Filthy backbox insert needs cleaned up


Panel is clean, but baffle on the upper lamps is only partially cleaned



Backside is clean, too



Speaker panel is disassembled, plastic gets a novus buff

[johnwartjr]

Masked off the baffle to respray it



Got some special paint for the plastic baffle



First coat laid down



A few hours later, another coat



Will 2 coats be enough? Tomorrow will tell!
Before:


After 2 coats:


Hardware out of the tumbler


Display panel gets a fresh coat of paint



Got some fresh weatherstripping to go on the DMD panel, but it's too thick. Back to the store!

[johnwartjr]

Paint turned out real decent





Completely populated with a new display



Test fit



Now to figure out how to tidy up the wiring for the printer kit!

[MartyJ]

Your work is outstanding John.  I certainly hope you've got some more pins in the que to resto and share with us!

[johnwartjr]

Thanks! I really enjoy working on the games. Playing is OK, too, but I just really prefer to wrench on them over play them.

Rest assured, I have plenty of games to restore!

Next in line is a Scared Stiff. I have a LOT of games in line already, have lists of what I need for each, and when one gets done, I figure out what I have most of the stuff to restore waiting for. Then, I can buy my parts when I get good deals etc.

I have a bunch of different WPCs to do, and even a couple Sys11s. Someday, I'll broaden my horizons and go a bit more classic.

[johnwartjr]

This



Is better than this, right?



I'm still not happy with it.

So, I masked it



First coat laid down



Another in the morning!

[johnwartjr]

Well, the first coat went pretty well, but I had somewhat disastrous results after the 2nd coat.

I had to pretty much sand all the new paint off, and even some of the original finish down to bare wood, and now I need to start over.

You need to look at the big pics to understand what it looks like, here's a link to one:

http://gallery.myhomegameroom.com/gallery/proto_cftbl_progress/DSC_2576?full=1
And the other

http://gallery.myhomegameroom.com/gallery/proto_cftbl_progress/DSC_2577?full=1

Any thoughts on what I might have done wrong here?

I cleaned the board off before spraying the first coat, and the first coat looked fine. It had a couple spots that were a bit thin, but it was a nice smooth looking and feeling finish. I laid a 2nd coat down, thinking it would thicken up in the areas where the first coat was light.

Did I lay down too thick a coat? Did I need to clean or sand between coats? Too cold? The shop was the temp recommended on the can, although it was towards the cold end. I allowed extra dry time because of this.

I also used good quality 'rust oleum' satin white paint, not the cheap stuff.

I need to do a bit more sanding before I try again, need to restock paper before I sand again. 

[MartyJ]

I've had paint flare up like this John...Always the stuff in a can which is one reason why I don't use it any more.

The stuff I was using - recommended one coat (and touchups within 3 hrs) or 36 hours later.  I still don't know why it flared....Same brand but different can (in my case)....
I was under the impression it was due to contaminants but your shop looks exceptionally clean.

Did you sand, prepsol, wipe in between coats?

[johnwartjr]

My shop is clean, however I did not sand or wipe down between coats. Perhaps that is the problem.

I am going to wood putty the staple holes before I paint it again, since I have to sand it anyways :)

[johnwartjr]

No pics due to the large amount of dust stirred up, as well as lack of progress the last few days.

It's cold here. Real cold. Too cold to paint, too cold to use the filler I need to fill some holes on the backboard, etc.

I am probably going to bring the backbox insert and the filler inside tomorrow and let them warm up and then apply the wood filler once they are all warmed up. The initial sanding is done, the backboard has been vacuumed and tack ragged etc.

[ddstoys]

Loving this Thread John with my new creature waiting on some work love the updates.   Sadly i wont be able to do as good a job as your doing unless my son goes into a Coma for six month but i definately have something to aim for.   Restoring while keeping them playable is so hard....

[johnwartjr]

It's been too danged cold here to make much progress unfortunately. I had hoped to work on Monday evening, as we had 50+ degree temperatures, but the 'real job' prohibited it from happening. I worked til 3 AM Monday evening/Tuesday morning.

However, work has a holiday shutdown of 2 weeks, so I hope to be able to dive right into it the next 2 weeks - at least, in the evenings.

Just need to find a way to make spray painting work in colder temperatures I guess. The can says it has to be above 50. I don't know if that means I can bring the can indoors and let it get room temperature and take it outside when I'm painting, or what.

[johnwartjr]

So, I got back to the project a bit this afternoon.



I ordered some 'plasti-dip' to recoat the handle on the lockdown bar reciever. The old cover was kinda cut up, and dirty. I had to mail order the plasti-dip, as it comes in multiple colors, but none of the stores around me carried yellow. I could've had red, blue or black, but for some reason, I had to order yellow.

I decided to repaint the insert again, after using some wood filler in some staple holes etc



I found a place on eBay selling cases of 20 sanding pads in red and grey grit, so I bought one of each. Cost is about $1 USD each, and they are larger than the ones I pay $2.25 each for in the hardware store!



And the correct weatherstripping for the speaker panel - the last roll was the right width, but too tall.



I have a speaker panel project in the works, hope to post some pics in the next week or so. No, it's not LEDs.

Paint sprayed, hope it dries OK without crazed areas like last time



Hope to work some more tonight, had enough time at lunch today to get this done and posted in hope that it motivates me!

[MartyJ]

Hmm, very interested with the plasti dip....How does it work to apply?