| Arcade Collecting > Restorations & repair |
| A Joust restoration.. this is going to take a while |
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| bperkins01:
Well .... Got another one.. I've always loved Joust and even while I was restoring my favorite machine, Centipede, I kept an eye out for an original Joust project/restoration. What I learned is that they are not easy to come by.. Working / restored machines are selling for a considerable amount. Buried in a Facebook Marketplace ad for a bunch of machines was a reference to a Joust cabinet that had been converted to a Silkworm. The Joust boards were in some other cabinet that had some crazy setup to switch back and forth between it and some other game. After getting a few pictures and going back and forth with the seller - I was determined to make this poor machine back into a Joust again! Beneath the brown paint and TECMO sticker - an original Joust will be back! |
| bperkins01:
Here is the ugly duckling.. It's up on a dolly so I can move it around. The cabinet is really beat up at the bottom. I can repair the sides pretty easily. I was going to replace the front - except it has the cabinet serial# imprinted on it. I'd like to retain it.. but we will see how easily I can get the panels apart. The board set on the other hand is in excellent condition. A to A+ just looking at it. I'm told it works perfectly - but I haven't tried it yet. The boards were mounted in a Sinistar cabinet up under the monitor board face down. The entire original wiring harness was also in the Sinistar cabinet - door interlock switches, all of it! The owner made a clamp-on removable control panel with the Joust controls. When he wanted to use Joust - he clamped on the control panel, connected it to the Joust harness through the coin door and swapped the video cable at the monitor. It was two complete games in a single cabinet. First Observations: * Cabinet, Monitor and power supply are all the same serial number * All of the system boards are the same serial number too.. Just a different one * Monitor works - but has Silkworm burn in and the colors are pretty flabby.. I'll recap it first and look for a potential tube swap * Control panel is the original joust panel - but with many extra holes * Control panel wiring harness is a bit of a mess * Coin door can be restored to look new * Marquee and bezel missing * Did Williams really solder all of their connections vs. using wire connectors? First step is to strip down the cabinet and repair the shattered plywood.... |
| bperkins01:
It does have the original control panel.. But it was converted to a Silkworm panel (or something).. there are many many holes. Here is the backside of the clip-on Joust control panel that was used with the Sinistar cabinet. A hunk of wood with odd buttons, etc. At least the joysticks and leaf switches seem to be original as well as a chopped up original wiring harness. Back to the control panel.... The overlay must have been put on many years ago.. it is extremely tough and would not peel off. When I could get some of it - it started taking the grain of the wood with it... So I used a standard heat gun and putty knife to get it off. I'm not 100% sure I'm going to reuse this panel - but I needed to get it uncovered so that I could measure it to manufacture a replacement. Joust's panel has a 16G steel plate that is rabbeted into the top of the plywood. Four of these holes are original Joust holes - the rest are an abomination! The good news is that all of the info I need to make a replacement panel I can get from this one. If I decide to repair this one - the 2 way joystick mounts are still in place. I'd have to plug and re-drill the 6 button holes to make them usable for the original style buttons. At minimum - I'll get an exact model of this CP designed in Sketchup. I've completed the hole pattern for the steel plate. I went ahead and generated a full set of plans for the Joust CP. Downloadable here: Joust Control Panel I've also ordered a steel replacement plate for the panel. Depending on how things go - I may make a few of these. |
| bperkins01:
Of the few cabinets I've been inside - this one is pretty well constructed.. Williams used plywood and actual dado joinery on Joust. Centipede is particle board, butt joints and staples. Galaga is MDF. What makes it nice is what is going to also make it difficult to get apart. They used actual joinery with glue. Hopefully I can knock the sides apart and get the front off. One really nice feature of this cabinet is the monitor is on a plywood shelf. Unplug the power and video and slide it out. Super simple. It has this fun feature.. A built in mirror behind the marquee that is angled down toward the screen. You can slide the monitor backward by unbolting it from the forward hole and putting the bolt in the rear hole so it doesn't slide onto the floor. That distance gives you a little separation so the mirror can see the screen - very clever! Coin door is all there - but in need of some straightening out and a fresh coat of paint. Merry Christmas Joust cabinet - 1982. Here is the power brick - need to clean it up and test it.. Its really just a transformer with a cable.. The Atari power brick has much more to it.. Maybe I'll check the resistance on the winding's before adding power. It doesn't look trustworthy. At minimum I'm replacing the power cord and the EMI filter. Patient up on the operating table. The guys in the waiting room just need monitor work - no major surgery like Joust. Here's the plan: * Remove the front coin door panel * Remove the botton * Cut 12" off each side and replace with new plywood * Cut 6"-8" off the front and replace with new plywood * Sand everything, prime, paint, stencil in Joust sideart I might have replaced this back panel and the front coin panel, except if you look close here - the cabinet serial number is stamped on the part. Same for the front coin panel. Notice the staple too... This type of repair isn't for everyone. It took me a while to figure out the best way to get this cabinet apart and not completely destroy it. Williams made a solid cabinet. The material is plywood, they used dado joinery, glue, staples and corner blocking. After messing with it a bit - here is what works best to get this apart. The inside corner blocking needs to come off first. You can use an oscillating multi-tool saw and a pry bar to get them out. Best to work slow and try not to shred the plywood - but you are going to in some places.. My clamps have reversible heads so that they can push the sides apart. Use a bunch of them to spread the load evenly and work slow. As it crunches, cracks and pops - use the saw, putty knife or blade to help things work apart. Try to locate the staples and cut through them as you see them. The front and bottom will have to come off as one section because of the way the coin box is designed. Well - the top is loose - but the bottom is still on - more clamp spreading from inside the coin door panel. Had to do this across the bottom as well. As soon as you see a staple - cut it inside the joint. Next time I'll try a magnet or stud finder to see if I can locate them to dig them out first. It's apart - I'll focus on the sides first while I formulate a plan for the front.. The bottom edge is trash. I'm using the straight edge to create a square reference point for cutting. Now I'm going to sleep on it and make sure when I wake up I still like this idea.. |
| Mike A:
This is going to look great next to your other cabs. I like the pissed off looking ostrich head poking out. |
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