Update 02/11/07: Coin Door Restoration BeginsStarted working on the coin door this weekend after making a trip to the Home Depot. Came home with the following inventory:
- Dremmel attachment - Wire Wheel #428
- Dremmel attachment - Wire Brush #442
- Black and Decker 2" Wire Wheel (fine)
- Naval Jelly Rust Remover
- Citristrip Paint Stripping Gel
- Brasso metal polish
- Rust-oleum Autobody Primer - #2089 Dark Gray
- Rust-oleum Fine Textured Finish - #7220 Black
- 1 Can of Bondo
This coin door isn't in too bad of shape. It's got some holes under coin #2 insert which need filled, some slight bends which need straitened, and everything could use a good scrub and a paint job.
Step 1: Dismanteling the DoorI began by taking apart the door. Because this is my first venture at this, I took about 100 pictures of each step, and also made individually labeled bags for each screw set so I'd know which one came from where when it's time to put it back together. The hardest part of this process was probably removing the Midway Logo from the front. It was attached with rivets, and sure, I could have pried this right off since it's scratched all to
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anyways, but I felt some respect was needed for this task. I took a finishing nail, and pounded out each rivot from the back which in turn, poped the nail out the front, leaving the logo in tact. Below is a picture of the door before and after dismantling. Note the holes under coin 2 which will be filled with bondo soon.
Step 2: Coin Acceptor Rust RemovalIn the paint isle, I accidentally spotted Naval Jelly rust remover, which I've been told to look for to aide with the rust task by others. I picked up the bottle when home, and started to read the applicationn directions. Right on the bottle, it states clearly that, "
This product contains chemicals known to cause cancer in the state of California". Good thing I'm in Texas!
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I immediately put the jar right back down after reading this, figuring that restoration of an arcade machine wasn't worth uncurable disease. It will be going back to the Depot next weekend.
I next grabbed all my newly purchased wire wheels and headed into the garadge with all the metal pieces. I loaded my cordless drill the small dremmel wire wheel and turned it on at full blast to get the feel for this process. Seems the cordless wasn't going to cut the mustard in reguads to RPM. I then remembered that last year I purchased the "worst drill ever" for 15$. It is a no name brand, but plugs into a wall. It has forward and reverse options, no variable speed option, and strips screws like it's no ones business. You hit the trigger, you get full tilt RPM. Known only previously as a waist of money, it now serves as a makeshift dremmel motor GREAT for paint and rust removal.
I loaded up the blue drill with the small wheel (seen below) and began by testing the rust removal process on the BACK of the worst coin acceptor. I was fearful that this wheel would heavily mar and scratch the finish, and felt that testing here was the best option. To my surprise, this little wheel took the rust right off, and didn't seem to scratch the finish anything like I had expected it to. Upon completing the back, I was confident that the this process would work for the front as well. Thirtly minutes later I had 2 rust free coin acceptors.
Next I've been told by others to use steel wool to remove the bigger scratches the wheel would cause. After all, this is sanding, a process of adding scratching to beautify. So I did this on both sides of the coin acceptors. I'm not convinced this did anything at all. I think this little dremmel wheel did a fantastic job of not scratching the surface much at all.
Lastly, I hit both coin acceptors with a soft rag and some Brasso metal polish. This made them a tad shinier, but do not expect to get new bumper feel from a 28 year old part. I think they turned out pretty good (see before and after pictures below)
Now about the acceptor bolts (which were rusted and REALLY horrible looking). I read that the preferred process is to take your bolt, and stick it in your drill chuck so the screw end goes inside. This allows the head to be spun into some steel wool, followed by spinning it into a rag of Brasso. Point take, I tried that and I highly suggest you do not. Spinning the bolt into the steel wool caused the bolt to snag the wool from my hand and twist it into a giant ball around the drill head and the bolt itself. I even made sure it was taunt in my hand before attempting this. I laughed and was like, "um.. duh of course it would do that." I untangled it and decided to skip this step and try going strait to the "spin into rag of Brasso" technique. This was even more scary. The drill snagged the rag from my hand and almost whipped me in the face, not to mention twerked my wrist. Don't do this unless you enjoy pain.
Pissed now, I got the wheel back out. Holding the bolt shaft with a pair of needle nose plyers, I ran the brush over the head, and within 10 seconds it looked new and shiney again. I see no scratches on the nail head, so I don't think it's vital to spin the bolt into a flat surface for consistant scratching sake.
Step 3: Cleaning the coin mechsI considered repainting the interior coin mechs as Peale describes in his
coindoor refinishing tutorial. I really only think the coin shoots look crummy, and after I figured that no one will see the insides much, plus they work fine right now. They have age defying crud, and a quick blast from the small wire wheel took off most of that! They now don't look new, but they also don't look disgustingly old. One of them was likely replaced, as there is still a sticker on it dating to January of 1982. Cool! I will probably hit the coin shoots with a shot from the 2" wire wheel next weekend. The bigger wheel does add noticable scratches, but will take of a tiny layer which I think will make the overall appearance look nider to those two particular pieces.
Step 4: Paint Removal from the Door and FrameSo I couldn't find Strippease at the Home Depot. I did manage to find something called Citristrip Gel. It said it was a safe stripper (which sounded like a plus to me, no one likes a dirty stripper!) and didn't give off fumes. Since it's freezing out, I thought I could use this indoors and not have my wife pass out. Upon reading the directions, on the label again a scary statement, "
This product contains a chemical known to cause reproductive harm in the state of California". What's with California and why do they want us all to die? I was told by my wife to immediately put that down and not to use it. So I headed out to the garadge to use it. Hey, one can always adopt, right?
I got out a paint brush and lathered a thick coat over both the frame and the door fronts. It smelled delicious like oranges as the label said it would, and I resisted the temptation to taste it. It sat overnight, and I anticipated wiping off years of yuck with a wet rag. Well, this was true on the frame. The coindoor resisted, so I shot it by hand with a wire brush. Wearing rubber gloves, I scrubbed away wiping new layers off with a clean paper towel. I used 2/3rds of a roll before I decided it was as good as it was going to get without reapplying another coat. YUCK! I'm not sure I'd do the chemical peel again. Curious and anxious to see my door revealed, I rembered
this blog where he mentions doing the entire thing with a wire wheel. Hey, I have one of those! And damn.. it works WAY better then this chemical crap.
I will mention that the 2" B&D Wire Wheel does add noticable scratches to the door as it strips paint like butter. These are minor in my opinion. The door is going to be primed and repainted so this is not a problem. Doing it over, I'd skip any sort of paint stripper and proceed strait to grinding.
Next WeekendAs the door stands tonight, it's 80% finished before I grew too cold to stay outside and my wrist hurst from not having a proper dremmel tool to use. Once I finish sanding the paint away, I plan to layer the coin door in with a thin coat of bondo in a few places where it looks like children beat the hell out of the doing returns. There are also those 4 security holes which need patched. Prime and paint come next, and I'm hoping 1 weekend will be enough to do this all in. I suppose I may run into "don't rush it" paint issues, so we'll have to see how it goes. I'll keep you posted. For now, enjoy the pictures below which accompany this restoration story.