Hi Rich,

I have successfully repaired a couple of Mac faceplates by using the
technique as you describe . . . the paint I used (though I haven't tried a
bunch of different types) was Krylon spray semi-gloss black, squirted first
into a small bottle (beware of vapors), and then applied to the glass via a
Q-tip. The thin consistancy and fast drying seemed to work well . . . brush
marks were completely avoided.

The color match was quite acceptable, but the opacity wasn't . . . a patch
of gaffer's tape (after the paint had cured for 24 hrs.) on top of the paint
patch fixed this.

I have seen a few MI3 faceplates damaged as you described . . . I would
guess that the bubbling at the edges was caused by a chemical reaction with
the particular foam tape that was used for a time, as the problem seemed to
become much less common in newer units . . . though maybe it was just
because they were newer.

I seem to recall that the last MI3 I saw had an open HT secondary as well,
and one of the sources you mentioned had a replacement (of new manufacture)
available. It wasn't exactly cheap . . . but way less than what finding an
MPI-4 or pristene, working MI3 would be. But that was at least five years
ago . . .

I have also seen a problem with paint lifting on a number of Mac faceplates
where the plastic light-diffuser is stuck on with 2-sided tape. Early
versions of some units (C-26's seem to come to mind) had screws that held
the light-diffuser to the panel endbrackets in addition to the tape; in
later editions these screws were left out. I think that paint lifting was
being caused by flexing/shifting of the panel bracket assembly relative to
the faceplate (esp. on the units with the screws installed), and caused the
paint to eventually lift. I recommend that you DO NOT install screws from
the end brackets into the light-diffuser.

Hope this helps,

Kirk Patton