MDF on one side is rough. How do you fix it?

Thomas

Well-known member

Donor 2021
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
3,726
Reaction score
75
Location
Virginia
I have a NBA Jam with no side art. One side is smooth as a babies butt. The other side is very rough. It's like the MDF is bonded on one side of the machine. The other seems like raw materials.

Was there something like a paper on the out side to make it smooth. I want to put new side art on it but the two side can't be anymore different than each other.

Is there any hope for this cab?
 
Pics? Is the side art just missing from the one side, or is it also damaged?
 
No it has no art work...

The left side is real smooth because the old nba art work was removed with out pulling of the backing i guess.

The right side is very very rough. I think if I was to sand it, all I would do is eat deaper into the side of the cab. It would never get it smooth.

Here are a few shots...
http://arcadeparts.co/nba/
 
My blitz cab was particle board and when you remove the side art it removes some of the particle board with it making it quite rough. I skim coated mine with bondo but it was kinda of a bitch as that stuff hardens pretty quick so you don't have a lot of time to work it. I have a dynamo zback I'm restoring that has the same problem. Was thinking about trying bondo glazing putty instead. From the little I have read it's made to fill smaller imperfections. Not sure how well it would work just throwing it out there.
 
Hey mate,

I had a real bad problem with a Gauntlet. Here was my fix.

When I removed the art from the cab it peeled of the paint and MDF:

344404345.jpg


You can see here where the MDF got ripped out!

344404306.jpg


I had an accident and knocked over the paint and then I remembered something I was told...back in the early days of car painting where they actually rolled the paint on to some parts on the cars which had been 'leaded' together. This would allow them to build up the paint and sand it back flat.

So I got a small roller and rolled the paint, with all the shed floor crap still in it, on to the cab. I use auto paints a lot so I know how easy it is to sand flat.

344404406.jpg


Then I wet sanded it with some 400g:

344418803.jpg


And gave it a lick of lacquer from the gun:

344853906.jpg



IMO, this is the best way to seal up this problem having done this myself.

Even if you weren't intending to spray it you can still coat over the auto primer with another paint.

Good luck!
 
Thank you for your time. This info should save this cab!
 
I'd most likely coat it in hardener, then sand it smooth, then but an oil-based primer on and sand it smooth again, then paint...
 
No matter how many coats of primer I put on this midway cab you can still see the texture. Man what a fricken mess! I guess I need to skim coat this thing or it will never be right.

I have a quart of the evercoat metal glaze I wonder if it would hold up? Yea I know it's for metal but it is all i have.

You think that shit will stick to the primer?
 

Attachments

  • DSCN5027.jpg
    DSCN5027.jpg
    99.2 KB · Views: 32
  • DSCN5028.jpg
    DSCN5028.jpg
    109.9 KB · Views: 34
sand the bejesus out of it with 80 grit... till its smooth.

primer. primer again. sand with 200-250 grit. prime again, sand again, prime again, sand again.

Keep doing that untill you have a smooth sirface. Prime again, sand with 400. Prime again, sand with 1000 grit. paint, voila
 
I just ordered up 4 more rattle cans of rustoleum automotive primer. Sigh...
1 more quart of rustoleum satin black enamel #7777 to go with the one I have and some acetone.

I have some of the short white foam rollers so I am just gonna go for it. It sure wont be totally smooth when I am done but at least it will look somewhat better than it did. It's a damn money pit...
 
Last edited:
phetty is the only guy i know who can paint smoothy with a foam roller, best of luck to ya. mabye you have the gift too.
 
phetty is the only guy i know who can paint smoothy with a foam roller, best of luck to ya. mabye you have the gift too.

No way I could ever dup what phett does. I think the roller work djdns does comes out pretty good. At this point I don't care anymore with 3 cans left of primer for that one side.
 
Almost 3 cans of primer down on that one side and It does seem to be getting a little smoother.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN5030.jpg
    DSCN5030.jpg
    98 KB · Views: 17
  • DSCN5031.jpg
    DSCN5031.jpg
    96.3 KB · Views: 14
  • DSCN5032.jpg
    DSCN5032.jpg
    98.3 KB · Views: 14
  • DSCN5033.jpg
    DSCN5033.jpg
    102.5 KB · Views: 25
Well after the the 4th can of primer I still had a lot of dimples. Removing the artwork which was in turn was stuck to paper backing was a big mistake. It really has made this one side a big mess because all the backing pulled off with the tattered artwork.

I have tried to redeem myself to the best of my ability and save this 4 player cab. It sure looks like I made some serious progress after this last session.

So after messing with this all day today and half of yesterday with primer. I took the drastic measures and went ahead a skimmed the whole side of the cab with the evercoat metal glaze.

I think better days are ahead now for this cab. It sure looks like this might have solved all the issues on this one side. I am kinda stoked now and ready to sand smooth after it dries a little while longer.

God I am tired!
 

Attachments

  • DSCN5034.jpg
    DSCN5034.jpg
    95.6 KB · Views: 22
  • DSCN5038.jpg
    DSCN5038.jpg
    96.3 KB · Views: 21
  • DSCN5048.jpg
    DSCN5048.jpg
    96.2 KB · Views: 25
  • DSCN5042.jpg
    DSCN5042.jpg
    96.9 KB · Views: 24
So after messing with this all day today and half of yesterday with primer. I took the drastic measures and went ahead a skimmed the whole side of the cab with the evercoat metal glaze.

Just think how far along you would be if you had skim coated it with "something" from the very beginning like it was suggested.
;)

Glad to see you making progress now.....body work can be quite frustrating at times.
 
Shit just think how close I was to getting my sledge. Man it's hard work because you can only polish a turd so much.
 
An easy way to fix this is to use white glue (elmers) and dilute it with half water. I realize this advice is probably too late, but maybe it will help somebody else. MDF is a nightmare to seal, ESPECIALLY if you removed the outer smooth surface layer. The glue/water bonds the MDF fibers, seals it really well and also settles into the pits. It dries clear and doesn't cost very much. You can just keep rolling it on at a very low cost and there aren't any fumes to worry about. Sand it when it is done and paint away.

I also use Evercoat metal glaze all the time on MDF to repair corners and gouges. It is really easy to work with and sand. That should pretty much take care of the rough MDF. :) Great to see that you stuck it out to save the cab.
 
Back
Top Bottom