So when I popped by to visit the splendid John (Merlin1967) on these very forums I noticed he had a couple of forlorn looking old pets in the hallway.
Transpired a friend at work had asked him to see if they worked and move them on. I felt very sorry for the two old girls and fancied a bit of a project so John kindly gave them a good test, the Pet 2001 had a blown PSU and garbled screen but the Pet 8032 was working perfectly apart from no keyboard buttons other than the 1 digit and looking very tired, tatty and unloved.
That was Tuesday night... so over the last 48hrs (in between work, sleep and my three dizzy kids) I have cracked on with a full restoration and she now looks like she's just dropped off Peddles production line
Before:
First things first lets fix the keyboard.... think the fault is fairly obvious
Complete strip down, all the keys in a bowl of oxy action for 12 hours, PCB removed and cleaned with alcohol spray, press contacts cleaned and springs cleaned then re-assembled
Next case fully dismantled, separated from base, monitor shroud removed and then 6 hours of wet and dry sanding 400, 1000 then 14000 grade to get all the imperfections and gouges nice and flat
My friend who works at a car body shop in Mansfield owed me a favour which meant him working through his dinner break, took the back off of a keyboard for my 8096SK for him to colour match and gave instructions for a slight fleck in the paint finish and a semi matt laquer just like the original as gloss would not suit it at all.
Picked it up on the way home from work last night and was absolutely chuffed with the finish, exactly what I wanted... genuinely looks perfect, colour and texture
Re-assemble main components..... then motherboard into the dishwasher and left to dry overnight.. came up super shiny!
Keyboard works again... Hazzar!
So that was it... almost done... only problem was the missing case badge to finish it off... replacements do not exist unfortunately so I set to work designing a replacement on Photoshop to the exact measurements as the raised mount for it was still on the case.
Took it to a friend who actually works for a sign writer but they have a vinyl printer, he received a ranting from his manager who walked in with me stood there just as it came out of the printer but it was worth the agro as my measurements were spot on!
So here she is... all done...
New case badge installed with the help of some soapy water
A couple of wires on the PSU replaced as they looked to be brittle and working perfectly...
Not bad for two days graft and hopefully good for another 35 years!
Before and after
You can see the rest of my bit son my homepage www.urbecks.com/commodore if you have five minutes of your life you never want to get back
Transpired a friend at work had asked him to see if they worked and move them on. I felt very sorry for the two old girls and fancied a bit of a project so John kindly gave them a good test, the Pet 2001 had a blown PSU and garbled screen but the Pet 8032 was working perfectly apart from no keyboard buttons other than the 1 digit and looking very tired, tatty and unloved.
That was Tuesday night... so over the last 48hrs (in between work, sleep and my three dizzy kids) I have cracked on with a full restoration and she now looks like she's just dropped off Peddles production line
Before:
First things first lets fix the keyboard.... think the fault is fairly obvious
Complete strip down, all the keys in a bowl of oxy action for 12 hours, PCB removed and cleaned with alcohol spray, press contacts cleaned and springs cleaned then re-assembled
Next case fully dismantled, separated from base, monitor shroud removed and then 6 hours of wet and dry sanding 400, 1000 then 14000 grade to get all the imperfections and gouges nice and flat
My friend who works at a car body shop in Mansfield owed me a favour which meant him working through his dinner break, took the back off of a keyboard for my 8096SK for him to colour match and gave instructions for a slight fleck in the paint finish and a semi matt laquer just like the original as gloss would not suit it at all.
Picked it up on the way home from work last night and was absolutely chuffed with the finish, exactly what I wanted... genuinely looks perfect, colour and texture
Re-assemble main components..... then motherboard into the dishwasher and left to dry overnight.. came up super shiny!
Keyboard works again... Hazzar!
So that was it... almost done... only problem was the missing case badge to finish it off... replacements do not exist unfortunately so I set to work designing a replacement on Photoshop to the exact measurements as the raised mount for it was still on the case.
Took it to a friend who actually works for a sign writer but they have a vinyl printer, he received a ranting from his manager who walked in with me stood there just as it came out of the printer but it was worth the agro as my measurements were spot on!
So here she is... all done...
New case badge installed with the help of some soapy water
A couple of wires on the PSU replaced as they looked to be brittle and working perfectly...
Not bad for two days graft and hopefully good for another 35 years!
Before and after
You can see the rest of my bit son my homepage www.urbecks.com/commodore if you have five minutes of your life you never want to get back
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