Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Jedidentist restores Paperboy! (Mega pics!)

Jedidentist

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Donor 3 years: 2011-2013
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Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Jedidentist restores Paperboy! (Mega pics!)

Howdy folks!
So I swore to myself that I was done. No more games because I have no more room...but we've all heard that story before. Well, on a cold day in February I got a PM from our very own Nerdygrrl about a Paperboy she had, and she made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. I'd been hinting around for a while that I would love to tackle restoring one and I'm a sucker for Atari games. Besides, who could pass up a complete and working Paperboy, with an extra burn-free monitor (so I actually have 2 monitors for it), uninstalled new side art, and NOS grips?!?

So, I made the 2 hour trip with my kids and parents (we needed an adventure for a snowy Saturday anyway), and brought back home this:

PreFront.jpg

Precoin.jpg

PreControlPanel.jpg

Preside.jpg

Preback.jpg
 
It certainly wasn't a terrible cab and many might leave well enough alone, but not me! I started off by stripping everything down.

PreUndermonitorandlight.jpg

Preundercontrolpanel.jpg

prelight.jpg

Preundercoindoor.jpg


Most of the vinyl came off pretty easy with a putty knife/spatula:

Vinylremoval.jpg
 
There were some structural issues. The edges had typical particle board chipping and some minor swelling…not water damage, but humidity absorption. There was also a nice little broken area on the bottom part of the side:
prebrokenside.jpg


The back rear panel was broken in and lifted up:

BrokenBack.jpg

Brokenback2.jpg


An interior shelf was also broken:

brokencorner.jpg


Some other "before" pictures include some weird marquee stain:
PreMarquee.jpg
 
Grungy interior:

prepowersupply.jpg


Here's a pretty power supply:

prepowersupply2.jpg


Dirty speakers with lifting labels (note that they're actually JBLs!):
prespeakers.jpg


Inside switcher and wiring:
preinsideside.jpg


Nice fan bracket:
prefanholder.jpg
 
Fortunately, everything was pretty electrically sound with this machine. The ARIII had already been rebuilt, the monitor had a cap kit, and the machine worked. The only issue was some of the steering seemed to be a little jumpy, but I was going to replace the pots anyway. So the first thing I started with was the body work. I began by repairing the broken back panel with wood glue, screws, Bondo, and brute force:

Repairingback.jpg


I'd considered cutting a new one entirely, but it's got that weird cut in vent and it was stapled in so many areas that it would've been more of a PITA than anything else. After that, I began the lovely process of Bondoing everything else. I laid the machine on one side and started patching up the obvious dents and scratches. Another issue was the chipping edges. After having done this 5 or 6 times, I sort of came up with a system. I start by hitting the entire border with wood hardener. After that, I use some edging to hold it in place:
bondocorner.jpg


The only problem is that the Bondo will chip back off when it's in very small amount…so I came up with a new idea (who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?). I took a saw blade from my Swiss Army Knife and just started hacking in retention grooves into the edges:
Bondoedgeprep.jpg


After that, I applied more Bondo and sanded, and the end result was this:

bondoedgefinal.jpg


This was much more retentive and less likely to chip off…and I threw more wood hardener on top of that for good measure.
 
Oh, and for those of you who've never used Bondo, I'm sure there are tons of Youtube videos out there, but I thought I'd throw in this pic:

bondomix1.jpg


I just grab any piece of cardboard I have laying around, dollup some of it out with a tongue depressor, squirt some of the accelerator (or is it the hardener?), and mix it up:

bondomix2.jpg


The more of the red stuff you put in, the more quickly it will set up. After you work with it enough, you get an idea of how much to use.

After working the edges, I needed to repair that broken spot under the control panel. I added a layer or two of Bondo while the machine was on its side (let gravity do the hard work) and then set it up to finish the job. I had thought about cutting a chunk out and replacing with MDF or something, but just opted to repair it with Bondo (easier for me). With it up, I added a few retention nails to reinforce it (think reibar):
Bondobrokenside.jpg


So after getting that all sanded, it went back down on its side. I sanded the bottom to fresh wood and installed new leg levelers and plates (I used the small ones for this project):
Newleglevelers.jpg


I had to re-cut some of the t-molding channels. I don't have a router and I'm not about to buy one, so I've always used my Dremel tool with this little attachment:

t-moldingchannel.jpg


Some people won't recommend it, but I didn't have to pay extra for it (vs. a router), and being in my profession, I have a pretty steady hand ;)
 
So now I had this:

preppreprime.jpg


From this point, I primed and sanded using Rustoleum white automotive primer. After doing that, I could notice all of the tiny little bumps and holes that were left over from removing the vinyl. The vinyl came off easily, but it still removes tiny pieces of particle board that can show through after installing new vinyl. Bondo is overkill to fill in these "pock" marks, and wood putty isn't too great either. However, while at my local hardware store I found some "glazing putty" for automotive work. It cures like Bondo, but it's for small holes and isn't a 2 part mixture. I used another tongue depressor as a trowel, and applied it to the sides of the cab:

glazingputty.jpg


After sanding, I was left with this:

glazingputtysanded.jpg


When I sand, I use a variety of tools. I have a square electric sander, a belt sander, and my Dremel Max. I use all of them for different things and do a lot of hand sanding and I use steel wool as well (doesn't clog). When taking down Bondo, I use 40 or 80 grit to start with and then move to 100 grit for finer work (sometimes 150). After priming, I use 220 grit or higher. After sanding down the glazing putty, I did another coat of primer, sanded with 220 grit, and then used 2 coats of spray polyurethane, sanding with 220 after the first coat, and 400 grit after he second. Needless to say, it was glassy smooth!

After the sides were done, I turned my attention to the front. I went back and forth deciding whether or not to remove all of the vinyl because I knew it was going to be awful getting it back on. After much deliberation, I decided to go for it and removed it all. I went through the same process as the sides, but primed it with black and painted it with Rustoleum Satin black spray paint…just in case my black vinyl installation didn't go well. Pre-priming pic:

primeinside.jpg
 
At this point, everything was primed and ready to go, so I moved the game from my garage into my basement (fortunately, I have a walk out basement). I get worried about dust particles in the garage, so I don't like to do side art or vinyl installation there, albeit the basement isn't much better because I always seem to find cat hair everywhere. The first thing I installed was the white vinyl I got from thisoldgame.com. Here's the starting point (white primed and ready):

sidevinylfinal.jpg


I know Rikitiki just did a great great side art installation tutorial, but here's how I do mine. First I lay down the vinyl and do a rough trim so that I have a few inches overhanging all around.
sideartprep.jpg


To hold it in place, I cut little fold over tabs on both sides and tape those to the cabinet about halfway down:

Sidearttab.jpg

sidearttab2.jpg


Then I use my thumb and separate the backing from the vinyl about midway:
sideartprepseparation.jpg
 
Using scissors, I cut the backing straight across.
sideartprepcut.jpg


I find that if I gently push down on the vinyl with the not cutting side of the scissors as I go along, that it will separate just enough to continue all the way across. Do your best to keep a relatively straight line that's not jagged…otherwise it's easy to tear it when you're separating the backing from the vinyl. Then I start from one section and work my way to the edge, squeegeeing along the way:

sideartapplication.jpg


I know people talk about tucking in the sides of the vinyl under the t-molding. I did it once on my 720 and it worked well, but I've also just cut it straight up. Since all of my edges were re-done and sharp, I opted for cutting them:

sideartcut.jpg


And the final result:

sideartfinal.jpg


After that was installed, I used Rapid Tac to install the System 2 side art over the vinyl. I'd never used it before, but thought I'd give it a try, since my sides were well-sealed.

http://www.rapidtac.com/

I sprayed both the art and the vinyl thoroughly, and with the help of my wife, I got it installed. They advertise that you can do the job with 1 person vs. 2 people with a dry install, but I think just the opposite it true. With large pieces of art, you need to take all of the backing off at once, and there's no way you can hold a single piece of full side art by yourself. Smaller pieces, maybe…but not something of this size. After squeegeeing out all of the liquid, and carefully wiping the cab as I did it, I let it set for 15 minutes and then sprayed down the pre-mask, which made it easier to lift off. Now that the side art was installed, the game went back up vertical and on to the black vinyl installation.

Even though I had thoroughly sealed the cab with primer, paint, and polyurethane, I still didn't want to install all of the black vinyl with Rapid Tac…so I went back to the tried and true dry installation method. The back and top were easy, but the tiny front nooks and crannies were not so fun.

Applyingblackvinyl.jpg


There was a lot of trial and error. I cut templates out of paper first before trying with the vinyl (much like I did with my Tron inner side art), but even then I messed up a few pieces. However, in the end, I still had to use Rapid Tac for a few pieces around the monitor because they were just too large, cumbersome, and difficult with all of the angles. It came out fine, with just a few tiny pieces of particle board barely swelling on the very edge. Most people wouldn't notice it, so it's not big deal. Once that was done, I had to add new T-molding…of course!
 
So now, on to the really fun stuff…all of the metal pieces! Traditionally, I've always just stripped my metal brackets and coin doors, primed, and painted them. I know there might be a durability issue by doing that, but it's cheap and my games don't get much abuse in my basement (in fact, my 4 and 6 year old freak out if any stray toy remotely comes close to them). However, this time I thought I'd give this powder coating thing a try. I contacted a few locals, but it was too cost prohibitive, so I contacted our own cabsR4pimps (Gabe), and he hooked me up. Gabe's service was excellent from start to finish. Great communication, very helpful, and a good price. After shipping all of my parts off to him, 2 weeks later I had these:

postpowdercoating.jpg


I didn't want to bother him with powder coating all of the bolts and screws, so I stripped them all by hand, Naval jellied them, and painted them in satin black.

The next task was taking care of the handlebars. Part of what excited me about this project was seeing the nice shiny chrome handlebars others have had done. I was a little bummed to find out that originally, the handlebars were nickel plated, and not chromed. Unfortunately, I'm a stickler for accuracy, so nickel plating it was, which is much less flashy than chrome. I found a local guy who stripped and plated them for $75, which I think was pretty fair.
Before:
PreControlPanel.jpg


After (all assembled with powder coated parts, NOS gears, new pots and buttons):
Handlebarasembled.jpg


Pretty NOS parts (before installation obviously):
NOSparts-1.jpg



So now I'm all excited to start putting everything together…then I noticed a problem. If you look at the photo of my powder coated CP and the old handlebars pic above, you'll notice that I had 4 holes in my CP where some sort of support bar was installed (which is also in the powder coated pic). I don't know if this was a late addition to Paperboy games, or something that an op installed (more likely). Whatever the case may be, those holes weren't supposed to be there…just what you want to figure out after you just paid to have the thing powder coated! However, I liked the idea of the support bar because of the weight of the handlebars. So, I kept the bar and JB Welded it under the CP, which also gave me a backing to Bondo the little holes. After that, I sanded it back down and cleaned it thoroughly, and applied the last (I think) CPO that Rich/Rikitiki had:

CPOapplied.jpg
 
Next step, apply the handlebar overlay:

yokeoverlayapplied.jpg


In both situations, I carefully used a heat gun to help ease some of the stress of the application. Hopefully that will keep it from cracking in the future.

Some other things I did along the way were:

Replace the marquee light ballast, starter, and bulb.
Before:
prelight2-1.jpg


After:
postlight2.jpg


Repaired the broken corner in the coin door area.

cornerrepair-1.jpg


postcornerrepair.jpg
 
The coin counter was a little rusty and yucky.
Before:
precoincounter.jpg


After:
postcoincounter.jpg


The power supply got a full tear down and re-build with a Bob Roberts kit.

Before:
prepowersupply2.jpg


During (wire brushed and coated with Naval Jelly):

powersupplyprep.jpg


After (installed with rusty fan bracket cleaned and re-painted and all new "big blues"):

bottominsidefinal.jpg
 
Incredible work so far!!! Paperboy is one of my all-time favorites. In fact, you seem to collect and restore a lot of games that I love. This is a TON of work. The bondo idea is brilliant too. I had that issue on my Pac-Man cabaret. Bondo is cheap, so the gouges are a perfect solution to get it to adhere better.

Keep those amazing pics coming!
 
coindoorfinal.jpg


NOS grill:
posttop.jpg


insidefinal.jpg


frontlightsoff.jpg


I'm jumping the gun slightly by posting this today because I saved the rear decals when I was removing the vinyl and I'm going to cut around those and re-adhere them tonight. I also need to put it in the line-up…I think it'll go between 720 and ROTJ. The only other little thing I'm probably going to do is to have a new bezel cut and installed, but for now, I think she's good to go (especially since my son's birthday party is tomorrow). Thanks for reading!



declanphoto.jpg


(my 5 year old son grabbed the camera and took this pic)

Derek
 
Awesome man- it looks great! Bookmarked this for my Champ Sprint restore.

Man am I naive- I didn't realize that I needed white vinyl for the sides. I thought the side art covered the whole side!
 
Very cool restore, that thing is beautiful. The pics are great, and thanks for all the extra tips. This was a fun read, excellent work!
 
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