Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

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zumbito
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Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by zumbito »

Sorry for bombing the forums recently, but have a bunch of projects going on and been experiencing unexpected challenges. I am traying to disassemble the speaker piece in the New Astro, to use some retrobight with it, but not sure how to split the New Astro square marquee and the plastic frame itself. Seems to be be sticked to it, but kinda scared pulling it out, as it is sticked to a very thin plastic strip and I assume without the marquee it wont be particularly rigid to stand the pull:

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Thing is it is sticked really strong, and not sure how to proceed, I thought about using some solvent, to weaken the glue, but that might ruing the art, as it has no protection. Anyone that has done it can share how they did?

BTW acetone kind of eats away the yellowing, but leaves te surface scratched, witch makes me think it is actually eating away the plastic. Will retrobight make the frame white again?

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DaveyD
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by DaveyD »

They are stuck together with a foam tape. I have done 3 of my own, and used a scalpel to VERY CAREFULLY cut into some of the foam from the inside making sure not to catch the artwork on the front, and then use a hairdryer to soften the old glue whilst slowly, and carefully prying them apart with a plastic tool, and a bit more cutting when they start to come apart
zumbito
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by zumbito »

DaveyD wrote:They are stuck together with a foam tape. I have done 3 of my own, and used a scalpel to VERY CAREFULLY cut into some of the foam from the inside making sure not to catch the artwork on the front, and then use a hairdryer to soften the old glue whilst slowly, and carefully prying them apart with a plastic tool, and a bit more cutting when they start to come apart
Yup, I used a razor, I lost a chunk of finger but came out fine :lol: .
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trev1976
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by trev1976 »

My one popped right off. I'm going to get my speaker surround painted in a car body shop.
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zumbito
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by zumbito »

trev1976 wrote:My one popped right off. I'm going to get my speaker surround painted in a car body shop.
I'm doing retrobright, will post some before and after pictures, the first day it went halfway to pure white.
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RMRM
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by RMRM »

zumbito wrote:
DaveyD wrote:They are stuck together with a foam tape. I have done 3 of my own, and used a scalpel to VERY CAREFULLY cut into some of the foam from the inside making sure not to catch the artwork on the front, and then use a hairdryer to soften the old glue whilst slowly, and carefully prying them apart with a plastic tool, and a bit more cutting when they start to come apart
Yup, I used a razor, I lost a chunk of finger but came out fine :lol: .
Yup, those suckers are hard to take out :mad:
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by zumbito »

Well, I finally retrobrighted, and have to say I am quite impressed, it took several sessions, and we have a very intense sun were I live, not sure if that is beneficial for the process... Here is how it ended:

Image


Can't complain, much better than painting.
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Rossyra
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by Rossyra »

Looks great 8-)
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nem
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by nem »

That looks amazing. Are you thinking of coating it to keep it looking white?
zumbito
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by zumbito »

nem wrote:That looks amazing. Are you thinking of coating it to keep it looking white?
Really wasn't, I am having issues with the monitor and want to leave that working so my brother can have it a go while I'm out. I was just thinking on buffing it to take out that nasty stain in the top part of the right speaker, caused by my acetone attack, maybe some novus. What should I coat it with? I heard that its not only UV but heat that yellows the plastic.
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Brettster
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by Brettster »

That came out really well, Tempted to do mine, but it may have to wait until next summer now, lack of sun 8-)
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zumbito
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by zumbito »

Brettster wrote:That came out really well, Tempted to do mine, but it may have to wait until next summer now, lack of sun 8-)

I'm not really sure how much sun is needed, at times I was getting shapes and stains and thought it was because the amount of sun, the back of the plastic is even whiter, maybe because it didn't have direct sun.
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nem
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by nem »

zumbito wrote:What should I coat it with? I heard that its not only UV but heat that yellows the plastic.
Honestly, no idea. I've only heard that retrobrighted plastic can turn back yellow really quickly, but I have no first hand knowledge.
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trev1976
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by trev1976 »

The only thing I have seen is armorall uv protection or maybe lacquer it.

I had a nice retrobrite PCE but it's started going yellow again, I don't think you can stop it.
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Re: Astro city Speaker marquee disassemble

Post by zumbito »

trev1976 wrote:The only thing I have seen is armorall uv protection or maybe lacquer it.

I had a nice retrobrite PCE but it's started going yellow again, I don't think you can stop it.
I think I'll leave it as is, and lets see how it evolves.
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