removing vinyl while saving the sideart sticker?

Superully

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i've recently picked up a congo bongo which is in pretty good condition. the left sideart is intact, the right one is just missing a small part. however, what's strange about the machine is the fact that the front is covered with laminate while there's woodgrain vinyl on the sides (some parts are missing and there are scratches in it). i'm no fan of woodgrain stuff, therefore i'm thinking about replacing the woodgrain with the same kind of laminate used on the front, but that would mean getting it off without destroying the sideart stickers, because (a) there are no reproductions and (b) the condition of those stickers is fine. my questions:

- is there a safe way to remove the woodgrain while preserving the stickers at the same time?
- is it a stupid idea to replace the vinyl with laminate?
 

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looks about how a congo bongo should look to me. I think trying to remove the wood grain vinyl and side art intact is not likely to work out well. I'd leave it as is.
 
Personally I've seen entire cab brown, entire cab wood grain, brown sides with wood grain front. Add your pic and now I've seen brown front with wood grain sides. I could see where the all wood grain could have been a zaxxon conversion but the other combinations don't seem to match another game I can think of. Possibly sega used whatever that had on hand and made slightly different versions. Regardless, your game looks good and I'm guessing you will do more harm than good trying to do what you mentioned.
 
I think the entire cab brown is the dedicated version, other variants are the classic converta cab being well, converted :)
 
I think the entire cab brown is the dedicated version, other variants are the classic converta cab being well, converted :)

that's what i think as well and that was the reason behind me wanting to remove the woodgrain and replace it with laminate. but i also see the point that it would be close to impossible to remove it without destroying or at least damaging the stickers, that's why i lean towards trying to repair the damages to the woodgrain. i haven't been able to find a close match for it though, perhaps i should try repainting the parts with felt pens for wood!
 
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