Smoke Stains, Gouges, and CLEANING! oh my!

otoko

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Galaxian restoration help.

Ok, I thought it would be best to reuse a thread than make a new one.

I am selling the Galaxian machine I picked up earlier, but I still want to fix it up if I can. I'm having a friend look at the monitor and I'd like to do some internal and exterior work and I thought I'd get some more input from the community.

Here's what I'd like to address:

Ok, It has discoloration from smoking and has no smell. I have used a magic eraser but it is extremely difficult to get any of the discoloration out. I figure the discoloration is from being put in a bar very early in life. Is there a way to deal with this?

Recently I discovered one of the monitor brackets was busted. Should I just nail it back in with a nail gun?

On the board there was one chip that the heat sync fell off of. It was originally pasted on and the heat sync was found on the bottom of the machine. The question is how do I re attach it? I hear there is superglue thermal grease.
 
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Step 1) Clean with 50/50 water and white vinegar both inside and out ... twice! that will get rid of the nasty smells, lots of the stains and give you something clean enough to work on. The vinegar really does cut through stink and it dissipates quickly so you won't have a vinegar smelling machine. Some people prefer bleach for this step if the game is moldy/mildewy.

Step 2) Any number of other solutions now to get the scuffs out. Search the boards for options but Simple Green, Magic Erasers, WD40 for sticky stuff like duct tape residue, Goo Gone, windex, etc.
 
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Galaxian art was very poorly screened and can come off easily. I would start with soap and water and see what results you get. On many cabs I use magic eraser as it gets great results but galaxian is one you should be careful with. Magic eraser or anything even slightly abrasive will remove the art on this one. Missile command on the other hand is a great candidate for magic eraser. The art on that should hold up fine and clean up nice. There is really no fix for scrapes and gouges short of a full restoration.
 
I took 70% rubbing alcohol, mixed w/ 50% distilled water, and scrubbed the white areas of my galaxian cab w. a magic eraser...looks like a brand new cab! I had to experiment a little, straight alcohol was too abrasive, but the watered down version worked just right. Do not attempt to to clean any silk-screened areas, otherwise you will be very disappointed with the outcome..

I unfortunately don't have a before pic, but I do have a "in-process" pic w/ most of the crud cleaned off. For the silk screened areas I used a mild off-the-shelf cleaner.

HPIM2805.jpg
 
Thank you for all of your responses, I'm going to try to clean them up tomorrow if I can. Also I do not plan on selling the Missile Command. I want to fix it up, and several of my friends are excited to play it when I get it up and running.
 
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