Dig Dug Cabaret [aka good old #325] Restoration

[8BitMonk]

Dig Dug Cabaret Restoration



I managed to get my hands on a Dig Dug Cabaret and am doing a full restore. There were only 500 made and this is good old number 00325.



Cabs in decent shape, some dings here and there.



CP is pretty beat up. What're these stupid rivets poking through!?



Unfortunately there's a 60-1 in it, no boards just psu. 



The previous owners go-to marquee lighting solution, a dangling red tail trailer light, genius.

[vwalbridge]

Only 500? Wow, I didn't know that. You are lucky to have one!

Looks like this could be fun restore. I'll be watching.

Also, nice to see original restores on BYOAC. 

[Slippyblade]

A tail light?  I bet that red light gave the marquee a wonderful glow!

Are you gonna source a PCB for it, leave the 60in1, or MAME it?

[vwalbridge]

Are you gonna source a PCB for it, leave the 60in1, or MAME it?

If you have 1 of only 500 Dig Dig Cabarets...I think there is only one option, right? 

[harveybirdman]

Can't see the pictures at work.... 

I'm guessing it's cool though!

[Slippyblade]

Are you gonna source a PCB for it, leave the 60in1, or MAME it?

If you have 1 of only 500 Dig Dig Cabarets...I think there is only one option, right? 

I would hope that's the answer, but ya never know without asking.

[8BitMonk]

Are you gonna source a PCB for it, leave the 60in1, or MAME it?

I'm sourcing the parts just to restore to as original as possible, as far as day-to-day use I'll keep it a multi of some kind.

I thought I found the parts but the guy on ebay blew up because I offered him $150 instead of $200 for the PCB and AR. Don't patronize part_gallery if you can help it, guys an ---uvula---.

Here's a snippet from that convo...

Your previous message
I'll buy the wiring harnesses and test panel for $50 if you're still interested in selling them.

Going to hold off on the PCB and AR as they seem a bit overpriced to me, sounds like you'd like to get $200 for them and I'm at $150. I've seen the PCB's come up on klov for $50-100 so I think I'll lurk there for awhile and see if I can find one a little cheaper and if not I'll check back and see if you still have it.

part_gallery:
I have no interest in dealing with you.... I already sold the AR-II and don;t care to play the sport of jewbag with you.

Your previous message
That's fine, by the tone of your response and the 'jewbag' slur you're not the kind of person I'd like to deal with either.

[mkarabinus]

I've got an ar ii if you are interested.  I will be home shortly, I'll send pics then.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[mkarabinus]

Here is the AR II, and I have a spare power brick too, if you need any parts. 


Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[mkarabinus]

Dang...I also put the workings of an Atari test panel on ebay earlier today, no bids yet.  They came from a Millipede.  Same year manufactured, same parts. I can take it down if you want to bundle price.  Happy to help if I can. Let me know interested at all.  If not, I'll at least enjoy watching your restore!!!

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[Slippyblade]

"...play the sport of jewbag..."?  Wow.  That right there would make me blacklist the guy.

[8BitMonk]

Here is the AR II, and I have a spare power brick too, if you need any parts.

Thanks PM'd.

"...play the sport of jewbag..."?  Wow.  That right there would make me blacklist the guy.

Yep, blacklisted, his further responses got worse.

[8BitMonk]

Cleaning the control panel.

Time to dig into the control panel, I removed parts and started with a heat gun and blade to get the basic overlay off.



Getting the adhesive off is alway a pain in the ass. Haven't found a silver bullet, still trying different techniques. I always start with GooGone and let it sit for 10 minutes or so and then scrape with a flat razor. This time after getting the majority of adhesive off with GooGone/scraper I used hot water, Scotch pads and a degreasing pumice hand cleaner called Gojo and it worked pretty well.





I hit the rusty spots with some Loctite to break it up, wipe it clean and then use some steel wool and/or a wire wheel to get rid of most of it.





The rivets holding the CP latch come through the top of the CP and had worn through the old overlay which bugged me so I decided to grind them off. With them ground flush the latches on the underside were still pretty solid but I hit them with some JBWeld just to be sure.

Top/Bottom


Ground flush and JBWeld around latch

[8BitMonk]

Painting the control panel.

Rustoleum Satin Black spray job.

[8BitMonk]

Applying the control panel overlay.

Overlay time. The 3M material can be fairly rigid making it tough to bend and it's also easy to get air bubbles around bends so I use a hair dryer to apply heat on the parts that bend to relax the material a bit and also poke small air holes with an xacto. I use a mini roller (burnisher) or a credit card to press it down.

New overlay.



Control holes cut and added back.





Debating between an 8 way WICO or a Dominux8 with a 38mm red ball top.



Painted carriage bolts and new nuts & washers.

[opt2not]

Most excellent stuff going on in here. 

[mkarabinus]

Just curious...why an 8 way?

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[05SRT4]

That CP was very well done good job OP.

[8BitMonk]

Most excellent stuff going on in here. 

That CP was very well done good job OP.

Thanks! 

Just curious...why an 8 way?

Using the 60-1 it had in it and then possibly down the road a Phoenix Arcade SD or Mame.

[8BitMonk]

A_couple arrivals...

New cabaret sideart from This Old Game



Vinyl I'll be using for the sides.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/161261909435?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[8BitMonk]

Stripping the sides.

I had no experience taking off the 80's woodgrain material before. I decide to start with Citristrip which didn't work so great.



Decided to try a wallpaper removal kit. The scoring roller worked good to break up the finish but the spray was worthless for removing it, it didn't even get through the top plastic layer.



Decided to get more aggressive in the stripper. This Jasco stuff is the real deal, ie. if it touches your skin it actually burns. Wear glasses, gloves and clothes you don't care about. Combined with the scoring tool it worked well though I still did further passes of Citrustrip to fully clean.



Making progress, a good scraping tool with a sharp razor helps.



Mostly cleaned, a little more sanding required.

[vwalbridge]

Nice. I'm very curious how you will manage to get that vinyl to adhere.

[8BitMonk]

Nice. I'm very curious how you will manage to get that vinyl to adhere.

Hadn't really thought about that, assuming it will stick since it's meant to go over all kinds of surfaces. I did get some Rapid Tac to help in the application, think it should be fine. Now you've got me nervous. 

[Slippyblade]

Worse case, you sand the sides down good and put down a coat of gloss black.  Vinyl will stick to that.

[8BitMonk]

Okay after doing a little research I think I'll put down a layer of polycrylic to give the vinyl something better to stick to than just wood. Thanks for bringing it up, hadn't really thought about it. 

[8BitMonk]

Picked up original manuals in good shape. 

[8BitMonk]

Cabinet repair and new casters.

Some edge repair and final sanding. I used Bondo and/or Minwax Wood Filler on the flat areas and I like using Milliput for corner and edge repair after applying some wood hardener to the area. Milliput takes longer to dry but is more mouldable and can be smoothed and shaped further using your hands and some water.



The cab had casters on it, which I do actually like for a cabaret, but they didn't use the old t-nut holes or use locking wheels.



I removed the old casters, cleaned up the t-nuts and installed new locking casters in them.

[vwalbridge]

I really like following your threads. 






P.S. I wish we were neighbors.

[8BitMonk]

I really like following your threads. 

P.S. I wish we were neighbors.

Thanks man, if we were neighbors I'd be hittin you up for some Qbert templates and building advice. 

[8BitMonk]

Prime and paint.

Time for adventures in HVLP spraying. I was a little nervous having little experience with it but it was smooth sailing, don't think I'm ever rolling a cab again.

So I had seen this gun from Harbor Freight mentioned in threads on klov etc. so I decided to give it a try. I went a little better than the $16 gun and got the $30 one that came with a regulator. This turned out to be a mistake since with that gun (for some odd reason) you can't remove the nozzle! I went back to the store and pull 5 off the shelf and tried to remove the nozzle in front of the clerk and none would come off. 

So long story short go with the $16 version and buy a separate regulator or test removing the nozzle on the shelf. Oddly the $16 version doesn't come with the wrench tool to get the nozzle off so you'll need one of those too. I also picked up a moisture trap.

Gun I bought: http://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-high-volume-low-pressure-gravity-feed-spray-gun-47016.html
Good tutorial on setup/cleaning this gun:



I used about 24oz of primer and mixed it with a couple ounces of extender (similar to Flotrol) from Sherwin Williams in a small Home Depot plastic mixing bucket. I didn't strain the paint which some say to do. I used a 135hp 6 gallon air compressor. Hooked up the gun and was off to the races.



Couple coats of primer went on great, moved on to the black satin next day. No problems with the thickness clogging the gun at all, super smooth without adding anything but a little extender. Since my air compressor is small I had to wait for pressure to build a couple time, a bigger tank would be good for larger jobs. I was worried about overspray based on the rattle can spraying I had done, the HLVP is way less and easier to control.



Cross fingers while peeling back marquee mask.



In the light of day.



Polycrylic sides to help vinyl stick, 2 coats. Shiny!

[vwalbridge]

Looks pro.

I keep hearing good things about that HF sprayer. I'm gonna have to try it one of these days. Thanks for sharing your process.

[Slippyblade]

I picked one of those guns up a couple months ago and have yet to try it out.  You have pretty much the same compressor as me as well, so I have hope!

[8BitMonk]

I picked one of those guns up a couple months ago and have yet to try it out.  You have pretty much the same compressor as me as well, so I have hope!

Definitely! Just dive in and give it a go, way better than rolling on paint.

[8BitMonk]

Vinyl and sideart application.

This stuff was trickier to work with and tore easier than I thought it would. It actually rolled over and stuck to itself at one point and then tore while I tried to unstick it. Luckily if you apply some heat with a heat gun it's forgiving and you can smooth it out fairly well as you can see in from the manufacturer.

Laid it down, did a rough cut to get the edges close.



Trimmed edges, smoothed with application tool and roller. Used heat gun to relax and expand certain spots, especially near edges by t-mold.



In the right light you can see some of the bumps and bubbles. Some of it I smoothed out, some remains, but it's really not noticeable under normal lighting.



Applied sideart.





Side by side comparison with original. Overall I'm very pleased with the result.

[vwalbridge]

Great stuff man. Good to see that you fought your way though that vinyl install. It can be a real bear.

Starting to look minty again!

[harveybirdman]

You churn em out don't ya? Making me feel guilty for not working on any of my projects for months.

[vwalbridge]

You churn em out don't ya? Making me feel guilty for not working on any of my projects for months.

I heard that.

[markc74]

That vinyl looks awesome mate - as does the rest of the cabinet.

I just put vinyl on mine and just got stuck straight in - figured the more I dithered the worse it would be and the stuff is cheap as chips anyway. Was way easier than laminate but you do have to take your time with it. End result is way worth it though. Your cab looks stunning.

I think wood vinyl is a lot more forgiving than the flat colours. Like you said you can see the bumps against a harsh light (mine do too) but they totally fade away at any other angle.

When I think of what SpaceHedgehog had to do to get his cabs looking so nice... 

Lazylink: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,138146.msg1426735.html#msg1426735

[8BitMonk]

You churn em out don't ya? Making me feel guilty for not working on any of my projects for months.

Don't feel too bad, this isn't my normal pace. I'm just pressing hard to get projects done and into the basement before the snow flies. After this it's a PacMan, a Robotron and then I'll hibernate for the winter.

That vinyl looks awesome mate - as does the rest of the cabinet.

I just put vinyl on mine and just got stuck straight in - figured the more I dithered the worse it would be and the stuff is cheap as chips anyway. Was way easier than laminate but you do have to take your time with it. End result is way worth it though. Cab looks stunning.

Thanks! This was my first time with the vinyl and it's a trick. I'll say one thing about the Vivid brand I used, at least you can repair it with heat which was really helpful. Check out their vid I linked to if you haven't already, they show it's response to a heat gun.

[8BitMonk]

Slapped on the cp, coin door and bezel last night before I did the vinyl just to get a preview. Lookin sharp.

[yotsuya]

You churn em out don't ya? Making me feel guilty for not working on any of my projects for months.

Don't feel too bad, this isn't my normal pace. I'm just pressing hard to get projects done and into the basement before the snow flies. After this it's a PacMan, a Robotron and then I'll hibernate for the winter.

That vinyl looks awesome mate - as does the rest of the cabinet.

I just put vinyl on mine and just got stuck straight in - figured the more I dithered the worse it would be and the stuff is cheap as chips anyway. Was way easier than laminate but you do have to take your time with it. End result is way worth it though. Cab looks stunning.

Thanks! This was my first time with the vinyl and it's a trick. I'll say one thing about the Vivid brand I used, at least you can repair it with heat which was really helpful. Check out their vid I linked to if you haven't already, they show it's response to a heat gun.

Looks good, I'm wondering if I should try that stuff on my Astro Blaster Woody.

[harveybirdman]

I think the stuff Mark used on Cube would look better

[opt2not]

Looks good, I'm wondering if I should try that stuff on my Astro Blaster Woody.

8BitMonk's work turned out pretty great, but I'm sure he had several moments of cursing it out.  I've worked with vinyl before as well and I can tell you it's not as easy as laminate. Cheaper in cost, yes, but laminate is incredibly easy to install and more durable to scratching unless you get a polylaminate coated vinyl.
Last time I did it I prepped the wood by rough sanding it, cleaning the sawdust as much as possible, apply contact cement to the wood and the inside of the laminate (brushed on) then letting it sit for 15 mins to get "tacky".  Then you paste the laminate on it, apply pressure and let it cure overnight. By letting the contact cement get tacky, it fuses really well together when you paste the pieces together.
After that you just trim the laminate with a router, and bob's your uncle.

But with that being said, what 8BM has here is looking really great and putting in the effort of rolling and heating can definitely turn out well as shown here.
Nice job dude, this is looking so fresh.

[8BitMonk]

I did the other side tonight and it was a lot quicker and easier having done it once. I skipped the Rapid Tac spray this time. I just peeled off about 6-8" of the backing off at a time and held the roll up with my right hand and smoothed with my left as I went. This brand vinyl is pretty forgiving with air pockets, even if you get a bubble or two you can smooth it out, none ever got trapped.



I considered Wilsonart laminate but then thought... it's expensive, the original didn't use laminate, it could add width the t-mold might not cover, harder to install. The durability wasn't really an issue for me since it'll be in my home and not get any abuse. That's the great thing about forums like this, you can see the finished product, work involved etc. and gauge what's best for you. 

[8BitMonk]

Light Fixture

This cab was missing it's light fixture when I got it. I had planned on scratch building a new one when I happened upon a Craigslist posting for the parts below for $20.



The light fixture looked like a good base to work from and since it had the starter, ballast and bulb holders was cheaper than buying the parts separately. The fixture was 18" with a thin bulb in it so I cut the board and moved one of the bulb holders over to accommodate a 15" bulb instead. Then I put little 1x1's on either side for mounting.



We have light. I plan to put a switch on the test panel in the coin door to turn it on and off, something the original didn't have but I think would be nice.

[8BitMonk]

Power Supply

I wanted to spruce up the power supply, I've seen others paint them and wanted to give it a try. You have to tape off a lot of the parts since you can't fully remove them all.





Also bought a new power cord and added a new molex connector to the end.

[8BitMonk]

Sound

Replaced the speaker.

[yotsuya]

Looking good,  my friend!

[vwalbridge]

The 'before' and 'after' on that power supply is incredible. 

[8BitMonk]

Looking good,  my friend!

The 'before' and 'after' on that power supply is incredible. 

Thanks, it's quite a bit of work but I think it's worth it. Here's a better side-by-side.

[8BitMonk]

Coin Box/Bucket

Managed to find an Atari coin box/bucket along with test panel. Waiting for them to be sandblasted, here are some before pics.



Decided to paint the test panel yellow, saw this on a restore on klov and thought it was cool.

[8BitMonk]

Ran into a delay at the sandblasters, they had the pieces for over a week and hadn't touched it yet so I decided to just strip and paint myself. Not as perfectly smooth but it still looks decent, cheaper too.



I managed to aquire a full set of controls and wiring harness for the test panel, I also added an on/off switch for the marquee. Just noticed in the photo I put that metal bracket on backwards, not even sure what it's for.

[opt2not]

Good call on painting the test panel.  More sealed metal parts, the better IMO. Plus it looks super slick! 
Keep up the good work.

[8BitMonk]

Good call on painting the test panel.  More sealed metal parts, the better IMO. Plus it looks super slick! 
Keep up the good work.

Thanks, yeah I like the way the gold control panel looks, stole the idea from Phetishboy on klov's Dig Dug cabaret restore.

[8BitMonk]

Coin Door

New rejects from Twisted Quarter and I created some Atari inserts.



New door screws.



The old coin door didn't have mech's or bezels, was just covered by a metal plate, so i had to steal some up from another door I had. They look decent but are plastic rather than metal, I'm going to try to scrounge up metal ones that are more original.

[vwalbridge]

Looking good. I get just as excited about the small details like coin inserts as I do anything else.

Did you print those coin inserts on just plain 'ol white paper?

[8BitMonk]

Looking good. I get just as excited about the small details like coin inserts as I do anything else.

Did you print those coin inserts on just plain 'ol white paper?

*Jeff Foxworthy voice* If you get excited about coin inserts... you may be an arcade geek. I'm the same way. I printed them on a laser printer with transparency film and then spray mounted that to sheet of inkjet paper.

[yotsuya]

I do love the test panel. 

[Malenko]

Im digging the yellow, it really pops. Great work so far.

[8BitMonk]

Some progress and a minor setback.

The good news... I was able to score a Dig Dug board and ARII. This is mainly just to have the restore as complete as possible, I'll be running some sort of jamma multi-board most of the time. I picked up a Dig Dug to Jamma converter from MikesArcade.com to be able to swap the Dig Dug pcb and a jamma multi-board.





The bad news... I managed to accidentally splash a little black paint on my side art. Then, like an idiot, I used some solvent to try to wipe it off and it made a huge blemish.  



I contacted This Old Game to see if they can help me out and re-print just one side.

Other than that I'm in the home stretch on this one, just need to wire it up and create a new cardboard bezel.

[n3wt0n]

This is a really nice restore. A good thread too. Thanks for taking the time to document your progress. The end result is going to be fantastic!

[8BitMonk]

This is a really nice restore. A good thread too. Thanks for taking the time to document your progress. The end result is going to be fantastic!

Thanks for the props! Knowing it's appreciated and how much I've learned from other restoration threads keeps me motivated to document it.

[8BitMonk]

Cardboard Monitor Bezel

The original cardboard monitor bezel was fairly thrashed, it was ripped in spots and had been re-stapled many times.



Joeycuda over on klov makes and sells cardboard bezels like these and does a good job but I decided to make this one myself.

Start with the right board

You don't want to use regular matt board with a white core, it doesn't hold up well to bending/scoring and will crack. below is a trial I did on normal matt board.



The original were black printing on a stiff cardboard, the closest I could find is a cold press board they sell at Michaels. It's a little bit thicker than the original cardboard. The two sides have a slightly different finish as you can see below.

 

Tools and materials

Large cutting board, Xacto with extra blades, metal rulers, packing tape, double sided tape, painters or white artists tape.



Examine for missing tabs

My bottom piece was missing one of the tabs used to attach to the side pieces and the other was close to falling off. I taped it the one with packing tape and cut a duplicate for the other side.



Rough cut

I placed my original bezel pieces on the coldpress board and made a rough cut around each piece. This makes each piece easier to work with when cutting them out.



Tape down the coldpress board and original

I tape down the coldpress board then the original over the top of it lining it the two flat sides (lower left) so I don't have to make those 2 cuts.



Cut around the original

Use a metal ruler for straight cuts and the original as guide for the curved cuts. The board is fairly thick so it's important to have a new blade and better to go over the cut twice.



Remove original and make scores

The board needs to be scored in areas where it will bend, make a very light cut with almost no pressure on the blade on both sides of the board. For this piece there is a straight fold across the bottom and both tabs.



Fold scores

Carefully folded along score lines. Most of the time it folds in just one direction, the bottom piece and it's tabs fold in opposite directions.



Using the metal ruler as a guide can be useful for longer folds.



Double sided tape



Change blade

Change the blade in between each of the pieces, it'll dull quickly.



Folding larger pieces

Use something fairly heavy (409 bottle below) to help keep pressure on the bigger pieces and keep them flat as you cut around them.



Assemble the pieces



Reinforce the back with packing tape.



Painting

I painted this one black semi-gloss but I think I think the flat black of the original finish is fine, I probably wouldn't paint future ones.



Finished bezel

[vwalbridge]

The only thing that frustrates me about your restore threads is deciding which one I'm going to nominate for the "BYOAC restore of the year". 

[8BitMonk]

The only thing that frustrates me about your restore threads is deciding which one I'm going to nominate for the "BYOAC restore of the year". 

Thanks for the kind words sir! Lots of work going into this one, I thought I was going to be done with it weeks ago.

[8BitMonk]

Coin door and P1 P2 lighting

The coin door was missing it's lamp holders, I replaced them and added 6.3v super bright LED's from Comet Pinball.

Initially I thought the power from the jamma harness to the coin door was 5v and hooked the 2 6.3v LED's up in parallel and fried them.



Luckily I had ordered a few extras. I hooked them up in a series and good to go.



The P1 and P2 lights were a little trickier. The LED's in the Atari coin buttons can't handle 5v, I used a 220ohm resistor so they wouldn't fry. Here's the thread I used for guidance.



They don't blink when coined up like they would in the original cab but stay lit all the time.

[8BitMonk]

Fixed my little sideart mishap. I was worried pulling it off would pull up the vinyl underneath but no issues. Big props to Rich at This Old Game for sending me a replacement at cost.

[8BitMonk]

Coin door test panel rocker switch

For the 60-1 board you can enter the service mode without changing the dip switches by holding down the Service or Test switch on power up. Then in service mode you navigate the menues forward and back with the Service/Test switch. The original test panel switch wasn't the best for this so I swapped it with a rocker switch that returns to center, this still also works with the original Dig Dug board.

I had to fashion a little bezel for it as it didn't fit quite right in the space.





One of the legs to connect the wires to the coin up button micro-switch on the test panel was broken and so the micro-switch needed to be replaced. Since the original is riveted to the button housing it had to be drilled out and the new micro-switch held in place with screws. I could've just replaced it witha different button but was trying to keep it as original as possible.

[Mike A]

Really nice work. This kind of stuff is where I fall down. I get something working. It looks good from the outside, but don't you dare open up one of my projects! It will give you nightmares.

[8BitMonk]

Really nice work. This kind of stuff is where I fall down. I get something working. It looks good from the outside, but don't you dare open up one of my projects! It will give you nightmares.

Thanks man! Yes, sometimes it's best to just leave well enough alone, otherwise you're tempting the arcade gods to smite you. 

[Ian]

Yeah... I mean top to bottom that is one nice looking cab! Great work!

[8BitMonk]

Yeah... I mean top to bottom that is one nice looking cab! Great work!

Thanks, I appreciate it! Looking forward to seeing that Galaxian all sparkly and restored!