Galaxian Resto (finished)

[Ian]

Finished with my first Resto... When it came right down to it, it was mostly cosmetic... Got a new board and put less than $600 in it. So all in all I'm very happy with how it turned out!




(original post)

My first Restoration... I have a galaxian (one of my favorite looking cabs). It came with a newer monitor that wasn't working a couple of game boards that need some repair the original bezel and control panel.

So things to do:

new artwork (sides and front kick plate, bezel and controlpanel and marquee in good condition)
Test monitor
Test Game boards
Fix broken joystick

[Ian]

I cleaned up the control panel last night, It has some scuffs and some missing artwork pieces but I kind of dig it a bit original. The colors pop (pics probably don't show it) thanks to using a magic eraser.

My first order of business is the joystick... It is really really really loose. Doing some research it looks like someone may have put an ill fitting joystick (the stick itself) in the mechanism. As far as I know they were always red... and white (in Japan). So I have to try and remove the stick (the thick part that holds the joy in place is stuck pretty good. I removed the c-clamp and it still didn't budge. And secondly does anyone know where to get replacements? I would like a white ball-top but a red would do as well. These would be the short stick ones if I am not mistaken.

I did see that this was the early version so no grommets. I suppose it would be easier just to put a new leafpro in there from ggg but I really want to try to keep it original.

[vwalbridge]

Cool! Another restore!

I love the Galaxian style. White sides and cool side-art.

I'll be watching. 

[behrmr]

The ball top should be red so what you have there is probably wrong as you suspect.  If it's loose that could be due to the diameter of the shaft being off.  It sits in between two rubber stops and those look intact so that's probably not the issue. I don't think a leaf pro would work real well there particularly with the mounting pattern not matching the studs.  I would think you could find a replacement from another collector. Good luck.

[Cobolisdead]

You before pics looks better than my after pics on my Galaxian!

[8BitMonk]

Should be a cool restore, I like the look of these. Keep the joystick original if you can!

[Ian]

You before pics looks better than my after pics on my Galaxian!

Ha!

I have the money to fix... but do I have the skill?? 

[Ian]

Should be a cool restore, I like the look of these. Keep the joystick original if you can!

 

Cheers to that... If anyone has an extra stick please message me. Otherwise the hunt will continue!

[Ian]

The ball top should be red so what you have there is probably wrong as you suspect.  If it's loose that could be due to the diameter of the shaft being off.  It sits in between two rubber stops and those look intact so that's probably not the issue. I don't think a leaf pro would work real well there particularly with the mounting pattern not matching the studs.  I would think you could find a replacement from another collector. Good luck.

Thanks for the confirmation and the reply I appreciate it!

I will hunt!

[Ian]

Well I plugged everything in after a good cleaning. Two different results on my two boards.

Board 1


I plugged this in and my speaker went full on bass mode. It was a very low humm... nothing seemed right. I assume this is as dead as it gets?

Board 2


This sounded better (less bass, but no game sounds either), and actually produced something that looked like a game. Nothing was in motion. But I gotta know what you experts have to say. Is this something I send in??? Or should I be better off looking for a tested board?

[Cobolisdead]

Expect to pay $75 - $100 for a tested Galaxian board.

Is this your first Arcade machine? Have you thought about putting a 60 in 1 in it?

[Ian]

Expect to pay $75 - $100 for a tested Galaxian board.

Is this your first Arcade machine? Have you thought about putting a 60 in 1 in it?

Yeah, I just dropped $85 for a board. This is my first dedicated machine. I have 2 Mame machines and helped my friend build his. I have experience but not in board repair.

Ian

[yotsuya]

Expect to pay $75 - $100 for a tested Galaxian board.

Is this your first Arcade machine? Have you thought about putting a 60 in 1 in it?

Yeah, I just dropped $85 for a board. This is my first dedicated machine. I have 2 Mame machines and helped my friend build his. I have experience but not in board repair.

Ian

Good for you for not going the 60-1 route.

[Nephasth]

Excellent choice! One of the best looking classics for sure.

[Ian]

Expect to pay $75 - $100 for a tested Galaxian board.

Is this your first Arcade machine? Have you thought about putting a 60 in 1 in it?

Yeah, I just dropped $85 for a board. This is my first dedicated machine. I have 2 Mame machines and helped my friend build his. I have experience but not in board repair.

Ian

Good for you for not going the 60-1 route.

Well Yots... Like you always say..I kind of graduated from Mame. On to the real thing.

[yotsuya]

Expect to pay $75 - $100 for a tested Galaxian board.

Is this your first Arcade machine? Have you thought about putting a 60 in 1 in it?

Yeah, I just dropped $85 for a board. This is my first dedicated machine. I have 2 Mame machines and helped my friend build his. I have experience but not in board repair.

Ian

Good for you for not going the 60-1 route.

Well Yots... Like you always say..I kind of graduated from Mame. On to the real thing.

[Mike A]

The 60-1 is an abomination. I am glad to see that this is an actual restoration. If someone wants to stick a 60-1 in something, I would suggest a trash can.

[8BitMonk]

The ball top should be red so what you have there is probably wrong as you suspect.

They also came with white balltops...



Why not throw a 60-1 in it and run it alongside the original hardware. That's what I did with my Dig Dug Cabaret and love it. You don't have to hack up any of the original hardware and it's cool having all the extra games to play. Just pick up a Galaxian to jamma adapter and wire it jamma and you can easily switch between your main board and the 60-1. If you pick up a Super Jamma Harness from Twisted Quarter it should also have the molex connections you need to plug right into your original controls.

[Ian]

I get why people put in the 60-1's I do... they serve a purpose lots of games but also newer hardware. Having a gameboard from 1979 probably isn't going to be the most reliable but hell call me a sucker for liking old school, original, vintage, cool ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- . Plus my mame machine is right next to it...it's running on a nice arcade monitor and any game that is on a 60-1 is on that cab. I just dig the galaxian and I want it to play galaxian. If I ever want to sell or trade it (my goal is to find a Tapper) then I can do so knowing its a 100% galaxian.

[yotsuya]

I get why people put in the 60-1's I do... they serve a purpose lots of games but also newer hardware. Having a gameboard from 1979 probably isn't going to be the most reliable but hell call me a sucker for liking old school, original, vintage, cool ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- . Plus my mame machine is right next to it...it's running on a nice arcade monitor and any game that is on a 60-1 is on that cab. I just dig the galaxian and I want it to play galaxian. If I ever want to sell or trade it (my goal is to find a Tapper) then I can do so knowing its a 100% galaxian.

Well said. Exactly the way I feel.

[8BitMonk]

I just dig the galaxian and I want it to play galaxian.

Totally understandable, no reason to go through the hassle if it's not worth it to you.

My main point was that you can add a multi-board, mame etc. without devaluing or defiling the original. My Dig Dug cabaret has all it's original components, I can swap the original DD PCB with the 60-1 in a minute and could sell it as original. The benefit for me is flexibility and reliability. If you have more than a couple people over and don't have a bunch of other machines then they have game options, or if the main PCB bites it the machine's still up and running.

[Ian]

I just dig the galaxian and I want it to play galaxian.

Totally understandable, no reason to go through the hassle if it's not worth it to you.

My main point was that you can add a multi-board, mame etc. without devaluing or defiling the original. My Dig Dug cabaret has all it's original components, I can swap the original DD PCB with the 60-1 in a minute and could sell it as original. The benefit for me is flexibility and reliability. If you have more than a couple people over and don't have a bunch of other machines then they have game options, or if the main PCB bites it the machine's still up and running.

 

[Ian]

Traditional Green T-molding or do I go Black

[Nephasth]

Green.

[yotsuya]

Green looks best on that cab.

[Ian]

Green it is... I was leaning that way. But I saw the black.

[Ian]

Some progress....

Starting to heat gun away the old artwork... It was cracked, faded and scratched to hell... wood however is in great shape!



Did some painting on the inside of the cabinet and on the control panel... Also replaced the buttons with nice white short leaf buttons.



I wanted to use the original cp art (not because I am cheap) because I wanted it to look a bit original and beat up in places. The colors are still vibrant and the Marquee is original as well.






Now before I have anyone overreact that I have paint on the T-molding, its okay. Thats the old stuff and will be tossed soon.

Now next up is finishing removing the artwork
Get the coindoor prepped and painted
Install new coin door lock


Waiting on
Art from thisoldgame.com
Tested Galaxian Board
T-molding (galaxian green)

Still working on

Finding original joystick.

[8BitMonk]

Looking good! The wood on the sides is in great shape, doesn't look like any edge chipping at all. The CP overlay looks good too, a ding here and there adds character.  Are you thinking Red, White or Black for the joystick?

[Ian]

I would prefer white... Red is also an option though. 

[Nephasth]

Waiting on
Art from thisoldgame.com

You might be waiting a while. Took several months to get mine... Hopefully you get yours soon.

[Ian]

Waiting on
Art from thisoldgame.com

You might be waiting a while. Took several months to get mine... Hopefully you get yours soon.

Yeah I think he said he is 2-3 weeks behind... eh.

Gives me time to figure out this damn joystick.

[Ian]

So this  thing is getting on my nerves. So I figured out the joystick is the correct size. The problem is on the Pivot bracket assembly itself. The joystick goes through the big round part and then C-clipped on. This round part is detached from the pivot assembly itself. That is why there is so much play. 

Problem is the damn thing is rusted/stuck on the joystick WD-40 seems to have very little effect. I have tried to tap it with a Hammer and a screw driver but it's not going anywhere. If I can get this thing unstuck I could JB-Weld this part on (couldn't find a replacement) and go on my merry way.

One possible solution is to find a nos williams joystick handle and cut this guy off with a bolt cutters.....

Or I can keep cranking on this fella. Any tricks you guys use to loosen up these kind of things?

Or I can live with it. The leaf springs center it enough. The damn thing is just really wobbly.

[Cobolisdead]

1. I looked at my Galaxian, and it's Joystick is black. Just thought I would let you know.

2. If you are trying to remove the joystick, it will be a pain. Just take off the clip, keep spraying it with wd40, and keep hitting it with a hammer and tap. It will take a while but eventually it will come loose.

[8BitMonk]

Or I can keep cranking on this fella. Any tricks you guys use to loosen up these kind of things?

Electrolysis is your friend. Check the video below with the seized up latch.

[vwalbridge]

I would prefer white... Red is also an option though.

I'd go white balltop all day everyday.

[behrmr]

Waiting on
Art from thisoldgame.com

You might be waiting a while. Took several months to get mine... Hopefully you get yours soon.

Yeah I think he said he is 2-3 weeks behind... eh.

Gives me time to figure out this damn joystick.

If he says 2-3 weeks it is going to be 2-3 months.  The last thing I bought from him he said 2 weeks.  It was at least 2 months and that required me to hound him. 

[Nephasth]

I would prefer white... Red is also an option though.

I'd go white balltop all day everyday.

Lime green!

[Ian]

Received my game board today! Plugged her in and damn... she is running so so so nice... I was playing the hell out of it when it occurred to me that the Mame version was never this much fun. So of course I booted up Mame next to it and sure enough the Mame emulation was almost twice as slow... it was terrible! No wonder everyone wants Galaga.

I wonder how many other games are just better as a dedicated machine?

Anyway.. glad I picked Galaxian this game is fun! 


PS the loose joystick is still loose... however it actually wasn't bad to play on at all. I think I was really just used to my Sanwa sticks.

[behrmr]

I wonder what romset you have on your dedicated PCB?  I have Galaxian running on my machine and on MAME on an RPI3.  They seem very very similar.   Glad you got it running. 

[Cobolisdead]

Received my game board today! Plugged her in and damn... she is running so so so nice... I was playing the hell out of it when it occurred to me that the Mame version was never this much fun. So of course I booted up Mame next to it and sure enough the Mame emulation was almost twice as slow... it was terrible! No wonder everyone wants Galaga.

I wonder how many other games are just better as a dedicated machine?

Anyway.. glad I picked Galaxian this game is fun! 


PS the loose joystick is still loose... however it actually wasn't bad to play on at all. I think I was really just used to my Sanwa sticks.

Galaxian really is a fun game, its a lot better than Galaga in the sense that it is a challenging game that requires more strategy.