Topic: Just picked up a Tornado T3000, Restoration questions

[john in nc]

Hey all, lthis looks like a great forum, just joined today. First time poster!
I picked up a Tornado T3000, at least that's what I think the model is. Can't find a model number anywhere but it looks exactly like this:


It was up for auction and unusable as it sat due to a single missing bearing and the laminate was chipped and peeling in areas. I was not there when it went on the block but bidding stopped at $200 so the owner "bought" it back. Some call it shill bidding but it's unfortunately allowed at this auction. Long story short, I paid him $250 for it.

I spoke to the owner, an op out of Greensboro NC, and he told me it came from a laundromat. It had all manner of things inside, his "customers" used for a ball to avoid paying the .75 to play. Bubble gum capsules, mentos mints, wads of paper, even a hot wheels car. After cleaning it out and carefully inspecting I was very please to find absolutely zero MDF swelling. I have it torn down and am currently restoring it. The playfield is mint, the laminate on the top and inside walls are also mint. All rods are perfectly straight and all the men are dirty but umdamaged. All she really needs is an exterior facelift a thorough cleaning and conversion to free play.

Q1: has anyone ever tried to use vinyl car wrap to refinish a cabinet over laminate? I removed the badly damaged pieces, cleaned off all the glue with acetone (works great) filled screw holes underneath with bondo and will prep all surfaces with a coat of gloss enamel to provide a smooth finish for the vinyl to adhere to. I purchased silver carbon fiber matte finish vinyl wrap to replace the laminate. I think it'll look very close to the original stainless steel appearance but a bit cooler. (IMO)


While the coin mech and ball server work perfectly, I believe I will unfasten  the center ball trough (3 screws), push it to the top and create a free play version that will feed the balls directly back to the ball tray for an endless feed of balls.

The last thing I want to do is increase the score keepers on the ends to tournament match style since games will no longer be limited to 9 balls as with coin play.

Q2: I am a novice, never played tournament foosball. I want to cover the existing holes the 5 bead rod created so I figure that place can be used for the game count rod (3 beads?) how many beads go on the game score rod? I think I can fit that to the left or right of the game count rod.


Thanks!

John

[john in nc]

Free play enabled! No permanent modification made save 2 screws holes to secure the new ramp.

[john in nc]

Restoration tips:

Acetone removes the laminate glue without soaking into the MDF
Castrol "Super Clean" (purple stuff) turns a blackened ball to new again, excellent cleaner, more as I complete the restoration.
Outside is prepped for the car wrap, black enamel applied. Nice and shiny smooth, the vinyl should stick well.

[come back trail]

Great find for $250. Super Good Deal. Looking forward to seeing the results

[john in nc]

Had to make some tweaks to my ramp, after extensive testing it was possible some balls, like 1 in 100 could roll past my diverter. I advanced the point, sloped the wood at the drop in to mak it impossible for any to get by. Also added a prop stick. It had to be a bit narrower than the original as to not block the balls entry to the ready ramp but I think it will be sturdy enough. Since I added the prop stick, I had to fortify my ramp mounting by bolting instead of screwing it to the coin op ball server compartment wall and yes I fortified the wall I bolted it to as well since it was only held together by a few staples. Solid as a rock, works 100%. Anxious to get my carbon fiber wrap and finish it up.



You can see the clearance in this picture

[johnwallan]

Nice photos... you have inspired me to improve my free play ramping as well!

[john in nc]

All done, the car wrap worked great, Wanted very few seams so I bought a 5' X 20" roll so just a single seam in the back corner. at the top where the vinyl meets the black linoleum I trimmed vinyl with a razor blade at an angle that exposes the edge of the linoleum so as hands rub across the top, there is no contact with the vinyl to avoid peeling it back. At the splits and the bottom, I left the vinyl long, tucked inside and under and secured with staples to again, avoid handling causing peel away of the vinyl. Came out pretty sharp. I used about $40 worth of wrap to cover with plenty to redo if ever necessary. I painted the Tornado medallions silver for a custom look rather than trying to match the rubbed off hot stamped red. That would have been a PITA. Rods and hinges polished. Handles cleaned and poly applied. Like a new machine.

[kgstewar]

Car wrap looks great! Thanks for the pictures. I know some of these these metal-wrap "fridge" models had issues with warped play fields. Assuming yours did not have that issue, you got a great deal.

[john in nc]

Car wrap looks great! Thanks for the pictures. I know some of these these metal-wrap "fridge" models had issues with warped play fields. Assuming yours did not have that issue, you got a great deal.

I tested the playfield level with a pool ball to fine tune the cabinet leg levelers. Placing the pool ball next to the serve hole, it will slowly roll from side to side indicating a slight cupping toward the center but it is very slight. A foosball can be set on the playfield anywhere and remain stationary or rolled in a straight line along the edges with little deviation. I assumed this was normal (being a newbie) since the playfield is not slate of a hardened material. I bet I could correct what little cupping there is with a temporary board secured under the center of the playfield and shimmed until perfectly flat but I doubt anyone will notice anything in normal game play.

Cost totals
$250 base game
$15 bumper, bearing and nut
$95 Vinyl (used less than 1/2)
$25 replacement keys and added score disks (on order)
$15 cleaning supplies and paint
$0 free play ramp, used scrap I had on hand
====================
$400 total (which is what I was willing to pay for a decent used one in need of work) I would put a $1,200 value on it as is now. I'm happy.

[SilentSam]

Wow... table looks sexy as hell... Great job man!

[john in nc]

Thanks man. I really like the silver medallion look of the badges. Goes nice with the theme.

[john in nc]

All done, the car wrap worked great, Wanted very few seams so I bought a 5' X 20" roll.

Correction the roll was 5' (foot) by 20' (foot) so it wrapped all the around with only 1 seam. Mistyped the double hash in my last post.

[alaskan thunder]

Great project!!!

[john in nc]

I ended up getting lazy and wanting to make all modifications completely reversible, I opted not to add another score rod and posts. I simply added 5 score disks to each end. Not ideal but usable. The rods are pretty crowded but will still get the job done.

[come back trail]

love it. great job.