Appe IIe Enhanced old fire damage

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Appe IIe Enhanced old fire damage

Hello all,

  I just got a IIe Enhanced, the one with the numeric keypad on the side, 2 matchign 5.25 drives, and a monitor.

It was smoke damaged happendd  a long time ago. It has been sitting a long time in storage. The person I get it from did some minor cleaning out side. They also booted it and it still works! But the black soot seems to have gone into the plastic color. It can't be wipped off now.

When I got it, i tore it down, and washed all the plaric parts. But little of the black went a way. I did some scrubbing with one of these magic eraser sponges, and that helped a bit. But it also took off some of the "Apple IIe" printing, and color from the FD logo. Plus it was a lot of work.  I also tried to retro-brite with my proven method, the FD front case. There was little change in the black/gray damaged areas. 

I think these IIe's were painted. Yes/No ?? If yes, than it might be easieast to just repaint them all. If there an official paint number?

Any other suggestions.

Many thanks

 

PS the system still boots! I soap and water washed the MB, cards, and keyboard. They still work.

Except the keyboard. The Option, Reset, H, S,I T, R-Shift keys do not work. I put in some electonics cleaner and got the S,I T, R-Shift key to work. Suggestions on the others? As it is now I can't start the internal selft test.

Again thanks!!

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Just use it and don't worry

Just use it and don't worry about cosmetic issues.

 

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Thanks,

Thanks,

  But it looks pretty bad, and detracts from the fun experiance.

Any other suggestions on restoration?

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Only early Apple II's (and

Only early Apple II's (and maybe very early //e's) were painted. By the time the Enhanced //e was rolled out the plastic was already coloured (i.e. it didn't need painting).

 

However, if the staining really is that bad, I would suggest repainting is the only real option. You should be able to paint match and end up with a pretty nice looking machine. I would soak the plastic top in warm water with Oxy laundy soap powder for a few hours prior to painting to try and remove any of the residual smoke odour (if there is any). And maybe even go over everything with one of the citrus based cleaners to aid in making it look and smell palatable. :-)

 

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The color was one from,

The color was one from, "pantone" but I do not know the color number.

But if the case was mine then a hard brush with Ajax cleanser or simple green might clean it up more. Your issue is that the stains are hiding within the small crevices on the plastic.

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My dad's old //e had a lot of

My dad's old //e had a lot of baked on crud when I re-found it.  I usually clean up stuff like that with rubbing alcohol with a drop of dish soap, but that wouldn't do it this time.

 

I ended up scrubbing it with Gojo natural orange/hot water and a brillo pad, then hit it hard with a power washer.  That cleaned it up really well.  That Gojo stuff is a grease-cutter, though.  I don't know if it would take soot/carbon deposits off or not.

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Thanks, but this baked in

Thanks, but this baked in smoke color dose not come off. I used a brillo pad on a small section that was very dark but on the underside for a test. I scrapped away all the color until I got down to the black plastic.

This smoke color in set into the platic. I think my only method is to do a spray paint job on it. 

I looked at my local Lowes, and Home Depot and they did not have anything remotely close to ][e platium color. I do not want to go have a color mathc done, and get a quart of brush on paint. Paint brush strokes will look bad. Spray is the best option.

But I can not find any posts from google that show what apint color to get.

I was hoping the vast knowledge base in here would have the near correct paint color to get.

Thanks

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Paint Sprayer?

Why not colour match and use a paint sprayer (obtained from your local hardware store)?

 

Cheaper paint sprayers look something like this:

 

 

I would suggest practicing on something first prior to painting your Apple though.

 

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Thanks for the reply.

Thanks for the reply.

I do not think those are sold here in the USA. I have a Wagner home use paint sprayer. but it is a major pain to hook up, test, retest, test again for right paint vescosity. Then another pain to clean it out.  This would take a half day or more.

A rattle can would much, much easier.

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If you color match with

If you color match with automotive paint instead of house paint you can spray with an airbrush.  You can buy a good one like a Badger or a cheap on like the one that Harbor Freight sells.  You may also need to buy compressed air or a small air compressor.  The one that Harbor Freight sells actually works fairly well.

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/15-hp-58-psi-oil-free-airbrush-compressor-kit-60328.html

 

It's a little expensive for a one time use, but you can do all kinds of painting with an airbrush setup like that.

 

 

 

 

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