Galaga Cocktail Restoration (was: Great score today!)

[vidmouse]

Was pulling out to go to a party today when I noticed this baby just at the end of my neighbor's driveway:


It was still there when I got back, so i asked him about it and he gave it up for free!
Apparently it was his son's (who was also there, so it's all cool).  They couldn't get
it to work anymore, and were happy to give to a collector.  Haven't yet started diagnosing
it but here's some pics on the condition.  (more text after, please read)
Sorry it's a little pic-heavy











Any tips on how to repair the cabinetry defects?
> black on glass
> chewed wood
> how to get into it to work b/c all the bolts appear to be non-headed

[NickG]

how to get into it to work b/c all the bolts appear to be non-headed: 
First get a look up to the top above the coin door from the inside you should see some spring latches.  you have to release these in order to take off the top.  Then you can hinge back the monitor and the back (see the hinges in your 6th photo), actually there are probably internal restraints to hold the monitor secure that you need remove or release first.  My cocktail just has one bolt that holds it to the coin door side, and some more spring latches on the back wall's edges.

[severdhed]

nice find.  it clearly needs a little TLC, but a great deal at $0.  keep us posted on your progress.

[jace055]

Nice score!!  I have always wanted an original galaga cocktail.  I will give you double what you paid for it!!

I have a Mappy cocktail and you have to open the coin door and reach up towards the glass and pull two latches then the entire top half of the cabinet will swing to the other side.  Becareful around the tube and the transformer if it has been plugged in lately it will still have a charge. 

[protokatie]

Becareful around the tube and the transformer if it has been plugged in lately it will still have a charge.

And if the monitor doesnt have a bleedback, the word that Jace used "Lately" can mean months. Hopefully you know what you are doing when dealing with the CRT (I wont touch one, unless I HAVE to. Luckily thus far it means I havent ever had to)

Edit: Forgot to say that your extemely expensive find is an awesome one. I will pay you TRIPLE what you paid for it!

[vidmouse]

hinge back the monitor and the back (see the hinges in your 6th photo), actually there

Ah, thanks, that explains a lot.  Silly me, I thought the bottom panel
was some kinda hinged access panel to flip up.   

I knew about the potential dangers of charge from reading other
posts' here (other projects), but thanks again for the warnings.
Luckily I already saw where the power supply and tube contacts
are so I can avoid them when trying to open the cab.

I'm still kinda juiced about such a sweet score...

Thinking about repairing the cabinet damage, I'm thinking some
bondo to restore the wood on the bottom (one of the last photos)
and maybe new t-molding if needed (but really the molding is
in ok shape).

No photos to show the underside yet but it needs new feet/wheels
(only has 1 foot).  I don't think it's too much of a stretch to put
casters on it, even if the original didn't have them.

Thinking about the black on glass....
If I can remove the glass I might be able to restore the black with
some simple paint, but the "Galaga" logo could be more of a problem.
I'm thinking getting transparent print insert might be a solution,
but dunno.... Suggestions here?

$0 bidders:
For some reason, this makes me think of Wimpy from Popeye
"I'll GLADLY pay you Tuesday for a hamburger I eat today!"

[FrizzleFried]

Remove glass and take it to a glass shop and have another one made.  Be careful putting the glass down on cement as it's tempered and tempered glass really really hates cement.   You can then buy a GALAGA underlay to stick under the glass.   Some folks sell inkjet repro's pretty damn cheap.

[GAJoe]

*drools*  The first thing I'd do is fix the actual game.  Although it might be awhile before I'd get back to the restoration part once I had a working Galaga machine.  So maybe your way is better.

[vidmouse]

Ok, actually got a chance to take a look
at this a little more today.   Using the tip
from NickG, I found the two latches that
locked in the top and tipped the whole
thing back.  A quick look inside revealed
nothing extraordinarily wrong (heh, I'm
always afraid of bringing mice or other
vermin in the house this way).  In fact
the insides look REALLY clean.  I found
the 2nd coin mech in the bottom of the
coin storage, and even a spare quarter
that had missed the coin storage and
was in the bottom of the cab! 

(heh, so it's not just free, but I've already
"made money" off it  )

Decided to plug it in, to see what works
and what doesn't -- like if the screen is
totaly dark, no sound, etc.

What I got has me pleasantly surprised:
- the lights for the controls all work
- lights for the coin door are out
- the monitor appears to work-- even has a little
burn-in "game over" in the center
- there's a slight hum from the speaker on the right (P2) side.
-  the whole thing turns off if the coin door swings open.
Doing this a couple of times (no, not fast) I kept seeing this
on the screen:

JG
RAM 4L
(sometimes, 3L or 2L)

Always oriented towards P1.  ONCE, I saw it oriented towards
P2 side AND I got a starfield scrolling, but it hasnt' repeated.

Ok, so I know the monitor's not junk and probably MOST of the
electronics are ok.  Beyond that, I'm gonna need some help.
Think one of the roms might be corrupted?

[leapinlew]

Remove glass and take it to a glass shop and have another one made.  Be careful putting the glass down on cement as it's tempered and tempered glass really really hates cement.   You can then buy a GALAGA underlay to stick under the glass.   Some folks sell inkjet repro's pretty damn cheap.

True! Also, be careful hauling it around unsecured in the back of your vehicle. 

[protokatie]

Think one of the roms might be corrupted?

Possibly, but at the same time think of all of the electrolytic components on the boards. Those things have a life span, and are very temp/moisture sensitive. You might need to break out the multimeter and a soldering iron...

[SirPeale]

Look inside the coin door.  There may be an interlock switch there.  Attempt to pull it out to get it to run with the door open.

Also, it seems to be stating a RAM issue, and telling you which RAM may be at fault.  Check the RAMs to see if they're socketed.  If they are, *gently* push down on them (and any other socketed chips) they may have "creeped" from their sockets due to temperature fluctuations.  If you hear them crack slightly they're going back down into their sockets.

Then fire it up again.  You might get extra lucky.

[vidmouse]

Not sure why this thread was moved, but whatever...

Guess I'm EXTRA lucky:


YES!!!!   

I did have to remove the board and one of the roms, then
reinserted it, then cycled power a few times.  Now it comes
up as it should EVERY time on plug-in.

Played it a few times already, it kicks all sorts over what I can
do in MAME, never realized what I was missing before!  Both
P1 and P2 controls work and the flaky sound also cleared up too.
Maybe it just needed a little love and time to warm up.

Good thing I saved it yesterday too, because today it RAINED
all day and this thing would've been sitting outside in that.

I toggled the dipswitches off free play and the coin mech
switches appear to work (by manually triggering them), but
for some reason dropping quarters into it isn't tripping the switch.
Guess I wouldn't mind leaving it on free play all the time but
I'd prefer to use the coin slots/mechs if I can.

Also, heh, I found another 4 quarters in the machine's cab
once I looked more closely.  Ka-ching!

Guess I'll be getting into restoration on this sooner than I thought,
since it should be a lot simpler now (hopefully).

Any more suggestions on how to handle the wood and glass would be
appreciated.  I guess I can start a project thread for this (although
since it's a restoration and not a scratch-build or MAME conversion,
is that appropriate?)

Cheers...

[protokatie]

I guess I can start a project thread for this (although
since it's a restoration and not a scratch-build or MAME conversion,
is that appropriate?

I HIGHLY doubt anyone would mind. (Read: you HAVE to start that thread!!!)

Also: Awesome luck for you. Never really played that game (a little before my time) but I always like seeing a cocktail cabinet being worked on or made or whatever. There arent enough threads with cocktails in them here.... It seems the big push is for uprights as that is what most of us played back in the day.

Conformity be damned!

[GAJoe]

Heh, you'll have to let your neighbor know you got it working by reseating the chips on the PCB.    Once again, I envy your awesome streak of luck.  Now that I have a lot of neighbors in this apartment complex, maybe someone will put a cool arcade cabinet out on their patio for me.

[SirPeale]

Not sure why this thread was moved, but whatever...

Because this is the correct section?  But whatever.

[vidmouse]

I'll wait a little bit before telling my neighbor... don't want to make him feel too bad about giving it up, y'know.

Some quirky operation I noticed, just 1x ... seems like I can get it to reset sometimes if I'm blasting away constantly a certain way... sometimes the sound locks up, sometimes the whole thing resets, but at least it keeps working.  Maybe it just needs more of a warm-in period.

Tackling that glass may be my next step...

Peale - sorry, didn't know this was the correct section.
I'm planning on starting a project thread on this, should
I just reference this thread...?

Protokate- - I had Galaxian as a favorite when I was a kid,
but after playing Galaga, this is my new fav.... give it a shot.

[shardian]

Don't bother with a project thread, just modify the title of this thread and continue here.

[vidmouse]

Done.  More to come.

[GAJoe]

Noticed a couple of Galaga underlays on eBay.  One is a buy it now for 25 dollars plus 11 dollars for shipping.  Might want to check that out.  There you can also see the awesome deal you've gotten when you see Galaga/Ms. Pac-Man cocktails are selling for between 1500 and 3000 dollars.  You're actually a dollar and a quarter up on the deal.

You can buy the officially licensed version of the underlay from Twobits for $49. http://www.pac-man.com/galaga/cocktail/out/

[shardian]

The Twobits underlay is printed on a type of plastic sheeting. I have the pacman version and it is pretty nice.
As to ebay auctions, there are idiots on there that sell 2bits repros as "NOS". There is no such thing as you can tell from your PAINTED GLASS artwork.

As to your existing glass underlay, you could try to repair it to a satisfactory state with some enamel spray paint. The guy I got my pac off of was going to do the same thing and I still have the can of Testor's that he matched up for it. If all of your wording and graphics are in good shape, you could scrape off the rest of the bad black and spray the whole thing down with black enamel and a clear coat.

[SirPeale]

Peale - sorry, didn't know this was the correct section.
I'm planning on starting a project thread on this, should
I just reference this thread...?

Dude, relax!  No harm, no foul.  Real arcade stuff goes in here, other stuff goes in Main.  No big deal. 

And yeah, we like to have restorations in here too.  Helps keep them separate from Mame build projects.

[vidmouse]

If I don't get waylaid I'll be opening the top tonight to
get a better look at the glass and underlay damage.
Will snap some photos.
EDIT:
photos here:
Here's the glass off.  Most of the bad damage is, unfortunately on the screen print under the glass.  I tested trying a little black paint in the black area but it's still very noticeable on top.  Also, you can see the masking tape on top.


Some more images:  the tint screen cover and bezel, showing the monitor burn-in, and another shot after I removed some of the masking tape and painted a black coat on top.



BTW, I did shoot a small movie of me playing (poorly,
as it's one-handed) but it's in MOV format... will try to
post on YouTube later after a conversion to avi. (if
needed?--dunno, never posted to Youtube before)
EDIT:  ok, I looked at YouTube's site, conversion not needed.
Will post when I get the file downloaded to my PC tonight
from my camera...

EDIT:  here's the video
http://www.youtube.com/v/qHYdvyOALc4


Thanks for the ebay links... I did search for these
yesterday before I fixed the game itself. 
Most of my arcade buddies that are PM-ing me about it
agree that it's a valuable one.  Not that that's why
I'm doing this...  I'm in it for the fun of restoration
+ it's fun as ---- to play.

[GAJoe]

Absolutely, a ton of fun to play.  Galaga is a personal favorite of mine, which is why your restoration project interests me so much.  I'm keen to see how it turns out after some tender loving care.

[leapinlew]

It sounds like your playing Tack -n- Field.

[vidmouse]

It sounds like your playing Tack -n- Field.

Heh.  I play Track n' Field with this:


Didn't have much chance to work on it last night,
was just too tired.

Today I plan to stop by Lowe's and pick up some of the
supplies I'll need.  My wood filler pretty much turned into
cakey dust, so I'll need to get some (or most likely Bondo
--recommendations here?  <Bondo vs Wood Filler>)
and I'll probably get the casters and new lock for the coin door.
(didn't come with a key).

Eventually I'll get around to taking some shots w/ the
top flipped back to see the insides.

Thanks for all the encouragement, it really helps
keep the energy going for this project!

[shardian]

Wood filler sucks! Only use that if you are using a stained finish.

[vidmouse]

Got a chance to do a LOT more work last night and today:
- removed the old foot parts and added the casters
- did a little self-repair to the glass:
> removed and cleaned the glass, noted the damaged print areas
> got a logo from the internet and printed some high-quality logos
> taped the new logos behind the damaged ones and masked off
   the clear areas with drafting tape
> used white acryllic paint to repair the Bally symbol and control
   instructions
> spray painted the back to repair black areas

- painted the glass clips to remove the scratches
- added the lock to the coin door:  unfortunately the new lock was
slightly bigger so I had to file the hole down and pound the new lock
in.  Also had to make a new deadbolt for it, since the included ones
(and the old one) no longer fit.

- Reset the dipswitches so that 1 coin = 1 play.  It's funny...
If switches 1,2,3 are set to 000, then it's free play.  On the chart
(will scan this later), if it's set to 001, then 4 coins = 1 credit.
I misread this at first and couldn't figure out why the quarters
I had would sometimes register, sometimes not.  I reset the
switches to 111 (1 coin) and it works great.

- Added the repaired glass back on
- Chipped the damaged wood parts away
- Added bondo to repair the wood

Photos:

[shardian]

Can you take some more detailed photos of your glass art repairs? That is very interesting work!

[vidmouse]

I will.  Unfortunately I didn't take as many WIP shots when I had the masking tape on, that was kind of a cool stage.

Here's a tidbit I found in the coin box.  Never realized Galaga had so many options. 


You'll probably have to right-click and "view image" to get it at full size
and readable.

[vidmouse]

Ok, here's more photos and description of the glass restoration:

First, an overall larger picture, larger look:


A look at the instructions... used white acryllic to make some of the
rubbed-out letters more white


And here's the back of that:


The lesser-damaged of the two logos:


And the back of that.  Used tape to tape the paper behind the damaged parts after
lining things up, best as I could.  Spray painted black around it.  Note:  first time around,
I spray painted the paper too and it turned all gray, had to be scrapped out.


Here's the logo image used to fix the lesser-damaged logo:


And I chopped some of it to make the logo to fit the more-damaged logo.  I know, sounds
weird, but this way I used less printer ink.


Today:
More updates to come!  Decided to try my hand at painting wood grain over the white bondo.
Using a combination of dark brown, black, and a light brown from Jo Ann fabrics.  Didn't know
what else to do, the spots are large but the wood isn't something I can just sand down and
refinish.  I didn't want to paint over the WHOLE thing b/c I wanted to keep to the original look
as much as possible.  I thought about wood grain contact paper and may go there if the
paint doesn't work out.  After adding color I plan to protect with a clear coat.

Painting's not done yet, just started...

[Singapura]

Man, this is better then Pr0n! Not that I ever watch Pr0n off course  I like the way you document every step and the pictures are awesome. 

[GAJoe]

It makes me tear up a little.  Sooo...beautiful...

What's funny about the settings is you could be a complete jerk operator and make the game cost a dollar, then give no extra ships to start and award no bonus ships during play.

Let us know how that woodgrain repaint goes.  You're doing a fantastic job.


Oh, anyone know what the vibration switch by the coin door does?  I've seen that labeled on a few different machines and I find the statement about it "Operates game over circuit when closed" doesn't help me much.

[vidmouse]

Wow, thanks guys, that's great feedback.

The woodgrain paint is done, just finished and it's drying now.
Haven't applied the clear coat yet.  I took a few pics but b/c of my
flash and the fact that my dark brown is a little bit redder than what
the cab color is, it appears worse in the pics than it really is in
person.

Here's the tools I used (plus one larger round brush, not pictured):


Some "before pictures", coin door side:  Note that I did do a little test paint yesterday, that's why
some areas are a sloppy dark brown.




And coin door side, after-picture:


P1 side, before picture:


and after:


P2 side, before picture:


and after:


Back side, before picture:


and back side, after:


and finally, a whole unit shot.  I still have to clear coat it and wipe down the whole thing with clean-cloth, but basically I'm done.


Technique:
1.  Painted one coat of dark brown over affected areas.
2.  Lightly dipped into black and light brown to add grain texture to areas.  Used up paint and kept going over areas, sort-of drybrushing it.
3.  Any areas I messed up, I dabbed with water and clean towel and or wet brush.  Good thing about using acryllics, they're water-soluble.
4.  Any areas where I went overboard, I wiped down lightly with a wet towel to let the original grain print show through.  The actual damage areas weren't too bad... some chipped wood (hence I needed the bondo) and some scratches.  The wipe-downs helped show the grain texture through without bleeding out the paint over the scratches.

[Zebidee]

Hey Vid, that's a great restoration job you've done there!  Those large gouges in the wood are really challenging.  Considering the amount of time you have spent on this project (about a week or so I guess, around family & work life), your results are very impressive.

As you have demonstrated, acrylic paints are really the way to go with this kind of thing - especially blending colours.  They are also much easier to work with and clean up, and you can get pretty good acrylics these days.

Glad that you went for the original restoration too, rather than mame-ing it.  Classic!!! 

[GAJoe]

I could be wrong, but it appears the Dark Knight is watching over this project from above.  No wonder it's all going so well.  Batman is likely protecting the Galaga from all sorts of villainy.

Seriously, the touch up job is admirable.  It does look kind of dark, but that may just be the camera like you said and that you haven't finished it yet.  In any case, it looks way better than bare wood or bondo.

[shardian]

I hate to bring this up after all of that hard work you put in painting, but...

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=261-616

[vidmouse]

Yeah, I thought about that Sharidan... I called it "contact paper" but whatever it's called, didn't want to mess w/ it until I at least tried to paint.  That way if I screwed up I could still use the contact paper.   I already had the paints too from my action figure customizing hobby (check out my Lara Croft over in the 'Everything Else" forum!).

I'm really pleased with how it all turned out.  It is a little dark in spots where I painted... looks like it got some slight burn damage whereas I really just darkened up the paint.  I think it's passable and definitely something I'm proud of.  It looks even better with a bit of spot cleaning (to get misc dust off it) and a clear matte coat over the painted areas.

Thanks to everyone who gave me such good comments and encouragement along the way, it really made a difference!
Hope I've done justice to this great machine.

Just have to install two new bulbs for the quarter slots now and move it to its final resting place now.

And yes, Batman watches over all that goes on in my workshop.  Everyone should have one of these,  he lights up too! 

Next up:  converting this Special Criminal Investigation cabinet!  Also a good score, won it for $5 off that famous auction site  (plus my gas to transport it 30 miles)

No monitor, no back panel, but all the other parts are supposedly there.
Will pickup Friday and take more photos.

[GAJoe]

How's it looking with the clear coat?

[vidmouse]

Looks great... the clear coat is really more of a protectant (is that a word?)
to keep the colored acryillic from being scratched/flaked off.

I was able to lug it down to my basement myself (oh yeah it's heavy)
and got it in place.  Here's a few final shots (one with flash, one without...
the one w/ flash is a bit larger if you want to View Picture full size)




I also picked up my new SCI cab yesterday.... oooh, can't wait to MAME
this.  I would saw overall it's in poorer shape but the artwork is definitely
ok and I should be able to repair the cosmetic defects.  The interesting thing
is, this cab has a force feedback wheel... I'm reasonably sure I can hack
the encoder on the wheel similar to a mouse hack, but I haven't a clue yet
how to get the force feedback working if I mame it.

I'll probably start a thread in Project Announcements for this one.

Also, the guy I bought it from has ANOTHER cab that he's willing to give me
for free, was going in the scrap pile otherwise.  Will take some photos of
that tomorrow too after I haul it back.  Probably going to MAME that one too
into the 4-player machine I always wanted.

EDIT:
One thing I bet you didn't know about Galaga if you haven't played a real one in awhile.
Holding down the fire button enables continuous (and FAST) fire... ie I didn't have to
"Track n' Field" it like I did in my video.  I tried the same thing in MAME and it doesn't work...
so either I have a setting different on either machine, or that's just the way it is.

I can tell you, it really changes the game dynamic and makes me soooo glad I was
able to save this one.