What the world needs - another Tron restoration!

jonathan1138

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Excited to say that I am on a mission to Restore this dirty filthy Tron.

CL Connecticut listing, sat for awhile. I just decided that I LOVE the gameplay, and the cabinet is a beauty - so very proud to be working on this one. Was eyeing a DOT or EDOT, and almost went with it, but decided for space reasons due to some recent additions (or should i say addictions), the Tron would do just fine.

Plus my kids really like it.

Picked it up today - got very lucky to have access to one for a GREAT price - 300.

http://s663.photobucket.com/albums/uu352/jonathan1138/Tron Restore/


Notes -

Thats my Bro in law on the pics - good guy and helped big time.

Pics may not show it - but this thing is FILTHY. I dont think its ever been cleaned. Original bulbs too!

Doesnt work - i get screen image but thats it.

Underneath it all, she is a winner. Starting the complete teardown now.



Going to roll it - found some nice oil based satin black - if it doesnt come out smooth, i guess i will go right to the spray gun.

More to follow!
 
Update - completely torn down, on the second dishwasher load now (Coin door, all boards, various plastics). The First load was the complete wiring harness - came out mint.

Thats it for today. If i get a chance tomorrow, will start the side art (which is painted over) stripping and sanding it down.
 
Got a few more things done today....

-- Spray painted all light fixtures a glossy white - for maximum reflection. The spray job came out poorly, but i am ok with it - better than the the rusted and tarnished metal that was there before.

-- Regrained all metal - all metal bars / holders regrained and look good now.

-- CPO overlay removed - all adhesive removed. Surprised to find that were two CPOs installed - looks like someone installed over the original. Completely bare now. Debating whether or not to prime and paint it, or leave it as is.

-- Monitor cleaned completely - easy job. Something that i fear is going to bite me in the ass later is the Purity rings were loose, and while cleaning, i pushed some out of whack. Oh boy.

-- One side side art removed with heat gun - not looking forward to the other side! Awaiting "orange power" degreaser - best stuff i ever used to remove the left over gunk. Goof off sucks.

-- "Windshield" black parts redone - actually the one by the CPO blacklight - that metal black trim - stripped of paint and primed. Came out nice, but there is one small spec that got in the primer. I think i will leave it be.

-- Shroud art work ripped out - and the goof off ruined some of the black paint around the shroud art (leaves a white residue that cant be removed). Ordered Plastic black satin spray paint - hopefully, after i remove the gunk on the shroud (from the art work getting removed), i can spray it all black and regain its beauty.

-- Wife got me some fresh walnut media for the rock tumbler - all metal parts (screws, brackets, etc) will run in the tumbler for the next 72 hours.

-- All boards / plastics / harness and powerboard out of the dishwasher and sparkly. They will also sit for at least one week, and get blasted with a hairdryer when its time to go back in.



Thats it for today. Will update pics on the link tomorrow.


Maybe tomorrow i will remove the other sides art work, and then just enjoy the holiday with the family. Happy Easter!

--
 
Yes. Have been doing it for years now - Entire Pin parts / vid parts, over ten games (maybe 20 complete games so far?) - with NEVER a problem.

Look on the restore pics - you can see one pic of the filthy Power brick and harness - and the pic of the dishwashed version. You cant get any cleaner than that by hand.

I cant say enough about it.

Notes -
I wait at least 72 hours (in the Tron case, it will be at least two weeks!) before using them. If your water is hard, you risk mineralization / unwanted white film and buildup. water here is soft which is good.

Metal parts, like switch brackets, metal trim bars, inside of coin doors has some metal parts, dont come out as nice - they get a slight whiting effect. I end up stripping those off and polishing / regraining them anyway with a sander (in fact, if its metal, i stopped running them in the dishwasher - its a waste - doesnt get them cleaned).

Very important to use a low / normal heat setting. Anything more than that and you risk melting plastic parts.
 
As long as you dont turn them on! Again, from experience i have put 40+ assorted boards (PCBs, sound boards, lamp boards, monitor chassis, etc) in and havent hit a snag yet.

Major companies that do work with boards (repairs, manufacturers, etc) have industrial dishwashers and run them all through prior / after to working on them. I mean think about a repair service getting bulk boards for repair that must be filthy - how can they work with it when its gunked in (en masse)?

Again, provided you dont run them when wet, there is not a trace of water in them (i stress that! Make sure NO water exists under chips, in harness, etc - best way to assure it is to let sit for a longer time, more than 3 days) you will end up with a like new looking and working board.

Not much to report today.


-- Removed inner side art. Only right side art is left, maybe i will wait for the Soy gel shipment instead of the labor intensive heat gun method. There is a shroud mount on the inner sides of the cab that i would like to remove, but cant figure it out - seems they are stapled?

-- Primed the coin box mounting box and cp.

-- Sprayed the windshield trim black, but damn ran out of spray paint.

-- Did a little clean up.

Happy Easter...

New pics posted. The new pics show up first. Would like to go back and reorg the page to show older first -> current, and will put descriptions in near the end of the restore for reference.
 
New pics posted.

-- Removed the other right side art - all art now stripped off. Also, removed three of the sides adhesive. Will do the last sides adhesive tomorrow - sick of the fumes for now!

-- Stripped the coin door and removed the Fun is our business logo (have one on order). Tomorrow, plan to run all coin door hardware through the tumbler, and, strip / prime the door.

-- On the way home from work i stopped at the paint store looking for restoleum Black Satin. All they had was Krylon Black. Told myself not to buy it but did. After stripping all black metal trims and priming them yesterday, went to paint them today - and EFFED up the black spray paint.

KRYLON SPRAY PAINT SUCKS - the last three times i bought that crap, and after shaking it for 5 minutes plus, when spraying nice and even, it lays uneven, dries uneven, looks like garbage. ALWAYS. I can never get a good spray out of this brand. I get good spray from everything else. Ive used Rusto, Touch and spray (cheap stuff but not bad!), Montana spanish and gold, and others. KRYLON SUCKS. And i know alot of other people who have the same problem - that brand sucks.

Will strip the paint tomorrow and paint all blacks again. Grrrrrr. Now i have to find some other spray paint (or just roll the parts......).

-- Rock tumbler 2 blew up and spewed walnut shell everywhere (see the latest pics). Fortunately i have two tumblers, only consequence is the job takes twice as long (three loads of hardware). Its ok, i have lots to go.

-- All metal parts primed grey, will stay that way - looks nice.

-- All parts ordered. Phoenix full art kit, Arcade shop switcher and adapter, Bob Roberts odds and ends, including cap kit. Tmolding too (which showed up today).


Until tomorrow!
 
KRYLON SPRAY PAINT SUCKS

Used a lot of it in the sign business way back when. It has its place. The great thing about it is that it dries really fast. The bad thing about it is that it dries really fast, so getting a good, even "wet" coat on something big is very difficult.

-- All parts ordered. Phoenix full art kit, Arcade shop switcher and adapter, Bob Roberts odds and ends, including cap kit. Tmolding too (which showed up today).

You forgot something :D
 
Good "reminder" of a must have - one step ahead though, it was going to be a surprise! Ordered that last week.

In fact, that was the FIRST thing i ordered - it will be the centerpiece of the machine its gorgeous and beats the black handle anyday. Got that along with screws and a few other things (forgot :)).

When that gets installed - i know i am making progress - it will be a milestone.
 
I almost thought you might have already, as we sell a few more of these than I expected we would. Our store has been referred to as one of the "best kept secrets in arcade stuff" a couple of times in the past, so I thought I would make sure. We are also running really low on these at the moment, as the factory botched a recent run and haven't gotten us any new ones to replace them. So I wanted to make sure you had yours just in case it takes a lot longer to get the good ones than we are hoping.

I can't wait see how the machine comes out, so I can be jealous of another TRON I can't find and don't have room for anyway. :)
 
Good news - machine sanded and first coat of primer laid down.

But, lots more work to do. The White primer (Killz) really showed alot of defects i didnt see in pre primer (hand test passed, guess thats misleading).

Tomorrow, will sand the primer with 220 grit all around, level with filler, sand again, and re prime in anticipation of painting black.

And the upcoming painting, a bit anxious about rolling it. Hopefully, i can get a smooth finish.

I got this oil based black paint that i hear dries mirror like - we will see. I may just spot test it on Thursday before i lay down to see (weather permitting).
 
Sorry i havent been posting pics the last two days on the Photobucket link - have a few to upload but didnt get a chance since i've been hard at work on the project.

Notes for today:

1. Scraped most of the adhesive off the Shroud from hell. The Plastic Tron shroud has art work that rips off, in anticipation of Phoenix arcade set. Lots of adhesive residue left over. Even with Goo Gone + Goof off + Orange power (which is the best stuff out there to remove gunk), it took me over two hours and some was even left over. Not to mention that gunk gets everywhere.

Spraypainted the outside parts of the plastic shroud with Krylon Plastic spray (i know, i know, i cant stand Krylon but this stuff set well). Unfortunately the only kind they had was flat - but its plastic and doesnt look bad at all (better than it did - lots better).

2. Other small cleanups done. Cant remember.

3. More importantly, leveled the cab one last time with Primer today, enough to give the thumbs up for painting. Decided to do it!

Rolled with wooster rollers (the best from my experience - ez dooz or somthing like that) and Ben Moore Advanced black satin paint. Wow. Even with my poor skills, looks like it came out nice - its still drying, but, no roller marks that i can see, barely any texture (not much peel that i can see). I was surprised! Has a nice mirror like shine too - its an Oil based paint with Latex properties if you can believe it. I think this may be the best paint i've ever worked with.

Of course, i missed alot of spots because it was getting dark. Its ok - i plan to sand with 220, hopefully tomorrow (80 percent chance of rain though - maybe in between), and lay what i pray is the last coat in the light this time. We will see.

Take care!
 
Ok. Again sorry for no pics, will post them on the link this weekend.

Progress today - layed the final paint. Ben Moore Advanced Satin black.

Where have you been all my life? EVERYONE - this is the paint you are looking for. Looks like its been sprayed - mirror finish - reminds me of the Bally factory finish in a way.

I have little to no paint skills, i can only imagine how it would look for those that do.

Texture? Yes, i see orange peel. Not as bad as ive seen, but its there. But the beauty of the finish makes up for it.

Very happy with the results, and a good milestone - i can start putting everything back together soon!
 
-- Shroud art put on. Came out nice.

-- All metal parts painted black - came out nice. I cant stand Krylon - would have been done with this days ago if it werent for that spray.

-- Cabinet needed another coat. Sanded it down with 320, hit it once more time with the super paint. This better be the last coat, i ran out of paint.

-- Oh yeah, back doors painted. Didnt pay too much attention to them - although i did stip the silver vents and spray painted them.

Tomorrow, plan to install t molding, put together Control panel and lots of other fun stuff. Oh yeah, and put pics up.

Thanks!
 
Ok - Quick update.

Got the CPO installed. Put tmodling on. Painted all screws. Getting there.....

Also, had a chance to post latest pics / clean up the folder - Early photos start on page one to latest photos (now on page 3).

Please check the latest photos - I rolled that paint and i SUCK at painting - yet it came out incredible. Almost as good as a Spray job (Could be mistaken for one).

The paint is the reason - Benjamin Moore Advanced Satin black. If you are painting a Tron this is the color to use. It has a SLIGHT Blue tint - so did Tron out of the factory. When you see it up close its amazing - a perfect match to the original color, and lays incredibly flat (this advanced brand).

Ok - next up - putting back together the Control panel, laying side art (tomorrow?) and then assembling everything.
 
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