Working on a Mars Trek that was in rough shape when I picked it up and wanted to share what a tremendous help cottonm4 was in working with me to fix the damaged cabinet. He generously offered his time and knowledge to guide a complete woodworking novice through the entire process of building a collar from scratch to painting and installation with step by step guides over email. He sent me instructions that were easy to follow and pictures to show what I needed to do and also explained why each step was important and how it could be improved upon from the factory build. I really learned a lot from him and I'm still amazed that he not only took the time to do this but that he did it all successfully through email.
At some point this cabinet got wet and the particle board was falling apart in places including the neck which was completely gone. Someone in the past built a new base for the head but it covered the side rails and they drilled a bunch of holes in the cab to secure it.
1A81680D-5227-4B45-9B6B-9EE86FACC44F (resized).jpegF51A871C-F65B-494C-9014-459ED80DA6C8 (resized).jpeg390E0E93-3F6B-440D-8A3D-B42F5DCFE1CA (resized).jpeg7C873051-BE0F-4ED7-980B-316135A9AA5D (resized).jpegC115AC6A-3A47-4CFD-9979-985B57ED8F5F (resized).jpegThis was my first project game and first EM, when I brought it home I thought I had for sure gotten in over my head. The game was filthy and the cabinet was in awful shape. I knew I would have to address the pedestal issue before really digging into the game. Without knowing anything about woodworking or having another cabinet to compare it to and take measurements from I didn't know where to start. I cleaned up what I could but felt stuck with progress until I found out that another Mars Trek owner JustEverett was having the collar on his game rebuilt and that cottonm4 was making it for him. He put me in touch with Craig who I was hoping could make me one too. He said that he could but some things would be a challenge without being near the cabinet in person. He asked if I knew a woodworker which he could guide through these parts, I didn't but luckily my dad had everything I needed including a table saw so Craig gave me some instructions to get started.
Starting point of the cabinet, the painted interior cleaned up well3BB14622-E396-4DBA-8EE6-70920CE1FC8C (resized).jpeg The next steps were cleaning out the old staples and particle board and to buy some wood and make what I learned were called rabbet cuts.815031A6-1C48-464C-8806-9AB1F5026258 (resized).jpeg I've never used a table saw before and was honestly a bit intimidated by them but Craig sent some intro videos and safety tips which gave me the confidence to finally use it. First cuts look ok but I put it in backwardsF429C402-E973-411B-BCEC-03B39A9196E6 (resized).jpeg Turned it around and added a top piece00EF3FB1-350C-497C-8065-D105B877D6E6 (resized).jpegOnce I got a few steps in and things were going well Craig told me that I could probably build everything myself with his guides so he would send a set of instructions and with my dads help we went down the list and I'd update him with the progress. I only messed up a few times ha. Little by little we worked through the build and every step had the cabinet looking so much better. Seeing it all come together was so satisfying86DC0848-6FB2-43BB-9547-86612A50709E (resized).jpegTransferring the backbox measurements for the cutout 954FBFB4-108C-4AAE-BCCA-5170C3B8730B (resized).jpegPedestal built and screws were countersunk to be filled with Bondo 71ADB7BA-ABEC-4DF8-B3BD-92D2DDC13474 (resized).jpegBEB06E26-0790-46C0-93E2-8C8A81A3439E (resized).jpegPainted the new parts and installed them. Not shown but I did add two extra screws to each side of the top piece to help secure it 3A839ECC-DFA7-4DEB-9C71-8CACCBD99852 (resized).jpegC612D2EE-D4B3-4C45-9519-2B09F4DCEF21 (resized).jpegA767206D-085D-4C38-8B05-0FE9A824C4C1 (resized).jpeg70B9D81A-D4F8-4CDF-9FA6-0BB23941D83B (resized).jpeg Cleaned all the old metal and added them to the new parts19B6C495-7C21-426C-B679-B4940D205C3C (resized).jpeg I recently got the backbox installed and the game looks so much better now 303B8226-C5EE-4401-AC7A-37F54B663AE0 (resized).jpeg443D6DC4-8F04-4ECD-AE7A-4A01864D2A21 (resized).jpeg5905BB94-D5FE-4EE7-AB12-725D7AE0EF4F (resized).jpeg6603A903-C9E5-4891-99D5-96A609AF779F (resized).jpegVery happy with how it turned out and I couldn't have done it without Craigs help so thanks again to a great pinsider and person cottonm4 for teaching me some new skills and getting this cabinet back in shape! It was a great project to work on with my dad as well. Even though I was a complete newbie Craig was always helpful and encouraging and never made me feel like a bother, a true gentleman! Still have a few kinks to work out to get the game playing but the hard part is over and this game will be up and running soon.