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Author Topic: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (COMPLETE 7-25-2020)  (Read 21118 times)

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alfonzotan

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I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (COMPLETE 7-25-2020)
« on: March 10, 2012, 02:55:55 pm »
UPDATED after an 8-year hiatus; see the last post for current status. Original post follows...

EYES is complete.  Last post: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,118755.msg1717810.html#msg1717810

KICKMAN is complete.  Last post: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,118755.msg1719400.html#msg1719400

--------------------

About 17 years ago, I was living in north Florida, and having just gotten into arcade collecting via a yard-sale Donkey Kong Jr. ($35 plus a cap kit), I noticed a couple of cabinets standing in the door of a Fort Walton Beach thrift shop.  They turned out to be a Rock-Ola Eyes (which I had never even heard of before) and a Kickman.  Neither worked.  Eyes had a bad monitor, and Kickman had a bad logic board.  But the owner only wanted $5 for them (not $5 each, mind you, but $5 for the PAIR), so I snapped them up.

Those were the days, kids.  Before eBay.  Anyway:

After hauling them home to my garage, I ran upstairs and tried Eyes in MAME.  And I thought it sucked.  Beyond ordering a cap kit (which to this day I still haven't installed), I've barely touched that cab since.  The Kickman I made a few desultory attempts to fix, but I quickly established that PCB repair--beyond capping a monitor board--is pretty much beyond my abilities.

But thanks to having ample storage space and a couple of company-paid moves, I held on to them (it's helped that I haven't had to move again since getting married), and this year I finally decided to get serious about restoring them to operating condition.  The good news is, both cabinets are physically in very good shape.  There's no sign of water damage to either one, and the artwork (such as it is) is clean.  The Eyes control panel has some cigarette damage, and both CPs have gotten rusty in the worn spots, but really it could be a lot worse.  I cleaned up all the glass on both cabs this afternoon, and both of them look quite a bit better than I'd expected.













I located a guy on KLOV who repairs MCR boards and shipped off Kickman's brain.  Got the board stack back in this week; it needed a lot of work.  Thanks to the power supply being KREP (typical for MCR II), that machine still doesn't work, although the monitor appears to be fine beyond a bit of burn-in.  I'm ordering an MCR power adapter from ArcadeShop.com and adding a new modern power supply to replace it shortly.

One nice thing about Eyes is, it's based on the Pac-Man hardware set, so the original game (I like it better now, but it's still hardly a classic) can be augmented with a Multi-Pac daughercard, which I've purchased.  I'll probably also replace the power supply in that cab, since nothing seems to power up these days (after 17 years in storage, I'm not terribly surprised).  I'm not really looking forward to removing the video PCBs to put in the cap kit, but I'll also be getting to that shortly.

So, more to follow...
« Last Edit: July 25, 2020, 11:48:30 am by alfonzotan »

IG-88

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2012, 04:51:25 pm »
Thats amazing you held on to them for so long. After a divorce and a couple moves I hardly got anything left from that long ago.

Eyes is a fantastic game. In my top 10. (cliched I know) but its easy to pick up and takes some descent skill to master. I would love to have one. I would definitely put that daughter board on it too.

Both machines look really good. Will be watching this with interest. Please docu alot!  :cheers:

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alfonzotan

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2012, 06:00:35 pm »
Thats amazing you held on to them for so long. After a divorce and a couple moves I hardly got anything left from that long ago.

Eyes is a fantastic game. In my top 10. (cliched I know) but its easy to pick up and takes some descent skill to master. I would love to have one. I would definitely put that daughter board on it too.

Both machines look really good. Will be watching this with interest. Please docu alot!  :cheers:



Honestly, it wasn't that tough.  When I was single, there was plenty of spare room in the garage, and my current house has a detached second garage that we just use for storage.  If I'd had to haul those beasts on my own dime, they probably would have been sold off or left behind many years ago.  I'm kind of embarrassed that I just left them sitting around for that long.

I'm pretty sure that this is the only Eyes cabinet I've ever seen (no pun intended).  Just didn't ever run across them, even during the 80's heyday.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2012, 06:59:29 pm by alfonzotan »

IG-88

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2012, 07:51:27 pm »
We had a cocktail version along with a Omega Race and an upright Black Tiger of all things in our local Pizza Hut back in about '86 or '88 IIRC. Played the hell out of all 3.

Is the Eyes a dedicated cab or a conversion? I'm thinking they had their own cabs....
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paigeoliver

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2012, 09:40:52 pm »
I recall seeing a Kick-Man control panel on ebay yesterday for not too much, can't remember if it was nicer than yours.
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alfonzotan

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2012, 10:05:50 pm »
We had a cocktail version along with a Omega Race and an upright Black Tiger of all things in our local Pizza Hut back in about '86 or '88 IIRC. Played the hell out of all 3.

Is the Eyes a dedicated cab or a conversion? I'm thinking they had their own cabs....

It's hard to tell, because the Rock-Ola cabs from that era are all pretty generic, but I doubt this one was ever anything else.

alfonzotan

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2012, 10:09:13 pm »
I recall seeing a Kick-Man control panel on ebay yesterday for not too much, can't remember if it was nicer than yours.

Thanks... it doesn't look much different from the one on my cab.  Little less rust, maybe a little more scratched up.

Looks like This Old Game does re-screenings of Kickman panels, but I'm guessing it'd be pricey.  Very heavy part, shipping both ways would run $50, easy.
« Last Edit: March 11, 2012, 12:28:05 pm by alfonzotan »

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2012, 07:27:12 pm »


Looks like This Old Game does re-screenings of Kickman panels, but I'm guessing it'd be pricey.  Very heavy part, shipping both ways would run $50, easy.

Doesn't anyone read my threads?   :dunno

My current collection:  Arkanoid^3, Asteroids Deluxe, Centipede, Donkey Kong w/DIIK, Frenzy w/Berzerk multi, Galaga, Galaxian, Gyruss, Mappy,  Missile Command, Multi-Williams, O'Boyles Arcade (Mame), Pac-man,  Sinistar, Star Wars, Tempest, War Gods

Spyridon

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2012, 07:34:20 pm »

Looks like This Old Game does re-screenings of Kickman panels, but I'm guessing it'd be pricey.  Very heavy part, shipping both ways would run $50, easy.

Doesn't anyone read my threads?   :dunno

Send it to TOG, you won't be disappointed.  The shipping wasn't that much as the panel is actually pretty light once you strip it down.  (the trackball is where all the weight is)


My current collection:  Arkanoid^3, Asteroids Deluxe, Centipede, Donkey Kong w/DIIK, Frenzy w/Berzerk multi, Galaga, Galaxian, Gyruss, Mappy,  Missile Command, Multi-Williams, O'Boyles Arcade (Mame), Pac-man,  Sinistar, Star Wars, Tempest, War Gods

alfonzotan

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #9 on: March 16, 2012, 08:24:00 pm »

Looks like This Old Game does re-screenings of Kickman panels, but I'm guessing it'd be pricey.  Very heavy part, shipping both ways would run $50, easy.

Doesn't anyone read my threads?   :dunno

Send it to TOG, you won't be disappointed.  The shipping wasn't that much as the panel is actually pretty light once you strip it down.  (the trackball is where all the weight is)


Now that's good stuff.  Thanks for the link... I got the power supply and MCR adapter in this week.  Should be able to hook it all up before too much longer.

alfonzotan

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2012, 08:27:51 pm »
I could really use some advice on where to tap the 120V connections on the transformer block to feed the new power supply.  That "D" I got in Circuits II a couple of decades ago is coming back to bite me in the ass...

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2012, 09:03:13 pm »
Just played Kickman on my cabinet. Man, a dedicated one might be a lot of fun.
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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #12 on: March 19, 2012, 03:27:10 pm »
$40 isn't outrageous, but I'd probably do something like vinyl decals.

 :dunno

Not sure if anyone sells decals for this?  Even if they did, I think they would look terrible.  For $40 you can get it silk screened like it was done originally.  I say do it right.
My current collection:  Arkanoid^3, Asteroids Deluxe, Centipede, Donkey Kong w/DIIK, Frenzy w/Berzerk multi, Galaga, Galaxian, Gyruss, Mappy,  Missile Command, Multi-Williams, O'Boyles Arcade (Mame), Pac-man,  Sinistar, Star Wars, Tempest, War Gods

alfonzotan

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #13 on: March 22, 2012, 10:50:51 am »
Okay, sanity check time here... this is a shot of the transformer block in Kickman:



The two black-and-white wires on the right, soldered to the iso, go up the wire path to the monitor, meaning if I've done my homework correctly, this should be the place to tap 120V for the new switching power supply.  What's the best (safest) way to do that, desolder and run new leads from the iso outputs here to a junction block, then attach the corresponding wires for the monitor and PSU?

Note:  the white/black outs on that transformer are outputting a steady 124.4v.

UPDATE UPDATE:  Ah, okay, this makes sense now.  The ArcadeShop adapter is supposed to include clip-on wires for the AC power.  Mine didn't.  Email sent...
« Last Edit: March 22, 2012, 06:44:59 pm by alfonzotan »

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #14 on: March 22, 2012, 02:10:13 pm »
$40 isn't outrageous, but I'd probably do something like vinyl decals.

 :dunno

Not sure if anyone sells decals for this?  Even if they did, I think they would look terrible.  For $40 you can get it silk screened like it was done originally.  I say do it right.


Agreed. I would spring the $40 for a silk-screened one!
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alfonzotan

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN...
« Reply #15 on: March 22, 2012, 06:41:27 pm »
$40 isn't outrageous, but I'd probably do something like vinyl decals.

 :dunno

Not sure if anyone sells decals for this?  Even if they did, I think they would look terrible.  For $40 you can get it silk screened like it was done originally.  I say do it right.


Agreed. I would spring the $40 for a silk-screened one!

I may well wind up doing that.  Want to make sure I can get the game working first, though.

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Not an update
« Reply #16 on: March 25, 2012, 12:26:14 pm »
Nothing really new to report on the restoration work right now... I'm waiting for the missing AC connection wires for the MCR power adapter to arrive, so Kickman is on hold until then.  

But I opened up the back of Eyes for (I'm guessing) the first time in a good dozen years, and it is in really good shape for its age, much better than Kickman.  I was going to try and pull the video boards today and do the caps, but it turned out I've had the wrong cap kit for all this time.  The monitor is a WG 19K4675, and the cap kit I bought way back when is for the 4900 series.  So, new cap kit ordered.  Anybody who wants a 100% unused WG 4900 cap kit, drop me a PM, it's yours for $5 (shipping).

Here are some pics from inside Eyes:












alfonzotan

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Kickman LIVES! (Quietly)
« Reply #17 on: April 21, 2012, 02:20:45 pm »
Thanks to various real-life issues, I've barely had any time to work on either of these machines for the better part of a month.  But this afternoon, I finally caught a break, and got a new power supply plus MCR adapter installed in the Kickman.



And it boots!



... but there's a catch.  It boots with a "Sound Board Interface Error":



The game plays, but with no sound.  Plus neither of the Kick buttons work, but I haven't done a thing with them yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if the switches just need to be cleaned or replaced.

In the meantime, any suggestions on the sound error?

« Last Edit: April 21, 2012, 02:51:59 pm by alfonzotan »

alfonzotan

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WORKING!
« Reply #18 on: April 22, 2012, 10:01:28 am »
Yep, the buttons still work, just needed cleaning.  Both the button light bulbs are blown, though.

Based on a little Googling, I swapped out the Z-80 on the sound board, and while I still get the "Sound Board Interface Error," the LED on that board has gone from blinking fast to blinking slow... meaning the board has a RAM problem.  RAM is a lot harder to replace on an MCR board than ROMs or the CPU, so I'm wondering where to go next on that one.

But the game plays fine, and it really looks great on the CRT (although a cap kit wouldn't hurt it any).

UPDATE:  On the advice of the guy who repaired the boards, I re-seated the ROMs and their chip sockets on the sound board... and now it works great!  For the first time in about two decades, this is a fully armed and operational Kickman cabinet.  I'll post some video later.

Still fun, too!
« Last Edit: April 22, 2012, 04:32:22 pm by alfonzotan »

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (4-22-12 update--Kickman working!)
« Reply #19 on: April 23, 2012, 11:21:09 am »
Congratulations!  Nice to see a dead game brought back to life!
My friend and I are working on a Tron boardset, which is pretty much the same as Kickman.  Just Saturday evening we fixed the missing sound by removing the EPROM's, cleaning the legs and reseating them. 

You always hear about that being a common fix for broken boards, but I think this was the first time it actually worked for me.  You have to love a simple fix!

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Kickman progress
« Reply #20 on: April 27, 2012, 11:14:11 am »
Some minor but satisfying progress on Kickman to report...  the coin door and button lights have been replaced and are working:





... and I replaced the fuse block and fuses on the transformer assembly:



I'm just about done with the electronics, here are a couple of shots of the interior before putting the back panel on:







Next on the list for Kickman is pulling, stripping and cleaning the control panel (which I think I am going to send to TOG for re-screening) and coin door.  The coin door has a lot of gunk and rust, and needs to be rewired.

But I may switch over to Eyes and see about getting it working first...

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (4-27-12 update)
« Reply #21 on: April 27, 2012, 05:27:29 pm »
Good stuff so far. Glad to hear you're going with TOG for the control panel. Spyridon's CP turned out really nice with his resto, hope to see that kind of outcome with yours!

Keep up the good work!

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MWAHAHAHA... add another to the list...
« Reply #22 on: June 05, 2012, 07:09:16 pm »
Just landed a freebie Ms. Pac/Galaga cabaret.  Bad monitor but otherwise in working order.  More to follow...

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (5-7-2020 update)
« Reply #23 on: May 06, 2020, 10:13:35 am »
So, uh, eight years later... I still haven't finished restoring these two cabs.  I did next to no additional work between my last post in this ancient thread and March of 2020.  But thanks to down time during the Great Quarantine, I'm finally making progress again.

Kickman got left on overnight about five years ago, the flyback on the G07 failed, and it's been dead ever since.  Eyes has had a bad monitor (I call it "graphics confetti") since I picked it up in the mid-90's, but both games played blind.  The good news: both monitors are (finally) repaired as of yesterday, which should bring both units back to full operation. 

They both need some cosmetic work.  The Kickman control panel has rust spots, as do both coin doors and some of the front panel hardware on Eyes.  I plan to strip the metal parts and get them freshly powder-covered next.  Sadly, This Old Game is not offering re-screening of the Kickman panels any more, but they offered in an email to sell me a copy of the stencils so I can get that done locally.  The Eyes control panel has old cigarette burns and is generally beat-up; I plan to strip it, replace the buttons and maybe the Wico stick (don't know what condition it is in, as I haven't played the game yet) with reproductions, and recover it with appropriate art.

The T-molding is coming apart on both cabs, I'll probably be replacing that as well.  And happily, among the (staggering and embarrassing) pile of parts I bought over the years for these games but never used, I found a nearly-forgotten 96-in-1 board for Eyes, which I'll be installing a bit later; I want to have it stock for a while first.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2020, 10:16:46 am by alfonzotan »

alfonzotan

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Restoration work pictures 5-10-2020
« Reply #24 on: May 11, 2020, 01:38:31 pm »
So how about some pictures?  Without the Photobucket spam!

Here's the Eyes monitor, a W-G 4675.  Took these before pulling the monitor for initial repairs, because one should ALWAYS take pictures before removing anything you plan to put back:




Here's the underside of the Eyes control panel.  In surprisingly good shape.  I was prepared to replace everything, but all it really needed was some contact cleaner on the leaf switches.  I probably will replace the Fire buttons due to being discolored on the top side, but other than that I may not do anything else here.



Both monitors (plus a Sanyo 14" from my Missile Command that was getting long in the tooth) went out to David Countryman for repairs.  Dave fixed all three, I loaded them back up in my car... and then an idiot in front of me slammed on his brakes as I was on my way home.  The G07 slid forward and the yoke hit a solid object, bending the yoke pins and breaking the yoke board.  Fortunately the picture tube itself wasn't cracked, and Dave had a new yoke board he's installing today.  Still,  :hissy:



The W-G went in without a hitch, and Eyes was fired up for the first time since at least 1995:



This one also went back to day for some more work.  Based on the "hourglass" distortion (this picture doesn't do it justice, it's worse than what you see here) it looks like the infamous C614 cap still needs to be replaced, so it also went back to the shop.  (I should note that Dave gave me the option to either do or not do a full recap the first time and I opted to cheap out; this was the result, so no shade on him that this one needed more work.)



Besides stripping and re-covering the two metal pieces above and below the control panel (see below) I don't think I'll be doing much more to Eyes other than replacing the t-molding and maybe putting some gliders on the bottom to preserve the particle board, which has gotten beaten up on the bottom corners just from contact with the ground and being moved around over 40 years.  The CP does have a few cigarette burns, but I think it's more likely than not that I'll just leave it be, other than replacing the rusted up joystick plate with a repro.

The Kickman control panel is very worn and has a lot of rust spots, so I'm going to go full out and restore it.  First up, stripping the old covering (the two small pieces here are the aforementioned Eyes control panel bars):



Citristrip is doing its thing at the moment.  I'll also have to scrape/sand/do something about the rust after the coatings are off:




Unfortunately This Old Game no longer offers a re-screening of Kickman CPs, but they were nice enough to sell me a copy of their stencil, and I've located a local shop that can do the recovering when the parts are ready.  So more to follow.

Some nimrod gouged out a hole around the Kickman back panel lock at some point in the past, so I repaired that with good old fashioned wood putty over the weekend.  Turned out pretty well.




alfonzotan

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (5-11-2020 update)
« Reply #25 on: May 12, 2020, 05:14:31 pm »
Another day of renovations, and there's good news and bad news.

The good news: Dave fixed both monitors and they're ready to be installed.  Also, Citristrip cleared all the old coating off the Kickman control panel.

The bad news (part 1):  holy crap that's a lot of rust:



More work to do there before it's ready to be re-coated.

Bad news part 2, I was innocently trying to clean off the sides of the Eyes cab with a Simple Green knock off, and yikes, look what happened.  The cleaner went right through the paint and leached into the particle board, which promptly broke out like it caught some awful and dreaded pox:



That surface was nice and flat before.   :banghead:

So I guess I'm doing some more sanding and refinishing than I'd planned on...

UPDATE:  First Rustoleum treatment, not half bad:

« Last Edit: May 12, 2020, 07:30:01 pm by alfonzotan »

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (5-15-2020 update)
« Reply #26 on: May 15, 2020, 06:22:52 pm »
Lot of scut work this week.  Other than getting the monitors re-fixed, I went to work on the Eyes cabinet and the Kickman control panel.

The Rockola cabinets are infamous for their crappy particle board sides.  This one was, as is usual, shredding at the lower corners. I did some damage control with Gorilla Glue, paint stirrers and clamps.  The result is not a factory-perfect restoration, but it's a big improvement on the prior state.




After:





I was about this || close to ordering Wilsonart laminate to cover the sides, but at the last minute I decided to give paint a try.  First step was to sand down the rough spots that sprouted up when I tried to clean on side.  After going over it with the pad sander, painting with Kilz and then sanding again (not shown), the result was better than I'd first thought.  Still on the rough side, but I'm going to sand again and go after it with some grain filler to close the gaps, and then we'll see.





Still needs a lot of work.

The Kickman panel (and Eyes control panel hold-downs) are about ready for powder coating.  I'll take them in as soon as the CP stencil from This Old Game arrives.


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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (5-24-2020 update)
« Reply #27 on: May 24, 2020, 10:41:10 am »
Phew, that was a PITA.  Note to self (and anybody with an early 80's Rockola cab):  be very very cautious about spraying cleaner on the sides.

Took quite a while to sand down all the puckered spots, followed by priming, sanding down the stubble, filling with wood glue, sanding again, priming again, sanding again... (ugh).  A very small in-work sample:





I elected to try and preserve the original decals on the side I refinished.  I did... okay.





Here's the un-refinished other side.  I haven't made up my mind yet whether or not to paint it to match (but I have made up my mind that I'm tired of painting this cab for a while).



That's an Okaloosa County (FL) tax sticker.  The other side had a "US Government approved" sticker, indicating this guy probably lived in an Eglin Air Force Base bowling alley, rec center or enlisted club back in the 80's.

I also replaced the t-molding on both Eyes and Kickman.  Eyes needed the "hot glue treatment" in the seam, that crappy particle board strikes again.  Came out well though.

I'm just about done with these two.  Eyes needed a new starter and bulb for the marquee light, and that was last repair job, I think.  All that's left is to get the Kickman CP and Eyes angle iron pieces re-coated, and I'm still waiting for the Kickman stencil from TOG to arrive for that.
« Last Edit: May 24, 2020, 10:42:56 am by alfonzotan »

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-1-2020 update)
« Reply #28 on: June 01, 2020, 05:25:26 pm »
Getting close to completion on these guys.  Still waiting to take the steel parts over for powder coating (TOG promises the stencil for Kickman ships tomorrow), but I went ahead and put Eyes back together except for the CP hold-downs and bezel.  Here's last look at the interior and original board before the monitor went back in. After this I swapped out the original main board for a spare I picked up several years back that I outfitted with a Mike Doyel 96-in-1 daughtercard.



Speaking of that daughtercard, if you ever wondered what it would look like if you installed it but neglected to pull the original game ROMs first, wonder no more!



(Oops.  Fixed now, works fine.)

I also replaced the old buttons with new ones.  Gave cleaning the originals a try, but was never happy with the results.  Original leaf switches are still in place and the joystick is 100% original.



Rather than leave the coin door hanging open or set it to free play (Eyes has a nasty free-play screen that's apparently designed to cause burn-in), I added a magnetic coin-drop button that I picked up from a seller at KLOV.  Had a hard time getting it to work properly until I decided to just tap the big red credit button on the coin door board.  These are probably the best solder joints I've ever done in my life (I'm really bad at it):







I also hooked one of these switches up to Kickman, which doesn't have a free play mode:




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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-1-2020 update)
« Reply #29 on: June 01, 2020, 05:55:19 pm »
Bro, I say this as a friend - clean up that coin door.


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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-1-2020 update)
« Reply #30 on: June 01, 2020, 06:16:09 pm »
Bro, I say this as a friend - clean up that coin door.

Hahah... That's on the list.  You should have seen it before I got the rust off the coin insert slots.

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-1-2020 update)
« Reply #31 on: June 02, 2020, 04:38:27 pm »
Bro, I say this as a friend - clean up that coin door.

Better?




(That fossilized tape adhesive around the locks was at least 25 years old.)

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-1-2020 update)
« Reply #32 on: June 02, 2020, 10:35:41 pm »
I love those coin reject buttons. Reminds me of old EM pinball machines.

Nice work on those machines.

J_K_M_A_N

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-1-2020 update)
« Reply #33 on: June 04, 2020, 10:06:44 am »
I love those coin reject buttons. Reminds me of old EM pinball machines.

Nice work on those machines.

J_K_M_A_N

Thanks.  I'm glad the Midway coin door badge survived intact, too. "Video Is Our Game."

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-4-2020 update)
« Reply #34 on: June 04, 2020, 10:53:24 am »
With the exceptions of the bezel and control panel angle irons (should go out for powder coating on Monday), Eyes is done.  Only things I might do in the future would be to replace the CPO and/or refinish the other side panel, but I'm in no hurry for either.  I left the Mike Doyel multigame kit in and packed up the original board for now.



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EYES WIDE OPEN... (6-29-2020 update)
« Reply #35 on: June 29, 2020, 02:32:52 pm »
Took a long time for the powder coating to be completed, but EYES is finally finished.









Summary of work:

- Monitor recapped
- Right side panel sanded and repainted (original decal still in place)
- Marquee light starter replaced
- Joystick plate replaced with replica
- Joystick and CP carriage bolts cleaned of rust. joystick rebuilt (still all original)
- Pushbuttons replaced (switches are still original)
- Control panel holddown angle irons stripped and powder coated
- Spare main board Z-80 pulled and socketed, 96-in-1 multigame board installed
- Rusted screws replaced
- General cleanup, including removing adhesive gunk from coin door
- Installed magnetic coin insert button
- T-molding replaced
- Lower cabinet particle board corners reinforced with Gorilla glue
- Replaced locks

The discoloration on games in the 96-in-1 set still bugs me, not sure what the deal is there.  Colors are perfect on the original main board.  Other than that I'm quite happy with these final results.  I think I'll leave the cigarette burns on the CP, and the left side panel is still original, including the tax sticker from Okaloosa County (FL). 

I left the Kickman control panel to have the graphics sprayed on, should have it back next week or so.  Once it's reinstalled that should be it for the restorations of these two cabs.

My best guess is that these two machines lived on Eglin Air Force Base during the early 80's, probably in the bowling alley or an enlisted club.  They were most likely surplused out by DRMO (Eglin has a very active office, I used to buy old Macs at their auctions) and moved to somebody's basement or rec room until they stopped working.  After that they were dumped at a thrift shop, where I found them in 1996 or so. Going to be fun to finally have both of them back to working order.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2020, 02:53:34 pm by alfonzotan »

Mike A

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-20-2020 update)
« Reply #36 on: June 29, 2020, 02:43:26 pm »
Thank you for leaving the tax stamp and the cigarette burns. They belong there.

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-20-2020 update)
« Reply #37 on: June 29, 2020, 02:56:58 pm »
Some day I want to smoke a cigarette and burn up a control panel.  Just to have done it once.  The last time I tried it, the guy kicked me out of his house and called me a “bad trader” on RGVAC.  It’s just a little patina, bro.




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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-20-2020 update)
« Reply #38 on: June 29, 2020, 03:10:43 pm »
Come on out pbj.

You can leave a burn and then autograph it.

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-20-2020 update)
« Reply #39 on: June 29, 2020, 04:34:02 pm »
Thank you for leaving the tax stamp and the cigarette burns. They belong there.
I'm not sure if I can take credit for intentional accuracy in not doing work when laziness has just as much of a claim, but you're welcome!

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-20-2020 update)
« Reply #40 on: June 29, 2020, 05:44:31 pm »
Come on out pbj.

You can leave a burn and then autograph it.
So . . . "Inspected by PBJ" evolves to "Burned by PBJ"?  jk   :lol


Scott

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-20-2020 update)
« Reply #41 on: June 29, 2020, 06:20:31 pm »
Gotta say, I am VERY happy with the before and after here.




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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-20-2020 update)
« Reply #42 on: June 29, 2020, 06:25:37 pm »
Paint those carriage bolts on your coin door tho...


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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (6-20-2020 update)
« Reply #43 on: June 30, 2020, 07:52:27 pm »
Paint those carriage bolts on your coin door tho...

Because... rust? Accuracy? Aesthetics?

(Not arguing, curious.)

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THE DEED IS DONE (Kickman complete, 7-25-2020)
« Reply #44 on: July 25, 2020, 11:47:27 am »
Well, it took forever, but the Kickman control panel finally finished coating and painting yesterday. Turned out okay; the painter left off the copyright indica in the template, which sucked, but I was ready to be done with this project.



Here's the populated panel before reinstallation:



New start buttons and carriage bolts from Arcadeshop. Everything else is original.  Underside:



And....









Today was the first time Eyes and Kickman have both been operational at the same time since I spent that first $5 on them in 1996:



Taking their place in my upright collection:



Thanks to everybody who kept up with this ridiculously-delayed project, and for all the suggestions and encouragement along the way.  Here's a rundown of the work on Kickman (at least as far as I can recall it):

- Game boards repaired (2012)
- Power supply replaced with switcher and Arcadeshop adapter (2012)
- Lights replaced (2012)
- Fuse block replaced (2012)
- Monitor repaired (new caps and flyback, yoke board repaired after transport damage) (2020)
- Control panel stripped, powder-coated and repainted from TOG stencil (2020)
- Start buttons replaced with Arcadeshop replicas (2020)
- General clean-up of art and interior (2020)
- Marquee light fixture repaired (new ballast and starter) (2020)
- T-molding replaced (2020)
- Magnetic coin insert button added (2020)
- Marquee hold-down rust removal and repainted (2020)
- Coin door clean up and rust removal (2020)
- New locks (2020)
« Last Edit: August 26, 2020, 02:13:31 pm by alfonzotan »

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (COMPLETE 7-25-2020)
« Reply #45 on: July 25, 2020, 12:25:12 pm »
Looks great, man, nice work.

 :cheers:

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (COMPLETE 7-25-2020)
« Reply #46 on: July 26, 2020, 11:42:59 pm »
Quality work, nice to see you didn’t go with the cheap, quick solution.  Makes such a difference.  Well done.

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (COMPLETE 7-25-2020)
« Reply #47 on: July 27, 2020, 05:14:49 am »
That Kickman is beautiful. One of my favorites. I'm drooling.  :cheers:

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (COMPLETE 7-25-2020)
« Reply #48 on: July 27, 2020, 05:39:30 am »
Very nice. :cheers:

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (COMPLETE 7-25-2020)
« Reply #49 on: July 27, 2020, 07:17:04 am »
That Kickman is beautiful. One of my favorites. I'm drooling.  :cheers:

Thanks (to everybody). I had planned to show the Kickman at the Southern Fried show this year, but of course, Covid.  Next year, hopefully.

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (COMPLETE 7-25-2020)
« Reply #50 on: July 28, 2020, 04:46:34 pm »
Awsome! Looks fantastic!   :applaud:
"I know what a HAL 9000 is... I was wondering if HAL 7600 was his retarded cousin or something..."
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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (COMPLETE 7-25-2020)
« Reply #51 on: March 25, 2021, 06:22:40 pm »
Minor update:  I never got the Doyel 96-in-1 card to work properly (Doyle responded to one email and then went radio silent), so I yanked it, sold it, and replaced it with a BitKit and Eyes harness adapter.  Better in every way, highly recommended.

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Re: I only have EYES for KICKMAN... (COMPLETE 7-25-2020)
« Reply #52 on: August 13, 2021, 01:41:42 pm »
For those who are in (or going to be in) the Atlanta area, I'll be showing the Kickman from this thread at Southern Fried next weekend.

https://gameatl.com/

Unfortunately I was not able to get my transportation logistics together, and did not get the Kickman to SFGE. Maybe next year...
« Last Edit: August 22, 2021, 03:59:52 pm by alfonzotan »