Metal control panel questions..

[JeSo]

Sorry for the vague heading, but yeah, just a few questions.

I've recently aquired a metal control panel, in... mixed shape, was very dirty, mostly clean now, but the problem is that the paint is gone on some of it, and shifty in other areas, and there's some rust on the bottom edge.

My question is basically what do I use to strip the trouble paint off, get rid of the rust, protect against future rust, and repaint the panel?

Thanks.

One other thing I found kinda interesting, the four 'Player X Start' buttons all use leaf switches, but the gameplay buttons all use microswitches. Is that usual?

[eightbit]

Sand paper or wire brush should help get that paint off. Then paint it with a primer then paint what ever color you want or recover it with something else.

Often old games have mismatched buttons because they were replaced or converted. It wouldn't surprise me to see a panel with microswitches for the players since the leaf switches tended to wear out or need occasional adjustment. The microswitches needed less maintenance so they were often put in. The player start buttons hardly get used compared to the other buttons so thats why they were probably left as leafs.

[Ken Layton]

I agree, sanding the troubled spot would be best. Then use some primer for bare metal.