Rampage Restoration

Phetishboy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 12, 2006
Messages
47,929
Reaction score
9,392
Location
Avon, Minnesota
Finally making some progress on this one. I thought about trying to repair the cabinet and just saving the art, but the bottom of the machine was just too chewed up, both front corners were missing, the CP area on the cab had both corners broken and there were several dings and gouges in the middle of the side art. Did a complete removal of all vinyl and saved the artwork enough to send it to Rich for scanning, stitching and reproing. I am told that they are close to having the art work finished. As to the cabinet, I fixed the corners that were broken with glue and dowels, and used screw-reinforced bondo to replace the missing corners. As to the cab feet, 3 were present, but all of the 2.5 inch rectangular leveler plates were bent, rusty, and all around seemed too inadequate for this size of a cabinet. I decided to freshen up a set of the heavier, triangular leg leveler plates Midway used on their earlier cabs as replacements. Anyhoo, before pics:

SSL11921.jpg

SSL11923.jpg


Where she is now:

P5310773.jpg


Front Corner repairs:

P5310775.jpg

P5310774.jpg
 
That looks like some nice solid repairs. This will look really nice with new sideart. I passed up on one of these many years ago and really wished I would have snagged it. A+ work as usual.

Is the dark spots at the front corners from "wood hardener"? If so, do you use the Minwax brand?
 
That looks like some nice solid repairs. This will look really nice with new sideart. I passed up on one of these many years ago and really wished I would have snagged it. A+ work as usual.

Is the dark spots at the front corners from "wood hardener"? If so, do you use the Minwax brand?

Yes and yes. I needed to stiffen up the frayed particle board, and I like to use it to make the transition from particle board to bondo stronger. It seems that you always tend to keep 'fuzzing' up the particle board edge where it meets the bondo during the many sanding sessions. I also used about 2-3 screws per corner as rebar, and there is another screw as rebar in the back edge of the cabinet, where I needed to bondo a spot that looked like a mini shark bite in a surfboard. You can kinda see it in this pic from the other side (it looks like the yellow ground wire is pointing right to the repair):

P5310778.jpg
 
Updates. Got the bondoing finished, sanded the whole thing down with 220 and spray painted the inner edges black. Also shot 2 coats of clear coat on the sides. Getting closer to vinyling.

P6040752.jpg

P6040751.jpg

P6040754.jpg

P6040753.jpg
 
Doused the filthy monitor in Simple Green and hosed her down in the driveway. This thing looks to have been capped right thru the 1/2 inch of filth, without so much as a kleenex wipe down. What a bunch of lazy morons. It's looking much better after 2 days in front of the fan:

P6040759.jpg

P6040757.jpg

P6040749.jpg
 
Last edited:
Now that I look closer at the pics, maybe these ARE the original caps. Man this thing was filthy. Just horrible.
 
I'm still so afraid to do this. I have games that are really clean inside and then you get to the monitor and... BLAH.

You just have to cover the anode hole, make sure you don't scrub too hard on the aquadog, and use an air hose and fan to dry the chassis out for a few days.
 
Got the back door bondoed, repaired and painted, installed it and whattaya know, it didn't fit. This was the original back door by the way, but it's been off of the machine for about 6 months. Did it grow? So I took out the router, lined up my fence and shaved nearly 3/8" off of the top lip to get the door to sit flush. How weird. Now it looks perfect. I also removed and painted the vent screens silver, man do they look sharp. Next is to remove the poorly hacked ATX power supply and wire in a switcher. Does anyone repair the original Midway power supply boards? Looks like an awful lot of caps. Here's what I am starting with:

SSL11916.jpg
 
Seems odd that the door would have not fit in the game. Was it kept in a separate place?

We have similar issues here in CA with wood doors due to dry summers and wet winters.
 
Seems odd that the door would have not fit in the game. Was it kept in a separate place?

We have similar issues here in CA with wood doors due to dry summers and wet winters.

You're telling me. Much like Fritz at an all male retreat, I tried it upside down, backwards, right side up, flipped around, inverted and cowgirl style. The only thing I didn't try was sideways. The overall length/height of the door was correct for the opening, but the upper routed lip was wrong, it wasn't deep enough. Maybe it never fit right before I owned it, but it does now.
 
lookin good pb
whats wrong with this forum?
arent they all the same :D

Ahahahahahaha, to me they are, but it seems not many people use the "New Posts" button, instead choosing to wade through thread after thread in each individual forum, missing most of what goes on here daily. I just feel like I am talking to myself lately. I guess once the money shot pics are here I can post in the General section, linking to this thread. I am just tired of doing all this work and documenting it, and no one really sees it in these sub forums. Then when they restore a similar machine, they blindly ask all the same questions that are usually answered in these threads. Oh well. Waaah waah waah, look at me, look at me.
 
Back
Top Bottom