another c64 restore

I picked up this c64 a while back at an estate sale. It was stored down in a damp basement and was pretty well coated in dirt and grime. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of the case before I cleaned it up, but trust me, it was gross.

After testing it, it did work without issue. Well, the VIC is pretty bad. The video quality isn’t great, but it does work.

There wasn’t much work to be done on the board. I recapped it, replaced the voltage regulators, and added heat sinks to the chips.

The keyboard was the worst part and I didn’t have a keycap puller handy, but I did have an old whisk.

I cut off two sections and formed it into a keycap puller that worked pretty well.

You can see how dirty the keyboard was.

I pulled all the keys and stems and scrubbed everything down.

Quite a few of the springs were rusting, so I soaked them all in vinegar to remove the rust. I then oiled them up and reassembled everything.

  I soaked the case down in some warm soapy water and scrubbed it clean.

Now its as good as new.