Omega-TI Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Hi All, As you know I recently purchased a used Atari 5200 unit, the price was right and it works, but it's been "well used" over the years as you can see from the photo below. Anyway I plan to take the top off in the next week or two and clean the dust out of the cracks and to try and spiff it up a little. So, has anyone here had any experience with reconditioning a textured model? My Questions are: 1) Were you able to do anything with the Aluminum trim without making it look worse? 2) What did you use on the micro scratches in the plastic? 3) On the major issue shown in the photo below... A) Would you lightly sand the entire area to match? B) Would you spray clear coat on it afterwards to try to dress it up, or just use Pledge? 4) Anything else I need to know? Before I invest any more money into this one, I need it to be "aesthetically worthy" before I continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 ... unless someone comes in with some advice, I've decided to use one of those Headlight restoration kits. I'll wet sand the plastic parts with ultra grit sandpaper and use the stuff that is supposed to make the headlights shine and be crystal clear, that should be more than adequate I think. Should I make a video of the process when I do this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Cade Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I'm not so sure it will work out that well, but I'd like to see... Keep in mind this is now very old deteriorated plastic. I know foggy headlights are too, but that is a completely different plastic type/formula. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 I'm not so sure it will work out that well, but I'd like to see... Keep in mind this is now very old deteriorated plastic. Yeah... I figured I'd try it out on a small section of the inside to see what happens. If it looks good, I'll go for the outside. I also have to consider the aluminum trim, what do you think of this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 That big crack looks like it was superglued? Anyways, if you ever get rid of the housing, it would be perfect for building a custom emulation setup. I'd simply sand everything and spray it black. Not picky about the exact finish, just that looks good. And it can be made so with some work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 That big crack looks like it was superglued? I'm afraid it looks that way. It appears whoever patched it tried to wipe off some excess glue they used with their finger. What I originally thought was dirt turned out to be the effects of chemically melted plastic which marred the finish. So now I have to sand the thing down to get a smooth finish, trying to eliminate the blemish, while hoping that the actual glue joint will only appear as a hairline fracture. Painting it will be a last resort if I cannot hide the damage any other way. My intent was display the unit in my living room with the TV and stereo equipment, but I've had to re-assess that decision. However -- I gotta ask about spare parts, which could make my life easier... Does anyone have the top half of an otherwise broken two port Atari 5200 unit they want to sell for a fair price? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Cade Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 That front part comes off and is a small piece (not the entire top half). I think it was used to cover the other two port holes in the case on a 2-port system? I've had those broken before... I think it's broken on mine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 The aluminum has a plastic film on it and it's laminated on there good This is not specific to atari 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 When I work on my Apple II stuff and run into a problem like this I just get going on ebay and prepare to wait however long it takes. The goal is to minimize frustration and wasted time. Spare parts will turn up sooner or later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JungleJet Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I haven't tried this yet myself, but many people who collect pinball machines use Novus polish to restore the play fields. https://www.novuspolish.com/uses.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namedjughead Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 I have seen Novus polish used on the Retroblasting Youtube channel to restore the plastic on vintage Star Wars toys, and I looked like it worked pretty well. I would think that Novus polish would be able to remove the micro scratches below the aluminum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0078265317 Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Or just buy another dead one off ebay that is not working but good shape top. And swap it out. Might be cheaper than trying to restore the broken one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 Or just buy another dead one off ebay that is not working but good shape top. And swap it out. Might be cheaper than trying to restore the broken one. Sadly, I've not been fortunate enough to find what I'm looking for, and cannot devote any more time to something with little to no results, so I'm going to go down a different path with this 5200 unit. That big crack looks like it was superglued? Anyways, if you ever get rid of the housing, it would be perfect for building a custom emulation setup. I'd simply sand everything and spray it black. Not picky about the exact finish, just that looks good. And it can be made so with some work. This spring when it gets warmer I'm going to take your advice and go down this route with the sanding and painting. I've decided that it's just not worth dumping a lot of money into. I've decided not to get the MasterPlay Clone or the AtariMax, I'll just buy two or three more cartridges and call it good. I've decide that it will get some use, but as a 'hidden stealth unit'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazymoon67 Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Hi All, As you know I recently purchased a used Atari 5200 unit, the price was right and it works, but it's been "well used" over the years as you can see from the photo below. Anyway I plan to take the top off in the next week or two and clean the dust out of the cracks and to try and spiff it up a little. So, has anyone here had any experience with reconditioning a textured model? My Questions are: 1) Were you able to do anything with the Aluminum trim without making it look worse? 2) What did you use on the micro scratches in the plastic? 3) On the major issue shown in the photo below... A) Would you lightly sand the entire area to match? B) Would you spray clear coat on it afterwards to try to dress it up, or just use Pledge? 4) Anything else I need to know? Before I invest any more money into this one, I need it to be "aesthetically worthy" before I continue. see my video on this subject rainbow shield restore on You Tube search for "crazymoon67"...look for the video rainbow shield restore and like and subscribe if you want. good luck on it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0078265317 Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 BTW is this 2 or 4 port model? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 Found your video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di_3qmkjSv8 ... when it gets warmer this spring I may get around to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 BTW is this 2 or 4 port model? It's a two port model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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