Galaxian No. 815

[Level42]

This thread documents the restoration of my Galaxian. Galaxian was and still is one of my top-favorite arcade games.

Don't ask me why. I don't know if it was the fact that after the dull-moving space invaders it was SUCH a big upgrade to have the aliens actualy attack you......or was it all those colors, real colors instead of the color plastic on the CRT.......or was it the amazing sound (for those days)......I' don't know. I just know I've always loved it. I remember renting the Atari VCS2600 cartridge (no money to actualy buy it !) and how disappointed I was. I also remember playing it with my cousin, and we were dreaming about being able to play the real arcade version at home.

After all those years, I can make that dream come true....

Finding a real original arcade game here in The Netherlands is pretty tough already. There's plenty of generic jamme/neo geo cabs available (I made one into my Mame machine). But the real-deal is a lot tougher to find. There are more recent cabs around, but the classics are rare.

One day I almost got a Galaxian from a place near where I live, but someone was just before me to snap it up. Then I missed out on an Asteroids Deluxe, which was dead, and still went for A LOT of money.

Then I had decided to sell my Double Axle. I have no game room (yet) and space is VERY limited in my home. I had just sold it, and then I saw an ad for this Galaxian. I instantly sent three mails and the guy called me. To make a long story short, I picked up the cab, payed a VERY nice price on it and brought it home.

Sure, it needs some restoration, but the cab is in general good shape AND it worked all the way

The first pictures show the cab as it arrived. I had already removed the marquee though:
You can see that the side art is still in very good shape, I've seen a lot worse on the internet...

[Level42]

Well.....the usual dust stuff behind the marquee area...

The TL tube was not OK. It only glowed at the edges. So I put a brand new tube in it, but had the same problem. The problem was probably in bad conctacts in the tube holders. So I figured to get a complete new fixture. I had to remove the new ballast and Tube holders and put them in the metal because the new ficture was too big to fit in the marquee area. I actualy kept using the starter-holder because it looked great still and is a lot sturdier built then the one in the new ficture I bought. I choose a warm-colored tube to give the marquee the nice "warm" light.

Sidenote: This TL Lighting fixture was only used until serial nr. 3000 (source Galaxian Manual). After that, two old-fashioned light bulbs were used on both sides !!!
The only reason for this I can think of is that it was a little cheaper to manufacture (no ballast). However, operartors were using now about 80 W's just for the lighting of the marquee, instead of the 15 W of the TL....) Guess in the early 80's now-one cared about energy consumption yet....but still if you owned an arcade with 50 games or more....this would make a BIG difference on your energy bill !
Also, the lighting of the TL is much more even than that of two bulbs....anyway....back to the pictures...

[Level42]

Well that marquee looks pretty good still. However there are several "holes", especialy in the black parts. Any tips on how to carefully restore this (black paint and a fine brush I guess...)

I carefully cleaned both sides.

[Level42]

Ok some more shots of the cabinet as how it arrived:

The left side-art is in even better shape then the right...it's dirty though...

The kick plate is OK, of course the lower part is worst. Later, Midway used protective rubber on that part of the cab... The coin door has seen some beating-up and rust. But everything still works ! It still runs on real money (Guilders) and luckely I found one in the bottom of the cab

The usual rust and wear on the CP where thousands of players-hands have been...luckely no terrible operator mods !!!!

[Level42]

More CP shots. The CPO was not too bad, but it was chipped near the joystick hole (funny, I've seen Galaxian CPO's with a chip at exactly the same spot !). It's clear this CPO needs some sanding, new paint and a brand new CPO It's on it's way from the US as I write this

[Level42]

More pics..

[Level42]

Now.....what did you notice about this Galaxian cab from the very first pictures ?

Indeed: Where is that famous alien-green T-molding ?

When I went to pic it up at the seller I told him that the T-molding wasn't the original. It was black with a leather texture. Little did I know that this actualy is a quite unique feature.

When I got home, and did some research, I found the original Midway flyer on the net, and there on the picture the cab has this black (leather textured ? Can't tell because of the low detail level) T-molding !!!
It also has a WHITE joystick ball and all buttons are white. So this was the second hint that this was quite an early Galaxian !

When checking the inner parts, this got confirmed: Serial no. 815. That's pretty early in a 30.000 (my personal estimate) production

I was pretty excited about this, but also it was a tiny bit disappointing, because I already had decided to replace the black with the "real"  green we all know and love. I love it because that color really smacks you in the face. But, we've got to keep this original feature of this cab of course. However the T-molding showed it's age pretty much, so I've ordered brand new leather look black that's now also on it's way

When removing the old T-molding, by the way it was mounted on the ends, with small staples, I knew this was still the very first t-molding. You can see it on the second picture there are still some traces left...hard to remove !!

[Level42]

Some "inside" shots:

The original Wells-Gardner K4500 still in place and yes, it even still works.....but it's clearly at the end of it's life as later pics will show...

The PCB is pretty clean, and the game itself seems to run 100% ok, picture sound, gameplay, all work !

The power supply is pretty dirty but that's normal when it's flat on the bottom. Look there in the lower leeft part is a Guilder (real money ! Sorry guys, I still can't get used to those fake sounding Euro coins...)

So, there's no new switching power supply in this cab, 26 years and still running. I love the way the PS humms, especialy the start-up sound   I'll keep it running with this as long as possible.

[Level42]

DIP instruction sheet (still uncleaned, looks better now) Another proof of it being an early version: It has the first ROM set with the LOW scores for extra Galaxips !

2nd picture.....26 years of dust....

[Kaytrim]

Real nice find and excellent documentation of what you are starting off with.  Keep this up as you work on the restoration. 

[Level42]

CP removed...backside (I already removed a button)

2nd pic.....and it still works !!

3rd....a cleaned and a button in the state it came from the CP....it's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta' do it )

[Level42]

1st: You may guess what the fire button was.....OK these have done their job as well and will be put in "retirement"

Brand new one's are on their way with the CPO and the T-molding.

2nd: Getting the metal part off the wood part was a bit of a nightmare ! Acc. the manual, a part behind the joystick would have to move loose, but apparantly this was now totaly rusted together. So I started turning the ball of the joystick and slowely it let loose (even though it's not threated !) This way I was able to remove the stick.
There's obously been some drinks spilled over the CP....

3rd....joystick place   YUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH !!!!

[Level42]

1st: Joystick base....lots of rust, this needs sanding and painting...

2nd: Joystick ball and shaft....more rust.  IF ANYBODY HAS A (NOS) WHITE BALL LIKE THIS, CONTACT ME !

[Level42]

OK time to do some restoration !!!!

Let's see how the inside above the monitor looks....(the black parts)....

That's not what I want....this needs a new paint !

Note, those scratches come from the bezel. The only part missing on this cab is the original bezel. It obviously broke at a point (I found a glass part on the bottom of the cab). They replaced it with a normal sheet of glass, but it appears the measurements are just a little bit too big, causing these scratches during placing/removing of the sheet.....

[Level42]

Let's protect the monitor. Gotta get the speaker grill and the speaker itself out of the way as well. As you can see the T-molding is also already removed.

While we're at it, let's clean the speaker grill. Looks like new !!!

This came from the grill......yugh !

[Level42]

This is my magic cleaning stuff......one of the cheapest around (Lidl www.lidl.com). Removes dirt, grease, nicotine etc. like a dream

OK, after several treatments of sanding and rollering (I used a water-based semi-gloss paint, rollering it was really easy) it looks a lot better

[Level42]

Because I'm so proud of it (I usualy let my wife do the painting because she's better at it), some more shots.....the lower parts had lost all of the black paint, now great again. OK I spilled a bit on the edge but that will be covered by the new T-molding of course.

[Level42]

Yeah, this is going to need some new paint as well....

But first....what do I see....thos grills look filthy !

[Level42]

Let's see what we can do about that...

Mmmmm, better but still not satisfied, there's rust. Bruno from www.dragonslairfans.com has some great stuff for removing rust. I'll be visiting him soon (can't wait !!!) so I hope he can get me some of the great French stuff he uses to get ridd of rust....

[Level42]

Let's take a look at the inside of the coin door....

Ok, my guess is that there is a digit missing to show the real number of games played......if not, it still brought up it's buying value multiple times !

Coin mech still works like a dream !

[Level42]

1st: Dutch approval sticker....regretfully the game specific details wore off. This cab has been imported directly when it was new. I found a sheet of paper of the machine vendor, and this sticker shows it's been in commercial (arcade) use.

2nd: backside......you may guess what I already cleaned (although not fully !!!), and what not

3rd: Burnt and burnt and burnt....poor CRT. I guess it's been in private use for quite some time as well, since the "PUSH START BUTTON" is also burnt in.....indicates of free-play setting (although it's wasn't on free play when I bought it).
 You can also see the changed screen size and again burning in ......!

At this point, I had received a cap-kit from Zanen electronics and installed it. It actualy made my monitor a lot worse..... there was a bipolar cap in it with a value that was WAY of that of the original. I mailed Zanen about it and they confirmed the error. (didn't offer my money back though....)
Anyway, I've learned some things of this: IMHO monitors of this age are not worth cap-kitting anymore. There are so many convergence and pot-controls that can become bad are misadjusted, you could spend ages to get it a bit better looking. Then there's still the burnt-in CRT. So I decided to "retire" the WG.

[Level42]

OK, I forgot to include this earlier:

A video clip of the "new"  TL fixture:


(Please excuse my voice/English) 

[Havok]

Great find! Looks good even in the condition it's in. Congratulations! Galaxian was always one of my favorite games...

[jfunk]

Hey, I have #17380!



Mine didn't look NEARLY as good as yours, though.  I'm very jealous.  The t-molding on mine had been painted black, the kickplate was black, and the sideart was faded and peeling 

Had to strip it down.  Going to redo it all.  Not "original" anymore, but it'll look nice and be able to play multiple vertical games.

Still, I'm looking forward to seeing your full restoration..  Living vicariously through you and all that 

[Level42]

Thanks for the nice replies guys....I got plenty more pics already, I'll post them ASAP.

Jason, first: I really like your invader cab, great, very stylish !

Indeed your Galaxian had a lot worse life than mine !!! I consider myself extremely lucky. It's like finding a classic car in a barn covered under a sheet....

I was also very lucky that the guy selling it didn't really knew what he was selling I guess... he got "my" machine in a "package deal". He's a jukebox collector and wanted to buy a certain juke, but he had to buy two fruitmachines (gambling machines) and this beauty all in one go. So he wanted to get rid of this extra pretty quickly.

Jason, I checked out all the pictures of your Galaxian on your site. I noticed this:


I've seen it on other Galaxian pictures as well. I was wondering if mine was missing this. It is not on it, but.....there's also no holes at that spot, so I guess the early machines didn't have this label. I like it though...

About your serial nr.: I've seen serials up into the 27.000 range. So that's why I "estimate" that there were (at least) 30.000 built. But who knows, it maybe plenty more....

Question: How are you going further with restoration ? Side and kick-art graphic files are digitaly available but would it be possible to have it printed on that same kind of vinyl ?
For me, it's still a mistery that the side and kick-art are not available anywhere. It's not the size, you can get Centipede, Asteroids everything, those are even bigger AFAIK.  So why on earth no Galaxian ? Isn't this considered a classic ?? I bet there is a market for this, I know many collectors have this machine with the side-art "as is" but the collectors probably not really happy with it.

If all else fails, you COULD consider converting it to a Pac Man. Of course, I am all for keeping it a Galaxian. But if it's (nearly) a lost case, this is a good option. Check out what Darth Nuno of www.dragonslairfans.com is doing now: http://www.dragonslairfans.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=195

When it's done with grace and quality like this, I can live very well with a conversion like that (I think a better word is re-birth here ). It's always better then ditching the cab...

[Level42]

OK, I hope I'm not overloading the server-space here...

More pics !

1st: A pic I still wanted you guys to see: This resistor on the monitor PCB has seen quite some heat !
The Ohms value was still OK though

2nd. So the monitor needs replacement. Now, normaly it's a big disadvantage to live in Europe for this hobby. There is one thing very much in our advantage though: We have TV's with the SCART connector ! This means that every TV in Europe is also a great arcade monitor And since everyone is buying LCD and Plasma TV's now (why-o-why ?) those (CRT) TV's are extremely cheap. Latest offer I saw was a brand new 51 cm (19") TV for €99,- (about $125). Even cheaper are the used one's.
So I bought one that was advertised as a 51 cm. A nice Nokia.

And a dissassembled shot...

[Level42]

So let's put that baby in the bezel....

HOLY F...K !!! It doesn't fit !!! It doesn't even come close 

I should have known better. I didn't actualy measure the CRT before buying it. The seller had listed it as a 51 cm but it actualy was 55 cm !!!

(Another lesson learned !!)

OK, I gotta fit this thing in....so I make the bezel hole larger and drill new holes...

Move the original PVB holders to the right place for the "new" PCB...

[Level42]

HAHAHAHAHA, looking back at these pictures only I only NOW discover that I actualy mounted this CRT on the WRONG side of the bezel ! (It doesn't matter now though...read on)

SOOOOO, I didn't forget one important thing....I desoldered the IR receiver for the remote control and put it on some wires so I could put it in front of the bezel. Normaly not needed to adjust anything but always handy that it's still possible...

OK, fix the PCB and......READY !

At least I thought so.....after this picture I plugged it in (without connecting it to the cab) and.....nothing.....totaly dead !!! How could this be ?? I downloaded the schematic and the transistor in the power supply had shorts all way around.  Now I had to repair it before it had worked for one second (YES it DID play at the sellers' and it still played at my home when it was still in it's case....)

[Level42]

Well after all these set-backs I really needed a (small) success....So I cut the old video connector from the loom that connected to the WG and following the schematics info wired it up to a SCART connector. I used some serial resistors since an arcade PCB puts out 5Vpp and SCART wants only 0,7Vpp....(check out this thread about this: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62634.0 )

So I connected the SCART to a small TV and...........YESSSSSSSSSSSSS !!! Perfect picture !!

[Level42]

I had to wire up an extra wire from the PCB to a certain pin on the SCART to let the TV know that I'm sending an RGB signal and that the TV should switch to that mode. This is a steady 5V so that was easy enough.

I still need to wire up another pin to a (about) 12V source so that the TV will start up and select the correct "channel" but that's for later.

[Level42]

OK, so there I was with a broken TV.  Sometimes I'm unpatient, so I simply bought another used TV with the RIGHT size this time I still got some parts to repair the other TV later, it may still be good for another cab...

I chose a Philips this time...Dutch pride !!! (oh, it's built in Italy )......also it had a nice round tube, just like they were in the early 80's...

BUT, of couse I had "ruined" the original bezel by making the hole for the CRT larger.....the fixing points of the "new" (19") CRT were now up in the air......so there was nothing else to do then recreate a the front part of the bezel. Went to the local DIY and bought some MDF, nicely sawed at exactly the right size The original had multi-layered wood (we call it multiplex) but this was WAY too expensive compared to the MDF that is about as strong.

So I measured all sizes for the holes etc. etc. and copied it to the new MDF. I did some guessing work on the curves of the CRT that worked out pretty OK (no I didn't have a drink when I did the sawing out of the hole

I've seen Darth Nuno do a much simpler job on an new bezel for his Galaxian->Pac Man restoration. Maybe I'm too anal about this....I always think things were built that way for a reason. The reason probably that those cabs get smacked around at arcades and during transport. Nothing like it will experience in the future during my home-use but anyway...

1st:
I checked out the metal part of the bezel.......hey what do we have here.....a Lady Bug !!! Girl you must have missed the correct cabinet. She obviously got killed by a Galaxip shot RIP

2nd: There it is, all finished. I only replaced the black screws with new one's. They had (like almost everything on this cab) imperial size.....I hate that It's all wrong !!!!! (i.e. my tools don't fit  ) 
By now I guessed you've already seen that our kitchen is my workplace (for now).....I'm lucky with my wife.....she's pretty patient about this all
And yes that's our cars you see Nothing fancy but the black one (Skoda Oktavia) "easily" fits a cab in the back.

3rd: and YES it fits....also put it on the RIGHT side this time

[Level42]

Power up and: YES ! This one survived the transformation from TV to monitor (The black part is because this is a good-old 50Hz (60 when used with the Galaxian PCB) TV so my camera had some problem "getting the picture"....

I had wanted to use the original PCB holders again, but they wouldn't fit because of the metal near the edge of the PCB.

So I considered using the "regular" arcade PCB stands we all know well for a monent, but that would have required quite a lot of them (to distribute the weight) and would be clumsy to service. So I decided to pick up my brand new Bosch jig-saw again and this time I went wild on the original TV case.....leaving me with the bottom part. I shifted the PCB nicely into place, and mounted the bottom part with two screws onto the wood of the bezel....nice and sturdy and easy to service. As a bonus I was also still able to use the built-in cable holder for the mains cord, and I moved the sticker from the back of the TV case to this position......for future reference.

See that nice big blue connector on the 2nd pic......that's the key to make it possible to use any TV as a true arcade monitor I LOVE SCART !

[Level42]

OK, so let's put the whole thing inside the cab and test it !

It fits perfectly !!! WOW, I've learned to paint AND some wood-working skills within a couple of weeks

Turn on and YESSSSS it works....

Still needs some adjustements to the TV though, the height is a bit off, and I MUST get that stupid channel indication off (Need to go to the service menu for that apparantly, weird !!!)

We'll fix that later...

[jfunk]

...
Question: How are you going further with restoration ? Side and kick-art graphic files are digitaly available but would it be possible to have it printed on that same kind of vinyl ?
For me, it's still a mistery that the side and kick-art are not available anywhere. It's not the size, you can get Centipede, Asteroids everything, those are even bigger AFAIK.  So why on earth no Galaxian ? Isn't this considered a classic ?? I bet there is a market for this, I know many collectors have this machine with the side-art "as is" but the collectors probably not really happy with it.
...

For the time being, I'm just going to have to *shudder* paint it white.  I've got leftover green t-molding I'll use.  I'll get emdkay.net or mamemarquees.com to print up a custom marquee i've designed (mostly galaxian marquee with a few modifications)..  I've got an old/trashed control panel i'll use/modify.

As I come into more funding, I'll eventually have sideart, cpo, and kickplate printed (all available on localarcade.com...).  I'm not sure they'll be authentic-sized (since that's so $$$), but I'll do the best I can.

But, like I said, I REALLY wish I had the time and/or money and/or talent to do what you're doing.  Plus, I'm enjoying reading about European tvs and the like.

Keep up the great work and progress updates!!

[arcadefever]

  this is some very hardcore restoration 

wowwwwwww you should be very happy, this is a great job you have done 

[Level42]

For the time being, I'm just going to have to *shudder* paint it white.  I've got leftover green t-molding I'll use.  I'll get emdkay.net or mamemarquees.com to print up a custom marquee i've designed (mostly galaxian marquee with a few modifications)..  I've got an old/trashed control panel i'll use/modify.

Custom marquee ?

But, like I said, I REALLY wish I had the time and/or money and/or talent to do what you're doing.  Plus, I'm enjoying reading about European tvs and the like.

Well, I barely have time as well. I've already got this cab since december 2006 so it's not like I did all that work in a couple of days About the talent: I've seen your Invader cab, and I doubt very much I could build something like that....so You've got what it takes IMHO.....all I did so far on the woodwork is "copying" the front of the bezel

Keep up the great work and progress updates!!

Thanks, and I sure will !

[Level42]

this is some very hardcore restoration 

wowwwwwww you should be very happy, this is a great job you have done 

Thanks ArcadeFever !!! It WILL be a hardcore restoration....when it's done, but I'm not close to 25% yet Most pictures you've seen are "as is" for now...

[Level42]

OK, some shots I took today:

On the right you see the wooden part of the CP. While I was painting this inside of the cab, I figured this could use some new paint as well. So I cleaned it, sanded it and looks very nice now. Won't be visible when assembled, but I hate the idea to have a filthy wooden part behind a freshly restored metal panel....

On the left, the metal panel. As you can see I'm having a tough time getting rid of the original CPO. I've tried hot water and some sticker remover stuff. That last stuff only seems to get rid of my lungs instead of the stickers !!! Any good suggestions are welcome......(Do I really need to do this, when it will be sandblasted anyway ?)

[Level42]

And before I start restoration of the coin door:

Take a look at the close-up of the paint. What I am wondering is if these small bulbs are caused by rust underneith or were they put on deliberatly during manufacturing as decoration ?
Does anyone know this   On the backside, there are also some of these bulbs but a lot less...It reminds me of the effect that we got when we ushed toothbrushes at school to "spray" paint on paper by stroking the tootbrush with out thumb.....maybe something simular was used here ?

2nd a close up of the Coin Door plate. A brand new NOS version is on it's way. However, I wonder how this is mounted ? Are those pop-nails ? And if so, can I do this myself ?

[Level42]

And here's a scan (fixed up the worst scratches) that will generate some nostalgia for Dutch arcade fans:

The Dutch 1 Guilder coin insert. Just like I remembered them on every single videogame and pinball in the 80's

Inworp = "throw in" (direct translation)

PM me if you need a high-res scan...

[korendog]

Level42,
I'm pretty sure those bubbles you are seeing is rust underneath bubbling the paint.  I'm also in the middle of restoring a Midway coin door.  The Midway sign on the front is riveted in.  The condition of mine isn't bad so I'm just gonna leave it and restore around it, taping it off.  If you were really industrious, I suppose you could drill out the rivets and remove the sign.  You'd just have to find yourself a way to rivet it back on.

[korendog]

Forgot to say, very nice acquistion and super job on the restoration so far.  Keep it up.

[Level42]

Hey Korendog, thanks, yeah, I concider myself a very lucky man !

Actualy, first I thought these bumps were deliberatly put on specks of paint. But when I looked at that close-up pic I took, I tend to agree with you that this is actualy rust.

However, it's strange that they are also on the back side, where basicaly there doesn't seem to be (much) paint....

I'm still not sure. I think I will try to pry open one of those bubbles to have a look. I guess if I'll see rust...we know the answer

About the plate: yeah, I will be replacing mine (I already ordered a brand new one). It's looking pretty beat-up. If I wouldn't have found that www.arcadeshop.com is selling these I wouldn't have thought about it, but now it's a thing not to be missed...now why does that package of parts taking so long to cross the ocean ?

Edit: Indeed, those are rivets. We call them "pop nails" but I checked wikipedia and it's exactly what we both mean I think I know someone who has the tool to do this, so it should be pretty easy to put it back just like it was

[Level42]

While waiting for the much needed parts from the States (and getting a Mario Bros, see the thread under Arcade Misc.) I did some simple, but very much needed work:
Clean and sand the top.

Pictures speak for themselves I guess....

[Level42]

And the result:

Not bad, not bad at all. But what a shame about those cigarette burns !

[Level42]

I also still had to clean the right side of the cab.....

1st: This has come off....
2nd and 3rd: The result....very nice !

[Level42]

Some detail shots...close-up pictures show more bad spots than you normaly see....

3rd pic: After this work, it's time for a nice Belgian beer ! Fresh from my personal tap (will very likely end up in my gameroom )

[patrickl]

So jealous   Looks really great.

Don't have much to say, just like seeing how you bring the beauty out of the beast.

[Level42]

Thanks Patrick !

It's those little encouragements that makes me keep posting

When my Gameroom's finished (could take some time) you're welcome to come over and enjoy it

[patrickl]

Cool, I'd love that.

[spacies]

Galaxian sure is a nice looking machine.

Great job and enjoy your beer!

[johnperkins21]

That artwork looks to be in good shape. Congrats.

Do you plan to bondo/paint those cigarette burns or leave them there for authenticity?

[leapinlew]

Do you plan to bondo/paint those cigarette burns or leave them there for authenticity?

Isn't it funny that there is even cigarette burns on the machine? I mean, talk about an era gone by. I remember when my arcade installed ashtrays on the arcades. Now, you can't even smoke in some bars!

[spacies]

Now, you can't even smoke in some bars!

You can't smoke in any bars here!
In fact any you can't smoke in any inside workplace, office, shopping centre etc

Heck, even some beaches have smoking bans now. 

BTW, I don't smoke.   

[Level42]

I'm a non-smoker too. It's pretty relaxed here in Holland (like you didn't know that ), although you can't smoke at work anymore, which I think is a good thing...
Restaurants and bars etc. still smoking allowed (restaurants certain areas, but not with walls between) but I wonder for how long...all public places no smoking too.

Anyway, bondo etc. is out of the question. Galaxians are covered with a vinyl that has a certain structure. I think you can see it on some of the pictures of the topside. So that's impossible to fix with bondo.

I also think that very vinyl is the reason why there's no Galaxian repro side/kick-art available......if anyone could point me to a source for exactly the same viny, I'd very much appreaceate it (I have been searching).

So, the only real option would be replacing the entire top of the vinyl. I prefer to leave the burn-marks over removing the vinyl and painting the wood. Painting the vinyl could be a possibility, but I wonder how that will turn out. Should be very thin paint I guess, to leave the structure in tact.

Gotta get the metal parts done....no time to go to the powder coater :S !
 
Also, have some of you guys ordered from www.arcadeshop.com before ? He told me he sent the stuff on january 30th and it's still not here. That's pretty long for airmail shipping. Especialy at the cost he charged.....I'm getting worried.....

[Level42]

There you go, when you start complaining.....the package arrives. However, mixed feelings  !!

First the mail-man wanted about €30,- from my wife. Turns out this was sent as a busines package incl. value etc, so the customs things I should pay VAT over it, plus costs of course. They even add VAT to the shipping !!!

Anyway, the stuff is here, that's the most important. Quick check, eveything is there. There a three buttons, regretfully one is a bit different from the other two. More spring resistance, a bit higher plunger....o well...

The T-molding is fine, just like the Midway Coindoor Plates.

The CPO seems to be great as well, but on closer inspection I can see this is a misprint. The colors of the Galaxians on the bottom are clearly shifted from where they should be. Also, the hole for the Fire button is so large, the button almost falls through it....will be very hard to apply this and still not see the metal panel....

I just talked to my friend DarthNuno, and he told me his CPO has the same problem, and even that some original Galaxians had the artwork with this problem !?!??! Is this true......if so, I will never forgive myself for ruining the original artwork that was on my CP, even with the bad spots on it.......

Also did the grounding and first layer of finish paint on the top insides of the side panels.....will be very nice....

Pictures will appear ASAP !

[Level42]

OK piccies !

1st & 2nd: Sanded, like a baby's skin...
3nd: First some primer (Ground paint we call it )

Finished pictures later !

[Level42]

OK stuff from the States:

[Level42]

and more...

Are these off or what ?

[Level42]

The button holes...

1st: Pl.1&2, fine
2nd: Fire.....too big !! (This seems to be on DathNuno's as well...probably a(nother ?) production error.

[csa3d]

and more...

Are these off or what ?

Yeah.. i'd be pissed if I ordered something and it came through like that.  I'd not consider myself being picky or that kind of mistake being trivial.  Boo to that!

[Level42]

yeah, that's how I felt !

But....as I mentioned, DarthNuno indicated that this was also on HIS repro that he ordered from the US (different supplier though), but it looks exactly the same. He said that there was original Galaxian artwork that had this problem, and probably they used one of those as a "master".....

The on-line artwork files are fine, they do NOT show this error. Also, the text is MUCH more like the original (Check out the question mark on one of my pics and compare to this: http://www.localarcade.com/arcade_art/details.php?image_id=288&mode=search (Download the ai file).

Now, the seller, arcadeshop.com agreed to refund me the $40,- BUT he wants me to e-mail him a picture showing that I have cut the whole CPO in 20 pieces.......

I could have this printed localy of course BUT I would need the original material used. I want that "speckle-shine" !
The backside shows this stuff is 3M Stamark Laminating Adhesive.  Would it be possible to buy this somewhere...AND have it printed ?

I have a feeling the off-prints will irritate me to no-end everytime I look at the cab. Probably no-one else would notices, it's just something that YOU know is wrong....

[sfrascella]

That CPO does not look good. Thanks for posting those pics, I was about to order one from Arcadeshop.

The rest of the machine looks great, that side art is in good shape. What did you use to clean it? The texture on the vinyl seems to trap the dirt.

[patrickl]

Doesn't mamemarquees use the same laminate for their CPO's (so you might be able to have it printed there from the artwork files you have)?

[Level42]

That CPO does not look good. Thanks for posting those pics, I was about to order one from Arcadeshop.

The rest of the machine looks great, that side art is in good shape. What did you use to clean it? The texture on the vinyl seems to trap the dirt.

Check out reply #15, there's a picture of the stuff I used.



 It's a degreaser from a very cheap chain-store here. I checked out the bottle. It says "Works strongly on any kind of dirt" It's highly concentrated ideal for cleaning ovens,kitchens, grills, pans, and very dirty floors. There IS a warning on it to try out this stuff on a spot out-of-sight before using it on coloured materials. There was a point where I thought I was actualy removing sligtly some paint. I thought there was some coloring on the paper-towel I used, but this paper towel had some colored printing on it and it looked like it was this giving the coloring...I'm not 100% sure though.  I cannot see any proof that the paint has weakened or wore off at all. Very much the opposite, the colors are vibrant and beatiful.

I used a sponge with a "rough" side for the white parts. Did some good rubbing, and most of the dirt and yellow comes of this way. I don't dare to use it on the painted parts though, although I think it will be ok if done carefully. Seem they used some prety sturdy printing inks, only the human touch (sweat = acid) has hurt it at the spots where players held their hands...

The stuff I use is called "Dasty" (English name "Elbowgrease") and it's made in Italy. Looks like this factory is making products that look like A-brand products but selling at low prices. I don't care, it works great and is cheap (€1,89 for the bottle). It just happened to be in the kitchen as my wife uses it for cleaning so.....

Here's the manufacturers site: www.dastyitalia.it  Not all is in Italian, some English as well

Here's a direct link to the product: http://www.dastyitalia.it/frame4.html

I do know that my hands felt really dry after using it....

___________

Sfrascella, about the CPO: The upright Galaxian CPO is not on the list on www.arcadeshop.com.
The CPO art for Galaxian there is for the cocktail.
I had mailed arcadeshop.com with some questions and he replied that he still had one CPO for the Upright. (I wonder WHY it wasn't listed......!)

I am getting more and more convinced that this is simply a case of a bad original being used. I think this because the blue, yellow, red and green are EXACTLY on spot on the rest of the art. F.I. the word "FIRE" is surrounded with green, black letters, red inside, perfectly on spot. The same with the edges. The outer edge is blue, then there's a green line (on the instructions and Player 1/2 section) and there's yellow inside of that. All look fine.
There IS however clearly some difference in the letters used for the instructions. (Check out the question mark) It's also a little blurry, like the letter H is "filled up a bit. But I could have lived with that without a problem.
_____________

Patrick, great suggestion about mamemarquees, don't know why but I hadn't though of them. However, the pictures on their site are waaaaaaaayyyy to small to judge the quality. The main thing is that this CPO seems to be printed on some pretty special stuff. It's called 3M Stamark Laminating Adhesive. I searched for it on the net and of course 3M's site, but all I find under "Stamark" are adhesives for lines on roads !?!?!?

Anyway, the really important thing here is that shiny-speckled look. I don't really know how to describe it, you can see it on the picture I guess. You can even feel that structure. If Mamemarquees prints the Galaxian art on material like that, I will be ordering from them very soon

I'll drop them a mail...

[patrickl]

Actually, if it's called "Stamark Laminating Adhesive" then my guess would be that that's just the adhesive used and no so much the clear "speckled" laminate that's covering the print. BTW is it really speckled or just textured?

[Level42]

Actually, if it's called "Stamark Laminating Adhesive" then my guess would be that that's just the adhesive used and no so much the clear "speckled" laminate that's covering the print. BTW is it really speckled or just textured?

Mmmmmm, I hadn't thought about that ! That could be very true. It's not really "speckled" it's structured.  I think the close-ups of the "bad" CPO show it really nicely. This is for sure one thing where this art is exactly like the original.

This shows it really well:

[patrickl]

Sounds like the textured lexan laminate that printers use to cover the CPO prints. Show that picture to mamemarquees and he will tell you if it's what he uses. I think he has several options.

Forgot to say, but really amazing how they can keep on using a misprint like that. You would think they would fix it and print it properly.

[javeryh]

You are doing an amazing job so far!  I really like how everything is cleaning up to look brand new...

[Level42]

Thanks javeryh ! It will be looking as brand new as possible

Well, currently the project is at a (hopefully short) stand-still because I'm not too well health-wise. Have a bacterial infection on (in ? of ?) my lungs. Peneciline is now killing all the germs....anyway, a little time for something else.

I won a genuine "Parts and Operating Manual" for the Galaxian on E-bay for a vey good price (considering some other asking prices I've seen). (Gotta thank Arcadefever who was very helpful in forwarding me this
!!!)
The manual is in great condition and it is a lot easier to read the schematics from the originall fold-outs then from the scanned pages. There are even some loose schematics with it. The real bonus was that there was a number of Midway Service Bulletins with it. I'd like to scan them and share them but where to upload them ? Everything I've sent to KLOV.com so far seems to end up in the trashbin....anyway there are some fun/interesting things to get from these. I'll make a list here:

- the WG 19k4500 monitor has only been used in the upright cab.
- the cocktail was equipped with an Electrohome G07901
- adapters to put WG in cocktails and Electrohomes in uprights were made by Midway
- there is mention of a Electrohome G02-25" for the upright !!!!! It doesn't become clear if they were installed from the factory or used as replacement. Very weird, is seems to be hard to put a 25" inside the cab. Has anyone ever seen this ?
- the first dated Service Bulletins were from february 11, 1980 (one is not dated)
- a feb. 11,1980 Bulletin explains how to wire a up a Galaxian logic board to a b/w monitor for bench testing. (Remember that Galaxian was the first with a full color monitor, so most workshops probably only had B/W monitors.....)
- very often the name of the game is mispelled as Glaxian
- from april 15, 1980 the Electrohome monitor was also put into the uprights due to "supply problem".
 The mounting brackets had to be altered for this. (This means my cab is from before that date, which figures seeing the very low serial no.)
- the four controls contrast,brightness. color and tint are not used. These controls are located in the upper right side of the monitor panel. (Should have known that earlier, I already wondered why they didn't do a thing )
- April 16,1980: Serial No. #101 to #8400 (includes mine ): Apparantly the machine sometimes lost credits. This modification explains to put a 100mf 10V capacitor over (one of the) coin switches. (This later caused other problems...read on) Mine didn't get this modification...
- April 29,1980: Apparantly, there were problems with static (Static condition causing a false RAM and ROM test) as this SB explains about an Anti-static kit. It's a PCB that went between the excisting wire connector and the Galaxian PCB and a really big fat wire from the new PCB to one of the mounting bolts of one of the transformers (a ground point).
- (Here comes my favorite) April 29, 1980: quote:
WHEN PROGRAMMING THE GLAXIAN GAME FOR 50 CENTS PLAY, CHANGE THE COIN DOOR WINDOWS TO 50 CENT TYPE.ORDER WINDOWS FROM MIDWAY PARTS DEPARTMENT - PART NUMBER - 0090-00902+4600
unquote

DUHHHH !!!!!    (Aparantly the game was popular enough to raise more money per game ?)

- from serial no. 11500 the program was changed (3rd program). New bonus values: (Depending on DIP switch settings), 7000, 10000, 12000, 20000 (apparantly the players got better, or were underestimated in the first place
-jun3 5th, 1980: Upright serial #101 to #1570 and cocktail #101 to #1970: because of the added capacitor on the coin switch (see above) it was apprantly possible to gain free credits by pounding on the coin door ( ).
This SB explains how to add a tilt switch (it's a slam-switch imho)

So far the SB's. Notice they indicate serial number ranges from #101 to #xxxxx. I think we can conclude from this that the production runs started at #101 and that serial numbers #1 to #100 were reserved for prototypes, maybe demo machines etc.

Something else from the Manual itself: There's a complete drawing of the TL-light fixture for the marquee. However, the partslist mentions:
Incandescent light assemlby - used after game no. 3000. So the first 3000 got a TL lighting, and then they switched to using normal bulbs. The strange thing is they indicate 12V lamps, is that true or is that a typo ? (They should be 25W by the way.....i case you need to replace yours ?) From seeing pictures of these lamp fixtures I'd say they were regular 120V bulbs....

OK, I hope I didn't bore you guys with this trivia....

Gee, I'd really like to talk with the guy who's name is under all these Service Bulletins. He was Midway's Service Manger then. I bet he could tell lots of interesting stories from that time.

[csa3d]

- April 16,1980: Serial No. #101 to #8400 (includes mine ): Apparantly the machine sometimes lost credits. This modification explains to put a 100mf 10V capacitor over (one of the) coin switches. (This later caused other problems...read on) Mine didn't get this modification...

Mine has this!  I was wondering wtf that was all about.  I assumed that it was some attempt to make both coin slots act as though they were a single credit unit.  I'll be posting pictures of my coindoor restored coin door later in the week.

-csa

[Level42]

- April 16,1980: Serial No. #101 to #8400 (includes mine ): Apparantly the machine sometimes lost credits. This modification explains to put a 100mf 10V capacitor over (one of the) coin switches. (This later caused other problems...read on) Mine didn't get this modification...

Mine has this!  I was wondering wtf that was all about.  I assumed that it was some attempt to make both coin slots act as though they were a single credit unit.  I'll be posting pictures of my coindoor restored coin door later in the week.

-csa

yeah, well I figure they put it in there from the factory from that date on. It also indicates that it only needs to be done on one coinswitch only.

[csa3d]

Here is mine for anyone who cares.  Notice the blue compacitor in the bottom left.


-csa

[Aurich]

MameMarquees uses a polycarbonite laminate over the vinyl for CPO graphics, which will give you a similar if not same textured look. The quality is excellent, I would recommend them to anyone.

[Darth Nuno]

Hi my friend,

You're doing a great job on your Galax' cab, congrats 

As I said, don't be worry regarding your CPO repro... I've done a picture from one of my original control panel I still have... and as you can see, it has a problem with the red color ... check it out :



Hope to meet you very soon 

[Level42]

MameMarquees uses a polycarbonite laminate over the vinyl for CPO graphics, which will give you a similar if not same textured look. The quality is excellent, I would recommend them to anyone.

Thanks, I' posted a message on the contactform...no response so far....
Anyway....can anybody please upload a close-up (use your Macro setting on your camera) of a CPO from Mamemarquees ?

There is one other problem I didn't see before. The copyright notice has been removed from this repro !!!!!!! Guess they were scared or something ?

Nuno, my friend, Thanks !

Yeah......I actualy think that a slight misprint just like that is (read: WAS) on my original CPO as well. I could have lived with such a minor thing, but the blue and green are still right on spot on the commanders ship and the other Galaxians on your picture !(Same as mine).

Here's some more pictures (yeah better believe it, I got more than already showed here )

The first shot is the original CPO:



The second the repro:



I maybe too anal about this all......but on the other hand, when doing something (and pay good money for it), do it 100% right. Same thing with the coindoor. I still do no know if the bubbles were there on purpose or not (see the other thread, opinions differ !!!)

There are 2 versions of CPO graphic files available. One is absolutelty perfect (straight lines, colors spot-on) BUT doesn't have the coyright sign ( (c) 1979 Midway Mfg.).

The other looks like a worked-up scan. Lines are far from straight however. BUT this one has the copyright notice....

Could someone take up the task of including the copyright info in the first file ? ( http://www.localarcade.com/arcade_art/details.php?image_id=288&mode=search ) I am not a vector expert or anything so I need to rely on some help here. Maybe I should put positng in the Artwork section.

[sfrascella]

Thought you might be interested in this

http://www.thisoldgame.com/thisoldgame/new_page_2.htm

He has a silk screened Galaxian repro for $29.00

[Level42]

Great find, don't know them !

Thanks.....

However, why do all these companies think that a picture with a size less than a stamp is OK te actualy sell the products.....

I don't want to make another mistake. I e-mailed them to ask for a high-res big picture of their version....

That Galaxian kickplate seems wrong, where's the blue on the lower side ? Also, I wonder if the vinyl will have the same structure as the original.....but if so...........VERY tempting

[arcadefever]

(Gotta thank Arcadefever who was very helpful in forwarding me this
!!!)

  happy to help 

[Level42]

Mmmm....this is done very nicely:

http://www.arcadeoriginals.co.uk/00118.html


But:

- the coin door is black => WRONG !
- couldn't they have removed the manufacturers plate before painting the back white ? Or at least tape it off PROPERLY ?
- the midway coindoor logo plate is stuck on with the adhesive, they forgot to put back the rivets, details, details...
- and what I REALLY don't understand: inside black paint NOT redone.....black = black , until you start flash photographing

Shame that a nice job looses it at details like this. If you going to pay that kind of money, it should be perfect

I wonder on what vinyl that side-and kick art was printed. And if it was printed on a full sheet and then cut to size, or that it's a smaller sheet...can't tell from the pictures. It looks VERY good though !!!

With these prices, I will have to raise my insurance when I've finished both my Galaxian and Mario Bros. I mean UKP 1895 = $3.723 = €2.827  I mean.....I think that is a LOT, yes I know there are costs and working hours in it.....but this is a LOT. It's clear what market they are targetting...but who can blame them....maybe I should start a business like that

[Level42]

Well, I recovered from a really bad attack on my lungs...had some serious dope to cure it and I feel much much better know. Regretfully I had to cancel last saturday's visit I had planned to Darth Nuno's Lair because of this, but we''ll catch up later...

Anyway, I have done some work yesterday because I was tired of doing nothing as well.....

Finished the paint job on the upper insides. I think it turned out OK. I'm happy with it anyway...check out the pics....

3rd pic: Mmmm, gotta touch up the edges near the top...

4th pic.......oops !!!!

[Level42]

After the paint had dried, I installed the T-molding:

[Level42]

Some more....

In the factury they used U-shape nails (tacks) to secure both edges of the T-molding. You have to get rid of them. I drove them into the wood using a screwdriver and hammer. Didn't succeed on one spot so I cut out a small part of the "beard" of the T-molding there (just like on the sharp outter corners).

The T-molding went in pretty easily, I used a soft plastic hammer and a towel to hammer it in the groove. Stayed in very well even at the ends, but I used the glue gun to secure the ends.

[Level42]

The cab was on it's backside for the first time, you can guess how it looked:

Time for the good old Dasty and scrub-sponge


Yeah, that's better. I'll leave the two "slides" under the cab for now, it's easier to move around while working with it. Will install proper legs later....

[Level42]

Removed the coin door frame.......ahhhhh more work for Dasty !!!!

[csa3d]

After the paint had dried, I installed the T-molding:

Now is this T-molding the original stuff you removed or did you purchase reproduction leather textured stuff?  If so, from where.  I'm considering going with new myself, but don't want baby butt smooth stuff.  Great job on the cleanup!  I'm continually amazed at how white you end up getting this thing with that cleaner!

[Level42]

After the paint had dried, I installed the T-molding:

Now is this T-molding the original stuff you removed or did you purchase reproduction leather textured stuff?  If so, from where.  I'm considering going with new myself, but don't want baby butt smooth stuff.  Great job on the cleanup!  I'm continually amazed at how white you end up getting this thing with that cleaner!

That's brand new T-molding. Came from arcadeshop, but almost "everyone" can deliver it, like www.t-molding.com etc. I think your cab will need the Galaxian-green T-molding !!! (Also available).

Thanks...

[Level42]

O guys, I forgot....remember that bad CPO ?

OK, www.arcadeshop.com refunded me the money for the CPO. All clear....

[SithMaster]

I was hoping that would work out for you congrats.

I saw the dragonlair topic before this one and both have me thinking i should use mdf for my monitor as well.  I acquired a galaxian as well but it was stripped down to the wood, missing the back door, coin door, and one marquee retainer.  I was going to use a board of oak and make two supports for the monitor at the ends (both double thick since they sellem 8 feet here and i can cut 4 supports at 2 feet) but i was curious as to how well your monitor holds up with the frame design and being mdf?

The cross supports is easier for me to do but if i have to i can get a jugsaw to cut a window in a board.

But i have to say good job so far and thanks for the pics they are really going to come in handy when i finally start working on mine.  (was going to be a pac but then saw it said gal on the side really faded out.  galaxian is more fun than pac man so...)

[Level42]

Hey Sithmaster,

Thanks ! The MDF is excellent ! It's VERY strong and sturdy. There's absolutely no noticable difference between the original wood-laminate and the MDF replacement in matter of strength. I feared a bit that by cutting out such a big hole for the CRT it would become less stable, but it's very rigid. It's also lighter and not the least important a LOT cheaper then anything else. Also very easy to saw/drill, but do be careful with the dust. (Wear a dust mask and work outside). I had my MDF sheet sawed at the DIY shop for free to the exact size. I only had to do the drilling and jigsawing for the CRT. I used 18 mm thick MDF. There are several standardized thicknesses here.

Dathnuno (Dragonlair) inspired me on both replacing the monitor with a TV-set using SCART, and re-creating the bezel. I love his site ! Did you see the Galaxian to Pac Man restoration he did ? Fantastic job ! http://www.dragonslairfans.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=195

If needed, you can get a complete new (painted !) backdoor at www.thisoldgame.com (Look under Misc Parts, scroll all the way down).
The marquee retainers are available here (repro's): http://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=MBRACKETSET
The coindoor will be more of a problem I guess, e-bay is your best bet here i think.

www.mamemarquees.com and www.thisoldgame.com offer Galaxian art now !!

Do you know a serial no. of your cab, and what T-molding does it have ?

__________________________________________________________
Some updates:

1)
I went over to the company who does powdercoating. I showed him all the stuff and he suggested that I did all the "rough" sanding myself. If he would sandblast the parts, he might go through it (!!!!) or at least warp the parts. He normaly does a bit thicker metal things )
It would also take him a lot of time (=money). So to save that (he mentioned €200,-) I will sand myself with an excentric sander as he suggested, just rougly. He will do the finishing/hard-to reach parts sandblasting.

I also showed him the coin door, and we found a RAL color that is almost exactly (you never know from a plastic example) the same and he said he could easily recreate the "bubble" effect.

2)
I won a bezel (plexi) on e-bay (thanks to the help of Negetavicreep0) and it arrived a couple of days ago. Of course it's not mint, but it's not bad either....take a look at the pics.....

[Level42]

Also I'm currently a bit in doubt where to order my CPO art from.

There are two options:

www.mamemarquees.com

He is well-known here, everyone seems to be positive about him and I also had good communication. However, the material used is not exactly the same as the original (but close) and he uses ink-jet printing as far as I know.

The alternative is www.thisoldgame.com

He's doing real silkscreen printing and promises the exact same material. Communications via e-mail with Richard is great, he's answered ALL my questions promptly and clearly.

I think I prefer the silk-screening. What do you guys think ?

[WaRpEd]

Hey galaxian
I didn't see price on the web site but since your doing a Hardcore restore
I'd pay the extra bucks and get the silk-screened bezel it looks excellent in the photos.
Cheers Bob

[Level42]

Hey it's Level42 here (although I understand the confusion ).

Well the CPO's are $29,- at both mamemarquees.com and thisoldgame.com

The bezel has no price yet at thisoldgame.com. I e-mailed Richard to ask about when they will be ready and the price, and how they are made/applied....

[Level42]

Done some hard work today !!

I sanded all the metal parts of the Galaxian (and the Mario Bros.) that I want powder coated.
I used an excentric sander, this works very quickly but it eats sanding discs like nuts ! I even did some joystick parts, since they were pretty rusty too.

The only thing still to do is the CP. Gotta remove the rests of the original overlay first.

When that's sanded and done I can get all the parts to the powdercoater. He will do the little "left-overs" that I coulnd't sand by sandblasting and then get a nice powdercoating job.

[SithMaster]

Good to know for the monitor frame that mdf will hold up well.  Next time to drop by the local supplier ill take a look.

My cab doesnt have tmolding and the metal sign on the back is there but covered with a beige paint.  I was considering using paint thinner or acetone to remove the top coat but im going to research so i dont remove the lettering on the plate. (edit it does have textured black molding and i am going to check the inside for a sticker).  For some reason i thought the number was on the metal sign but its not so ill have a look see later and get back to you.

Back when i had wood shop in high school (last year) i made a new back door from plywood though its lacking the bottom air vents.

Yep thats the restore i saw earlier looks great and makes me wish i had a scart tv but then id want the pcbs for the game.

[csa3d]

Nice job with that sanding!  Interesting that your coin door has one slot and mine has two.  Did they start making the dual slot later in production do you know?  How much were you quoted for that powdercoat job?  When I was pricing out that stuff, they were price gauging the crap out me.

Keep 'em coming!

-csa

[Level42]

Nice job with that sanding!  Interesting that your coin door has one slot and mine has two.  Did they start making the dual slot later in production do you know?  How much were you quoted for that powdercoat job?  When I was pricing out that stuff, they were price gauging the crap out me.

Keep 'em coming!

-csa

Yeah, I wondered about the single slot as well. Maybe it was a European market thing ?
Most I've seen have two. He mentioned €70,- ( about $90,-) total for all the Galaxian and Mario Bros. parts. I think it's worth it. It includes paint and sandblasting the little spots I couldn't reach.

If he would have done all the sanding it would have been a lot more, and I can now understand why....it took quite some time, even with the excentric sander. Had to do some parts by hand.

If you count in paint etc. I think it's a good deal, and I know he does excellent work. He's done  some work for me before on drum-rings, removing all the chrome and replacing it with an excellent layer of black coat. I think the powder coating will be much more resistant to human sweat than anything else....especialy nice for the CP !

[Level42]

OK, got the CP done....I decided to try my hot-air gun on the rests of the CPO and I should have done that earlier ! The good parts were coming off great, complete clean sections....If I had done this right away I think I could have taken the CPO off in one go (or about)....

Another lesson learned

Also sanded the CP and it's nice and shiny....

Some pics...

1st and 2nd : Inside BEFORE, yuckie rust...

3rd: The tool....ready to eat some paint and rust !

[Level42]

The result:

Maybe not perfect, but that's not needed....the powdercoating will do the finishing touch....

Now I gotta find some time to bring it all to him !

[am_monkee]

wow-you're doing an amazing job. thanks for being so thorough in your write-up...i'm getting so many ideas.

keep on keep on...

[Level42]

Thanks !!! It's great if I insipre others...I've been inspired by others as well !

That's what this forum is all about IMHO

Current status is that I've gotta do some extra sanding on the Nintendo Mario Bros. Coin door. It was hard to do with the sanding machine, so I will have to do some serious hand-sanding....else it would cost me another €50,- at the powdercoater.....

I may also include the marquee retainers of the Centipede I recently bought. They're not bad, but if it goes in "the bunch" for no or little extra charge, it's surely worth it.

I've ordered a new CPO at www.thisoldgame.com. It's on it's way from the US to here now. I'm hoping that it's better than the one I had before, but I'm pretty sure. Thisoldgame.com was a LOT more responsive to a whole series of e-mails I bugged him with. Every question was answered. I even pointed Richard to a mistake on his CPO file for Galaxian (copyright year was 1978, that was because it actualy LOOKED like 1978 on his original !). He was glad I found that one !

It is silk-screened so I keep my fingers crossed....

He also includes a small piece of the vinyl that he prints the kick-art as per his own suggestion, so I could judge if I like it or not. I call that thinking with your customers and I really like that

If the CPO's arrived and the powder-coating done then it's assembling everything back and I would be ready !!!

[HoopstarsGarage]

Awesome restoration..!!   


A couple of things I thought I could add:

With regards to the cigarette burn marks on the bezel - I have restored a plastic bezel with exactly the same problem.  I used 800 grit wet/dry sand paper, then 1000, then 1500, then 2000.  I then used Meguiars plastic polish which is designed to remove the fine swirl marks from the sanding and those already there as you see in your pictures.  You will be incredibly surprised by the results as they come up looking like new.

Secondly, I have recently restored a Midway coin door for my Galaga Scratch build and had the coin door sand blasted without any troubles...

I went from this:




to this:

 


to this:



The sandblaster did both sides of the door and the frame and worked really well at getting into all the tight and hard to get to areas.

anyhow.. I hope that helps a little.  Keep up the great restoration and great thread.


Hoops

[Level42]

Wow Hoops, that looks great ! I checked out your Galaga repro: 
Wow I wouldn't have thought about actualy sanding plexi ! Great idea... I'll have to google to find out what Meguiars plastic polish is but I guess I can get a simular product here. I guess you did hand-sanding on it ? Do you have any pics from that restored bezel ?

I've read that you also sanded the joystick ball, another great idea, Maybe I will get mine a bit more White that way. There's also a really deep sscratch in it...don't think I can entirely remove that.

That joystick on the Galaga panel is exactly the same as the one on my Galaxian. Where did you get new rubbers for it ? Did you install "regular" new leafs on it ? Does yours have a lot of up/down movement as well ?

I wonder why the sanding work is so expensive here. My powdercoater told me he included 10 minutes of sandblasting into the job price (which is still not bad, €70,- for the whole bunch of parts) but he said it would increase by €50,- just by sandblasting the Mario Bros. coin door alone...

You did a fantastic job on the Galaga ! Only one minor question,( seeing your great eye for detail) Why didn't you get repro-marquee retainers ?

And another thing, that original "Engineered by Namco" simply doesn't fit on that cabinet....it should be mounted on an original Bally/Nacmo cabinet like uhmmmmm.... Galaxian No.815  

Just kidding of course, I still wonder why there isn't a plaque like that on my cab. There are no marks either, so my guess is it was never on it....weird !

[Level42]

Just a small update about No.815:

First it was temporaraly stored in my shed in the garden because of my son's birthday (my wife wanted everything (except the Mame-cab of course) out the door for that weekend....) I took a picture when it was on it's way back in full sunlight (Pict.1)

The metal parts were finaly delivered at the powder coater today.....hope to have them back within a week. (I still had to sand the Mario Bros Coindoor as good as possible....not an easy job. Everything left over he has to sandblast and I'm going to pay for it because I'm completely fed-up with sanding ) (Pict.2)

The CPO from thisoldgame.com has some delay. Had some more mail contact with richard of thisoldgame.com about the white vinyl. He's sending me some samples as well....regretfully the sheets he uses are not large enough to cover the back-panel. I think I really will be re-newing the back in some way...it looks like sh_t.....

The Mame cab was endurance tested during my sons birthday (Pict.3)

[Luigi]

Hi André


You are doing an amazing job here 


And you inspired me to have a closer look at our Galaxian cab (http://www.thludwig.de/pics/arcade/halle/defekte_2.jpg

We didn't have the time to check it completely. The PCB is missing but except that it seems to be complete....in bad shape though

I won't have the time (and money) to do an equal restoration job but at least I want it to run again

[Level42]

Hi Luigi,

Yeah I am still very happy with the codition my cab was (is) in....yours would indeed need some work and new artwork.

I am always interested to hear what serial number your cab has....

[Luigi]

hehe.....maybe I can make it there this weekend.....I'll let you know


Concerning the artwork: we have several machines that we'd like to have running in our collection. It is not our goal to make them look like coming straight from the factory (most of them are more than 20 years old and they are allowed to have some scratches and bumps ) but to be able to play them. Of course, if there is time and opportunity (and last: $$) we will make them look a little more "new" but I'm afraid we are too lazy to resore complete sideart  Maybe when we retired 

[Level42]

Yeah, I've seen your site, very impressive "arcade" you guys got I guess I will have to make a visit some time to Germany

I guess my goal is a bit more quality then quantity, but if I would have that much space......

Went to the powdercoater today because he still had some questions. We settled on RAL 7031 for the color to use for the Midway coin door. That one came closest when compared on a color sample.

Check out the color here: http://www.timax.nl/ral.html#7000 (Scroll down to 7031)

I don't know what color systems are in use in the US and the rest of the world, but RAL is a standardised color system here in Europe.

I hope it will be as close to the original as the sample, you never know how it will work out on the real thing.....

I made some pictures of the original and repro Midway Coindoor plate. The original are out of real metal. When you bend it, it stays in that shape. The repro, although on thick material is not on real metal. This also makes it less shiny then the original. The art used is clearly not vectorized. All in all, the repro's are OK, but I'd like to see a run of real metal plates with vectorized artwork, and idealy with pre-drilled holes....or am I too anal about this all

[MaximRecoil]

I made some pictures of the original and repro Midway Coindoor plate. The original are out of real metal. When you bend it, it stays in that shape. The repro, although on thick material is not on real metal. This also makes it less shiny then the original. The art used is clearly not vectorized. All in all, the repro's are OK, but I'd like to see a run of real metal plates with vectorized artwork, and idealy with pre-drilled holes....or am I too anal about this all

I suppose you could have someone make you some stencils, then get a blank metal plate and make your own. 

[SithMaster]

My cabs serial is 29159.  Ive been meaning to let you know for awhile and finally checked the number.

Looking good so far.  If only i had good sideart on mine...

[SavannahLion]

I also showed him the coin door, and we found a RAL color that is almost exactly (you never know from a plastic example) the same and he said he could easily recreate the "bubble" effect.

You got my interest now. Did you remember to tell him to do that "bubble" effect?

How is that done anyways? It looks like some kind of orange peel effect, but with powder coat?

[Level42]

Hey Sithmaster thanks !!!! That's the highest serial nr. I've seen so far !!!!! Guess my estimate of 30.000 cabs built is about right......until a higher serial come along of course .

So far the highest I had seen was in the 27.000. So you are now the unofficial "highest" record holder, and I would probably be the "lowest"

Remember that the numbering of the serial production started with 101.

SavannahLion: Well, yeah he knows about the bubbles......I only regret not giving him a print-out of the picture I took before I sanded it.....I hope it will look a bit like it was originaly.

I have no clue how he will do it, all he said when I mentioned it and showed it on the door when it was not sanded yet was "no problem". He did mention that he had to finish it off with some clear coat because of this effect.

Another thing....the cost I mentioned earlier here in this thread was per color. Since I also had the other parts of the Galaxian and Mario Bros that needed to be done in black, the total cost doubled of course. I considered not having the Galaxian coindoor done because of this, but I figured that I could never get the quality this guy does/powder coating gives. It's logical that this price was per color since he needs to set-up eveything for another color.It's also his minimum cost and considering he's doing all kind of small parts as well, I think it's not a bad deal.

He said he would do it yesterday if he still had the time. He'll give me a call when they're ready.

Do I have to mention that I will put up pictures ASAP here when it's done ?

[theCoder]

Given how meticulous you are with this rebuild, spending €70 for the sanding & painting seems like a very small price to pay for the quality job you're getting.  You can't touch the thoroughness of a sandblast compared to sanding by hand.  Nice job on the restoration.

[Level42]

You're absolutely right.

And thanks !

[Level42]

Well about time for an update. First: I had planned to visit Darth Nuno this sunday, but to my utter regret, I had to cancel again. My back snapped into a really bad postition friday night when I was getting of our couch. If you've never experienced a nerve getting stuck, imagine someone sticking a knife into your spine. I actualy screamed it out.....
I was on the floor and unable to get up for on hour and a hald (my wife was getting muscle relaxers for me).....

To make a long story short: Doctor ordered me to either keep walking around (which I did !!!) or lie down. Sit as little as possible.....

So the 3 hour drive (one way) to Darth Nuno was impossible for me....but I was able to SLOWLY do some work on 815.

Just before this all happened I picked up the metal parts from the powder coater. It turned out that he didn't do the speckles/bubbles etc. which greatly disappointed me. I had forgotten to mention it when I finaly brought the sanded stuff so I guess it was more or less my fault.

Anyway, the black parts looked great, and I think the blue-grey color fot the coindoor was pretty well chosen. Maybe it's a bit lighter than the original, and it's certainly more (too) shiny. So, if you plan on having something like this done, talk through it in detail....
Anyway, we agreed on a good price and the quality of the coating itself is excellent, it is so sturdy looking and feeling.

So I went ahead and slowly re-assembled the coin-door and re-installed the marquee.

Check out the pics...

No.1 Galaxian CP and the closest to it are the Galaxian marquee brackets. The other two or from the Mario Bros.

No.2 Marquee brackets

No.3 Joystick base and some smaller parts. The rightmost part is holding the coin insert on the Galaxian door, so it should have been gray (my mistake) but luckely it's on the inside and the main reason for getting this part done is protecting it from rust

[Level42]

The coindoor....too shiny for sure.

And I also learned from this that I should have had someone do a better job of gettting the dents out....

[Level42]

#1: Had to get the rust of bolts that hold the coin input. I used the glass-fibre pen for this, worked pretty well.

#2 & #3: I wanted to have those rivets back in the Midway coindoor plate. So I had to make holes in the repro plate. But they had to be positioned exactly right. So I figured I would use the original plate as a mask. I taped the orignal on top of the repro (with the protective stuff still on it) really tight together.

Then I put it on a scrap piece of wood and carefully drilled the holes.

[Level42]

#1 & #2: The drilled holes in the repro, perfect

#3: The original rivets were obvously rusted. Got my Dremel (clone) and a wire brush and brought back that copper shine !

[Level42]

#1: Had to make the holes a little bigger again, that powder coating is pretty thick !

#2: Backside, first parts re-installed

#3: Coinmech. I cleaned most parts and rusty parts where either cleaned with the glass-fibre pen or 1200 sanding paper

[Level42]

#1: Everyrhing back in place, but the key-hook is missing.....I bet it will surface later

#2: Top look of the counter and coin slide

#3: Everything installed. Looks nice, even without the bubbles !

The lock is brand new from Suzo.

[Level42]

Some detail shots... since the original rivets were cut off, I glued them back in by putting a little drop of one-second glue in the hole and directly putting in the top of the rivet.

It doesn't give the real "tight-in by the rivets" look, but it's surely better then simply applying the plate with the backadhesive (which I of course did use to fix it).

[Level42]

Some pictures of the marquee and brackets in place. I still have to touch-up the marquee from the back, but it looks brilliant imho !!!

By the way, I lost a couple of the original screws, so that's why the middle one is missing....I hope they will resurface....

[Level42]

Some complete front shots. I put up the metal part of the CPO just for the pic.

I am still waiting for any news about the CPO I ordered with thisoldgame.com...............

Judging from the pics, the door is mounted a little bit unstraight, will look into that a bit later.....bed time now here.....


P.S. Seeing what 2PacMan did with painting his Galaxian (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=65367.0) I am now really wanting to restore (at least) the bottom parts of the kickplate. Going to have to repair some chipped wood there and then re-paint it. It's really something that needs to be done because it really distracts from the other fine looking restored parts IMHO).

[patrickl]

Wow that's coming along nicely even with you being ill and all.

[Level42]

With regards to the cigarette burn marks on the bezel - I have restored a plastic bezel with exactly the same problem.  I used 800 grit wet/dry sand paper, then 1000, then 1500, then 2000.  I then used Meguiars plastic polish which is designed to remove the fine swirl marks from the sanding and those already there as you see in your pictures.  You will be incredibly surprised by the results as they come up looking like new.

Hoops, again thanks for that great tip. I've been doing some sanding with 1200 (the only ulta-fine I could get in a hurry) and that yellow stuff (cigarette marks/melted parts) went away VERY nicely. So I decided to sand the entire front side. I then tried some stuff my wife uses to polish metal things in the kitchen, called Ha-Ra Multi-pasta (no not the eadible pasta, pasta=paste). I worked out pretty well. Those yellow marks are GONE ! Also the front feels smooth as a baby's skin...however, I can still see the very fine swirls made by that paste. I gotta get me that Mequires stuff, but the stupid Dutch Meguires importer is not responding to my mails.....I'll look if I can get anything simular here.

I made pics, no time to put them up my Mac yet.

I also received some pictures of the Galaxian CPO's in production at www.thisoldgame.com
Richard kindly agreed to let me show them here, as maybe some of you guys would like to see them. The colors look spot-on.

Mine will be in the mail on monday according to Richard

Enjoy...

[Level42]

Two more...

[HoopstarsGarage]

Hoops, again thanks for that great tip. I've been doing some sanding with 1200 (the only ulta-fine I could get in a hurry) and that yellow stuff (cigarette marks/melted parts) went away VERY nicely.

My pleasure.. it's always great to be able to help out a fellow arcade restorer/builder

The stuff you've "stolen" from your wifes kitchen sounds like its working nicely but you *really* need to use the finer grades of sand paper first to remove as many of the fine scratches as possible - If you have any problems tracking down the finer paper or for that matter the Meguiars plastic polish, let me know and I can buy some and send it to you..  in the mean time, here is a reference picture that may help you track it down - some auto parts stores carry the full range of Meguiars polishes (normally used on cars) and might be able to order it in for you.

The resto is looking great.. only wish Australia was closer so I could come over for a game or two 


Hoops

[patrickl]

Hoops, again thanks for that great tip. I've been doing some sanding with 1200 (the only ulta-fine I could get in a hurry) and that yellow stuff (cigarette marks/melted parts) went away VERY nicely. So I decided to sand the entire front side. I then tried some stuff my wife uses to polish metal things in the kitchen, called Ha-Ra Multi-pasta (no not the eadible pasta, pasta=paste). I worked out pretty well. Those yellow marks are GONE ! Also the front feels smooth as a baby's skin...however, I can still see the very fine swirls made by that paste. I gotta get me that Mequires stuff, but the stupid Dutch Meguires importer is not responding to my mails.....I'll look if I can get anything simular here.

Go to a car parts store and get a swirl remover polish. The Brezan where I went had 3 or 4 different ones. Maybe you need to check if it works on plastic, but I bought one to use on CDs and it worked fine.

Or get the Novus polishset, but I guess that's a bit too much for just a few marks. BTW the same store has small grit sanding paper too (up to 12.000)

[Level42]

Patrick, thanks for that tip on the Novus polish set. It's a bit expensive, but I may go for it. Not 100% sure though....for a little more I can get a brand-new repro silk-screened plexi from www.thisoldgame.com and I may be ordering more stuff from them anyway....see below.... I have to do a the complete bezel, not just a  part so it will take quite a bit of this stuff to get it 100% again.

The Brezan here is very small and the guy behind the counter had glazy eyes and laughed and said it was impossible to do something like this....what stuff did you buy there exactly ?

Anyway.....how about some updates....

OK first, I tried to get the joystick ball as white as possible. I sanded it with some 400 (or so) paper, to get the scratches out as much as possible. That gave a nice "fluffy" effect on the ball (see pic 1). Then I used 1200 sandpaper, and after that this HaRa polishing stuff. It turned out pretty OK. The really yellow look has gone. It's still not as white as the (brand new) buttons of course, but it's OK like this.

Actualy playing the game will make the ball smoother again



 

[Level42]

Since the overlay took a little longer, I decided yesterday morning to re-assemble the CP so I could play it already. It turned out I have misplaced or lost the carriage-bolts for the CP, which is amazing since I carefully packed all small parts in plastic bags. Anyway, there are new one's coming over from the US, since I can't find the US sized bolts here, and not even metric sized carriage bolts that are small enough to fit.

Next I thought I had also lost the nut of the pivot rod of the joystick...however I tried a nut that looked about the same size and it fits ! And it IS a metric nut !! This is weird because the Galaxian parts manual mentions this as a #10-32 nut........ anyway, I was "saved"

Sp I assembled the CP and this is how it looked:

[Level42]

Then ONE HOUR after finishing this the doorbell rang. It was the mail-man, and when I saw what he had in his hands I got really excited

Pic 1, the package, VERY well packed
Pic 2, the vinyl samples that Richard included for my reference, more about that later.
Pic 3.....FINALY

[Level42]

Sorry guys, have to go for now, much more pics a bit later....

One thing: the overlay is GREAT quality 

[patrickl]

Patrick, thanks for that tip on the Novus polish set. It's a bit expensive, but I may go for it. Not 100% sure though....for a little more I can get a brand-new repro silk-screened plexi from www.thisoldgame.com and I may be ordering more stuff from them anyway....see below.... I have to do a the complete bezel, not just a  part so it will take quite a bit of this stuff to get it 100% again.

The Brezan here is very small and the guy behind the counter had glazy eyes and laughed and said it was impossible to do something like this....what stuff did you buy there exactly ?

Yeah, that novus kit stuff is expensive. But it contains three different polishes. You will probably need a few different ones anyway and a bottle of polish will be something like 10 or 15 euro too. Get two or three of those and your there too.

I'm not sure what the brezan dudes problem was. They have a 2 or 3 step polish program from just about any brand. I bought a set from Sonax. Usually it's a scratch (scratch + spray mist) remover and then something as a high gloss polish (to remove swirls and small scratches). Depends on the brand how they call it. unfortunately I don;t have my bottles here right now (I've just moved and some stuff is in storage). As I said, I'm not sure if it will damage your bezel. The polishes are meant for car paint. I did try the gloss polish I had on a CD and it worked fine though.

You can buy the Maguire polish Hoopstar mentions overhere too. I went to their site and searched for plastic. It shows 4 different products. Guess the one Hoopstars mentiond is the high gloss product. They also have another product called clear plastic polish.

Oh, BTW, I have seen those Novus bottles sold seperately too. Heb even gezocht en bij pinballwizard.nl hebben ze ze los.

[Level42]

OK, so will this CPO come through the tough "Level 42" test ?

Let's take a closer look...

pic1: The colors look VERY vivid and true to the original. Very nice indeed.
pic2: Macro shoot: VERY well printed, colors are exactly at the right place.
pic3: Holes are exactly the right size for the buttons, ALL holes...

The material used by www.thisoldgame.com seems to be a little thinner than what I got from www.arcadeshop.com, and it's a little different structured and a little less shiny. However, none of this distracts much from the overall excellent impression. Adhesive is also 3M.

[Level42]

OK, time to dig up the old pics.

pic1: Original
pic2: arcadeshop.com
pic3: thisoldgame.com

Judge for yourself....(please understand that these pictures were taken under various lighting coditions (flash at night), pic 3 daytime, bright sun, so think about that with color differences etc.)

IMHO opinion the thisoldgame version is WAY better than the original !!!

It also matches the original letter much better, look at the shape of the question mark....GREAT !

However, take another close look......yes look very closely. There IS a mistake......Anyone see it ?

[patrickl]

That looks amazing. That is silk screen printed? Amazingly accurate then.

However, take another close look......yes look very closely. There IS a mistake......Anyone see it ?

The eyes of the green ship should be red?

[Level42]

pic1: OK, I mailed with Richard from thisoldgame about this. His original file had 1978 there !!!! I was glad to see that mistake (would be more noticable than that other one shown above). There's also no copyright symbol.....that's a choice Rich makes which I can understand.

pic 2: OK, this CPO is EXCELLENT quality IMHO. Is it 100% the same as orignal ? No. It's printed WAY better. The material is a little bit different, but hey, we're 27 years later. I can FULLY recommend ThisOldGame for your CPO's etc.

SOOOOOO, let's install it already ! Remove the panel from cab, remove the buttons and ball...througly clean the metal and degrease it with my old friend Dasty ...Dry it very well...

pic3: Since it's rather small I chose the dry application method. I stole this way of installing from Darth Nuno's excellent site: http://www.dragonslairfans.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=135

I kept the pretective layer on, and "installed" the buttons temporarely. This made it possible to adjust the position to be exactly right.

[Level42]

Pic1: Lift up the left side, pulled down the protective layer and cut it near the bend with a pair of sizzors.

Pic2: Put down the left side from the center, sliding over the top with my right hand....

Pic3: Remove the buttons again and lift up the right side.

[patrickl]

Don;t wanna make your project even more expensive then it already is, but can't you get the manufacturers plate and/or the coin door plate from ThisOldGame too? He prints a Space Invaders CPO on aluminum.

[Level42]

pic1: Remove the rest of the protective layer....

pic2: And again slide with my right hand from the center to the right. Done !

pic3: But.......O damn......I FORGOT something ! The dust washer !!!!

[Level42]

Don;t wanna make your project even more expensive then it already is, but can't you get the manufacturers plate and/or the coin door plate from ThisOldGame too? He prints a Space Invaders CPO on aluminum.

Hey Patrick....thanks for all the info about novus etc, will get back about that later.

That was EXACTLY my thought, and I've been mailing with Richard about it, at least about the Midway coin door plate. He had thought of starting a run of it, but saw that arcadeshop.com was already selling it so he let it go, since he thought they printed on metal. Since I mailed him the pics I put up here, he said he was thinking about doing it still now again.

And indeed, later I thought about that great manufacturers plate on the back that is SO missing on my cab. That could be done as well, but haven't mailed about it with Richard.

I'd like to stress here that in NO way this is some kind of crusade against arcadeshop.com. Quite the opposite, all the other parts I got from them are FINE, and I guess 98% of the people are very happy with the repro coindoor plates from them. It's mounted on my door now, and it looks fine.
But if Richard will pick up the glove and make a metal version, I will definitly replace it.


And indeed, this CPO is silk screened (you can see it on the production pictures I put up in this thread). AMAZING job !!!

[Level42]

pic1: AARrrghhh, so I had to remove the buttons again, get the metal CP off and put the dust washer in the only correct place.....

pic2: remember how it was when I first opened the panel ? Quite a difference

pic3: OK, everything assembled back. The bolts are not mounted yet of course....they will be on their way next week

[Level42]

OK, let's put it where it belongs.....

Some "pre" and "after" pics.....can you spot the differneces

[Level42]

So let's PLAY !


It turned out that the ship was moving to the right withouth touching the joystick. A little adjsutment of the leafs corrected it. By the way, what you don't see on the pics is that I have disassembled all the leafs, cleaned the blades and the contacts with a glass-fiber pen. I even measured the resistance, before and after I did that. Although the contacts looked really BLACK, there was NO measurable difference (both 0,02 ohms on my Fluke DMM).

Those blades are mounted strangely by the way, but I'll show that later.

O and I had meant to actualy replace the leafs, because I am pretty sure they were still the original one's. I bought a couple, but they turned out to be a bit too small. So I decided to fix the old one's.

So anyone who claims leafs are taking a lot of maintancence.....I cleaned the contacts, bend the metal as straight as possible, had to resolder ONE wire, and they work GREAT. Even after 27 years !

The only small problem is the joystick. The up-down movement is OK, i can live with it, but there is also movement to the bottom and up. Probably because the ring is loose. I may ask a friend if he can weld the whole thing to get rid of the movement....


Enough for now, the project is NOT finished yet

[patrickl]

That was EXACTLY my thought, and I've been mailing with Richard about it, at least about the Midway coin door plate. He had thought of starting a run of it, but saw that arcadeshop.com was already selling it so he let it go, since he thought they printed on metal. Since I mailed him the pics I put up here, he said he was thinking about doing it still now again.

Actually, I have another midway coin door logo plate (the one with midway in the center) and that one is printed on a metallic piece. It's quite thin so it could be just some sort of foil though.

I bought mine at MikesArcade.com. Not sure if you saw it already, but they have a lot of midway parts. Not the coin door logo plate anymore, but I guess it's the wrong one for you anyway.

BTW I came past an old thread about cleaning up scratches in plexi: Removing scratches in plexi (it's kinda old, but I doubt it has changed much)

[Luigi]

Great work !!

I'm sorry to say that, but I saw another mistake. The original at the score table says "CONVOY" the remake says "CONYOY" 

[patrickl]

Now that I look at it again, the Novus polish set looks to contain 2 oz bottles. That's really not a lot (60ml). The pinball site has 8-oz bottles.

[Level42]

Great work !!

I'm sorry to say that, but I saw another mistake. The original at the score table says "CONVOY" the remake says "CONYOY" 

Yep, that's the mistake I meant !!!

[patrickl]

So with the year being wrong, the eyes not red and the word CONVOY spelled wrong, there are 3 mistakes? To be honest it looks great anyway, but you sounded like you were going to get a new CPO. Seeing how you applied it already, I guess not?

[Havok]

Great work !!

I'm sorry to say that, but I saw another mistake. The original at the score table says "CONVOY" the remake says "CONYOY" 

Still looks better, besides English isn't the native language over there. Bet no-one even notices...

[Level42]

Patrick, that Coindoor plate could be NOS of course. If you bend it, and it stays in that shape, it's metal, just like the original.

About the mistakes. The year is NOT wrong. Rich was kind enough to first mail me the digital artwork he would use for the Galaxian CPO's. I checked it and noticed that it showed 1978 as the copyright year. Of course that is untrue. Richard thanked me for pointing out that mistake and he mailed me his scan of his original CPO, and it had a poor spot at the last 9 of 1979, and it looked very much like 1978......he was glad I found that and corrected the mistake.

The only "problem"is that there is no (C) symbol, but as I mentioned that is a choice Rich made, and I can understand and accept that.

I am not too sure about the red "eyes". It could be true, but it's hard to see. Indeed the green aliens have red "eyes" on the game screen itself but I don't mind this.

Also the Convoy mistake is indeed very hard to see. I missed it when I checked out the digital file....

Both these things are hard to see and don't harm as much as the misprint that I got from arcadeshop.

Havok, don't underestimate the Dutch, they're pretty good at English

But who reads instructions anyway these days

Anyway I'll mail Rich about the mistake (I pointed him to this thread too, he's on this forum) and I will demand a huge rebate on my next order

[patrickl]

Patrick, that Coindoor plate could be NOS of course. If you bend it, and it stays in that shape, it's metal, just like the original.

I'm not to sure about bending it I think it's too thin to stay in a shape though. It looks like an aluminum sticker with a silkscreen print on it. Probably just like ThisOldgame uses.

......he was glad I found that and corrected the mistake.

Ah OK, so it was fixed before you got it.

I am not too sure about the red "eyes". It could be true, but it's hard to see. Indeed the green aliens have red "eyes" on the game screen itself but I don't mind this.

Well the other two pictures you showed both have "red eyes". Anyway, it looks great. Indeed much better than the original even. I'm so jealous Makes me want to start on my own cab for real. I looked up the order for that coin door logo plate and I bought it in january 2004! Depressing. I'm working on a birdhouse now though 

BTW I guess my english is not so good. I missed the CONYOY thing 

[Level42]

Hey Patrick,

Als je zin hebt, spreken we een keertje af. Kun je in ieder geval de Galaxian alvast bespelen....de rest "moet nog even" gerestaureerd worden

Your English is fine, your brain probably overlooked it because it excpeted a V there and the Y is close to that shape....I discovered it only after I saw this close-up picture !

Sorry guys, I am laughing out lout here. As I type this, my wife is playing Galaxian for the very first time in her life. She said, explain this game to me.....I said, you can move left or right and fire. Avoid everything and try to shoot everything

Couple of seconds later: Ah, so I should also move away from those white things they're dropping..........

Uhhhhh, DUHHHHHHH yeah indeed !!! 

She seems HOOKED !!! Shouting fanatic words at those poor aliens (they will regret fighting my wife, believe me )

She also makes the traditional mistake of "over"firing...good test fot the leaf swtich 
______

Must say I am very much tempted by this:

http://www.thisoldgame.com/thisoldgame/new_page_2.htm

[Edit] Mmm, direct linking doesn't work, what I mean is the kick-art repro.....the lower side of the kickplate is damaged/worn. It's not TOO bad, but it's distracting more, now that almost everything on the frontside looks as new (or is new)....
I either have to fix this by painting, which would require an EXACT color match (remember the color has probably changed from light etc.), and a steady hand. It will also not fix the Dutch license plate. I actualy LIKE a Dutch licence plate to be on there, but it's not intact anymore, and not showing any details about the game. There probably was also a "licence frame" around it at some time.

Rich sent me some samples of the vinyl he uses for this art. I personaly think it's a bit too smooth (should have more structure) and is a bit TOO white....but of course, I compare it with the "white" of the 27 year old side-art so that's not really fair....

I am much in doubt.

[Level42]

RATS !!!!

I found another mistake !!!!

There are no dots before the instructions 

The original has a dot (point) before each step of instructions on the left side.....missed again 

Mmmmmm, this is getting less funny

[patrickl]

Hey Patrick,

Als je zin hebt, spreken we een keertje af. Kun je in ieder geval de Galaxian alvast bespelen....de rest "moet nog even" gerestaureerd worden

Lijkt me een goed idee.

Your English is fine, your brain probably overlooked it because it excpeted a V there and the Y is close to that shape....I discovered it only after I saw this close-up picture !

I suffer from "speed reading". I can only see whoe sentences. I think almost every human has that to an extent though.

How many F's are in the following sentence:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS

Personally I don't think you should replace the kickplate art if it's still in a reasonable state. It's like replacing a van Gogh with a digitally enhanced print. Of course if it's completely useless, then your cab is not a piece of art and you want it usable, but personally I'd love to keep some of the original stuff intact.

BTW you need to stop looking for faults in that CPO Just count how many less mistakes there are so far (compared to the original).

[WunderCade]

If you are going for that "strictly original" standard, then you might consider getting some original coinage stickers that read INSERT COIN 25¢

[Havok]

Havok, don't underestimate the Dutch, they're pretty good at English

Oh, I wouldn't - I have some Dutch ancestry. But I still bet they don't notice. Heck, I probably wouldn't!

 

[theCoder]

RATS !!!!   I found another mistake !!!!   There are no dots before the instructions 

There are probably no more than 100 people on the planet that would be able to find these mistakes.  You should be very proud of what you've created.  Great job.

[Level42]

Thanks, I am and you're right about that. My mainproblem with the the arcadeshop.com CPO was that it looked wrong at the first moment I layed my eyes on it. Not so with this one. I'll mail the things I found to Rich, I know he will fix these little problems for the next batch.

Wundercade, well that actualy IS original DUTCH original. This cab was imported from the US at the time  it was new. I'm quite sure of that because I found some paper of the company who imported it and it looked as old as the rest of the papers that was with it. Anyway, this is the exact coin insert that I remembered from the old arcade days. My Atari Dominos machine from 1976 has the same insert.
And of course, the coin mech is still running on Guilders !!! That's handy, since they come around with every cab purchase I've made so far (got about 9 of them now) and they recently lost all value here, so it's much like using a token. We had Guilders in 1981 so this is quite original

My goal is "as original as possible", but sometimes you need to compromise a bit. No problem, I'm REALLY proud and happy with this cab and how it turned out......

There's still some work to do, I'll keep you all posted.

[Level42]

Was working at a company that has a technical department and they had welding equipment so I asked the next day if they could weld the ring to the "base" of my Galaxian joystick

Both sides on the pics. I can't commend on the welding, I know nothing about it. What I do know is that it is VERY sturdy....
I CAN comment on the effect: FANTASTIC. NO more loose and wacky up-down movements in any way. It's a very rigid stick now. Just left and right, smooth and simple.

It instantly increased my high-score !!! (Not that I'm very great at it, I got somewhere in the 25000.....but I need to train a bit

Very recommended for other Galaxian owners IMHO !!!

[SithMaster]

Great job on the restoration.  I think its great that you can use the old currency since you can get them for almost nothing and they can be used as tokens.  Lucky.

[Level42]

Thanks SithMaster !!

Well, I think most people traded in the Guilders for Euro's. Lots of people have probably kept a couple just for "old time's sake" or something.

All the guilders I've got now I found on the bottoms of the Galaxian and especialy the Centipede. I'll definitly need more though

Did some more work tonight:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is something I often use in my work in electronics.

However, this is not always true of course. So I carefully removed the PCB from the cab. It had been running some time and the connector felt a bit warm (not at all hot) at the position of where the power is connected. So I cleaned the card-edge contacts with the glass-fibre pen. I don't know how to clean the contacts of the connector itself. I'm not a big fan of contact sprays and usualy only use them as a last solution, because they tend to draw more dirt to them and make the problem worse over some time....
So I connected, re-connected, connected and repeated this a couple of times. This is usualy OK enought te remove any bad contact stuff.....

However, when I looked at the PCB when it was out, it turned out the two diodes that are making DC out of the AC, are running pretty hot. You can see it on the PCB and the solderings were quite black. These diodes are right under the part of the connector that was "warm". So maybe, this is simply caused by the diodes and not any poor contact on the connector itself.

I carefully cleaned off all the dirt (surprisingly little !) off the PCB. I'm not the type to throw a perfectly working PCB in a dishwasher, sorry guys.

Inspected the board, it looks like there has never been ANY repair on this one.....amazing !

Anyway, I needed to do some more things while I had that PCB out.

(For US readers, boring SCART info ahead)

To run a TV as a monitor in RGB mode, you need to "feed" two voltages to two pins on the SCART connector. You need to put a voltage between 9,5 and 12V on pin 16 to tell it that it must switch to AV mode (=select the video input). Also you need to put a voltage between 1 and 3 V on pin 8 to tell the TV it should select RGB as input.

Now neither of these voltages are available directly on the Galaxian PCB. I solved this by soldering a wire to a known +5V point and leading it to pin 8 via a set of disconnects (in case I ever need to remove the PCB again). Some people connect 5V directly to it, but I used a series resistor to lower the voltage and be safe.

Next I needed something between 9,5 and 12V. I found a 7810 in my stack of electronics parts. This is a general voltage regulator. You can put in something like 20V and this thing puts out a very steady 10 Volt (a 7812 gives 12 V, 7805 5V etc.) So this should work. All I needed was a DC voltage that was high enough to run the 7810. I checked out the schematics and found there would be about 16V DC over elco C38. I checked it with my DVM and it was there indeed. So I wired up the ground pin to the - side of the elco, the input pin directly to the + pin of the elco, and lead the output to another connector. This  is connected to pin 16.

I checked everything and put the PCB in the cab. First I fired up and measured without the monitor connected. Voltages OK !

Connected the wires to the SCART connector, fired up again and BINGO ! The TV instantly displays the RGB signal without any manual things to do on the remote. The best thing is that the irritating green channel number (0) is now also gone !!!

So now it is just running as a monitor like it should.

Here's some schematic on the SCART:



I will add some pics later....

[theCoder]

At my company, we have outsourced any and all labor associated with oscilloscopes and PCB troubleshooting.  Cost cuttings and early retirement programs...  Great for the stock price this quarter, but hell on R&D.  I'm glad that people like you are still around.  Document this stuff well, your kind is getting more rare.

[Level42]

Hey theCoder.....thanks ! I think many companies are writing their own death-certificate by outsourcing everything. Companies don't have soles anymore. If the rise of the profits is not increasing anymore, they're underperfoming in the eyes of the stockholders. I think it's a real hazzard to our (western) economy in the long run.

But this probably is for the political section....

Does make me feel "old" a bit......

F.I. take a look at the Service Manuals they made for the classic cabs in the early 80's. They are SO detailed and extensive....What manufacturer is still investing time in documentation like that ?What would be included with a cab today ? One sheet with some very basic instructions. If it's broke, exchange it, it's cheaper.....

Ahh well, I'm not a nostalgic guy saying everything was better in the "good old days". Look at what modern times brought us, I would probably never got into this hobby, or would be able to find all the info and parts across the world etc.

And especialy meet other people with the same passion, who I learn from and who hopefully learn one or two things from me. That's the whole point of a thread and forum like this....

OK, "sentimental mode off"......

[Havok]

F.I. take a look at the Service Manuals they made for the classic cabs in the early 80's. They are SO detailed and extensive....What manufacturer is still investing time in documentation like that ?What would be included with a cab today ? One sheet with some very basic instructions. If it's broke, exchange it, it's cheaper.....

I agree - I love the documentation from "back in the day" - my uncle used to work for IBM, and when you got a computer, you got 10 hard cover binders full of documentation with each computer. Now, you're lucky to even get a "quick start" guide - usually any documentation, if included at all is on a CD...

Sigh...

[Level42]

F.I. take a look at the Service Manuals they made for the classic cabs in the early 80's. They are SO detailed and extensive....What manufacturer is still investing time in documentation like that ?What would be included with a cab today ? One sheet with some very basic instructions. If it's broke, exchange it, it's cheaper.....

I agree - I love the documentation from "back in the day" - my uncle used to work for IBM, and when you got a computer, you got 10 hard cover binders full of documentation with each computer. Now, you're lucky to even get a "quick start" guide - usually any documentation, if included at all is on a CD...

Sigh...

Mmmm, indeed, but that's also because an IBM actualy needed 10 hard cover binders to get something out it (says the Mac convert )

Don't forget we are part of the process as well. IBM builds a PC. It costs 2000 bucks. Chuang Whua Tech builds (Just to think up a name) builds a PC, strips it of the 10 binders and some other stuff....sells it for 1300 bucks.....what do we buy ?

[Level42]

Time to move back on topic !

Here's some of the pics I should have included a couple of posts ago....

Pic 1: The PCB. "Cleaned (well dusted off more) It's working as good as it looks

Pic2:  Close-up of the transistor that is controlled by the power regulator. All power is running through this one so it needs the big heat-sink.
Mmmm, I may need to remove the old cooling paste and put some new under this one. The mica could be replaced as well I guess, but the transistor is not running overly hot. Strange that they put that big fat resistor right "on top" (at least when the PCB is in the cab) of this heat-sink....adds more heat. The plastic holder is a little darkened by the heat, but nothing to really worry about.

Pic3: OK, so I need to lead +5V (actualy +3V) to pin 16 of the SCART connector. This is the closest +5V "rail" and it even has two "empty" soldering spots, so I soldered the wire there. I'm using round isolated quick connects here so there can be no shorts or 5V at wrong places....

[Level42]

Next I needed a voltage between 9,5 and 12V for pin 8 of the SCART. I used a 7810 that I had in my stack of electroncics parts.

The pin-out is very simple: left pin= voltage in, middle pin=ground, right pin=voltage out.
As mentioned, there's about 16 Volts across C38 so this is perfect for the input. I decided to solder the 7810 directly to the + pin of C38.

Pic1: Plus pin of C38 soldered to Vin of 7810
Pic2: Minus pin of C38 connected to middele pin of 7810 through a little wire
Pic3: Right pin wired to another connector. Note that I used the isolated part of the quick connects on the side that is actualy carrying the voltages. Should (for whatever reason) the board be running without the connectors connected, there's a smaller chance on shorting.

[Level42]

Pic1: OK the whole "modification", wire neatly run and ty-rapped together. Note that the quick connects are different size as well as different color. Prevents wrong connections...

Pic2: Of course I ran two new wires along the excisting harness and used the "other sides" of the quick connects. Again ty-raps and more ty-raps....
This picture also shows the darkened place on the plastic PCB holder (green circle). It seems on this picture that the harness is running over the PCB, but in reality there's much space between them.

Pic 3: The extra wires soldered to the SCART connector. There's a resistor in series with the +5V wire.I see now on this picture that I still need to heat the heat-shrink for all the wires :S

[Level42]

OK, some of you might suggest that I could have used two "spare" connections on the PCB connector. That's true, but first of all, the connector is not fully fitted with metal pins. I would need to get and install these. Also, there seems to be only one connection not in use at all. Others seem to have some sort of singal on it (even though it's just a lock-out f.i., which is not used on a Galaxian cab). I would have to cut a trace on the PCB to be able to use that connection, and I just didn't want to do that.

There's even more power related considerations:
A) AC to DC conversion.

I could have converted the PCB and cab to using a modern swtiching power supply and running the PCB on the more common voltages +12V DC and +5V DC. There are several ways to do this (neat or not so neat: http://www.arcades.plus.com/galjamm2.htm   PLEASE NOTE THAT ON THIS SITE, THE SHOWN PCB CONNECTIONS SEEM TO BE FROM THE COCKTAIL. AT LEAST THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IS IN MY OFFICIAL GALAXIAN SERVICE MANUAL.)

There are a few good reasons to do a conversion like this:
- the old supply is bad. This is the main reason why people do this conversation I guess.
- the 12V DC and 5V DC are more standard. You can run a Galaxian PCB with a Jamma adapter and this mod on any Jamma cab
- (and this one  is often overlooked, but important these days) a modern switching power supply is WAAAYYYY more efficient than the old conventional power supply.
This results in less current being used. Now most of the watts eaten by a cab are going into the monitor/TV but still, it's quite a difference.
 
As a side effect, you will loose the 50/60 Hz humm from the bottom of the cab that is so noticiable.

This conversion would also have made it a bit easier to get the correct voltages for the SCART.


So why did I NOT convert it ?
1) it still works
2) I want to keep it as original as possible
3) the 50/60 Hz. humm should be there
4) a conventional power supply has a longer lifetime than a switching power supply. This one prooves it

B) The other power consideration:

There are two transformers in the Galaxian Power Supply. The smaller one is mostly an isoltion tranformer for the monitor, and the TL lighting is also connected to it.

Both of these are now directly powered from the mains (230V) since the monitor has been replaced by the TV and the TL armature is also exchanged for a 230V version.

So, this transformer is no longer doing anything usefull. I will disconnect it from the primary 120V side. It's not a lot, but a transformer is eating up a bit of power even when nothing is connected to it. I see no reason why to keep it under power. I won't remove it from the board though...


By the way,just because I didn't put it up here yet,  this is the best (color !) picture I found on the internet of the original cab. It's from a German flyer and was/is a great reference for this restoration

[JeepMonkey]

I am enjoying your journal.  Nice work.

A couple questions for you.  Did your machine have an RF filter board between the "jamma" plug and the main board?  Do you have a, possably yellow, ground strap connected to your main board?

[mamemia]

Better then new, great work

[Level42]

I am enjoying your journal.  Nice work.

A couple questions for you.  Did your machine have an RF filter board between the "jamma" plug and the main board?  Do you have a, possably yellow, ground strap connected to your main board?

Hi JeepMonkey,

I guess you mean the anti-static PCB ? No my cab doesn't have it. This was issued later, at least that's what the Service Manuals mention. Since this was a really early macine, it wasn't fitted on it. It was offered as a retro-fit set.
However, I've seen (on the net) plenty of Galaxians with (much)higher serial numbers and still didn't have it. I guess it was offered for install only if there were problems with a cab, caused by static.

Check out reply #69 on this thread, there's a listing of most of the original Midway Service Bulletins I've got for Galaxian. There's info about this too.

I really need to scan these bullentins....


Mamemia, thanks ! There's still somethings to do like the wood and paint on the underside of the kickplate, and I'm not yet completely happy with the bezel(s) (needs more sanding and polishing). Also I still need to fix up the backside, it looks pretty bad. Even though this will hardly be seen, I think I should get it back in shape as much as possible.

And welcome to the board, you're from Germany right ? Close to the Dutch border ?

Thanks for posting guys, sometimes I think I'm writing up TOO detailed and bore people. But on the other hand, it's also like a log for myself and I hope some people get inspiration or info from it


Something completely different: Of course my Galaxian is now fully playable. And I love every second of playing it. There is NO comparison with playing Galaxian on a PC with Mame (I don't mean on a Mame cab, but just with a keyboard), or any of the home versions.
The sounds, the movement,the controls, the whole concept of the cab.......it's all parts of the sum that add greatly to the playing experience.

I'm VERY glad I had the joystick shaft welded. It makes playing it a dream. It's also surprising how well the controls are. Remember that I still use the original leafs. The joystick and buttons feel great, repsonsive and I LOVE it that there are no microswitches ! When I bought the cab, the first thing I noticed was that the joystick ball is so low to the CP. I thought that would make playing it hard, since you can't get a good "grip" on it.......however, while playing, I discovered that I was actualy controlling it with my left thumb only, while my hand rests on the CP. Great way to control, it works fine.....

I still didn't manage to get higher than 25000 though......I guess I really suck at Galaxian !!!

[mamemia]

must be looking for withe ball   



Gruß Oliver

[Level42]

must be looking for withe ball   

Gruß Oliver

Mmmm, looks familiar Nice work !!!

What's up with the second fire button ??

There are lots of Galaxians with red ball tops. I'm not sure if they were installed by Midway, but I guess so. Could also be that operators replaced them. Anyway, I wouldn't be to bothered about it

If that ball is a screw-on, you could get a Sanwa white ball top....

[Havok]

Looks better with a red ball. Besides, those sweaty Galaxian playing hands will make a white ball grimy in no time!

[JeepMonkey]

I was looking on eBay the other day and found a Galaga #344 about 10 miles from my house.  It made me think of your project, only this one has already been reworked.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Galaga-restored-upright-arcade-super-rare-low-344_W0QQitemZ280101995016QQihZ018QQcategoryZ13716QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

What really bothers me is the statement "Ask me how to make this into a 48 in 1"

But to the real reason I am stopping by...  I see you cleaned your buttons.  How many did you replace?  Where did you get them?  Did you try anything to make them whiter?  I am currently in the process of cleaning my buttons and making them whiter, so I have let them soak in a watter/peroxide solution for a few days.  They are definitely cleaner, and a little whiter.  I am contemplating getting a new CPO, so I am worried about these old buttons looking even less white on a new CPO.  I would like to keep the old buttons, but will replace them if they don't look right.

[treborlicec]

It's sort of cheating, but Krylon makes a paint called Fusion.  It is designed to adhere directly to plastic w/o prep.  It works great.  A can of Gloss White and you can save your original buttons and bring new life to them.  Also, todays leaf buttons don't separate so you can clean them like the older ones.

Later,
Robert

 

[Level42]

I was looking on eBay the other day and found a Galaga #344 about 10 miles from my house.  It made me think of your project, only this one has already been reworked.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Galaga-restored-upright-arcade-super-rare-low-344_W0QQitemZ280101995016QQihZ018QQcategoryZ13716QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

What really bothers me is the statement "Ask me how to make this into a 48 in 1"

But to the real reason I am stopping by...  I see you cleaned your buttons.  How many did you replace?  Where did you get them?  Did you try anything to make them whiter?  I am currently in the process of cleaning my buttons and making them whiter, so I have let them soak in a watter/peroxide solution for a few days.  They are definitely cleaner, and a little whiter.  I am contemplating getting a new CPO, so I am worried about these old buttons looking even less white on a new CPO.  I would like to keep the old buttons, but will replace them if they don't look right.

Hey Jeep,

Yeah I tried cleaning the buttons but the fire button was a clear lost case. It was full of cigarette burns and it was as yellow as Pac Man. I simply bought 3 new buttons from www.arcadeshop.com. Sad thing is that they sent 3 and one was a bit different from the other (different spring). I managed to fix it (used one of the old springs !). Anyway, these buttons are widely available.

I did try to make the balltop of the joystick whiter with limited success. I simply sanded it, first with a lower number sanding paper, then a very high one (1200) and then I "polished" it with the household stuff called HaRa, read a few postings back, it should be there. I had thought about peroxide, but I'm a bit affraid it will hurt the plastic. This (white!) ball top is unfindable NOS or even used, so I had to be very carefull. I think I even tried toothpaste on it if I remember correctly. All in all it's ok now. Not perfect but OK. That paint idea could be a solution. Another thing I though about was getting the small version of the white Sanwa balltop. However, this is screw-on, the Galaxian ball simply has a hole, nothing else. Also the size is not 100% right....

Let me know how the peroxide works out !

[Level42]

Well, been busy with a load of other stuff lately, but I found the time tonight to fix a couple of things that still were wrong on Nr. 815. For the time being, I had connected the mains of the marquee and the monitor/tv directly to the power cord. Naturally this meant that both would come on as soon as I plugged it in, which was annoying of course.

That the marquee came on wasn't too bad. In fact, it made me think of making a separate switch for it, just to make it possible to light it up while the cab is not running (for decoration). But when it's in the still to be made gameroom, I guess I wouldn't use that much.

The monitor/TV was more annoying because since there were no control signals coming from the PCB (the custom made one's),  the TV would select channel 1 and display snow....


So.....I connected both to the input side of the mains filter. This filter is behind the main switch and safety switch, so that is the right place to go.

Have to admit that I first soldered the wires to the primary side of the mains transformer. When I turned it up, my mains earth-leak protection kicked in, house completely dark :S.......

Checked the diagrams and figured out that this was the wrong spot So then I went for the filter.
Works fine.

While checking out the transformer, I saw that there were different tabs for different voltages. Of course one wire was connected to the 220V tab. In 1981, 220V was what we had here in mainland Europe. But the voltage has been adjusted to  230V. This was to level it with the UK (They lowered their 240V to 230V.)
Amazingly, this transformer actually also has a 230V tab, so I figured I should rewire it to that. This results in a lower secundary voltage output on the transformer, and a little less stress for the rectifying and regulating parts, which won't harm.

That's it , not spectaculair, but I'd still suggest this mod for all European Galaxian owners, or other cabs that have this. If there is only a 220/240 selection, go for the 240. This is still easing things for the mentioned parts a bit (less voltage, less current, less heat and less spilled energy).

 

[theCoder]

You've got to love it when you bring down the household power system, but don't fry your device.   I've done something similar twice in my hacking career and both times the magic smoke got out, killing the project.  Congratulations.

[Level42]

You've got to love it when you bring down the household power system, but don't fry your device.   I've done something similar twice in my hacking career and both times the magic smoke got out, killing the project.  Congratulations.

Well there was no sparks or smoke, so I wasn't TOO worried...and I immediately had a hunch of what I had done, a direct shorting of the phase to earth. VERY stupid !!! I should have checked the schematics before making that connection.....

I'm lucky that I'm living in a relatively new home with an earth-leak protector of 0,03A AND that the cab was connected to a group protected by it.....(note to myself: install earth-leak protector in to-be-build gameroom )

Sorry to hear about your projects frying, what a nightmare ! It's the worst part of what you have to do, turning up the power after you've worked on the electronics....there is always this possibility of things going wrong, especially with the old beasts we are trying to save...

But that's the risk of what we do. Nu guts, no glory.Everyone makes a mistake like that once in a while.....

[Level42]

No progress on this one, been busy with the SW cockpit

But I did want to share this picture:

My father-in-law, you know the kind that goes: "What good are those old big cabs" all the time....


CAUGHT !!! 

[Level42]

I just realised I've never posted a pic of the total cab without any people in front of it. It's still not finished yet. The bottom part of the kickplate annoys me, because the rest of the cab looks so damn good (if I may say so myself).
Also still gotta get the bezel polished more.....

Anyway, here are some full shots:

[csa3d]

Again, stellar job on this!

Did you ever get that metal screened coin door plate or the namco back plate?

-csa

[arcadefever]

 

very nice !!!!

[Level42]

Again, stellar job on this!

Did you ever get that metal screened coin door plate or the namco back plate?

-csa

Thanks guys !

Well Rich from ThisOldGame.com finished it, it's available:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=66421.msg705725#msg705725

However, I will be ordering some more stuff from him (hope he also gets the coin door metal plates done) and want to get it in one go, which will be a bit easier on the postage over to Europe....

I have to seriously work on the backpanel as well. It looks terrible. However, my SW CP seems to be getting the most of my attention now.......

And it's also always nice to "still have to do something about ......" because else, maybe I could get bored with the cab..................

..
.
.
.

Just kidding of course

[Level42]

Bought me some Perspex today for both my Galaxian and Star Wars.
The Galaxian original one was very scratched. The Star Wars got heaps of speckles of the black spray-paint job in the factory, later more about that in my SW CP thread.

Here's some pics:

1) Got this from a local supplier. Those 2 sheets cost me about €27,-, actualy less then I expected, and cut to size for free/included.

2) To the left the original still on the bezel. Right the new stuff...

3) Getting rid of the old tape...

[Level42]

More...

1) The old one, black tape removed. Look at the flash, you can see all the scratches there....

2) Empty bezel...

3) New and old, sizes match exactly

[Level42]

1) Replaced double-sides sticky tape and put the new Perspex on it. The protective film says there's a "Good" side (the one with the text). Never knew this...

2) Nice and clear, no scratch in sight ! It's slightly less dark then the original, exactly what I wanted.
The color number was 923 and it's 3 mm thick.

3) Another shot...

[Level42]

1) It's still a disaster to take good screen-shots, or I just suck at it...

2) another....well the real thing looks VERY sweet. A huge improvement over the older one !

3) All set for the Retrocomputer fair where I will display it next sunday !!

[Neilyboy]

holy crap level this is friggin beautiful!!! I cannot say how awesome this restore is. This thing looks like a new retail cab!!! Great work man.. I am jealous

Neil

[Level42]

HA, can't believe you hadn't seen this one

Thanks, and I think it explains why I respect and admire your work on the DK !!

Did you see the Star Wars Cockpit ? Not too much done on it yet, but at least it works Still waiting for some parts from the US for that one...

[Level42]

Holy crap, I just discovered my Galaxian PCB likely has a (small) problem....

I've been fiddling around with the RGB lines to see wether or not I should still include some resistors to it (see this thread:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=71776.0)
I always thought that the TV was a little red/purple looking so I adjusted the green control on the neckboard a bit, so that I got a nice well-balanced white.

However, I've always felt that the bodies of the most common aliens (the one's with the least scoring points) were too dark. I thought it was because of the above mentioned adjustment, but now I did it, I compared it with how Galaxian looks on my Mame machine. I saw that the body color should be exactly the same as the color of the letters in the attract mode indicating "Convoy charger" and the points of the aliens, a light-blue color. The bodies on my real Galaxian look really much darker, a bit dirty greenish, almost grey !!!

Could this be an eprom thing ? It's strange as the text colors ARE correctly displayed !

[Darth Nuno]

3) All set for the Retrocomputer fair where I will display it next sunday !!

...opps I missed that information  Too late to plan the vistit for that event 

Take a ton of pictures of course  & convert as many persons as possible to the arcade vintage 

Have fun 

[Level42]

Sorry to dig up an old one, but one baby step further to completion

Often, beauty is in the details

[Singapura]

It's amazing how much eye for detail you have and how entertaining and educational your postings are. I'd really like to visit your arcade when I'm back in The Netherlands! For the moment I'm getting inspiration from guys like you and Atomsmasher for my own project. Hope to see your Star Wars cockpit finished soon! Vooral doorgaan!

[Level42]

Very kind words Singapura, and you're most welcome (although my "arcade" is still only a collection of cabs scattered about....) for a visit, just say the word.

Thanks !

I guess the SW will get more attention as spring will set-in here...

[Level42]

Can this be true ?

(see www.thisoldgame.com)


 

I am also more and more leaning to ordering the kick-plate art for the Galaxian.......I really don't see an easier way to restore the bottom side of my precious 815

[Fozzy The Bear]

Can this be true ?

First of all.... Fantastic restoration!! you should be very proud of it.  Secondly, yes! it's true, they do an almost perfect screen printed repro to go onto the coin door. They look really good too.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[Level42]

Can this be true ?

First of all.... Fantastic restoration!! you should be very proud of it.  Secondly, yes! it's true, they do an almost perfect screen printed repro to go onto the coin door. They look really good too.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

Are you seriously saying you didn't see it before Fozz ? 
Thanks for the compliments and yes I am

The funny thing is that this thread more or less triggered all the coin door plates AND the back Bally Midway manufacturer plate by ThisOldGame.com:D If you read back a bit, I wasn't completely happy with Arcadeshops' plate, because, well, it is not a metal plate, and also there are some errors on it.
However, there are three Midway coindoor plate versions and the one that is used on Galaxian took the longest to finish....for some obscure reasons

Looks like the wait is now soon over

Thank you Rich !

[ratzz]

Man this is a beautiful cab ... good work fella!

[Fozzy The Bear]

Are you seriously saying you didn't see it before Fozz ? 

Nope!! LOL  I've been reading from early on. But you've not long got it finished and I thought I'd wait until it was all done. I Still think that this is one of the better and more sympathetic restorations that have been done.

I just wish I could track one down in the UK at a sensible price.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[Level42]

If I were you I would be bugging that game store in London that has a like-new NAMCO (!) Galaxian in their store....

Thanks for the nice words Ratzz and Fozz. It's still not complete yet, have to do the backside and the kickplate.....

[Fozzy The Bear]

If I were you I would be bugging that game store in London that has a like-new NAMCO (!) Galaxian in their store....

Yeah! maybe when I win the lottery!!! LOL 

Until then, one requiring complete restoration will do me fine.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[Level42]

Fozz, check your PM's.....

[Level42]

OMG..................I found a Namco Galaxian for sale !!!!!!!!!!!!

Somebody lend me some cash.....

[Spyridon]

OMG..................I found a Namco Galaxian for sale !!!!!!!!!!!!

Somebody lend me some cash.....

   Uhmmm....don't you already have a Galaxian?
 

[Level42]

Yes, but not the Namco version !

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=75077.0

[Level42]

Looks like I'm going to have to replace something on this one pretty soon !

[Level42]

And this is what I meant !!! :





http://www.thisoldgame.com/thisoldgame/new_page_2.htm



YIIIIIHAAAAAAAA ! 

[zorg]

buy 2 and see me one with the disc

[WunderCade]

What is "option 3" on the order specification?

[opt2not]

Hey Level,
I found this high-res shot of a Namco cabinet version on the intertubes. I've been trying to find a close-up shot of the marquee, so that I can vector trace it for printing, if you have any shots of a straight-on view, let me know. It would help in trying to make a reproduction of this awesome looking version of the marquee.



ps, I saw your other post of that cabinet in the Virgin store, that one shot of the marquee is good, though it's a bit blurry and lower-res.
I'll keep looking though.

[Level42]

Sorry, that's the best I have. I hope you succeed. This artwork definitely needs to be saved.

[Level42]

Wahooo, look what Sinterklaas brought today (not really, it's my belated birthday present):

 

[SirPeale]

Is that the Galaxian multi?

[Level42]

Yes sir !

[SirPeale]

/sweet./

Did you assemble it, or get the pre-assembled one?

[Level42]

Got it pre-assembled.
Mike had some plans to do more in early next year.

[Spyridon]

How do you plan on dealing with the two way joystick?

[Level42]

How do you plan on dealing with the two way joystick?

Not.
I will sacrifice the 4-way and 2 button games.
I refuse to hack the brilliant original 2-way joystick. There is an alternative: get a 2nd CP and hack that.

[WunderCade]

Can you post a youtube rundown after you get it installed? Cool.

[Spyridon]

Not.
I will sacrifice the 4-way and 2 button games.
I refuse to hack the brilliant original 2-way joystick. There is an alternative: get a 2nd CP and hack that.

Yeah, I would have been suprised if you messed with that original control panel.

[Level42]

Not.
I will sacrifice the 4-way and 2 button games.
I refuse to hack the brilliant original 2-way joystick. There is an alternative: get a 2nd CP and hack that.

Yeah, I would have been suprised if you messed with that original control panel.

Indeed, I already have bad feelings about mounting this kit on  my current board-set.  I mean, it's 100% original. Not a single chip has ever been replaced. It has the "buggy" ROM extender board and _still_ works fine.

Of course it's possible to bring it all back to original glory. The only thing is that I do have to desolder one PROM chip and install a socket. Normally I cut off all the legs of a chip I have to replace, but I have no spare PROM. I know I can always get one if needed though.
It would be nice to have a 2nd board-set to install this kit on, and have another 100% original working board-set.
Not just for keeping it original, but there is also a plan...... and I'm sure that TwinGalaxies won't allow any high-scores with that kit installed.

[patrickl]

Don't you have several other cabs that you can play the other games on?

[polaris]

Don't you have several other cabs that you can play the other games on?

i gotta say as well Andre i cant believe your thinking of having that galaxian in any other way but 100%.
i think your quest for another board is best, then you can make a panel for those extra games, shame not to be able to play scramble and the nichibitsu games.

[Spyridon]

It would be nice to have a 2nd board-set to install this kit on, and have another 100% original working board-set.
Not just for keeping it original, but there is also a plan...... and I'm sure that TwinGalaxies won't allow any high-scores with that kit installed.

I just picked up three untested Galaxian boards on eBay.  Untested = not working I'm sure.  I haven't setup a test bench yet to see if they work.

[Spyridon]

i gotta say as well Andre i cant believe your thinking of having that galaxian in any other way but 100%.
i think your quest for another board is best, then you can make a panel for those extra games, shame not to be able to play scramble and the nichibitsu games.

I don't see a problem with adding the multi-kit.  It's not like he is replacing the board with a 48-n-1.  It's just an add on and the cab is still running the original board.  It's not really any different to adding a high score save or freeplay mod.  It can also be changed back to original at some point if needed.

[polaris]

i gotta say as well Andre i cant believe your thinking of having that galaxian in any other way but 100%.
i think your quest for another board is best, then you can make a panel for those extra games, shame not to be able to play scramble and the nichibitsu games.

I don't see a problem with adding the multi-kit.  It's not like he is replacing the board with a 48-n-1.  It's just an add on and the cab is still running the original board.  It's not really any different to adding a high score save or freeplay mod.  It can also be changed back to original at some point if needed.

i dont see a problem, i just know andre and his love for having things original 

[patrickl]

i dont see a problem, i just know andre and his love for having things original 

Indeed. I didn't see it as a problem either. It's curiosity.

It's just that he so meticulously restores everything to it's original glory that I was wondering why he decided to play other games on it. Especially since he has so many cabs already. Or at least I thought he did.

Maybe it's because he wants to pimp up the best cabs with the coolest toys. I guess if you have a favorite cab, you want to use it for everything 

[Level42]

I'll respond to all the comments later and show pics and some video, I just wanted to let know that I just installed it (yes on my original board) and it works great ! Just had a lightning quick run through some of the games and there are some pretty fun games in there !

Set-up looks cool too.

I do have one issue, in the menu screen the coin counter keeps being triggered. Not sure if I made some mistake or something or that it's an issue with the kit. Reported to Mike but I will have to investigate my work too.

Video will follow.

[Level42]

OK, well yes I like to keep things original but I have no problem with making a cab a bit more versatile if possible. I've been looking at this kit ever since I found my Galaxian cab. The pound-Euro rate made buying it much more interesting right now. Also, they were all sold out for quite some time. Recently Mike mailed me if I still wanted one and of course the answer was yes.

The kit build quality is very good. It looks very professional. The included cables are top-notch too.

Installation of the kit is straightforward and very well explained on Mike's site (http://www.arcades.plus.com/MultigameInstall.htm).

For some, the only problem may be that one chip (a PROM) needs to be desoldered and a socket mounted. There is also one wire that needs to be soldered between the kit and the board.

Anyway, pics:
The original board. The red wires on there are because of my "TV-mod" it's just to get some voltages from the board for the SCART connector so has nothing to do with the kit. My board has the first Namco ROM-set on the "well-known" rom extender board that is often a cause for problems but in my case still worked 100%.


Extender board removed, Z80 removed, RAMs removed and PROM desoldered from board:


And everything installed. One note if you get this kit too: Use a simple, el-cheapo socket for the PROM position. The more expensive one's with the round holes cannot accept the relatively thick pins that are always used with these kits. The wires with connectors are included. You need to get a wire to solder to the board yourself.


When I had the kit installed, the coin-counter was constantly triggered while being in the menu. I e-mailed Mike and he said I was probably the first one who actually had a coin-counter connected. It's probably something in the code, for now I simply disconnected the coin-counter. No problem for me.

Next, when I set-up the options in the menu screens and turned off the game and back on again, the settings were back to default. Also, the saved hi-scores were gone.

The reason was simple: I hadn't read all the instructions correctly on Mike's site. All dip switches on my PCB were on, and Mike writes to turn them all off. With DIP-switch 3 you can enable or disable the settings menu. Once I corrected these settings it works fine. Mike explained that when you set DIP-sw 1,2,3,4 ON, it will clear the NVRAM on boot-up(in the unlikely case that the NVRAM data should get corrupted).

Now I could set-up everything. In the set-up you can select what controls your cab has. When you set it up for a regular Galaxian cab (2-way, 1 button) it will remove all the 4-way games from the list. That's nice so players won't get frustrated by any games they select that can't be played with a 2-way stick.

The games you are left with are of course all shooters (except Video Pool) but there are some real gems in the list.

A really interesting game in the 4-way "section" is Mr.Do's Nightmare. A game done by Mike's friend Ivan. It features Mario Bros. music !

On some of the games things are fixed in software. F.I. Frog's music is corrected and colors corrected etc. This improves the games over the "original hacks".
Very well done and it shows that a kit like this is more work than you would first expect.

Here is the video as requested:

[Spyridon]

In the set-up you can select what controls your cab has. When you set it up for a regular Galaxian cab (2-way, 1 button) it will remove all the 4-way games from the list. That's nice so players won't get frustrated by any games they select that can't be played with a 2-way stick.

That looks like a great kit.  I like the selection for the control panel configuration.  Makes it easy to remove the games that won't play.  (Nice video too)

[Level42]

Wibra ! (Check www.wibra.nl for locations).

I'm not 100% sure it will work for the yellow stains, but it's worth a try. Be really careful with it though ! It's not like Glassex.....It's a bit more aggressive than that, but this _could_ be just what you are looking for.....I don't use it very often anymore but it sure worked for the Galaxian..

[ckong]

Thanks, will try.

[Level42]

Hey guys....look what I bought a couple of days ago:





Read all about it here =>

http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?board=2.0

[opt2not]

Japanese Namco Galaxian...nice score!!     

[Level42]

Thanks ! Yes....we did a bit of counting and only 3 others are believed to exist....in Japan...

The bad side is, no parts ! No 15mm green flat T-molding, no P1 and P2 buttons...no new bezel...but we'll work it out somehow