FYI: Technique for cleaning Atari side art

[Bret Pehrson]

I found a (new/different/old?) technique for cleaning Atari (vinyl) side
art.

I have a Millipede w/ side art that I thought was down right atrocious.
The art was pretty much intact, but it was covered in who-knows-what
grime, black marks, gum, and related blech. Simple hand washing wasn't
doing much to get it clean, and I was about to just cover the sides in
new vinyl.

As a last resort, I tried some boat cleaners that I had sitting around:
Meguire's Boat Black Streak Remover and Spray 9 (Marine). These are
pretty much the same thing, except that I find that Spray 9 is a little
stronger cleaner, so I opted for the Meguire's.

I'd spray it on, let it sit for a minute, and start wiping. Made a HUGE
difference -- a lot of the stuff was coming off, especially the black
streaks. I'd still have to resort to Goo Gone for gum residue,
sticker/tape residue.

I got bored (read: tired) of all the washing, so I pulled out one of
those palm detail sanders (B&D Mouse), removed the sandpaper and used a
cloth soaked in the Meguire's on the bottom. Made quick work of even
the worst streaks/marks. In the end, it really resurrected the side art
to the point that I'm definitely keeping it original.

Obviously, this technique probably wouldn't work too well on painted or
otherwise bare wood -- as always, test chemicals in an inconspicuous
area before going to town.

Just an FYI -- hope it helps.

[tak...@comcast.net]

Definitely a good tip. I've used an automobile buffer/polisher with
rubbing compound on a few....cleans / shines them right up. Probably
very similar to the DA and boat cleaner.

Troy

[Roadrunner000]

Mr Clean Magic Eraser I've found to be the best. I've used it on some
rough atari cabs that had lots of scuffs and just adding little water
to spoung it cleaned off everything...really brought it back to life
and made a 5/10 cab more like 8.5/10..plus it didn't damage artwork
even when I went over it to take off some marks in the silkscreened
area...

[Bret Pehrson]

Here are some before and after pictures of what I'm talking about:

Before
http://www.classicade.com/temp/before.jpg

After
http://www.classicade.com/temp/after.jpg

[syn...@gmail.com]

That looks awesome compared to the "before" pic. Something that works
for me is 0000 steel wool and Mean Green (not the weaker Simple
Green). You have to be careful on some painted cabs since it will
take the color layers off. For those machines with delicate art I use
the Mean Green version of glass cleaner.

Mike Doyle

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