What adhesive do you recommend for T-molding?

It's not meant to be glued in

I take it the cab slot has gotten wider and the T-Mold is not staying in?

I have tried liquid nails, and that FAILED - it melts in hot weather (we get temps of 40+ degrees here)

I have tried contact glue, but it's not suitable for sliding in when tacky.

Someone suggested filling the whole thing in with filler IE Car body filler, then re-cutting the slot when hard

All I can say is try it and see
 
I have a hot glue gun and usually put some in the start and end of t-moulding track. Never had much of an issue anywhere else, but would probably use it there as it sets fast and grips well.
 
Glue

I have a hot glue gun and usually put some in the start and end of t-moulding track. Never had much of an issue anywhere else, but would probably use it there as it sets fast and grips well.

This is the best way. Also if you need to remove it later it does not dammage the cab.
 
Unless the track was previous damaged/enlarged from removing old t-molding, glue is not used. There does seem to be one exception in outer corners though. Atari Games for example seemed to have crimped/melted the plastic somewhat or else that outer corner appears a bit bumpy. Not sure if they also applied a dab of glue there..
 
glue

Good old Elmer's glue, or if you have a can 3m #74 or77 spray glue, a little spray here or there will work.
 
Now some of the Pacs I have worked on, have had their moldings glued into place using the same wood glue they used to put the cabs together.

There are many thoughts about what to do, fill the groove with bondo, and sand, and re-route. Liquid Nails, Tape over the molding edge etc..

All those take more time, and effort than just waiting on a hot glue gun to heat up. You can use low temp glue, start on one end, and run a bead in the groove, set the t-molding in place, and it's done in about 2 mins. Much faster, and less head ache than all the other methods. The Hot glue sticks pretty good to the wood, but not so well on the plastic molding, so with some force you can remove the t-molding if needed later.
 
Midway

I have seen a couple of Midway cabs with the Molding glued in. That makes it hard. 45 to 60 minutes of your life you will never get back removing that. On 2 of them in particular, I know it was from the factory that way. I have seen many Atari and Midway cabs with staples and nails from the factory as well.
 
All very useful responses. Thanks everyone for your help.

I think I'll start with a hot glue gun and get that duct tape ready for splitting if it doesn't work out.

Take care everyone!
 
Funny I just posted this question last week. Ive tried everything and you will never get the look of having it correctly routed. Best suggestion that I used was to bondo/wood putty and re route. Its a pain and its labor intensive but if you are anal like me it gets the best results.

If you have to use a glue I have found good results with guerrilla glue. GG can be tricky at times since it does expand 3-5x the size while drying. Just use a little bit, tape, and wait a few hours and it shouldnt go anywhere.
 
I'd stay away from Gorilla Glue. You totally don't need that strong of a bond...and the expansion can really suck if you screw up and takes a while to set. If you use a low temp glue gun, it will set quick and be easy to clean up. I kept my heat gun ready to reheat areas that set too quickly. And it can accommodate for incorrect routing...fill in your "over routed" area and just hold your molding for a minute until it sets. I used my Dremel tool to cut new grooves into the areas where I replaced the wood. Unfortunately, I made the gooves a little too wide, but with the glue gun, I was able to position it as needed and just held it a minute until it set. A word of caution though...don't try to do too much at a time (1-3") and don't glue it all down if possible...only areas that seem to pull out. And cut small Vs when going aroudn corners...as has been suggested by many others.
 
Most t-moulding was finished on the ends by shooting staples completely through the sides of the cabinet to hold it in. To re-install t-moulding these pieces of wire need to be dremmeled out or pulled out and bondo put in holes in the wood that 'will' be damaged before finishing. Either way, just putting some bondo in and re-routing those areas will not be enough so close to a bend on the bottom which is why they did that in the first place. Hot glue is fine. As for worrying about replacing it again, when do you honestly think its gonna be yanked out after its been restored? I wouldn't put it along the entire length, just the start/end and a couple drops near a hard corner if its not a tight fit. For the most part it should still be tight enough you have to use a rubber mallet to install right. I have never had a cab so bad when restoring that the trench was too wide from damage to hold new t-moulding but if it was, I would fill and re-router it. Other than that why bother.
 
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