| Arcade Collecting > Restorations & repair |
| Centipede restoration - My first - There will be plenty of pics |
| (1/23) > >> |
| bperkins01:
I was warned by those on the BYOAC Forum that you could end up with more than one machine.. My Mame cabinet - Lakeside Arcade - was fun to build and gets considerable use. But it's at a summer home and isn't all that available in the winter. My game is Centipede - it has been since college - it was the break between dinner and the library that I enjoyed.. Two quarters and about 45 minutes.. Recently I started keeping an eye on Facebook marketplace for a *real* Centipede machine.. Some showed up, $700, $900, $1,200 - but all were 2-3 states away.. Then this machine appeared locally for $450 - however the screen showed a test pattern.. Asking some friends who know better then me (Mike A.)... he said.. "I'd keep looking.." So I did, and after about 2 months.. It popped back in for $300. Now he said "Go take a look!" (agreed).. My wife says I lead a charmed life..(I've had some weird luck now and then).. On the way to pick it up - the owner plugs it in and it boots into the game. He told me that had I not been on the way (we had been texting).. He would have pulled it down and doubled the price.. So here I go - my first (last?) original arcade machine - and my personal holy grail.. Centipede. Triage I was fortunate the machine actually worked.. well.. worked?? The good news was it booted and I actually played it a couple times. Overall the machine is in pretty good shape. Everything seems to be very original (except the CRT definitely was from a Pacman machine at some point). The marquee and bezel are in great shape on the original tempered glass. The game board, audio board and cabinet have matching serial numbers. No real work has been done to it other than the coin button modification. First observations: * CRT - Upper left corner of game pulled up. Large margin at the bottom of the screen and the playfield is off on the right a bit * Trackball barely rolls * A coin button was added to the control panel * Control panel overlay was covered with black material * The original was underneath and torn/worn * Audio quality was ok at best.. after about 5-10 minutes.. Volume changed by itself * Unable to retain top 3 high scores after power down * Coin slot 1 mechanism had missing bracket and switch * Marquee light not working * Fire button way too stiff (ok that is just a personal preference.. it worked..) * Everything coated in dust as would be expected Cosmetically: * Front panel has holes from security bar * Rear door panel all moisture damage * Typical bottom and edge damage all the way around the side panels * Leg levelers all broken * Side art dinged up some * T-molding falling out at the bottom and dinged up in places I haven't decided the extent of the cosmetic restoration just yet. My plan is to get it fully functional and running properly. There were a few old tokens kicking around in the dust.. More to come... |
| Mike A:
Should I apologize to your wife now or after you pick up your next machine? |
| bperkins01:
She was ok with this one.. but it cuts into me doing *her* project time... (rustic mirror frames at the moment..) So we will see ... ;) |
| wp34:
This won't be your last. Congratulations. :cheers: |
| Arroyo:
At a boy! The addiction begins. BTW - Most (not sure about Centipede) early Atari cabs had a relatively special flat T-Molding. There has been considerable effort made to remake the flat molding as no vendor currently does. Over on KLOV there is a production run going on right now: https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=458336&highlight=ATARI+FLAT Will be watching with great interest. |
| Navigation |
| Message Index |
| Next page |