Re: Space Duel water damage. Help

On Mon, 11 Oct 1999 21:17:20 EDT Rcpilot2u@aol.com writes:

>I recently aquired a Space duel in nice shape. But!... the bottom has
some
>water damage, not to serious, the front flares out about a inch will not
push
>back. what can be done to make it even keel again?

Last year I was given a SD->MH conv cab (Thanks Eric!) in similar but
worse shape.

The biggest problem was the sides were bowed out an inch or two due to
water damage. The front was OK though. I used a pair of pipe clamps to
squish the sides back while I reglued and reinforced the cab. I suspect
this is what you'll need to do. FYI pipe clamps are sorta like c-clamps
except they use 3+ foot lengths of black pipe. I bought mine at Menards
(a Midwest Home Despot, err Depot) for under $10 each including the pipe.

IMHO, the best thing you can do to an Atari cab that's falling apart at
the seams is to resecure and/or replace the 3/4" mahogany firring
(furring?) strips on the inside of the cab. Atari usually used decent
wood in their cabs but they screwed up by using staples to hold it
together. Staples don't hold up well over time. I pull the staples if I
can and replace them with square drive countersunk screws of the
appropriate length. Square drives are best but you can get away with
Philips.

As for replacing the firring strips, this can be a major pain. I try to
salvage all I can but they often fracture lengthwise due to age, abuse,
etc. I cut my own because no place in town had *any* 3/4" firring strips
and the millwork places wanted $1.50 per foot for small quantities. Feh!

I would suggest you lay the cab down on an art side (with a blanket
protecting the art) and line up the front with the bottom. Then make sure
the firring strip that secures the front and the bottom is in good enough
shape to drill 4 or so holes (from the inside) for the screws (don't even
*think* about not drilling pilot holes!). Apply some wood glue to the
strip and/or the front, strap on the clamps (with some small pieces of
wood so you don't get clamp hickeys on the front & back) and get it lined
up. Then drill the holes and put in the screws. Let it dry for a day or
two before putting it upright.

If the particle board is disintegrating, then you might need to use a
wood hardener. Its a brush-on goop that impregnates the wood with some
plastic resin for added strength. I had to use it before patching some
divots with plastic wood. No idea what that might do to any art it
touches though.

I'm fixing up my Night Driver UR this way and I'll probably have to do it
to my Omega Race UR as well.

>The t molding also will not seat due to the swelling of the crack.

If the wood has expanded *and* the wood isn't disintegrating you may be
able to recut the t-molding groove. If you do a dejanews search on RGVAC
you should find multiple threads on the appropriate router bit you'll
need. I've never had to do this yet. The resin goop might help here too.
You may want to get new t-moulding since the original is probably scuffed
up and dinged.

Good luck!

(If somebody wants to use this in a cabinet restoration FAQ, be my guest)

Virtu-Al

___________________________________________________________________
Get the Internet just the way you want it.
Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
Received on Wed Oct 13 00:02:56 1999