FInally getting around to more change machine modification

cadillacman

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FInally getting around to more change machine modification

I finally got the bug up my butt to pull my change machine apart.

I've already made it "free vend". The computer in it is bad so what i did was ziptied the payout chute open and wired one of the hopper motors to a switch. Press switch, machine spits out tokens. TaDA!!


Now onto the mods ive really wanted to do. The thing is beat to hell and really needs a better paintjob. WHile im at it i might as well do the mods ive been wanting to do.

The lock on this thing was destroyed and to be honest im too cheap to buy a new one. I shaved the hole where it used to be by adding a piece of steel and welding it in. I will be cutting a new hole to accept a standard coindoor lock. All I need is a lock to hold the door shut, being this has been so modified already it doesent need to be super secure anymore.

I welded up several other unused holes and shaved the 50 cent piece slot as well. Trying to clean all this un-needed stuff off.

My biggest thing ive wanted to do is cut a big hole in the front. Let me explain.
Ive had a digital photo frame that ive had sitting on top of the machine saying "big mikes cadillac arcade", "get your tokens here" and "hold down coin return lever for free tokens"
Ive always thought it would be cool to integrate that thing into the machine somehow.
This is a rough cut-I have alot more finishing to do but you get the idea...

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No pic tonight but i managed to get all the holes and dents pounded out or filled in with weld, made the new hole for my standard coindoor lock
( its a rowe lock lmao!! so its like stock kinda) I fabbed up a lower mount for the photoframe out of a old piece of 50 cent coin track and welded it in place.

I ground all the welds as flat as possible, laid several coats of primer down and sanded it smooth, and shot it with one thin and 4 THICK coats of urethane based black car paint. Looks like a mirror. If i really cared i would have bondoed this and block sanded it to perfectly smooth, but to be honest im not really that picky. Just going for decent not perfection. Its going to end up dirty and scratches someday anyways.

Next step is to figure out what im going to do for lettering, i will then wetsand any flaws out of the paint, apply the lettering, then bury everything in several coats of clearcoat. Unless i find a cheap vinyl guy then i might just wetsand and buff the paint i put on now and just apply the vinyl art on top. We shall see. Im undecided if im going to strip the rest of the machine to paint it the same way or if im just going to go lazy and spray paint it in the basement one day when the mrs isnt here :)
 
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I've thought about how it would be nice to redo my BC-25 but I too am unsure about how best to do that, or if it is worth the effort. Maybe a clear overlay with the white letters printed on it? Kinda don't like the idea of it being an overlay but I don't know if a stencil would work well and certainly silking it like the factory must've done is out of the question.

I can't remember what yours looked like before. Maybe you could add a "before" pic to serve as reference in this thread?

I'll be following your progress too!
 
I went cheap... wet sanded my paintjob with 1000 grit

I used my wifes cricuit machine to cut out some letters and an arrow on a piece of white 8x10 shipping label.

I then applied them with a piece of masking tape as as rough guide and just laid them out and stuck them on one at a time ( freehand ) so they look ok but not perfect.

I dusted three light coats of clear over the lettering one every 5 mins to seal it (didnt want the clear permiating the paper letters) then laid a dusting on everything and then 6 thick coats all 5 mins apart... looking good.

This ones just after painting the black basecoat(urethane based)
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This one is after the lettering and little arrow were applied and clear was laid on
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What paint you using and what kind of gun. I cant believe I havnt been over to your place since Im always around there for work and I live so close
 
ah hell ummm.. tha black is some old urethane we had that i used clearcoar hardener with and some reducer)and it worked lol) i honestly dont remember the brandname.. autotech maybe?? THe paunt number was dau xxxxx if that helps.

ALof of what i shoot is old leftovers from the old paintshop we have, stuff hasnt been used in years sometimes projects come out ok sometimes its a nightmare but heck the stuff is free/cheap so what the heck.

I have urethane clear its just the cheapie stuff "xtreme" brand but i went super lazy on this project and cleared it with a can of rattlecan lacqquer clear.

I may go the extra mile and wetsand the clear and reshoot it again to get it even smoother but we will see how motovated i get.
THe gun is one of those cheapass devilbiss hvlp units with plastic internals. After spraying dependably for years i finally tossed my $15 harbor frieght hvlp and am going to get another. THat thing was fucking fantastic.


The way i paint is lay it in thick in attempt to hide my horrible bodywork and sandout all my roughness later lol... I am by no means a professional.. but really being all i did was hammer it out, weld, grind, no filler its actually alot smoother than i thought it was going to be.
 
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I've thought about how it would be nice to redo my BC-25 but I too am unsure about how best to do that, or if it is worth the effort. Maybe a clear overlay with the white letters printed on it? Kinda don't like the idea of it being an overlay but I don't know if a stencil would work well and certainly silking it like the factory must've done is out of the question.

I can't remember what yours looked like before. Maybe you could add a "before" pic to serve as reference in this thread?

I'll be following your progress too!

No pic but it appears in a old video i did bitd. Here it is in all its glory, 12:21 in..
 
Ok.. after letting it sit more than 24 hours i again wetsanded it with 1000 grit. Using a jitterbug sander saves alot of time and makes quick work of this..

I was careful around the lettering and just barely sanded on top of that, just sanded enough to get the paint flatter there.


I then broke down and went over to the paintshop and mixed up some of my "xtreme" clearcoat and got out the hvlp gun again. I laid down two light dusty coats and let it dry 10 mins each. I hoped this would keep the new clear im using from interacting with the rattlecan clear i used the other day. I was correct, it worked great.

I then laid on another 5 heavy coats and here is the result. I still have some fisheyes/flaws but really for simply just hammering, welding, grinding and painting this thing is pretty smooth, and i reached my objective of totally burying the letters in clearcoat, the paintjob is flat across the letters now. I think im going to clearcoat the stuff on my minifridge now that i know it can be done.

I think i will call this part of the project done and move onto reassembley as soon as its ready to be handled.
(i could start tonight, but im going to let it sit untill next week to make sure the clear is good and hard.)

Now the question is do i do this same paintjob to the rest of the machine or just rattlecan it?? I guess we will find out.
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The paper letters WERE blacklight reactive, im hoping they still are, it would make a neat effect. However this clear might have uv blocker in it, i guess we will see if i get that neat effect or not.
 

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yeah i brought it home.. lettering is no longer uv reactve.. stupid auto paint.. At least i know this brand is good to preserve art with. I plan on touching up and clearing all of my pin playfields one of these years as im worried about more wear and my blacklights fading away the artwork.

You have no idea how hard it is NOT to put this change machine back togther.. its frickin killing me
 
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Looking forward to seeing the finished project. I love your idea of putting the photo frame in the front panel.
I may have to steal your idea. :rolleyes:
I always wanted a token machine but I don't have a lot of space in my arcade for a big token machine and they never seem to show up for sale around here. I have been using .984 tokens for well over 12 years now and have a big bucket full of tokens so everyone just grabs a hand full as they need them but I have found even free tokens seem to disappear in air over time. I figured it was time I had a small token changer so I just finished building one from parts I collected. I now need to build a cabinet. I'll provably start a thread about the build soon as I don't want to hijack your thread. Just wanted to let you know your project had motivated me to start on my own token machine. Took me 2 nights to wire it up once I had all the parts. Cant wait to see your finished project. Looks good so far.
 
i forget what model this is but its honestly not that big.

Heres more pics. I finally caved in. Paints not 100% set its kind of the consistency of plastic at this point but good enough to CAFEFULLY start reassambley. Not going any farther till its set hard.(all i had was slow activator at work, its cool today, so its taking awhile.)

If you look hard enough you can see a random hair lol

The clear is so thick i could wetsand this and buff it to perfection but man its fine just the way it is. You cant even tell where the old lock, 50 cent slot, out of order light, and random other holes even used to be.

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The next couple of weeks are going to be insane so i went ahead today and put it back togther for the time bieng.

This is pretty sweet, cannot wait to make the rest of the machine look as nice as the front door!!

 
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Looks cool, Mike. For some reason the photo frame thing went over my head when you first posted but now that I see it in video I get it. Cool idea! Man, that is some GLOSS!
 
it would be cooler if the photoframe could do little vldeos then i could do animated stuff but yeah its pretty neat, i got the effect i was after. Yeah that automotive paint is the schiznit man.

Next step, painting the rest and (hopefully) burying it in the wall to save myself some more room.
 
I was a little worried the clear was going to shrink when it fully cured but it set hard just the way it looks in the vid.. Whew.. Next step, wall-burying....
 
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