Un-hacking a Taito conversion?

[Jeff AMN]

Last week I picked up a Bubble Bobble machine that had been converted from a Rally-X machine. I've already started restoring it back to its original form, but I haven't touched the insides yet. I know that you would need to do some wiring hacks to get a 2-player Bubble Bobble game working on the guts of a Rally-X machine.

So, does anybody have any experience un-hacking these things? I'm going to pull off the control panel either tonight or tomorrow and start tracing the wiring back to the harness, but I'm not very experienced in this area. Should I expect a lot of work to get this back to normal? Will it most likely come to just snipping wires and re-wiring everything?

The monitor is still in great shape, by the way. That's going to make this whole restore project MUCH easier.

[horseboy]

This really depends on how the original conversion was done. For all we know this could have been the 3rd or 4th time that this thing was converted, but probably not. The original wiring harness could still be in there all hacked up, or they could have completely rewired the entire thing.

Depending on the number of original components left in there, you really have a couple of options here. If the original wiring harness is still semi-intact and the original power supply is in there, I would try to restore it back to its original state.

If much of the original stuff is gone, I would go the jamma route. Similar to what Markrvp did with his Donkey Kong. Throw a switching PS in there, wire it up for jamma, and buy/make a Rally-X to jamma adapter.

As is the case with any restoration, it all depends on personal preference. Some people gasp at the idea of a switching ps and jamma wiring in a classic cab, but I will take reliability over authenticity in a case like this one. My personal philosophy on this is... If you have the original controls, original boardset, and original cabinet... you have the original machine. Wiring, monitor, ps, and artwork (if it is a good repro) can all be replaced or upgraded if needed.

[Jeff AMN]

It's definitely only been converted once. The Bubble Bobble manual was in the back of the cab along with a few receipts. There are still the original Rally-X dip switch instruction sheets in the cab as well. Again, I just glanced inside briefly to pull out the manual, check to make sure the BB board was authentic, and how clean it looked.

This thing has been babied, there wasn't any dust inside, so I'm hoping that means that the conversion was clean. I did think I had noticed some snipped wires that were wound up in electrical tape, but again, I only had the back off for a brief moment.

[SirPeale]

As odd as this sounds, I *wouldn't* convert it back.  I'd just make it the best darn BB I could.

[Jeff AMN]

As odd as this sounds, I *wouldn't* convert it back.  I'd just make it the best darn BB I could.

Well, I want the Bubble Bobble in a different cab if possible. I might even sell it, I haven't decided yet.