Model F 122s show up occasionally, and as such I wanted to modify my old one so it wasn't the ugly beige colour. Furthermore since they are painted anyways, they usually have the paint chipping off along with corrosion (so not matter what way you look at it, they're begging for being modded). Here's a complete walkthrough of how I restored mine and what tools were used in the process.
#1
First thing to do is disassemble the F122 (don't bend the tabs, get a rubber mallet and knock the two pieces apart). Then you'll want some salt and vinegar with a cloth to scrub off as much corrosion as possible with minimizing the amount of the oil coating you remove. The oil coating is what protects the metal from corroding in the first place. If you leave vinegar sitting in certain spots for too long it will remove the oil coating. Use a very delicate sanding paper if you honestly must scrub any rust off.
Afterwards neutralize with baking soda.
#2
Get your paints ready. The ones I used are as follows:
A) Rustoleum Metallic 'Black Night' for the final coat.
B) Rustoleum Metallic 'Flat Antique Nickel' for painting the spring board
C) Rustoleum Satin Black for doing a base coat on the beige chassis
E) Rustoleum Metallic 'Oil Rubbed Bronze' for repainting the metal tray
These paints stay on very well and look extremely nice. The metallic flecks are actual pieces of metal btw.
It's always best to put a light coat on, and then I typically like to do three or four coats afterwards. You can do them in 20 minute intervals assuming they're relatively dry afterwards.
(since it's winter I would paint outside and brought the parts in to dry, this way the majority of the VOCS are released outside)
#3
Apply a light coat first, then follow up with three thicker coats. On the last coat get your replacement foam if necessary and use weak tape to hold it underneath, this will create a pattern to stamp out the holes (Harry pioneered that technique; it also coats any exposed foam to be the same colour as well). Allow to fully dry:
NOTE: Don't forget to also paint the underside as well, it's important you do to protect the metal from future corrosion.
#4 (optional)
If you need to get replacement foam, I used the mcmaster-carr neoprene stuff. I used a 1/2" leather hole punch and a rubber mallet on a thick stack of paper.
#5 (optional)
Once all holes are punched out you'll end up with your new foam.
I do not cut out the 'buttresses', stuffing the barrels into the foam with only 1/2" holes will allow them to fit more snugly and will save you sanity from cutting out that many tiny notches:
#6
Time to reassemble, since I couldn't find a picture of which pivot plates to exclude for a standard ANSI layout (with a regular numpad), the barrels with the yellow dots are where you *do not* place a pivot plate-- someone may find this useful if they're ever going to do this:
You'll want to put four clamps on the bottom, two on the top. I used a 24" vice and a rubber mallet to slide it back together. I find using the vice first and then following up with the rubber mallet works the best.
P.S. ALWAYS double check all pivot plates are put back in, otherwise you'll feel some sadness inside when you have to take it apart again and re-assemble:
#7
First I sanded off the old paint of the external chassis (took a long time, remember to get some of the sand paper foamies which can sand in tight places and awkward angles). Then the rustoleum satin black was applied to the bottom and top:
The best sandpaper are the sand-wet pieces made by 3M, they're rubber as opposed to paper. They *really* do last a long time.
#8
And then finally with many coats of the metallic 'black night' (which is more of a dark charcoal), the finished product was completed. If you don't want the charcoal effect, spraying a light coat of metallic black night over black satin will simulate a straight up black metallic paint.
(the faces of the push buttons were also painted in silver, but I didn't paint the legs since it's not worth it; they need to have the freedom of movement)
(closeup of the 'flat antique nickel' coating, looks very nice)
So that's about it! The paint, clamps and mallet I got from Home Depot-- they should carry all of the products you need. Leather hole punch was purchased on amazon. Foam was purchased from mcmaster-carr:
Foam:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#8647k102/=103696u(I believe I bought two feet / which is enough for three F 122s)
Keycaps were purchased at unicomp along with six stabilizers. I'd be happy to answer any questions to anyone else who is planning on attempting this.
