Centipede restoration - My first - There will be plenty of pics

Arcade Collecting > Restorations & repair

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Arroyo:
Nice work, saw your write up on KLOV as well, this is some good digging. I know what a crazy amount of time it takes to solve one of these types of problems so kudos for sticking it out.

bperkins01:
Thanks - I'm not sure about cross posting etiquette. But this particular mod I had not seen and its been super useful. So it really needed to be in both places.

I just discovered the little pot I used came with a knob! Even better!

bperkins01:
Quick update, but I thought it was worth documenting. Old cabinets made of particle board ... I guess they were not really supposed to last this long. If someone told Henry Ford that a Model T would still be running in the year 2020 .. he would have laughed at them.

Well - my restoration will not be museum quality - but I would like to try to keep things relatively authentic. My buddy saw this machine tonight and I showed him the particle board replacement parts - he said "why not use something better?". After a little back and forth banter, I left at "dude you don't get it.."

This is a bit of a close up. It is the area inside the back of the cabinet where the rear panel cam lock chews up the particle board. In my opinion, here is the best way to fix this:

Sawdust sifted through a strainer. This dust is from the particleboard replacement panels I made for the rear and front that I'll get to later. My goto glue is System3 epoxy. It is a 2 part epoxy that is very strong and dries hard. I especially like it because it is a 2:1 epoxy. I measure it in small cups on a digital scale - grams are the easiest measure. 10 grams of resin, 5 grams of hardener - mix well. Add sawdust until the mixture is very stiff. If its a little runny - add more. It needs to be stiffer than peanut butter - but not dry. Wood glue's are strong - but still soft when they set and add no true rigidity to the material. Ex: squirt a stripe of wood glue on plastic wrap. Next to it the same size stripe of epoxy. When it dries - the wood glue will be nice and bendy and the epoxy will shatter. It dries hard - and when the right filler is added - is extra strong.

I have a piece of wood that I clamped onto the edge to act as a mold. It is coated in packing tape (you can't see it - its clear). The filler will not stick to the tape and provides a smooth edge. Using a putty knife press the filler into the void and leave it just a little thicker than the surface. Let it cure overnight.

This picture does it no justice - but the chunk is completely filled and rock solid. Once it's fully cured - I used a small sander and flatten it all out. I'll add a small metal plate so that the new cam lock can't re-chew the panel.

Same treatment to the outside of the same panel. Over the years - its obvious screwdrivers were used to pry the back off. Here is a 3/4" scrap of wood, wrapped in packing tape and used as a mold for the filler.

Here it is sanded and painted. I'm using oil based flat black Rust-Oleum and wiping it on with a rag. This repair is invisible.

Three of the four leg levelers came out without much issue. But there is always a troublemaker. The fourth one just pulled out and the hole it left behind was useless. Epoxy based wood filler to the rescue. Filled everything, sanded it smooth, drilled a new hold and added a new blind nut.

One of the old ones the left - still plenty strong and held in with large staples. New on the right with screws.

I did finish up the replacement coin door panel. Its identical. Just new.

Ok - its nearly identical. I didn't use staples for the most part, I used screws. The original cleats I'm pretty sure were luan (3/4" x 3/4"). I just happened to have some leftover mahogany in the exact same dimension. I'll bet real money there isn't another Centipede machine on the planet with mahogany cleats on the coin door panel.

Rear door painted in flat black.

I even decided to replicate the missing slot cover from the original. Now this part was easier to install with staples!

Mostly I'm doing all of these small items because I'm still contemplating how to fix the sides w/o ruining the original side art. I have a loose plan in my head - but haven't fully committed just yet.

The bottom part of this panel is really crap..

Here is the original T-molding with almost 1/8" of expansion on either side on that same panel. Eventually everything else will be done and I will have no choice but to come up with some clever way to repair this.

mourix:
This resto is one of my favorites of this year already. I love the attention to detail and use of original parts, even if I would also have probably used some different wood as well :afro:

Mike A:
There will definitely be more than one glass of beer hoisted in your direction at Zapcon for this resto.

I like my games to show their age. I don't do much if any cosmetic work. I am very picky that they play correctly though.

I do, however, appreciate when someone goes to great lengths to preserve a game and make it look all pretty.

Keep posting. I am learning new stuff, and different ways to do old stuff.

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