Galaga Restore (kinda?) (completed 3/14/14 with new pix up)

[Malenko]

Its "kinda" a restore because its powered by a 60 in 1 board, its a restore to me because its all Galaga art and what not. First , the ugly. I overpaid for this cab because it was "working" and its my grail, my own fault. Gist is, the wiring inside was super ---fouled up beyond all recognition--- up. I couldnt get the Galaga to work and rather than destroy the board and everything else, I gutted it, wired it for Jamma and put in a switching power supply. The ENTIRE outside was covered in some kind of varnish or shellack, like a 1/4" thick coat , everything except the marquee and bezel plastic had a coat. The sides, the top, the back, the coin door.....EVERYTHING.

Here are the before pix.

This is the way I pretty much got it:


Even in this shape, I love the kickplate art:


It was a pic like this that sold me on the cab, its deceptive, because the cab is way more busted up than it appears:


This is a better indicator of what I was working with:


Born on date of 1-9-1982, I was trying to get this done by 1-9-2012 aka this machines 30th birthday. I took this pic to show how messed up the inside area near the CP was:


Heres the bottom, it looks like it was dropped onto the casters which broke through the bottom. Also, you can see the shellack on the sides from this angle:


And here it is before I really got to work:


A better angle of the shellack:

[Malenko]

And here is the control panel. The reason why the CP doesnt looks "OMG WOW NEW!" is because I found a NOS CPO that showed its age. I got it cheap, so if I dont like it I can pull it back off, but I kinda like it.

Here is the CP as I got it. Shredded Galaga CPO under an all black overlay:


The backside, leafs and all:


Yes, dust washer ON TOP. The Galaga at the corner store near where I grew up had it on top. In this pic the stick is just sitting there, nothing is screwed in, not even the buttons:

[Malenko]

Here is side one. This is the side I tried to sand, but forgot to take an overall "before" shot.

Here is the side half sanded:


and totally sanded. I also didnt take pix of fixing the corner near the CP that I repaired:


One of the 3 coats of primer:


First of 5 coats of black paint:


I think this was the 4th coat:


the sides are not perfect but that are damn close. I didnt want to spend 10 years getting it perfect, I wanted to spend a few months getting it great so I can enjoy it.

[Malenko]

Here is the other side, its a pretty good before shot:


Oh and I tried stripper on this side, mostly because it took like 3 weeks to clean out the dust:


But I did need to sand the last bit off:


Patched up:


Sanded down the bondo:


First primer coat:


Third primer coat:


5th coat of paint:

[Malenko]

I'm terrible at before pix, but this is after I removed the power supply isolation transformer and installed the switching power supply:


Prepped for stickers 1:


Prepped for stickers 2:

[Malenko]

And here the first piece of art is applied. The white area below the sticker is primer and it will be covered by the rubber kick plate piece......if I can find a place that sells it.


I made my fiancee` do the side art. Measured up the side, then frog taped a square to the side of the cab. 27" from the bottom, 4" from the back:


My basement is mega dirty.


So under the computer and the stool is the replacement back door. There is a *slight* warp, so Im flattening it out, lol:


TADAH!


I still need to oder T-Molding too, Tornado Terry was fresh out:

[NIVO]

looks pretty darned good due. Heck, I didnt even know you were working on one.

[HaRuMaN]

I can has?

[HoBoJoe]

How about you tell these fine folks how many hours you have into this.... Or is it painful to think about?

Did you get your t-molding ordered yet? Did you decide to repaint the coin door?

[opt2not]

Phenomenal work Mal! 

[Spyridon]

Looks really nice, especially considering what you started with.  The only thing I would have done different is pay the extra money and get the side art with the Midway name on it.  It just looks like it's missing something without it.

[Malenko]

Looks really nice, especially considering what you started with.  The only thing I would have done different is pay the extra money and get the side art with the Midway name on it.  It just looks like it's missing something without it.

I think it looks better without the midway logo, especially considering since it's a Namco game. Also, the price was right:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,123224.msg

Original marquee still says Midway if that makes you feel any better.

[yotsuya]

Looks great! Gonna set it for regular or fast speed? Or both?

[TopJimmyCooks]

I'm imagining it with the upcoming shipping damage- still looks ok!

[emphatic]

Great work!

[Malenko]

ok, so yeah I never updated the thread, sorry. Still no kick plate.

Here's the new door next to the old door. If you look at the old door, that's what the entire cab was like prior to me stripping it. Gross.


just a funny pic of the hallmark ornament and the real deal cab:


As she sits now, in the living room WITH T-modling. I didnt put leather texture on there because....well, I already had a roll of regular and I'm broke:


CoryDee's name plate reproduction. *REALLY* close to stock:

[Jumpman64]

 

Great job, man.  Well done.  I also have a Galaga in need of restoration.  I've got a couple other projects in front of it but hopefully will be able to tackle it soonish.  Fortunately I think mine is in a little better shape than yours was.  Good to see a machine like that come back to life.   

[spystyle]

Awesome

Greets from Maine

[Malenko]

a year since I updated? oh wells.

Heres whats different:
Cleaned up the coin door as best I could.
Rewired the JAMMA loom with a higher quality harness
wired the coin door for LED lights behind the 25 cent signs.
added coin up microswitch into the coin return
changed the flat black tmolding to green.

and the pix below:


cleaned up coin door (ignore the flash!)


somehow this looks upside down, but its the LEDs lit up:


dat green tmolding:

[AlienInferno]

This is one of the machines I want in my collection.  You've done a good job on the restore.   

[DarakuTenshi]

ok, so yeah I never updated the thread, sorry. Still no kick plate.

Here's the new door next to the old door. If you look at the old door, that's what the entire cab was like prior to me stripping it. Gross.
[img]http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=103207.0;attach=281953;

That's the way my Ms Pac door looks. I'm planning on keeping the door but completely making a new door for it.