De-funk old arcade cabinet

[SurfKahuna]

I recently purchased an old Dynamo HS-1 cabinet (SFI cab). However, along with the cab came a strange odor. I know this may sound like a weird question, but does anyone know the best way to clean the cab to get rid of this odor? The odor is a mixture of old wood and... something else that I cannot place. I have not vacuumed the cab yet, but I plan to do it soon.

Is it safe to spray Febreeze into the panels if I remove the insides and let the panels dry? Any better ideas than this?

[InsaneDavid]

First off you're on the right track, vacuum the inside very well. If the smell is coming from inside (which it probably is) you may want to sand and paint the inside. As for the outside (as well as the inside) Simple Green is your friend. It will work at getting that smell and the grime that causes it out.

All old arcade machines have "that smell" - it's one of those unique things about arcade cabinets, the smell of the old wood and components. However "that smell" is common as well, but that smell is a bad one. Of course the bad smell is usually rodent droppings and urine. Again, sanding and Simple Green are your best weapons. My Pole Position cabinet smelled awful, it had the solid odor of rat droppings, cat shit (the seller had the cabinet open by his cat's litterbox in his garage), rot and a heavy musty smell. Simple Green knocked it right out. Scrubbing, then sanding and repainting some parts (especially the back panel) got rid of the smell. The laminate on the top and back angled panel had to be removed which got rid of the smell there and then the areas were painted.

[SurfKahuna]

Thanks man! I can't do major work because I have the cabinet in my apartment :(. When I get a house, I plan on restoring this old girl. For now, I'm going to do some inside sanding, then vaccum the heck out of it and try some Simple Green as you suggested. I'm keeping your advice for the future though, because it's smelling up my computer room. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait to paint it :(.

[diskoboy]

Simple Green.

The miracle chemical. The stuff works wonders on PCB's, as well...

[Flack]

Depending on where the cabinet was stored before you owned it, it's highly possible something crawled up in there to die. You might check around the marquee area as well as around the inside for signs of an ex-critter.