Centipede Restoration

[Spyridon]

I picked up a Centipede cabinet that has been converted to Arkanoid on eBay.  It was local and I paid $63 for it.  Pretty good deal considerding the Arkanoid game works fine.  The plan is to convert this back to Centipede.  I'll be focusing on getting the game working during the winter and save the cabinet restoration for Spring when it's warm enough to paint in the garage.


Sides have been completely painted over with black paint.  I'll try and strip it off and see what remains of the Centipede artwork, but I've already picked up a new set so I won't worry too much if it can't be saved.  Also, no back door so I'll have to cut a new one.


A real hack job of the original wiring to get the Arkanoid game going.  Don't think I'll be able to save any of the original wiring.


Working Electrohome G07 monitor.  Needs a cap kit.  I'll order the deluxe kit from Bob Roberts and give it the works since I'll have it pulled out anyway.


So far I've acquired the following items (from KLOV, QuarterArcade and eBay):
Centipede wire harness complete with control panel harness for $12.50 on eBay

Working PCB from eBay for $58 which included a working ARII board and a trackball (great deal)

Working Transformer from eBay for $17 (mine works, but I was getting other items from this seller and added it in just in case)
NOS cone buttons (2)
Control Panel Overlay from Quarter Arcade for $40
Phoneix arcade side art for $75 shipped from a KLOV member

Currently working on a deal for a marquee from a KLOV member as well.

Still need to find the glass bezel.  I've heard that Arcadeshop is having issues with their repros and are out of stock.  Anyone have a bezel for sale?

I'll pick up the blue cardboard bezel from Arcadeshop.

Trackball will need to be rebuilt.  I'll order new bearings and rollers from Bob Roberts.  Were these originally offwhite in color or is mine just discolored?

[Spyridon]

The control panel has been hacked with the addition of a new button above the trackball area and holes for the spinner.


The cone button have also been replaced with a different style button.  Where the holes for the cones the same size as a regular button?  These are the standard button size.  I can easily fix the extra button and spinner holes, but if these were a smaller size that could be a difficult fix.  I may be better off trying to find a replacement Centipede control panel and sell this one.  I've had some interest in it already as an Arkanoid CP.

Anyone know how to remove the P1 and P2 buttons?  I've removed the microswitch, but the end piece is still wider then the button shaft which means I can't slide the nut off.

I'm sure the microswitch holder at the end must pop off somehow, but it's not obvious as of yet.  I don't want to break it in case I end up switching to a different control panel.

Another question, I think the only wiring part I'm missing is the coin door connection.  Is this the connector that goes to the coin door?


I haven't seen that type of connector before.  Anyone have a Centipede coin door harness for sale?

[Level42]

P1 and P2 buttonholes should be smaller.

(You can see it on the CPO:
)


Mine were made bigger too (but not as big as a "regular" pushbutton hole) and actually, the P1 and P2 button on my CP looked very similar (if not the same) !



You can simply pull out the inside mechanics of the button. Needs a little force but then will click out. Won't do any damage.


I carefully installed the cone buttons that I found and they "just" fit the holes. I'm not sure if I will keep it this way, may fix it with some bondo or something.

[Spyridon]

Thanks for the info Level42.  I'm actually in the process of re-reading your Centipede restoration right now. 

It looks like my buttons are similar to yours, but the holes have been widened to the size of a regular push button.  I don't think the cone will fit.  I'm leaning towards picking up a different control panel and selling this one. 

[ChadTower]

That looks like it might be an amp connector... I see no reason one with that many slots would be original.  Just get a new matching pair and repin to that pair.  It's much easier than trying to find a match for an unknown connector from some point in the past 25 years.

[Level42]

Thanks for the info Level42.  I'm actually in the process of re-reading your Centipede restoration right now. 

It looks like my buttons are similar to yours, but the holes have been widened to the size of a regular push button.  I don't think the cone will fit.  I'm leaning towards picking up a different control panel and selling this one. 

I'm sure a cone will not fit into a regular pushbutton-sized hole. It just barely fit the one's on my CP which are smaller. There are ways to close the holes. People have done it lots of times here. Than you can drill new holes.

[Spyridon]

There are ways to close the holes. People have done it lots of times here. Than you can drill new holes.

Yes, I agree.  I may still go this route, but if the person that expressed interest in my control panel is still interested, it may make more sense to sell / trade it and get one requiring less work.  If no interest, I'll figure out how to repair the holes.

[Spyridon]

That looks like it might be an amp connector... I see no reason one with that many slots would be original.  Just get a new matching pair and repin to that pair.  It's much easier than trying to find a match for an unknown connector from some point in the past 25 years.

Okay, if that's not original I'll replace it with something else and match both sides.  Didn't even think that it might not be original, but I guess that makes sense as it doesn't match any of the other connectors.

[ChadTower]

I don't know it isn't for sure - but it sure looks that way. 

Level42, could you visually confirm from your cab?

[Level42]

As you may know all my cabs are now in storage (see my gameroom thread), but I checked other pictures I made before and it _is_ a molex connector, but only 12 pins.

[Spyridon]

Looking at the schematic for the coin door, it looks like a 24 pin connector is correct.

[Level42]

O wait, I thought we were talking about the control panel connector.....let me see if I can spot the coin-door connector on the pics...

[Level42]

Yeah, seems original:

[Spyridon]

Thanks for checking on that.  By the way, I think it's pretty cool that I can be discussing video games with people all over the world.

Now I just need to find out where to get a match for the connector.  I'll check with Bob Roberts and see if he can match it.  Better yet, maybe I can a complete coin door harness for this. 

[WunderCade]

I have my Centipede Upright, let me know what you'd like pics of. I'd be glad to help you out.

[Spyridon]

I have my Centipede Upright, let me know what you'd like pics of. I'd be glad to help you out.

Thanks for the offer!  I'll let you know if I need anything specific.

I was able to locate someone that has the coin door harness for sale.  $20 shipped.  Not a bad price considering the time I was going to have to put in to create my own (once I tracked down the correct connector)

[Spyridon]

I was able to locate someone that has the coin door harness for sale.  $20 shipped. 

Coin door harness arrived today.  It was not from a Centipede, but from another Atari cab.  Looks like they used the same connector on a lot of their cabs.



A perfect fit...

[Spyridon]

My bezel arrived today from Quarter Arcade and is sitting in a box next to my desk.  I'll post pictures when I get it open (hopefully later today)


Okay, here it is:



Looks really good.  Also, the marquee I ordered arrived today.  Pictures of that later...

[Level42]

Hey, the colors are wrong !






 

[RayB]

Hey, the colors are wrong !

I was going to post that yesterday. I assume it's just a dark photo?

[Level42]

I was just kidding. Compare:

[RayB]

What's going on here. Euro version? Bootleg?

[Level42]

Euro version (Irish built). Side art, marquee, CPO, all different. And better looking. At least on the Centi. Other cabs I prefer the US version (SW cockpit f.i.).

[Spyridon]

Hey, the colors are wrong !

I was going to post that yesterday. I assume it's just a dark photo?

Okay, I knew exactly what Level42 was talking about, but then I got worried when RayB jumped in as well.

Don't scare me like that.

[RayB]

Bah! Don't you people know you don't really exist? If it's not North American, it's not not true.
 

[Spyridon]

Got my marquee in.  Looks really good.  These glass marquee's are heavier than I expected.



Also got in my control panel.  I could have fixed the one I have, but got this one for $10 plus shipping.  Not a bad deal for a populated control panel.  Needs a lot of clean up, but I don't have to worry about fixing the holes (especailly the P1 and P2 buttons that were too wide on mine)

[Spyridon]

Time to rebuild the trackball.  The one I picked up really did not move well at all.  You could hear a grinding sound as you moved it and it was very rough.

I orderd a trackball rebuilt kit from Bob Roberts which included new bearings and rollers.  I also ordered a replacement trackball as I liked the white color better than the off-white.



Here is what I started with.


First step, remove the top cover


Here is a comparison of the original trackball and the new white one


It's pretty dirty in there.


The old rollers and bearing pop right out.  I washed the housing - top and bottom - with some soapy water and all the crud came off.  The two encoder wheels screwed right off.


Screwed the encoder wheels onto the new rollers, popped on the new bearings, and placed them into the cleaned up housing.


Add in one new trackball:


And screw it all back together, making sure the encoder wheels spin smoothly and aren't touching anythiing:


A really quick process to do this and now it moves as smooth as can be.  Hopefully the optic boards work, but I won't know until I wire everything up.

[RayB]

honestly, your rollers are hardly worn. 

[Spyridon]

honestly, your rollers are hardly worn. 

Yeah, the rollers weren't bad, but the bearings were shot.  I figured since I had it apart, let's upgrade it all and be done with it.

[Level42]

I'm having a deja-vu feeling  

[SirPeale]

Those black connectors are interesting...I don't have them on my Centipede Mini.

[Spyridon]

I'm having a deja-vu feeling  

Yeah, I keep reading through your restoration.  Hopefully, I won't have to go through what you went through to get the PCB working.

[Spyridon]

Found this online today and ordered it:

NOS backdoor sheet


Manuals and flyer


It was $15 plus shipping. 

(of course, currently I don't have a back door to put this on)

[Spyridon]

I spent some time trying to stip off the black paint to see if the artwork underneath was salvagable.  I wasn't too concerned if this was successful as I already have replacement art.  However, if it was in good shape, I could resell the artwork.  I tried about 8 different strippers and had no luck.  I can't be sure what kind of paint was used, but based on the success of the chemical strippers, I think it might be an oil based paint.  Goof Off worked quickly, but didn't remove the black paint, but did pull up the vinyl underneath.  Citristrip did nothing.  I had some success with a soy based stripper but not much.  Here is what it looks like so far (pretty ugly)


Anyone know what can remove oil based paints without hurting the vinyl underneath?

[Spyridon]

I tried a few more strippers on the paint, but I can't find anything that will remove the oil based paint and save the artwork underneath.  Not a big deal as I have new sideart ready to go. 

Decided to start the task of getting this game working.  Remember, all cosmetic work will be done later when the weather gets better.  The goal for now is to just get it playable.

Started by working on setting up the new (to me) control panel.  First I installed the rebuilt trackball.

The control panel only came with two carriage bolts, so I'll need to come up with two more to fully secure this.

Next was to install the Atari cone buttons.  I picked up some used cone lights and some NOS cones.


The wire harness that I picked up had a set of cone lights with it so I just compared my wires to that one which made figuring out what goes where relatively easy.
P1 and P2 wired up:


Now to install them into the control panel.


Okay, first problem of the day.  The cones I have are too big.  Comparing them to the ones that came with the wire harness I purchased you can see the difference


That's a shame as these are in perfect shape.  For now, I'll use the other set I have


Looks pretty good, but one of the cones is banged up pretty good.


Anyone want to trade a set of tall cones for short ones?

And the fininshed (for now) control panel


It may be ugly, but at least it's Centipede and no longer this:



Looking forward to putting the new CPO on this, but it's too cold to do any painting.

Next up...removing the hacked up wire harness and installing the Centipede harness.

[RayB]

As far as I know, it's supposed to have the talls (or medium?) You didn't install the buttons right.

The washer goes underneath. Only the cone on top.  There's also usually a white plastic spacer that goes between the washer and the microswitch (allowing it to turn without wearing on the switch housing).

Putting the washer under the panel allows you to set your preferred height of the button. You can set it so the button sticks out high out of the cone, or set it so it's just barely peeking over the edge.

Check the manual, there's diagrams showing the order of the parts.

cone
panel
washer
spacer
^ microswitch inserted into the above ^

Turn the cone to tighten, while holding the microswitch in place.

[Level42]

Exactly what Ray says ! High cones !

[Spyridon]

Okay, that's good news.  I'll try that out tonight and see how it works.  I think the small cones already installed on the  wire harness is what threw me.

[Spyridon]

cone
panel
washer
spacer
^ microswitch inserted into the above ^

Okay, tried out the cones I had and they still do not fit with the washer in place.  Here is what they look like outside of the control panel.  This is cone, washer, microswitch.  I don't have the spacer (and I don't see it listed in the diagram in the manual)


As you can see, the button is flush with the top of the cone and does not stick out at all.  This is with it tightened all the way down.  Add in the control panel and you wouldn't be able to press the button. 

I installed is into the control panel without using the washer.

You can see the difference to the one with the smaller cone.  It does stick out far enough to work.  How far out should it be?

Closer shot:


And both of them installed:


This will work, but doesn't seem right.  Is there a medium size cone between the two sizes I have?

[THE POKER BRAT]

cab looks pretty solid,..you know theres nothing more satisfying than to bring and old neglected arcade back to its original glory!
i gotta drink to that!
keep us posted with the pics ,..and progress details of your work,...
they look great!,..
I recently got a "GORF MINI" (im so stoked!)
I have to do some cosmetic tough ups to it to make it look better,..cant wait to work on mine,
your story gives most of us the motivation to keep going with what we love to do!
 

[THE POKER BRAT]

cab looks pretty solid,..you know theres nothing more satisfying than to bring and old neglected arcade back to its original glory!
i gotta drink to that!
keep us posted with the pics ,..and progress details of your work,...
they look great!,..
I recently got a "GORF MINI" (im so stoked!)
I have to do some cosmetic touch ups to it to make it look better,..cant wait to work on mine,
your story gives most of us the motivation to keep going with what we love to do!
 

[Level42]

Looks normal to me. The buttons don't come up very high with the high cones. They are up just enough to normally push them (and work). I think that's normal, at least mine are the same.

In fact here I didn't have them turned up all the way yet. I actually can't remember if I have the nut/ washer installed at all.

[Spyridon]

It will work fine, it just won't work if I use the nut.

[Spyridon]

cab looks pretty solid,..you know theres nothing more satisfying than to bring and old neglected arcade back to its original glory!
i gotta drink to that!
keep us posted with the pics ,..and progress details of your work,...
they look great!,..
I recently got a "GORF MINI" (im so stoked!)
I have to do some cosmetic tough ups to it to make it look better,..cant wait to work on mine,
your story gives most of us the motivation to keep going with what we love to do!
 

Cab is actually in great physical shape.  Just need to convert her back to her original appearance.  Gorf is an awesome game.  Check out my Gorf Restoration if you haven't already seen it.

[RayB]

Mine peek out above the cone about 1.5 mm

But my cones dont look as high as yours. I think there might be 3 sizes. Tall (yours) medium (mine) and real low ones.

I have spare mediums if it really matters to ya. 

[TimothyC]

You must have unlimited patience to try so many methods of paint removal when you already have replacement art on hand .  Project looks great so far though and in the end you'll be happy you repainted the sides as well. 

-Timothy

[Spyridon]

You must have unlimited patience to try so many methods of paint removal when you already have replacement art on hand .  Project looks great so far though and in the end you'll be happy you repainted the sides as well. 

The issue is I can't do any of the cosmetic work until the weather warms up.  I thought it would be fun to see if I could recover what was underneath.  If it was in excellent shape, then I'd sell my art and get some money back.  If it was in rough shape, then at least the cab would look more like a Centipede for the winter.  Also, I really didn't spend much time on trying the different options.

[Spyridon]

I have spare mediums if it really matters to ya. 

I think I'll just go with the ones I have and not use the nut.  Thanks for the offer!

[Spyridon]

Made great progress this weekend.  The goal was to get the game playable.  First step was to remove the old hacked up wire harness. 

Next, I installed the Centipede control panel


Putting the new wire harness into place:

The harness I picked up on eBay was complete and went into place with no problems.  Next was to pull out the PCB from storage and get that installed.


When I put it in, I realized that the top bracket had been lowered for the smaller Arkanoid board.  I needed to pull the staples out and move it to the correct position.


The PCB in place:


Before hooking up the PCB, I fired up the cab to make sure I had the power working correctly everywhere else just in case.  At this time, I replaced the starter in the marquee lamp and it lit right up.


Okay, power looks good, time to hook up the PCB. 


Now that the marquee light is working, I can also install the marquee and bezel.


Now lets fire her up with everything plugged in....

Let's see...P1 and P2 lights are blinking...that's a good sign

Monitor starting to warm up....Hey, I see mushrooms!!!   

It works. 




Played a game.  Can't move across the screen as quickly as I can on my Mame setup, but this feels right.  Plays great.  Got 34,565 on my first game.  Pretty good score for me, especially with not playing in a long time.

Still need to order the blue interior bezel, but I didn't want to staple that in now anyway.  I'll wait until the cosmetic work is done.

One thing I realized is missing is the test switch.  I'll need to pick one up and install it so I can reset the high scores. 

One last thing to do for today.  Replace the old power cord with the ground cut off with a new one.  Picked up an Atari power cord in my order from Bob Roberts so replacing the old one was simple.


That's about all I can do until the weather is better, so time to move it into it's winter spot:



Items remaining:
Cap kit (going to wait until the monitor is pulled for painting)
Install control panel overlay
Strip and repaint cab
Clean interior
Install side art
Strip and paint coin door
Cut new backdoor (anyone have all the measurements for this?)

I'm very happy to have this playable!  It's going to really bug me looking at the crappy control panel, but I'll just enjoy it as is until Spring.

...Now off to get Pacman working!

[Spyridon]

Looks much better already don't you think...

[Level42]

You're on the right track !     May spring come soon !

[WunderCade]

Nice job. You're probably waiting on applying the new CPO for the same reason you're waiting on the blue shroud.

Anyways.....I always enjoy your resto threads....I'll keep an eye out for Pac-man. 

[Spyridon]

Nice job. You're probably waiting on applying the new CPO for the same reason you're waiting on the blue shroud.

Yeah, waiting until it's warmer so I can paint it.  However, I am tempted to do this in the basement.  Since it's not that large, I could probably get away with it.  I'd just need to keep the heat turned on so it can dry propery.


Thanks for all the compliments.  I'm looking forward to getting some play time in on this one.

[Spyridon]

How could anyone not love this game?  Went downstairs and played a few games during halftime of the Steelers game.  Boy, this is a fun game!


P.S.  How 'bout them Steelers!!!!!

[ken_cinder]

Beautiful work, I hope one day I have the opportunity to restore an old game that I like.

[RayB]

Nice "row" !

[Level42]

How could anyone not love this game?  Went downstairs and played a few games during halftime of the Steelers game.  Boy, this is a fun game!


P.S.  How 'bout them Steelers!!!!!

In all honesty, I never loved Centipede. In fact, I hated it. It was the game for the 1983 (IIRC !) Atari World championships. So I rented (!) the cart, practiced like nuts for a week. I totally hated the controls on the Atari 2600, the joystick programming was so that when you moved, the archer moved slowly when you started the move, but increased in speed as long as you kept moving in that direction. A (poor) try to "emulate" the trackball feeling, but I didn't even know Centipede was originally a trackball game in the arcade then. I'd never even seen the arcade game then.

Anyway, I participated in the first Dutch round. Was placed 26 and only 25 (under 18's !) were invited but I was lucky as one guy got ill and they called if I could replaced him. So, like crazy, I again rented the cart and practiced like nuts.....
Became 4th in the Dutch finals. Not bad, but of course no prize :S

O well. it was fun to be in the finals that was in the Amsterdam Hilton and hosted by Ron Brandsteder (a famous Dutch TV host). I'm sure my parents must have some pics from them....gotta dig them up

Anyway, if there' s any game that proved to me that the arcade version can be SO much better than conversions, it was Centipede. I totally love the game now. 

[Spyridon]

Nice story Level42.  Love to see some of those pictures if you find them.  In 1983, I don't think there was any place around me that rented games.  Of course, I didn't have a 2600 to play them on anyway.  Had to go over a friends house to paly.   

[Spyridon]

One thing I realized is missing is the test switch.  I'll need to pick one up and install it so I can reset the high scores. 

I looked into the manual today to see what type of switch I needed to pick up.  I was going to walk over to Radio Shack on my lunch to get on.  I remembered from the manual (and Level42's picture) that the switch was located just below the volume control.  Since I had an open hole in that space and two dangling wires with nothing to connect to, I just assumed that is where the missing switch goes.  It wasn't until I looked at the manual that I found out about the European self test switch and the US self test switch.


The US one is located on the coin door.  I don't remember seeing that on the door itself, but looking back at the picture of the coin door harness I picked up, it looks like it is there.


All I should need to do is plug in the coin door harness (I didn't hook it up becuase I have it on freeplay right now) and I should be good to go.  I'll check it out tonight when I get home.

[Spyridon]

Nice "row" !

Thanks.  Here's the other side:

[Spyridon]

Got home and went right down to the basement to check out my coin door harness.  Yep, there's the switch I need!



And wouldn't you know it, checking out the coin door, there's another one.


I'm really glad I didn't pick one up at Radio Shack today.  Saves me a trip back to return it.

Plugged the coin door harness in...hit the switch...test mode!


Now I can reset the high scores so at least my top 3 get saved.  Hopefully I get good enough to beat the 45K scores that were up there, but this way until I hit that mark, I'll at least have my high scores saved.

[Spyridon]

Now I can reset the high scores so at least my top 3 get saved.  Hopefully I get good enough to beat the 45K scores that were up there, but this way until I hit that mark, I'll at least have my high scores saved.

Resetting the high scores wasn't a big deal as I would have beaten them this weekend anyway.  My high so far is 64K. 

[THE POKER BRAT]

keep the pics comin!,....youre doing a great job!

[Spyridon]

No updates on the restoration progress, but I've been playing this game a lot and I love it.  Got a new high score today 128,000! 

I think I'm only a few weeks away from being able to redo the control panel.  Can't wait!

[Level42]

Can't even remember what my hi-score was.....and the chip seems to have lost it....

The trackball is not as smooth after being in storage. Probably temperature related too.

The CPO got damaged a bit too  (two spots on the under-front side ......sigh).

Anyway, it's a great game, very addictive.

[Spyridon]

Okay, with warmer weather on the horizon, it's time to get back to working on this one. 

First up is the control panel overlay.  I pulled the CP and removed all of the components:


A nice bit of rust underneath where the track ball connects


And the more obvious rust on the top


I had my heat gun all ready to go to pull the old overlay off, but much to my suprise, it literally just peeled right off with abosolutely no effort




And the stripped panel


Lots of glue residue left behind that will need to come off.

[Spyridon]

Now to tackle the rust.  I'll use a wire wheel in my drill to take it off.  This always does a great job and doesn't take too long.


Here you can see the difference on the top portion that I started working on


All top rust removed


And now to work on the bottom



Now to remove all the glue residue (and paint as well), I'll use some Soy Gel.  This stuff works great on removing adhesive from control panels and it's even safe to use in the house


Gel applied


Let it sit for about an hour and the old paint and glue comes right off with a scraper


And the full panel with the gel removed


A few spots to touch up, so I'll hit them with another coat.  Then it will be ready for some Rustoleum paint.

[Spyridon]

Can anyone provide exact dimensions for the back door?  I don't have one and need to cut one out.

[Level42]

Hey, that's the least thing I can do back for you....give me an hour or two....

Although......I do have an Irish cab, I _think_ sizes are the same, but not 100% sure...

[Spyridon]

Hey, that's the least thing I can do back for you....give me an hour or two....

Although......I do have an Irish cab, I _think_ sizes are the same, but not 100% sure...

Great.  I can match the sizes you give to the opening to make sure it works.

[Level42]

Oops, got caught up by something else....will measure tonight...

[Spyridon]

Oops, got caught up by something else....will measure tonight...

Not in a big hurry.  I've got plenty to do before I get to it.

[Spyridon]

Delivery today from arcadeshop:

Blue inner bezel:

I wish this came with instructions.  I'll need to put the puzzle together and figure it out (shouldn't be too hard)

black t-molding and 2.5" carriage bolts for the trackball


I was very dissapointed to see that the carriage bolts had raised lettering on them.  Anybody sand these down before?  What did you use?

[Level42]

Backdoor (IRISH !):

Note that I measured in cm and had the Mac convert it to the inch sizes. I rounded a bit where necessary.








No sizes, just for reference:


Let me know if you need more or if I forgot anything....

[Spyridon]

Thanks!  I'll match this up with my cab to make sure it fits, but that gives me a good idea of what it looks like.

[JayB]

I was very dissapointed to see that the carriage bolts had raised lettering on them.  Anybody sand these down before?  What did you use?

I put the bolts in a drill and then faced it down onto some sandpaper. It did the trick

[Spyridon]

Okay, had some time to work on this over the weekend.  After using the Soy Gel to strip most of the paint off the control panel, I hit it again with the wire wheel on the drill.  This easily removed any remaining paint and glue.

Nice and clean


Next up was to stop the rust from coming back.  I used Rustoleum satin black paint.


Inside:

Outside:


Turned out really nice.  Sure looks better than this:

[Level42]

No primer ?

[Spyridon]

No primer ?

Nope.  With the Rustoleum products you don't need primer.

[Level42]

Lazy !

[Spyridon]

Lazy !

Guilty!  However, in my defense, on my Gorf restore, when I used primer under the Rustoleum paint, I quickly got comments letting me know that I don't need to use primer.

[Level42]

Just kidding... I know Rustoleum doesn't need primer, I should have looked better.....

[Spyridon]

Level42 - did you paint the carriage bolts holding the trackball in place?  If so, what color did you use? 

[Spyridon]

Applied the control panel overlay tonight. 


To help line it up, I placed the fire button and some of the carriage bots in place. 


I started from the top and peeled off the top 3 inches or so and then pressed that in place.  Next, I removed the button and bolts as well as the rest of the paper backing.  Working from top to bottom, I pressed the control panel into place.  I used a plastic edge to help smooth it out.

Turned out pretty good!


The only problem I have is the short overhang on the top isn't holding in place.  I'll need to put some adhesive behind it to hold it in place.

Next, I went to work on the carriage bolts.  I didn't like the text that was on the top of the bolts.  I placed the carriage bolt into my drill and spun it on some 60 grit sandpaper.  In no time, the text was gone.

To get a nice smooth finish, I then ran it across some 180, 220 and 600 grit sandpaper.


Much better don't you agree?


So that these don't rust, I want to either clear coat them or paint them.  What color should they be?

[Level42]

Black. At least, I thought so.

This is how it looked when I got my Centipede:


The new one's on my CP still have the text on top, but I'm going to sand them too. Not only does it look bad, it actually feels uncomfortable on your hands during play.

I ordered the bolts from Bob Roberts and they were black. So I'd use some of that rustoleum Put them in some foam so they stand up when you spray them.

[Level42]

Geez, I just zoomed in on the Centipede flyers and it actually looks like that cab had recessed bolts ! I can't make out any bolts on the CP ! Actually, that's what they should have done. Looks great and now bumbs around the trackball.....guess it was cheaper to drill holes than to weld the bolts.....

[RayB]

Much better don't you agree?


So that these don't rust, I want to either clear coat them or paint them.  What color should they be?

They are supposed to be steel or chrome.

I recommend you get some Mothers steel rim polishing compound [from any auto parts or hardware store] and polish up those heads. If you use something like a Dremel with a polishing bit, those heads will shine up to a mirror like finish and will look great when installed.

[Spyridon]

1 vote steel, 1 vote black.  Anyone else?

[HaRuMaN]

Steel, polished

[WunderCade]

Black to match your cone buttons. Someone actually showed how to re-anodize those things so they are black again. I think it was Level42? Or possibly his friend Bruno? Maybe he can chime in here.

[Spyridon]

2 votes steel, 2 votes black

[Level42]

Not me, could be Bruno...

However, I didn't "vote" for black, it was a wild guess......I think it probably was blank steel by the looks of how my bolts were when I got the machine.

[WunderCade]

My Centipede UR has aluminum cone buttons, not black. Hmmm...wierd.

[Level42]

My Centipede UR has aluminum cone buttons, not black. Hmmm...wierd.

Normally I would say, look at the flyer picture. However, the UR on the flyer is one weird beast.

It has the Irish marquee, bezel and side-art, but a US coin door ! Kinda weird that Atari would issue a US flyer with the Irish/Euro colors....

Anyway, the cones are definitely black and I tend to believe that was original on both US and Irish cabs, but that's based on "what you see most".
So that's not really a sure thing, f.i. my (Irish) MC cabaret has silver cones but I've seen that the US version had black one's on the flyer.

By the way, the MC trackball bolts have "shiny" tops on that flyer.....

[Spyridon]

Black to match your cone buttons.

I think I'm going to go with WunderCade's suggestion.  Can't go wrong whichever direction as it will all look good.

[Level42]

I wish I could weld. I'd love to be able to weld some studs (or how do you call this) on the underside of the CP so it would be "blind", no bolt tops sticking out. I'd love to do that on the Puckman CPO. Has anyone tried this at all ?

[Spyridon]

I wish I could weld. I'd love to be able to weld some studs (or how do you call this) on the underside of the CP so it would be "blind", no bolt tops sticking out. I'd love to do that on the Puckman CPO. Has anyone tried this at all ?

That would be a nice look.  You would need to make sure you got an overlay that wasn't die cut for the carriage bolts like the Centipede one is.  That shouldn't be an issue with your Puckman. 

[Steve B.]

I wish I could weld. I'd love to be able to weld some studs (or how do you call this) on the underside of the CP so it would be "blind", no bolt tops sticking out. I'd love to do that on the Puckman CPO. Has anyone tried this at all ?

I did this on my metal control panel without welding. Let me see if I can explain this without pictures.
I drilled a hole in the metal control panel where I wanted the stud to go and I threaded the hole using a hand tap. I applied some JB weld epoxy into the hole and screwed in a threaded rod from the underside of the control panel so that it just protruded through the hole. Once the epoxy was dry, I used my dremel to clean up the top of the control panel and to cut the threaded rod to length. I've done this on all my metal control panels. It's very strong and I have yet to have one fail.

[Level42]

I wish I could weld. I'd love to be able to weld some studs (or how do you call this) on the underside of the CP so it would be "blind", no bolt tops sticking out. I'd love to do that on the Puckman CPO. Has anyone tried this at all ?

That would be a nice look.  You would need to make sure you got an overlay that wasn't die cut for the carriage bolts like the Centipede one is. 

My Centipede wasn't die cut at all in the first place because it came from Mamemarquees as my cab of course needed the Irish colored CPO so I could have done it that way.
Anyway, Steve B's solution sounds perfect ! I'd love to see if you have any pics.

[Spyridon]

Mushrooms...


They look good in black

[Spyridon]

Assembly of the control panel today.  I planned on using a new white fire button but when I pulled one out of my stock pile, I only had the short leaf buttons and the original came with long buttons.  Looking at the leaf switch holder, there were a few spacers in place.

Removing these moved the leaf switches up closer to the button allowing me to use the short button that I had in stock


All controls in place.  I need to get some adhesive or new pads for the original stick on wire holders.


And the complete control panel:



And once again, the comparison "before" shot:


I know the repro looks like a different color than the original, but it just depends on how the light is hitting it.  Look at this shot of the repro and you can see that it is a good match to the original color

[WunderCade]

Awesome job. The bolt heads look nice black.

Looking ahead to the sideart, this is over on KLOV.

[Spyridon]

Awesome job. The bolt heads look nice black.

Looking ahead to the sideart, this is over on KLOV.

From the KLOV post:

One time I tried Just stripping, repairing and sanding without sealing the sides, the problem comes if you have to reposition the artwork which tends to pull up small particles of wood and leave your finish with little bumps. Also it is difficult to spray windex on the wood when it absorbs it right away. The other problem is that the artwork is slightly transparent which showed a slight tinting to the white as the brown bled through. The vinyl had difficulty adhearing to the edges and was starting to lift up.

On another occasion I stripped, repaired, sanded and painted the sides white. The vinyl was having difficulty sticking to the edges of the painted surface as well.

The best result was when I laminated the sides of the cabinet in white and then applied the sideart on top of the laminate. The result was a perfect finish and reduced the time to prep the cab.

I was planing on stripping and painting the sides.  I hadn't thought about using laminate, but that would speed up the process.

I need to pull out my side art and look at it.  I was thinking it was just the centipede part and you just placed it over a white side.  Now, it sounds like the side art may actually be the full side including the white?


Oh yeah...I think the bolts look good in black also!

[WunderCade]

Yeah, I thought, wow.....great way to eliminate the problems associated with trying to get a perfectly smooth surface to apply the vinyl to.

[Spyridon]

I have my Centipede Upright, let me know what you'd like pics of. I'd be glad to help you out.

Hey WunderCade,
Could you post a picture of the back door on your Centipede?  Level42 posted his, but I think his is a bit differnent in where the vent holes are.

[WunderCade]

Sure thing, the last 4 pics are of the bottom section where the vent is. Let me know if you need more, and if so...exactly what shots...



The vent is under that strip of wood directly under the instructions sheet.

[Level42]

Yep looks like the vent is higher up on the US machines.

[Spyridon]

Thanks for the pictures.  That shouldn't be too hard to replicate. 

At least it wasn't this version that I saw in another thread:

[WunderCade]

I did some measuring, hope this helps a bit:

[Spyridon]

I did some measuring, hope this helps a bit:

Sure does.  That's a great help!

Same basic size as what Level42 posted, but now I have the exact position of the vent.

[Level42]

The Irish vent is better......







 

[Spyridon]

Will be tearing the cab apart this weekend for painting.  Game is working fine, but should I replace big blue anyway?

[Level42]

Measure across the Big Blue, voltage in AC. If you have a serious number there, replace it.

In fact, replace it anyway. It's old. Why risk it ? Order from Bob he has them fresh instead of some others who sell old stock (that is probably worse than using the old one who has been "exercised".

[aPr0mpt]

Hi, great job so far! Keep the pictures coming!  Where did you order the blue inner bezel from? I have been looking all over the net. I need to start my restoration soon but want to order most of my parts first. I bought mine for just over a $100 but it was converted to mortal kombat

[Spyridon]

Where did you order the blue inner bezel from? I have been looking all over the net. I need to start my restoration soon but want to order most of my parts first. I bought mine for just over a $100 but it was converted to mortal kombat

you can get the inner bezel from arcadeshop.com



Good luck with the restoration!

[SirPeale]

I cut out my own inner bezel with two pieces of poster paper and used the old as a pattern.  Looks great.

[aPr0mpt]

When are we going to get to see the sides! I cant wait! btw... thanks for tips on the inner bezel I ordered mine and made a back up with the posterboard 

[Spyridon]

When are we going to get to see the sides! I cant wait!

I'm working on it.  I need to get this ready for paint as I want to do this at the same time as my Pac-man.

Started to take her apart for the big move to the garage for painting:



The power transformer is going to need a good cleaning:


Pretty dirty in there...

[ChadTower]

Uh, Peale, care to mention those two games to either side of that Centipede? 


EDIT:  nm, I thought this was Peale's Centipede thread.   

[SirPeale]

Uh, Peale, care to mention those two games to either side of that Centipede? 


EDIT:  nm, I thought this was Peale's Centipede thread.   

Mine's a mini.  I need to get on the wagon and finish it.  I got it in a playable state the other day and the kids had some fun with it. 

Spyridon: did you see my pictures how I cleaned my power block?

[Spyridon]

Uh, Peale, care to mention those two games to either side of that Centipede? 


EDIT:  nm, I thought this was Peale's Centipede thread.   

I'm taller

[Spyridon]

Spyridon: did you see my pictures how I cleaned my power block?

Yeah, I saw that.  Yours was in much worse shape than mine, but now it looks great.  Once I clean mine off I'll determine if I need to paint it or not.  It might actually be in good shape underneath all that dust.

[Spyridon]

Centipede is ready to go to the garage.  I have removed everything from it.  The monitor was a pain to remove.  The upper bolts holding it in place were very difficult to reach.

The monitor is filty.  I think I may take the hose to it.


Empty cab ready for the paint to be stripped off:


See that sponge like material sitting on the bottom. That stuff was behind the AR board and also behind the PCB.  It litteraly disintegrates on the touch.  Do I even need this?  If so, what should I use?

Boy, even empty, that is one heavy cab!

[SirPeale]

Don't worry about that stuff.   Only purpose it serves is a cushion for...you know, I don't even know what. 

[Level42]

Protection for the PCB when in transport (rattling).

[Spyridon]

I cut some plywood for a new back door.  I still have to cut the vent hole, but it is a nice fit.


On the sides of the cab, I used Citristrip to soften up the old vinyl.  Then using a scraper (and it bit of elbow grease) I removed all of the old vinly.

As you can see above, it left the old residue and a bit of the black paint, but it smooths out nicey with the orbital sander.

The finished sides:


Isn't this a nice profile:


All ready for painting!

[WunderCade]

Yes sir, one minty Centi please. 

[Spyridon]

Yes sir, one minty Centi please. 

Coming right up! 

And speaking of WunderCade...thanks to his percise measurements, my back door now looks even better!

Started by marking out the vent hole according to the measurements earlier in this thread


Once the hole was cut, I added in the cover on the inside and the flap at the bottom of the door. 


She is now ready for painting.  I spent some time cleaning her up today and I really debated if I should paint the black or not.  It's in really good shape, but after closer inspection, there are a few scratches in the front kick plate area.  Might as well repaint it as if I don't it will bother me later.

[Spyridon]

Cleaned up the power block today.

Before:

After:


I think I'm going to leave it as is.  I considered painting it, but it really is in pretty good shape.

I also applied some bondo to one spot on the back of the cab.  It was the only place that needed it, the rest is in great shape.

[WunderCade]

Nice clean up. Was any water used? Those stickers look too good to have been rinsed. 

[SirPeale]

The stickers aren't paper, they're metallic.  At least they were on mine.

[Spyridon]

Nice clean up. Was any water used? Those stickers look too good to have been rinsed. 

SirPeale is correct, they are a metallic material.  I used a wet rag to do most of the cleanup and was careful when working on the stickers.

[Wade]

Would you consider selling this game when it's finished?

Wade

[Spyridon]

Would you consider selling this game when it's finished?

Wade

Nope, this one is a keeper.  One of my favourites.  Plus, in order to make my money back, the price would be much higher than what Centipede's are going for these days  (of course, ridiculous offers are always considered).

[aPr0mpt]

What did you clean the power block with?

[Spyridon]

What did you clean the power block with?

Just a damp rag and an air compressor

[Spyridon]

Stripped the paint off the marquee brackets today.  I used a wire wheel on a drill to take it off.

Before shots:


I was going to take the easy way out and only do the rust spots around the holes on the inside (but do the entire top), but I found that the rust was prevalent thoughout the entire underside so I ended up stripping it all off.

The rust was worst around the holes


And the finished shiny product ready for painting:


If all goes well, I should have some time to start painting this weekend! 

[Spyridon]

Back side of the marquee brackets was hit with a coat of Rustoleum Satin Black paint (still wet)

[Spyridon]

Now we are getting somewhere.  Time to paint!

Cab was prepped for painting.  This included wipeing it down with a tack cloth to make sure there were no duct particles still on the cab.


First coat of primer was sprayed onto the cab.

[Spyridon]

I sanded down the first coat of primer with 320 grit sandpaper and then applied a second coat.




Once I sand it down, that will be it for the sides.  The side art is a full sheet of vinyl that will cover the entire side.  The primer serves two purposes, first is gives a nice base coat that covers up marks in the wood that will show through the vinyl, and second, if I decide to go with the wet method of applying the side art, it protects the particle board from soaking up the water.  I haven't decided what method I'll use for the side art application yet.

Just needs to black to be painted and we'll be ready for the side art.

[Spyridon]

Sanded down the second coat of primer with 320 grit sandpaper and then taped off the sides in preparation for the black paint


Black paint sprayed:


Next up.....side art! 

[Spyridon]

Can anyone provide measurements for the side art positioning?  I'll need those to line it up correctly.

[Spyridon]

Took off all of the masking.

Stickers on the back survived being covered


Painting complete and ready for side art

[WunderCade]

Man, she's a beaut! Tell ya what...if i was a dying arcade game, I'd want to land on your doorstep.

Nice job on that back door as well, looks factory.

[aPr0mpt]

How much t molding (ft) do you think the cab will need? How much did you order? Also, it does look great but, correct me if im wrong, isnt the top suppose to be black vinyl? along with the inside? Either way... it looks awesome!

[Spyridon]

How much t molding (ft) do you think the cab will need? How much did you order?

Not sure how much I have.  I ordered from Arcadeshop and I think it's $10 per game.  They give you enough to do the cab.

Also, it does look great but, correct me if im wrong, isnt the top suppose to be black vinyl? along with the inside? Either way... it looks awesome!

Yes, inside and back/top were originally vinyl.  The inside vinyl is still in great shape on the cab.  I removed the vinyl on the back bottom piece because it was peeling off.  The back top and top of the cab, I just gave a refreshing to and painted over it. 

[Spyridon]

Time to start looking at the monitor

Some screen burn, but not at all noticeable when the game is on

But very dirty:



I sprayed the enitire montior with some degreaser

and then hosed it down


(all of this was after discharging of course)

I then let it bake in the hot sun to dry off.  I'll be using Bob Roberts deluxe kit on this.

[Level42]

Note the one cap that is indicated wrongly + and - on the PCB. It's mentioned in Bob's instructions AFAIR.

[aPr0mpt]

wow, looks amazing

[Wade]

Do you have the CP overlay yet?  I'm wondering if the blue color is right.  In the arcadeshop picture, it looks like dark blue.  Do you have a repro to compare with the original color yet?  I probably won't order it immediately but I want to be sure about the color.

Thanks,
Wade

[Spyridon]

Do you have the CP overlay yet?  I'm wondering if the blue color is right.  In the arcadeshop picture, it looks like dark blue.  Do you have a repro to compare with the original color yet?  I probably won't order it immediately but I want to be sure about the color.

Thanks,
Wade

Wade,
I got mine from Quarter Arcade and while I don't remember if I matched it up directly with the old one I think it was pretty close.  Depending on the angle you looked at, the color changed.

[Wade]

Does it look more like dark blue, or more like regular blue?  Just take a good look at it next time you are looking at it and let me know what you think.  No rush at all.  The picture Quarterarcade has also looks darker.

Thanks,
Wade

[Level42]

It's pretty simple:

US built => dark blue (get AS or QA, those are silk-screened AFAIK)
Irish built => bright blue, only available from Mamemarquees as inkjet repro. I wonder if he already corrected the little color differences I found.

More here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=63654.msg757723#msg757723

[sevenleaf]

Looking smart dude! How did you clean between the brass coil things on the back of the neck?

Also, beware of removing the aquadag on the back. Read this thread for more tinfo http://www.jammaplus.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10838&PN=1&TPN=1

[Spyridon]

Looking smart dude! How did you clean between the brass coil things on the back of the neck?

Just spray with the degreaser and then hose down.  It comes clean easily

Also, beware of removing the aquadag on the back. Read this thread for more tinfo http://www.jammaplus.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10838&PN=1&TPN=1

I don't have permission to view your link, but I did test the aquadag to make sure it didn't wipe off before I did the whole monitor.

[Spyridon]

Does it look more like dark blue, or more like regular blue?  Just take a good look at it next time you are looking at it and let me know what you think.  No rush at all.  The picture Quarterarcade has also looks darker.

Thanks,
Wade

It really depends on the angle you look at it.

Here is a comparison between the original and the QA repro:



A real good match, but change the angle and you get a different (darker) color:

[sevenleaf]

Looking smart dude! How did you clean between the brass coil things on the back of the neck?

Just spray with the degreaser and then hose down.  It comes clean easily

Excuse my ignorance but you hose it down with water?

[Spyridon]

Excuse my ignorance but you hose it down with water?

Yes, you just need to make sure that it is discharged first and completely dry before adding power back to it. 

[Wade]

Excuse my ignorance but you hose it down with water?

Yes, you just need to make sure that it is discharged first and completely dry before adding power back to it. 

Yeah, it's the only way to really clean a monitor.  I do it to any game I restore or any monitor I remove from a game.

Thanks for the info on the overlay.  I'm sure it's close enough.  In some pictures it just looks really dark, as does the blue on the Bezel.  I'm not sure if some Centipedes have a darker bezel or if it's just the photo.

I'm thinking about going with blue or green molding on mine.  Or maybe even purple!  Mine has the sideart with the pink/purple outline and details in the shrooms.

Wade

[Level42]

As the owner of an Irish Centi (and having seen both other Irish and US Centi's) I'm telling you there is a difference. There were also differences in the marquee and side-art, why would something "simple" as a blue color shade not be different ?

In fact, the "brighter" blue on the Irish CPO matches the blue on the Irish bezel. Like the US CPO blue matches the US bezel.

Personally I would never hose down a monitor. WAY too risky ! You never know where that water stays....

[SirPeale]

Personally I would never hose down a monitor. WAY too risky ! You never know where that water stays....

Not risky at all once it's dried.  I pop mine into an oven at the lowest setting (~200 F) for an hour.

[Spyridon]

I pop mine into an oven at the lowest setting (~200 F) for an hour.

I left mine in the hot sun all day.  Dried it out nicely.

[Level42]

There's too many water absorbing parts in there for my taste. Pots, trimmers,coils, yoke, you name it. Great if it works for you, I just keep to using the best of a vacuum cleaning and some paper towel and cleaning agent at the spots I think it's safe and I can reach.

[WunderCade]

How do you guys keep water out of the anode hole in the tube? I've never inspected that hole closely so I don't know how deep it is or if it is sealed off on the inside.

[Spyridon]

How do you guys keep water out of the anode hole in the tube? I've never inspected that hole closely so I don't know how deep it is or if it is sealed off on the inside.

That was a concern of mine, and I kept the anode cup in place, however, I did see a post recently over at KLOV on this and they hosed it down completely including inside the anode hole.  It is sealed off so water won't get inside. 

[Spyridon]

Getting ready to start the side art application.  Since I had the cab on its side, now was a good time to replace the legs with nylon legs



Was able to replace three of them, but the t-nut on the fourth is shot.  I'll need to replace it.  I need to pick up one for my Gauntlet anyway.

[Wade]

As the owner of an Irish Centi (and having seen both other Irish and US Centi's) I'm telling you there is a difference. There were also differences in the marquee and side-art, why would something "simple" as a blue color shade not be different ?

In fact, the "brighter" blue on the Irish CPO matches the blue on the Irish bezel. Like the US CPO blue matches the US bezel.

Personally I would never hose down a monitor. WAY too risky ! You never know where that water stays....

Level42, what you've seen doesn't mean much for someone in the US.  I've seen TWO types of US Centipede sideart, marquees, and I believe I've seen two different shades of blue in the bezels and control panels.  The bezels and CP's might just be a matter of the cameras used (both Centipedes I've had have a bright blue bezel that looks just like yours only missing the reds).  I'm not sure if the CP's came in different shades in the US or not but I'd prefer for the overlay to match the bezel if possible.

So it's possible the US Centipedes you've seen had the darker blues.  That would mean that it's possible that your Irish blue is the same as the "other" US Centipedes.  Know what I mean?

As far as monitors, I've hosed at least a dozen, never had a problem.  Not too risky if you allow them to dry.  I've also dishwashed at least 100 PCB's and only had one failure, which was on a boardset that fails frequently (washing or not).

Wade

[Spyridon]

Picked up some t-nuts today to replace the bad one.  It's good to know people in the nuts and bolts industry.  My cost $0.04 each. 
\

Really easy to install.  Just hammer into place



and insert leg


Since I purchased these nylon casters for all my games, if I find any nuts that give me any kind of  problem, I'll just replace it with these low cost new ones.  Makes adjusting the height really easy as the legs turn fluidly.

[SirPeale]

You're going to want to shore that t nut up a bit.  Because the wood there is already a bit chewed likely it won't bite as well as a fresh installation.  A couple of 1" screws will secure it nicely.

[Spyridon]

You're going to want to shore that t nut up a bit.  Because the wood there is already a bit chewed likely it won't bite as well as a fresh installation.  A couple of 1" screws will secure it nicely.

It's in there pretty solid, but since I've got it on its side, I may as well add the screws as you suggested.

[Level42]

Picked up some t-nuts today to replace the bad one.  It's good to know people in the nuts and bolts industry.  My cost $0.04 each. 

You should ask if the guy you know in nuts and bolts can supply the nylon casters

[Spyridon]

Picked up some t-nuts today to replace the bad one.  It's good to know people in the nuts and bolts industry.  My cost $0.04 each. 

You should ask if the guy you know in nuts and bolts can supply the nylon casters

Yeah, I thought of that too late.  Already got my shipment in.

[Spyridon]

Still haven't had a chance to install the side art, but I did start to reassemble the internals

Here is what it looked like when I got it:


And now...

[hatrick]

You do very nice work. Your attention to detail is incredible. I thoroughly enjoy reading all of your resto threads. 

[Spyridon]

Installed the coin door wire harness onto the coin door.  Nothing was labled on the connections so I had to go pull out the pin out to determine what goes where (the loose wires are for the lock out coils which weren't present on this coin door)

While I was in there, I replaced the two coin door bulbs with new ones.

Then installed the marquee, coin door and control panel onto the cab.


I picked up a NOS back door sheet a while ago, but I never unpacked it until today.  Looks really nice.  Nice bright white and in great shape.

Installed on the back door:


I also assembled the Arcadeshop reproduction bezel.  It came shipped in two pieces

It connects together by an ahesive on two of the tabs.  Just pull off the paper and stick it together


First side done

Second side done:


Just setting it in place to see what it looks like.  Need to figure out which end is the top?  I won't staple it in place until the monitor is back in.


Can anyone tell me if Centipede used smooth or textured t-molding?

[Superully]

the t-molding on mine is smooth!

[hatrick]

the t-molding on mine is smooth!

Mine has smooth t-molding as well.

[Spyridon]

Okay, smooth it is.

[Level42]

Yes very smooth 

[SirPeale]

Interesting...it's textured on my mini.

[Wade]

Interesting...it's textured on my mini.

Not interesting.  Completely different cabinet.

My regular upright is smooth as well.

Wade

[StuDaBaker]

I picked up an original Centipede upright about a year ago, mine has smooth T-molding as well. The previous owner did replace the CP overlay and it looks nice, but did a kind of shotty job with the left side art decal and there's no right side art at all. Overall, the cabinet is in pretty good shape, and reading this thread has got me really wanting to go through with a full restoration. When I get it going I'm sure I'll need some advice and will start a new thread, and although you're in the home stretch on wrapping this up, if you need any pics for a cross reference or something, I'll do what I can to help.

[Spyridon]

I'm having people over this weekend on Halloween and we will most likely end up in the arcade at some point so I wanted to get Centipede playable.  I've got some extra new Vision Pro's sitting around so I decided to throw one in the cab.  I'm still going to do the cap kit on the G07 monitor, but I probably won't put it back into this game until I need a monitor for a different game.  The G07 has some screen burn but isn't too bad when the game is on.  It's still good and will get used again.


Monitor installed and blue bezel put into place:


Glass bezel installed:


And the current state of the game:


Remaining items to do:
Install side art
Install new t-molding

The picture on the monitor is beautiful, except when I turn the cab 90 degrees and slide it into the row.  Major degaussing problem as the upper left corner turns blue instead of red/green.  Monitor does not have a degauss button.  Any suggestions on how to clear this up?  If I rotate the game, picture is fine.

[2600]

Looks good.

You need a manual degausser to solve your degauss problem.

[Level42]

Maybe, maybe not. I've experienced that it will go away after some time (turning on off every now and then). Providing the automatic degauss works OK.

[2600]

True you don't need a degaussing coil.  You can try turning it on and off a few times, get a corded drill and see if that will deguass it,  or put lots of magnets around it so that it's blue everywhere.

Personally, a degaussing coil didn't seem like a bad investment and I spent the $20 for one.

[SirPeale]

I made mine.  One from an old TV, looped to a figure eight shape then doubled onto itself.  I still need to wire it to a switch, but it works perfectly.

[Mauzy]

I made mine.  One from an old TV, looped to a figure eight shape then doubled onto itself.  I still need to wire it to a switch, but it works perfectly.

+1. Works great, I use one on a surge protector as a switch on a regular basis.

(I think I've plus one-d this idea every time I've seen it... )

[Wade]

Your monitor will try to degauss when it starts up cold.  Usually after a few attempts many monitors will clear up on their own.  I'd just wait it out.

Wade

[ckong]

Any progress on the sideart?

[ChadTower]

Heh, yeah, I love this project.  Wish I could get myself to work on one project at a time like this. 

[Spyridon]

Any progress on the sideart?

Not yet.  I just haven't had the time, but it should be coming soon.

[Spyridon]

 Wish I could get myself to work on one project at a time like this. 

Well, it was actually two projects as I was working on Pac-man at the same time.

[Spyridon]

Okay, got the side art put on yesterday.

Taped the full sheet in place and then  peeled back half of it.


Cut off the backing and then using a squeegee pressed it into place a few inches at a time.  Then repeat for the other half

Here is the full sheet in place


Next I removed the premask and trimmed the vinly to size using a new blade in an exacto knife.

And that's when I found a problem.  There was a hole in the vinly about the size of a quarter.  The premask was not cut so this happened before the final product was shipped.


I'm going to contact the place this was purchased at and see what they can do for me.

Other than that issue, it looks great.

Right side

Left side


Just need to get the t-molding on to finish it up

 

[Spyridon]

I contacted the manufacturer of the side  art, and he agreed to split a set and sell me just the right side.  He has a 7 day return policy, so I'm way beyond that.  It will cost me another $50 if I want to replace that side.  I need to think on that one before I purchase.

[Spyridon]

t-molding has been installed.  It is officially done (pending a decision on replacing the right side art  )





Remember these two Arkaoinds...


Well, here are the same two Arkanoids...



And finally, put back into place with the rest of the cabs (may get moved to an end spot when I rearrange to show off the artwork)

[SirPeale]

I personally say "let it go" and use that $50 on your next project.  It could be much, much worse!

[Wade]

I contacted the manufacturer of the side  art, and he agreed to split a set and sell me just the right side.  He has a 7 day return policy, so I'm way beyond that.  It will cost me another $50 if I want to replace that side.  I need to think on that one before I purchase.

That blows.  I bought 2nd hand a 720 cpo that turned out to be defective, and phoenix/darin gave me a very good deal on a replacement!  This helps with repeat customers.

Wade

[Level42]

I contacted the manufacturer of the side  art, and he agreed to split a set and sell me just the right side.  He has a 7 day return policy, so I'm way beyond that.  It will cost me another $50 if I want to replace that side.  I need to think on that one before I purchase.

That's what I love about living in Europe. A seller would never get away with that bull ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. He delivered you a faulty product and the law says two years warranty here. This has nothing to do with a return policy. We have that here too, but that just says something about if you simply change your mind on ordering stuff through mail or internet. The product can still be 100% OK, and you are still allowed to return it to the seller and they have to give back your money (minus some s&h costs). In this case though, you discovered a product fault that was hidden for you because of the protective layer. Not your fault but the producers fault.

Even without laws, there is also something about customer satisfaction. Was that the only option the seller gave you ? I think he should simply replace the bad part which HE screwed up ! Where did you buy it ?

I wouldn't settle for this personally, just MHO. Your cabs look way too perfect to let this one go !

Amazing job, once again !!!  

[Wade]

Oh yeah, I just wanted to say that it's a tiny flaw, and honestly I would live with it rather than strip and re-do the side.  Regardless of whether he gave you a free replacement side.  Your restorations are suuuweeeeet, but even after a perfect restoration you'll get a flaw or two here or there.  They'll make you pull your hair out, but in the end no one will notice them.  I've learned to live with it because EVERY restoration I do... I put a big booger on it, usually when I'm moving it into the gameroom!!

Wade

[Spyridon]

I'll probably just leave it as is.  It's not very noticeable unless you are looking for it.

[WunderCade]

I agree with Level42, however I wouldn't replace it.  That just isn't feasible IMO.  But for the vendor not to at least give you "store credit" on your next purchase it just plain bad business, again - IMO.  If it's obviously a vendor related defect, which it is, then he shouldn't hide behind a 7 day return policy unless he's inferring that's how long his product can be trusted or that you are lying. Either way would leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Sorry, I'll stop the rant now because this is starting to piss me off the more I think about.

Nice job as always Spy!!!

[opt2not]

Inspiring work Spyridon!  Great job on both the Centipede and Pacman resto's! Love your work!
 

[GaryMcT]

Extremely nice job on two of my favorite machines!  It's good to see them sitting by each other. . I need that to happen at my house (don't have a Pac-Man yet.)