Man, I haven't updated this thread in some time. That Big Blue I started restoring at the start of this thread, I never finished. Instead, I bought a like 3 more Gen 1 Big Blue's since then. I am starting to restore a different one than the one at the start of this thread. Mostly because it is easier to get to in my current storage situation. Anyways, here are a couple of pics and where I am at with it.
We are in the midsts of a warm October right now. Taking advantage of it because in Central California, it is either scorching or just above freezing. This cab had been rolled completely over with black paint. Because of that, I am forced to peel the vinyl wrapping. Whereas with the earlier cab, repair was sort of in the discussion. Anyways, found out an easy way to get the vinyl off these 3Koam cabs. Basically, you need to use good old CitriStrip. But there are two keys after that. One, you have to wrap some sort of moisture barrier on top of the CitriStrip so that it doesn't dry out and is allowed the time to work it's magic. Wax paper or cheap plastic paint drop cloth works just fine. Flayed plastic grocery bags would work too if you are in a pinch. Hard to say how long you keep that on though since weather plays a part in it. Too short of a time and when you peel, some wood substrate might come off too or it won't peel at all. Too long and the vinyl will be the consistency of wet tissue and tear off. And if you leave it on too long, it will completely dry out and you have to start over. Since all 3Koam cabs have what I think is the same vinyl wrap applied to them, I'd imagine this would work for Z-backs too. I'll know later as I have two of those I have to restore.
NOTE: The Z-back I restored above, I just sanded off the vinyl. God that was awful, took forever, and made a huge mess.
EDIT - NOTE 2: Forgot to say, don't waste your money using Premium Kleen Strip. That didn't work nearly as good as CitriStrip. On top of that Premium Kleen Strip is caustic AF. A tiny spray dabble of that stuff on your skin will burn like venon.
So after all the vinyl came off, I bondo'd the first skim coat over the coin mech security holes and did some spot body filling where needed. The bottom of this cab has no leveling feet for some reason. So the bottom edges of the wood look like they absorbed some water. I debrided the wood along the bottom edge with a metal brush. Then went to Home Depot to get some wood hardener. Will drip that onto the bottom edge with a straw tomorrow. Then will bondo that edge. Would be quite momentus if I can get one coat of primer on before this weekend is over. Stay tuned.