Time Pilot Arcade machine advice

[kai123]

I am back again with a question on a machine. I love Time Pilot and someone local to me has one but the condition leaves a little to be desired. How hard would it be to get this in good condition?
Price is very reasonable as well at $150. Thanks again.

[Compute]

That water damage is pretty bad, imo. You may be able to seal&sand with some type of wood glue, depending on the extent. Over on KLOV there are some posts relating to repairing water-damaged cabs. I ended up chopping the bottom off my outrun cab and building a new bottom. It was kind of a pain, but had to be done. Then you would want to repaint, probably get new sideart, cp, etc. If you want it to play, $150 isn't bad. If you want it to fresh-out-of-the-crate perfect, keep looking. Water-damaged cabs can be a real PITA.

EDIT: On second look the water damage appears to be up over the lower coin box door. That's going to get messy real fast. Does it work? I'd consider picking that up for less than $100, given all of the work that's going to go into it. Rebuild the bottom of the cab (including getting the coin door and back door cuts right), paint, new sideart, new cpo, probably put a cap kit on the monitor. Might as well tear it down and use the pieces as a template to build a new cab at that point. The danger in having a water-damaged cab is that the bottom will continue disintegrating as you move or bump it. Slight water damage would be ok, but from the pics it looks pretty bad.

[cyberfluxor]

I agree with Compute to ask for a lower price. These aren't rare cabs and should be tested for operational condition before moving forward on the deal. I would suggest offering price of the PCB ($40) and monitor provided the neck glows and works ($50 - assuming it's old and in decent condition).

[kai123]

Thanks for the advice. He said it was from moving it around a lot. If you think it is water damage I may skip out on it and wait for another to come around. He said that it powers up and the screen works so who knows. I may go this weekend to look at it. If I can get it for under a $100 I will take the chance. Thanks again and I will keep you guys posted.

[Compute]

I'm sure the ugliness is caused by moving it around, but the bottom of the cabinet has been wet. From the pic it looks like the wood has swollen. At the very bottom where it looks like the paint/vinyl is bubbling and delaminating from the particleboard is a telltale sign of water damage. The best way to know for sure is to look inside the cabinet near the bottom. Even if it's dry now, any water that would have wicked into the wood is going to leave an unmistakable water stain. Here's a breakdown of what happens:

1) Leg levellers/feet break off bottom of cabinet. By default cabs will have some type of feet to hold it an inch or two off the ground. Sometimes casters, whatever.

2) Now that the particle board is in direct contact with the ground, the paint/etc will scrape off, and the particleboard will suck moisture out of the ground. This happens especially on concrete floors.

3) Moisture causes the "wood" to swell, which weakens its structure. Now a knock which would normally cause no damage suddenly causes a corner to break off. This would not be a problem, except it looks terrible and the whole cabinet becomes weaker as a result. Eventually you'll lose an inch or two on the bottom of your cabinet, and it becomes impossible to move because there's no bottom.

I would also like to point out that this is based on my own experience and in no way reflects some universal constant that is always the case. I suppose it is entirely possible the game has no water damage, and somehow just looks water-damaged.

Any time you buy a game, CHECK FOR LEG LEVELERS OR CASTERS. The cabinet needs to be off the ground to prevent damage. Also makes it easier to move.