Transplanting sticks from Wico Atari joysticks

[Brad Lee]

In my quest to find/make the ultimate trigger fire joystick, I think Ive got a good idea..



The shafts of these sticks appear to be steel- can they be removed from their present bases(for the atari/c64/etc) and used with regular arcade bases? Ive got a pair of wico leaf joysticks, since theyre both Wico, Im guessing that theyre going to be close in shaft diameter, but maybe not length. I havent actually got one, so I'm unfamiliar with the inner workings of the old atari sticks(Although I did tear apart my buddys Wico Boss one night) but it should be pretty familiar territory, maybe groove the end so I can fit a c-ring around it to keep it attached

Ive got my eye on a couple on ebay, I  figure what the heck, worst thatll happen is it wont work and Ill be stuck with a working atari stick

Anyone got one of these that they can get some inside pictures of, dimensions of the shaft, etc? THeyre the Wico Command Control line, as far as I know all the bases are the same, but the stick itself is whats different(bat/ball/hand grip)

[IceCold]

In my quest to find/make the ultimate trigger fire joystick, I think Ive got a good idea..



The shafts of these sticks appear to be steel- can they be removed from their present bases(for the atari/c64/etc) and used with regular arcade bases? Ive got a pair of wico leaf joysticks, since theyre both Wico, Im guessing that theyre going to be close in shaft diameter, but maybe not length. I havent actually got one, so I'm unfamiliar with the inner workings of the old atari sticks(Although I did tear apart my buddys Wico Boss one night) but it should be pretty familiar territory, maybe groove the end so I can fit a c-ring around it to keep it attached

Ive got my eye on a couple on ebay, I  figure what the heck, worst thatll happen is it wont work and Ill be stuck with a working atari stick

Anyone got one of these that they can get some inside pictures of, dimensions of the shaft, etc? THeyre the Wico Command Control line, as far as I know all the bases are the same, but the stick itself is whats different(bat/ball/hand grip)

I don't have one of these, but you may get better responses at www.atariage.com/forums

Sorry that I can't help you out.

[MameFan]

I have been able to swap the steel plate with the rubber grommet attached into both original PacMan leaf style arcade sticks as well as wico arcade ball leaf sticks too.  I havn't tried to swap any of the other parts, but have taken apart many a Wico Atari/Commodore stick for cleaning and they are built very similarily to the arcade ones.

[Brad Lee]

Nice....


Assault, here I come

[paigeoliver]

Nice....


Assault, here I come

[proud_assault_owner]
Make sure you use 4-way bases for Assault. That is a dual 4-way trigger game. 8-ways make it uncontrollable.
[/proud_assault_owner]

[Brad Lee]

I always remember after about 5 seconds of play to flip it back to 4-way  
Seriously though, this could open up another whole set of games that my cab can realistlicy emulate.. assault & battlezone, tron as well as some of the rotating stick games, and one of my new favorite because it's so damn annoying games.. Inferno!



I just havent found a trigger stick that appeals to me.. A Tron/Gorf/Satan's would be nice but  I prefer the shorter throw of a regular stick, mostof the PC sticks seem too gaudy and would look out of place, the couple on Happ's just don't grab me. It's little things, but to me that makes a difference. Hopefully this'll work and I'll get pics of course

[paigeoliver]

You know that Happs sells the proper handles for Assault right?

I recently found the previous owner of my Assault and got the story on my sticks (which looked and felt NOS).

They were put together with NOS Gauntlet bases/ball movement thingy, Assault shafts and restrictor plate, and new Happ Assault handles. He said he spent "Way too much" putting them together and I believe him. But man do they work great.

The trigger handles themselves are only $23.10 each (part number 50-2508-00 for left and 50-2507-00 for right). You could probably find a way to fit them to some other 4-way base.

[paigeoliver]

I just havent found a trigger stick that appeals to me.. A Tron/Gorf/Satan's would be nice but  I prefer the shorter throw of a regular stick, mostof the PC sticks seem too gaudy and would look out of place, the couple on Happ's just don't grab me. It's little things, but to me that makes a difference. Hopefully this'll work and I'll get pics of course

I found a PC flight stick at the thrift store with a black handle shaped a lot like the Tron/Satan's Hollow handle. I took it off the base and will eventually be mounting it up to an arcade base. Kind of a back burner project, as I don't know where I will put it when I am done with it?

[ErikRuud]

I have one of those Wico Comman Control sticks.  I will try to make some time tonight to check the dimensions.

On a side note, I recently got the parts from Happ to change my 8-way supers to 8-way top fire with the tulip handle.  If you already have the supers, it is cheaper to just oreder the extra parts as opposed to entire top fire sticks.

[ErikRuud]

For those that are curious:

The Wico Command Control sticks have for screws on the bottom.  Once these are disconnected, the bottom pulls off and the rest of the stick can be disassembled easily.




Here are the shaft diameters:

[Brad Lee]

Excellent, thanks!

[ErikRuud]

Your Welcome!

I just want to clarify that the part of the shaft that goes through the grommet is .365.

[mpm32]

This may be a stupid idea but, can't you mount those sticks as is to a panel?

[ErikRuud]

You could, and they ought to work fairly well.  You would need to mount the entire joystick though, because the bottom half is what holds the rest of the sick together.  The thing to consider, is that you need to mount them so that the top of the cone on the base is flush with the top of your CP.  Otherwise they woudl probably stick up too far.

[rampy]

Are these units 4 way or 8way, btw?

rampy

[ErikRuud]

They are switchable, if you have the gate locks that came with it.

Look at the top picture in my post above. Between the red bat handle and the black top fire joystick.  That is the 8-way gate lock, there should be a 4 way gate lock as well, but mine is missing.  

The snap onto the top of the raised cone on the base of the joystick.

[Zapper]

Yes, those Wico joysticks can be used for a pistol grip mod. I built one with the shaft from a Wico command control bat handle. The rubber grommet is the same size as the arcade Wico leaf joysticks. The command control comes with a pretty loose grommet, I found that the stiffer grommets from newer arcade Wicos worked better because of all the leverage. As I remember I had to grind down the shaft a bit so that it could slide down far enough to attach the lock ring. I also drilled holes in the sides of the grommet and added set screws to make it no-twist. The handle I used was from a Sega Saturn Twinsticks. I could post some pics If you want.

[Zapper]

Here's the links to the trigger joystick pics. I used a Hanson tap wrench with a 10-24 tap for the set screw threads and the top of the spindle. Extending the the length of the spindle with a carriage bolt made it possible to add the joystick handle.

Joystick Right Side
Joystick Left Side
Joystick Inside
Joystick Base
Atari Wico Spindles
Wico Grommet

[bigmoe]

The trigger handles themselves are only $23.10 each (part number 50-2508-00 for left and 50-2507-00 for right). You could probably find a way to fit them to some other 4-way base.

Are these the same thing as on Bob Robert's site for $17?  Link: http://www.dameon.net/BBBB/grip.jpg.

I have wondered how hard it would be to use those to convert a stick to a trigger stick--and if the results would be satisfying.  It looks like there is a hole in the side of the grips to attachment to...a yoke?

bm