Guys,
I lucked upon a Ms. Pac Man cabinet at a decent price ($175). It is in fair condition, only slightly chewed up and the artwork is in really good condition on one side and about average on the other due to the usual wear from users left hand holding the cabinet all through the years. I have several questions that I hope you pros can help me with. Yes this is my first restore and my goal is to spot fill any holes or dings with wood filler or bondo (preferences suggestions?) and touch up those spots and the artwork by hand to give the sun faded colors new life and cover up the fixed parts.
I'm planning on taking the back door to Home Depot for a computer match of the blue, the artwork colors I'll simply go with the suggested paint codes I've found online since I'm going to go over the entire artwork by hand. If someone has the infamous stencils that they would be willing to loan/sell/rent me I would certainly be eternally gratetful so PM me if you have them and we can work something out. I don't want to go the cheezy sticker route and most of you purists would probably applaud that decision.
So...a few questions are below that I would really appreciate some feedback on. I would really appreciate multiple perspectives so if someone has already answered and you have a different take on it by all means chime in. Thanks in advance for your help on this, I'm excited and scared at the same time but looking forward to the ride.
1. Serial number is 19092, any idea how old the unit is? All the dates on the PCB say 1981 but nothing on the cabinet. If anyone has any idea how to date a Ms. Pac Man Cabinet please let me know.
I may drop a 60 in 1 board to play additional games in this cabinet. If I do I will save the existing control panel and get a second one with some fire buttons so I can both expand the useability of the cabinet and preserve all the original parts. does anyone know of a good 6x9 powered speaker that is actually two speakers in one (STEREO) so I could get better sound and run off the 3.5 mm jack on the 60 in 1? Any suggestions for something better than the 30 year speaker that is in there now?
3. What kind of paint was originally used on these? Was it interior latex semi gloss?
4. I have a corner that is chewed up, I can fix with wood filler or Bondo (any suggestions?) and I wonder If I can apply the blue paint right over the bondo or whether I want to prime that. It will be a very small area so am wondering if the primer is even necessary but again I'm not “Joe Paint” so I don't know and really could use some advice from you guys on this front.
5. What is the feeling of painting over old paint without sanding since I'm touching up and not repainting completely? If the same color is that ok? In a few places it looks like the paint has cracked so I guess I should sand out the bulging crack so it's flat and proceed from there?
6. What size is the barrel lock for the coin door? Who sells these?
Many thanks in advance guys, I really appreciate your forthcoming input
PS: How the heck do I add images to a post? I want to post the pictures but the add image button doesn't let me browse to a location on my drive. Sorry if I'm denseish on this front gang