Swollen wood and other help needed

[Pop Culture Portal]

...and I'm talking about a water damaged arcade cab ;)

Question 1

I've seen plenty of info on how to repair cabinets made with plywood or other similar types of wood, but what about cabinets made with particle wood?

I've got a Centipede that has some water damage on its base, but not bad enough that chunks of wood are coming off. The wood is swolen and brittle where the damage is located. Is there anything that could "stabalize" the wood to keep it from flaking off, like some sort of sealant or something?

Question 2

I'm just about to the point of buying new sideart and a new CPO overlay. Other than buying new old-stock stuff, what is the best type of reproduction for this type of art? I see people selling CPOs and sideart made by silkscreen, fancy printing, and others. Which one looks as close the the original as possible?

Question 3

I need a monitor for my Centipede (it didn't come with one). From what I can tell, the Centipedes used to come with a Wells-Gardner monitor. Now, I'm not that anal that I want an original old monitor, I'm just looking for a modern replacement...or do they still make Wells-Gardner monitors? I thought I read somewhere (I can't figure out where I read this) that there were alot of problems with the old Wells-Gardner monitors...or am I thinking of a different brand?

Any advise is greatly appreciated!

[Arcade Antics]

I've got a Centipede that has some water damage on its base, but not bad enough that chunks of wood are coming off. The wood is swolen and brittle where the damage is located. Is there anything that could "stabalize" the wood to keep it from flaking off, like some sort of sealant or something?
Not that I know of. Is it just the base? It shouldn't be too hard to just cut a new piece of wood to replace the swollen MDF piece.


I'm just about to the point of buying new sideart and a new CPO overlay. Other than buying new old-stock stuff, what is the best type of reproduction for this type of art? I see people selling CPOs and sideart made by silkscreen, fancy printing, and others. Which one looks as close the the original as possible?
The original art was professionally screen printed. That's still your best option if you're going through a reputable printer / repro resaler. :)

[Pop Culture Portal]

Is it just the base?

Yup, just the very edge of the base, close to where the T-Molding would be...maybe 2 inches high/deep. I'm assuming I could use either Bondo or some sort of wood putty/filler on it to replace the very small places the wood is coming off.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I finally got around to cleaning up the Stern cocktail I got a few months ago and discovered before it was a Capcom Bowling, it was an Astro Invader...I'm pretty stoked! I'm quickly finding out that getting even a repro CPO for it is going to be almost impossible. It also needs a new glass top...ugh!

[Arcade Antics]

Yup, just the very edge of the base, close to where the T-Molding would be...maybe 2 inches high/deep. I'm assuming I could use either Bondo or some sort of wood putty/filler on it to replace the very small places the wood is coming off.
Both are fine, stonic used Bondo on his Frogger restoration and it looks amazing - search this forum and you should find the post, complete with lots of pics. :)


On a somewhat unrelated note, I finally got around to cleaning up the Stern cocktail I got a few months ago and discovered before it was a Capcom Bowling, it was an Astro Invader...I'm pretty stoked! I'm quickly finding out that getting even a repro CPO for it is going to be almost impossible. It also needs a new glass top...ugh!
The glass top shouldn't be too tough to replace. If you can find reference pics of the Astro Invader artwork, you could always make your own. If you have access to large format printing, you could save a few $, otherwise you could always take it to Kinko's or something like that and have it printed. Quality wouldn't be top notch, but probably serviceable. At the very least, better than nothing. ;)

[Peale]

Question 3

I need a monitor for my Centipede (it didn't come with one). From what I can tell, the Centipedes used to come with a Wells-Gardner monitor. Now, I'm not that anal that I want an original old monitor, I'm just looking for a modern replacement...or do they still make Wells-Gardner monitors? I thought I read somewhere (I can't figure out where I read this) that there were alot of problems with the old Wells-Gardner monitors...or am I thinking of a different brand?

Any advise is greatly appreciated!

All monitors have one kind of problem or another, eventually. Most WG monitors are decent. There are some that are fairly problem free.

For home use, you should be fairly problem free, once it's fully working (assuming you use an older monitor).

You *can* buy brand new WG monitors. The D9500 just came out. It's a digital monitor that supports CGA, EGA and VGA.

http://www.wellsgardner.com/products/details.asp?iCat=2&iSubCat=10

There are also Analog monitors available.

http://www.wellsgardner.com/products/details.asp?iCat=3&iSubCat=1

[Pop Culture Portal]

Thanks everyone! These are all very big helps!!!