best way to restore coin door (paint)?

[superbigjay]

Hello.
my coin door has some paint chips and I'd like to restore it.

I was planning to use black spray paint with some clear coats (glossy).

Is that acceptable?

Should I use RC paint or car touch up paint and only do touchups?

Thanks
Jay 

[leapinlew]

works for me. Hammer finish is what I use.

[Green Giant]

First thing you are gonna want to do is sand that thing down so you won't see where the paint chips were.  A wire brush works well or a dremel if you have one.

Then some black rustoleum spray paint and you are done.  You probably don't want glossy for your coin door, but that one is up to you.  Typically in the past they had the hammerd finish like lew said.

[superbigjay]

thanks guys!

Where can I get that "hammer finish" paint?
is it some sort of spray can like tremclad??

Do you put a protective coat on it afterward??

[Green Giant]

Just go up to homedepot and go to the paint department.  Get yourself a can of rustoleum black spray paint for outdoor use.  I think I picked up one designed for refinishing lawn furniture.  It probably has the hammered finish already in it or there is an option among the spray paint. 

After you get off as much paint as you can with a wire brush or whatever you use to make it smooth, start putting on coats of paint.  A few coats takes very little time and will protect it for the life of your cab.  Possible hang it up with some string so you can get the front and back all at once.  You won't need a protective coat as the rustoleum is the protection.  It is designed to sit outside in the weather, so you will be fine.

[RayB]

I use Tremclad, black semi-gloss rust paint. It doesn't have that bumpy look to it like powdercoating, but it looks just as good.

[Dudeman]

I used truck undercoating that I got at the local parts store. It has a decent rough finish to it and is pretty tough.

Don't get the rubbery stuff though (like Herculiner).

[HighNoon]

After sanding I primered it, gave the front a light wetsand (1500), then I sprayed it with rustoleum (sp) satin black.

Rather than a few heavy coats, I applied it in lighter coats several minutes apart.  Then the coin-door baked in the sun for around 1/2 hour or so.

Came out very nice.

[superbigjay]

Just go up to homedepot and go to the paint department.  Get yourself a can of rustoleum black spray paint for outdoor use.  I think I picked up one designed for refinishing lawn furniture.  It probably has the hammered finish already in it or there is an option among the spray paint. 

Is the hammered finish what gives the "bumpy" look to the paint?

Thanks everyone for your feedback.  It's appreciated...

[Dudeman]

Yes. If you go to your local home improvement store, they should have some. take a look at the cap. It shows they "bump" they talk about.

I like the look, but beware. For some reason, even though the paint is black, it has a distinct grey sheen to it.

[xmenxmen]

I feel bad now.  NOT!....  *sign of lazy** When I was restoring my cab, I just use the leftover latex paint I have left and rolled it.   

[Darth Nuno]

with few pictures 

Sand first :



One layer of primer, both side of course 



...and minimum 2 layers of Black Satin, or Black mate...



...and there it is :

[HighNoon]

Pretty much the same method as Darth Nuno.  See pics.




Before








After

[csa3d]

Ditto.  I have documented my Midway Coindoor restore here.

-csa

[Dudeman]

Mine, using undercoat.

[Neilyboy]

My restore.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=69930.0

Neil

[Green Giant]

With hammer finish, there's no need to sand or prime.  Just spray over the old paint and it'll look fine.

That all depends on the condition of his coindoor.  when I got mine some of the paint had chipped off so I smoothed the edges around those parts getting off any paint that was already flaking.  Without sanding it will have raised areas and lower areas where the paint flaked off.

However, if your coin door is in good shape just scratched, then painting it is all you need.  Primer is not very necessary for a coin door if you are using spray paint designed for metal.  The bond will be strong and multiple layers are a cinch.

[jcoleman]

The absolute, bar none, 100% best way to restore that coin door is to 1) have it sandblasted (it appears that Darth Nuno did that as well) and 2) have it powder coated.  I paid a guy $12 to sandblast mine and then took it to a commercial powder coater who did it for around $20.  There are a WIDE variety of options when powder coating, so you can get it in just about any finish you can think of.  Obviously it was not as cheap as painting it myself (and not nearly as fast) but it came out perfect.  I know I am not that good at painting, so I went with that option and have absolutely no regrets.

Your mileage may vary.

Coleman

[Pac-Fan]

With all paints you should sand. However for hammered to work properly it should NOT be sprayed over freshly primed or painted material.

It's fine to go over the original powder coat, because remember, that isn't so much paint but rather plastic, so the solvents in the hammered won't start eating as much into the powder coat layer as compared to real paint.

Hammered paint does not bubble anywhere near as much and can cause problems being sprayed over a primed/pre-spray painted surface. you end up having to use so much of it to make it 'work' that you then end up with puddles and runs.

So, either prime+normal black satin/semi gloss, or don't prime and use hammered.

As others have said, black hammered has a distinctive grey appearance to it--in fact is is the closest match I've found to the blue-grey-peuter color of old Midway coin doors, like the original ones on Galaxian and their mid-70's EM games.  (Pre 70's they used brown, 80's they used black)

So if you want it hammered but true black, just overcoat it 2 days after you initially hammer it. Use a black satin or semi gloss and it will hide some of the hammering and make it black but leave enough of the texture to come close enough to the original Bally/Midway "splatter" pattern or CoinCo "orange peel" pattern their power coats originally had.