Ebay score / How do I repair this damaged Atari case

atariry · October 24, 2018

I recently spotted an Atari 800 on Ebay (UK). Not working. I spotted that it had a genuine ROM and RAM cartridge. I already have an Atari 800 (made in 1985 from parts found around various Silicon Valley surplus stores) but I've wanted the cartridges for some time, one reason is that I want to 3D print cases for my own bare modules, so I need something to measure up. Anyway I won the Atari at the surprisingly low cost of £89. It arrived today (at work). The packaging seemed "light". When I got it home an opened it up to my horror was a huge hole in the rear of the case (see attached picture). At first I wondered if the seller had not flagged this up, but I quickly spotted plastic pieces inside the case and shook them out. It had clearly been damaged in transit as the packaging was totally inadequte. Bummer :mad:

Firstly I put the ROM and then 16K RAM and then bare 32k RAM module in my 800 and they all worked.

I then put my own bare RAM and ROM in the new 800. I connected a S-Video lead to a Dell monitor and switched on. I had put in the SALT cart and the screen appeared but some characters were badly smeared. Score! I thought. It actually works. Perhaps only the colour pot needs adjustment.

I then took the whole thing apart. It needed cleaning. Two of the screws on the bottom were not Atari suggesting someone had been in at some time. As I cleaned the power board I noticed a nasty hack on the SIO connector. Someone had attempted to repair one of the pins and I could see that it was still broken. All in pieces I put it on my desk and powered up. I now got the red screen of death. I swapped ROM and RAM, but no good. Bizarre as it had been working. I then swapped out the CPU card with one from my 400 (another recent Ebay score). It now worked again. Luckily I had another spare CPU card (from years ago) which I found that ANTIC and GTIA were bad but the CPU was good. I swapped ANTIC and GTIA from the now broken 800 board to the old CPU board and inserted it. It worked! What a stroke of luck.

I have a spare SIO socket, unsoldered many years ago from a broken Atari printer. I snipped the legs of the broken SIO socket in order to more easily remove it, and after cleaning the holes, soldered in the "new" one. Not a bad fix if I say so myself.

So now the final headache, and I hope someone can help with advice. How do I best repair the damaged case? The good news is that I have all the parts (5 or 6). They fit together quite well. I'd like suggestions as to the best type of glue to use in order to make the fixes as seamless as possible. I was thinking that I can use tape (on the outside) to hold the parts in place and then I can apply glue on the inside along the broken seam? If I apply along to seam it will spill out? Anyway suggestions please.

Mr Robot · October 24, 2018

Let me point you at this piece of awesome, you should get quite a few ideas from this.

https://www.retrohax.net/extreme-refurbishing-episode-2-atari-800-xl-part-one/

https://www.retrohax.net/extreme-refurbishing-episode-2-atari-800-xl-part-two/

The case is in part 2

Edited October 24, 2018 by Mr Robot

tjlazer · October 24, 2018

I would try Acetone as it melts and mends the plastic nicely. Works on this case as I’ve done it. Just be careful not to smear the acetone as it can damage the appearance of the plastic as it melts. Just get enough on the ends and mend them together, sticks together after a few minutes. Don’t mess with glues as they never seem to work well.

Edited October 24, 2018 by tjlazer