Vinyling Kick Plates

Phetishboy

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How do YOU do it? I usually remove them if I can, which is usually the case with Nintendo cabinets, but what if you can't? How do you master the coin door sag? You know, the opening is there, so while spreading and flattening the vinyl, it tends to sag into the coin door opening, causing a 'ripple' when you get to the other end of the kickplate. I was thinking of cutting a blank piece of particle board to fit into the hole, securing it with slats from inside the cab. That would provide a false front that could be vinyled right over, then removed after the vinyl has been trimmed. Any other ideas?
 
I've only vinyled my 720 and I had to do it twice because of that coin door spot. I had to use a heat gun and go incredibly slowly at the bottom to fix that wave caused by it. Filling in that area with a piece of wood and cutting it out after sounds like a pretty good idea to me!
 
Aaaaah. Is that what happens? Thanks, I just had a hard time doing a Robotron last night. I moved the bubbles up as high as I could under the CP and razored them. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get it to lay nice.

I vote for a "plug" to fill in the recess(s).
 
Yeah, I think I am gonna cut a coin door plug tomorrow and try that. I want this installation to be perfect. I assume you could cut plugs for all the various coin doors then label them. That way you'd have all the sizes when it came time to vinyl the kickplate of just about any cab. Too bad the one I am doing tomorrow has 2 openings. I guess I get to double the fun.

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Made 2 plugs today and it worked pretty well. Cut them out, screwed slats to the back, secured them inside the cab with screws and laid the cab on its back.

Plugs:
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Before vinyl:
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After vinyling and trimming:
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I was thinking of cutting a blank piece of particle board to fit into the hole, securing it with slats from inside the cab. That would provide a false front that could be vinyled right over, then removed after the vinyl has been trimmed.

That's probably the best idea. When I did my System 1 Cab, I wound up wasting a lot of vinyl because of that very issue. Major PITA.
 
I just did a new Tempest front (before installing on cabinet) with vinyl and despite the coin door cut out, nailed it on the first try. Luck, I guess.
 
I just did a new Tempest front (before installing on cabinet) with vinyl and despite the coin door cut out, nailed it on the first try. Luck, I guess.

I never had this issue with Atari cabs either. I usually use a sheet of laminate on the front like they originally came with from the factory. Then it's just cut, contact cement, j-roll, rotozip/trim. With vinyl though, the sag will happen more often than not and really ruin your day.
 
I never had this issue with Atari cabs either. I usually use a sheet of laminate on the front like they originally came with from the factory. Then it's just cut, contact cement, j-roll, rotozip/trim. With vinyl though, the sag will happen more often than not and really ruin your day.

I usually like laminate as well for Atari, but with the original front on this cabinet hosed, having black vinyl on hand, and thinking a lot of Atari (later) cabinets had, it I went with it. It turned out looking great. I also replaced the black vinyl on the inner sides, with seams right under the cp at the lower curve in the cabinet and at the upper monitor bracket. You have to know it's there, and it fixed the gouges that made it an eyesore. The project turned out great.

This topic makes me think of a situation I'll face in making a Quantum cabinet. Due to the front have 'art', I'm going to make the panel removable and install it last Not sure if I'd use staples or just screws. Atari always seemed to use a combination of everything, incl glue. For the Quantum, I think I'll do sort of what you're doing and keep the coin door cutout as a plug for when I install the front art. Then install panel on cabinet.
 
Okay, just finished vinyling the front door of my ROTJ and I think I have the secret. This was using Rich's matte black vinyl, which to me, is pretty thin and stretchy. I used it on the front of my 720, which took me 2 times to get right, with the second time taking me 45 minutes just to do the bottom 4" using a heat gun and going 1/8" at a time.

Today, I didn't push as hard with my squeegee as I have in the past. I was actually really gentle...just enough to tack it down firmly. After trimming the edges, then I went down over it with more pressure to get the best adhesion. I had a lot of vinyl left over (and still do), so I had vinyl to waste on the front door. There are 3 keys:
1. Only work about 1/2" at a time and don't remove too much from the backing at a time. It's the backing that keeps the vinyl firm, and prevents your squeegeeing from stretching it.
2. Don't pull it tight. I did that with my 720 and thought that would prevent air bubbles. All that does is stretch the vinyl and create vertical ripples.
3. Don't push too hard. Just gently wipe vertically and don't work the edge around the coin door hard. Be especially gentle at the bottom edge of the coin door. Once you have the entire front done, then you can go back and really push down around your edges before trimming everything.

Different things work for different people. I may get pics up eventually, but for reference, ROTJ has a double vertical coin door with nothing separating the two doors. Now I've got to go back and trim it now...
 
.... This was using Rich's matte black vinyl, which to me, is pretty thin and stretchy....

Who's Rich? What vinyl and how much is it? I've used the 7 mil black vinyl from Twisted Quarter. Worked well and looked great. Came on 50" wide roll at $6.00/lin ft - kinda pricey.
 
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