Metal CP - Rebuild and Redrill/punch?

[Necro]

Because of the complexity of the bending in the CP on my cab, and my desire to have it fit properly, I'm debating purchasing a unpopulated/parted CP, filling in the holes, and then repunching it into the layout I want either with a hole drill or a greenlee punch.

Anyone ever try this before before I spend the money on the CPs to rebuild?  I'm particularly worried about the redrilling portion of this...

[fjl]

Why are you worried about the redrilling?

I've never worked with sheet metal so i don't how you would refill the existing holes. How do you do that?

[TOK]

Metal punches work great. Nice clean edges, though you still have to drill an accurate pilot hole for them. I've seen metal panels using an overlay where the holes actually overlap. The metal is strong enough that you don't notice as long as there is enough room for the button to mount securely.

If you find one with 2 button holes, and you're doing a 6 button layout, you also might just be able to add holes without overlapping the old ones. I was able to do this with the panel on my dead Tekken.

[Necro]

For filling holes, I could just JB weld a washer in or something to that effect.  I"m wondering if that will just break or the bondo would just shatter if I were to go that route.

[CheffoJeffo]

You'll need to put some backing under the holes to be filled.

There are some links in the Restoration pages of the wiki:

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Restoration

[Namco]

My CP was like swiss cheese when I took the CPO off of it. What I did was I got a piece of sheet metal and cut it in the shape of the old CP and drill the holes through that. Drilling through 1/16th inch (1.6mm?) was no problem with a hole saw, especially if you drill a little pilot hole first. The only problem is filling the areas where the old button holes were. I used wood putty and sanded it flat, but I should have used bondo looking back on it.

Working with sheet metal is easier than you think. The metal saws are just a few dollars and the metal holds up very well. Very forgiving material to work with.

[Necro]

I guess my question leading off of this is how do you drill the original CP (with the misplaced holes) before repairing it?  Throwing the other piece of metal on it makes sense, but would the material shift/move when using the punch or saw?  (I'm thinking it bends/shards when you try to cut it like this).

Either way, it seems that picking up a crappy used CP is my best way to go in my Omega Race retrofit since the CP holds two bezels in place.

[Namco]

First you use a paper template to drill your button holes on the blank metal. Around the perimiter of the CP there were bolts that hold the plexi on. Just clamp your blank onto the CP to drill out those holes, then bolt it on. Use the blank CP with the button holes as a template to drill out the old CP. Once you're done, bolt it to the back of the old CP, glue it down with some industrial strength glue, and fill the top flush with bondo. Clean up the holes with sandpaper or the hole saw, then primer the whole thing viola', good as new.

this might not apply to your case, post a pic if you can.

[cmoses]

First you use a paper template to drill your button holes on the blank metal. Around the perimiter of the CP there were bolts that hold the plexi on. Just clamp your blank onto the CP to drill out those holes, then bolt it on. Use the blank CP with the button holes as a template to drill out the old CP. Once you're done, bolt it to the back of the old CP, glue it down with some industrial strength glue, and fill the top flush with bondo. Clean up the holes with sandpaper or the hole saw, then primer the whole thing viola', good as new.

this might not apply to your case, post a pic if you can.

Can you clarify the following directions
1. Cut out sheet metal in same shape as control panel
2. Use paper template to mark and cut holes in sheet metal
3. Use sheet metal template to cut holes in original control panel
4. Glue sheet metal template to bottom of control panel
5. Bondo the top of the control panel filling in all the holes
6. Once bondo is set, then redrill only the holes that you are using

Any "in progress" pictures that you can provide would be helpful.

[Necro]

I get the theory here, I guess what I'm not getting is how in the heck you get the circle saw to work right if say....you have to cut a circle where half it the circle is already gone - including where the center of the hole drill would go.  Make sense?  Basically, new hole overlaps an already existing hole.  (So basically step 3 below). 

And you can drill bondo with a spade bit without it obliterating/shattering itself?

[Namco]

I get the theory here, I guess what I'm not getting is how in the heck you get the circle saw to work right if say....you have to cut a circle where half it the circle is already gone - including where the center of the hole drill would go.  Make sense?  Basically, new hole overlaps an already existing hole.  (So basically step 3 below). 

And you can drill bondo with a spade bit without it obliterating/shattering itself?

When I did mine, there were many places where the underlying control panel had gaps and would not allow the placement of a pilot hole. In these cases, I inserted the hole saw through the hole and depressed the trigger to activate the drill. Because I bolted the new control panel to the top of the old one, I was able to use the new button holes as a guide to drill through to the old control panel.

To clarify:
1. Attach freshly drilled control panel to the top of the old one.
2. Observe gaps and holes.
3. Insert hole saw, pressing as far down as it can go.
4. Make sure to align the hole saw with the holes of the topmost control panel.
5. Squeeze the drill's trigger and hold the tool steady as it cuts through the metal.

[Necro]

Ah, ok...that makes some sense.  I'm thinking of placing a piece of wood behind the CP also when doing this, providing a hard backing surface to drill into as well.

Well, I'm 99% sure I know how I'm making my CPs now.