First, I need to thank everyone who posted on this thread. Back in April, I picked up a WMS Gulfstream off of CL. Machine was about 2 hours away and after I saw the pictures I explained to the owner that the machine needed a full restoration and I could not offer him more than half of his asking. He accepted and i was on my way to pick up the Gulf-stream
The pick-up:
As I walked into the house, the first thing I discovered is I entered into the home of smokers. First nail into the coffin. They had a giant, hairy, wet smelling dog. Second nail. As I followed the owner down the stairs to the machine, I saw the third and final death nail, the cats sh!t box placed directly under the machine. Yes I wanted the machine, yes I was getting it for a good price, and I just drove two hours in the rain to pick this thing up. I was in to deep to turn around and just leave, so I paid the owner and we loaded up the machine. The drive home was herendous, I only had the head in my cab and the rest of the machine was in the bed of my truck. The smell was something awful.
First attempt:
I unloaded the machine in my garage, took out the PF, trashed the glass and removed the back panel from the backbox. Put a cup of a pinesol type cleaner in the cabinet and let it sit for 6 weeks. The only result after 6 weeks was my whole garage smelled like cat piss. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it took about a week to get the smell out of my truck.
The success story:
This great thread was started. The first and most important thing is I made no attempts to clean the cabinet with any solvents or cleaners. The Natures Miracle would not have worked according to the label. I bought a bottle of Natures Miracle Cat Urine Destroyer. I poured it into a spray bottle and went for my first application. I started with the outside of the bottom board since this was the most affected and if it did not work, I was going to have to replace it, so what do I have to lose. I sprayed the bottom board to the point that it was somewhat wet. Let it sit one day, 50% of the smell was gone. Applied 2nd treatment and sit a day. 95% gone. After third application smell was gone about 99%. Repeated the process with the painted back board and then again with the inside of the cabinet. Although, I only did one application on the inside cabinet because that is all it needed. I removed the bottom PF board and gave the back of that two applications. I did not apply to the painted side of the cabinet, I ME and alcohol that part, but my test on the back painted cabinet showed no signs of any issues from the natures miracle.
Next and final step suggested from this thread. I put two coats of Kilz's primer on the bottom, back, inside of the cabinet and on the bottom of the bottom PF board. Proud to say this machine is 100% cat piss free. Thanks to the pinside community.
The one mistake I made. I removed everything from the PF and put the parts in ziplock bags. The PF aired out well by itself over the past two months, plus it was not directly affected by the cat piss, but...... When I went to remove the playfield plastics from the ziplock bag after 3 months, I discovered the cat piss has penetrated the parts to death. I gave the plastics a light cleaning and then put them in a tote on a grate. I poured about a cup of this human piss destroyer one of my customers gave me that they use in homeless shelters. It pretty much smells like lemons to the 10 degree. I let it sit for three days. It only removed about 50% of the smell. When I installed the plastics, it pretty much made the PF smell like cat piss when I remove the glass. So my last step is replacing these plastics.
Once again, thanks to all, and I hope my story helps somone else down the road.
