the Coin Door
the Coin Door


 
The coin door is the "owl-style" coin door that Atari used for a couple of years.  I love this style, and can specifically remember it during my early years in the arcades. 

My coin door was in horrible shape.  It looked bad, and nothing worked:
 - not the coin slots
 - not the lighted 25¢ sign
 - not the counter
 - there was no lock

   

   

I had to paint the door, so I removed all of the hardware from it.  I took LOTS of pictures as I did this so I would know how to put it back together.

   

   

I painted the door the same way I painted the control panels. You will need to strip it (to remove the paint), sand it (to remove any rust and paint residue), prime and paint it (black).

To strip it, I used Citristrip Stripping Gel.  It worked great at removing the paint.


(I couldn't get the door off of the frame.  To be honest, I just couldn't figure out how to do it.  The pin holding the two pieces together wouldn't budge.  If you know how to do this, please shoot me a line on how-to).

Next, I sanded the panel with a fine sand paper. I did this by hand, but you can always use a sander.  If you are going to use a sanded, use a rotary sander for best results.  Get the panel as smooth as possible.

There are some guys that recommend powder-coating instead of painting.  The results they got were very impressive. However, I couldn't find a cheap-enough Powder-Coating business out here, so I opted to just use paint.  A paint-sprayer is best. However, I got good results with just the spray can.
 
Be sure to use a primer first, to protect the metal from future rusting.

For the finish, I used RustOleum Gloss Black Protective Enamel.  It gave the panel a really good shine.  I really focused my painting to the front side of the door and frame.

   


When reassembling the electronics, I cleaned every part I could.  I used a chrome polish on the outer chrome pieces.

I had to replace some wiring, but in the process I:
 - got both coin slots functioning
 - got the counter working again
 - got the lighted "25¢" display to light again (#47 bayonet bulb)
     (I had to replace the lamp base, but found a compatible part at Radio Shack)
 
I also purchased a coin lock from Home Depot (it was about a 1-inch keyed lock).

I installed it onto the cab using the black carriage bolts I bought from Blacksmith Bolt & Rivet supply.

 NEW COIN DOOR INSERT:
 
I purchased a new Atari Coin Door Insert from Rich at This Old Game (www.ThisOldGame.com)
 
 Here is the new insert:
 
 
 Here is the old one (left) and the new one (right):



Here is the back of the inserts (old one on the left, new one on the right):
 
 

 
 
 
The End Result

Here is the coin door when I bought the game:

   



I even got the 25¢ sign to light up