Opinions On My "Semi-Restoration" Centipede Project

[Skintaster]

Hi all, I'm a new member here.

I've spent a lot of time lurking recently, and have read almost every restoration thread. Excellent stuff, and very motivational. I'm a 40 year old guy, and as such, I spent a lot of my youth roaming around dark arcades. Recently I  began a sick journey into collecting the old games I love so much. That said, I'm not wealthy, so it's involved buying "less than mint" machines.

Ok, before I begin, I realize there aren't any photos in this post. I will try to get some up asap, but I'm interested in getting some opinions about my most recent project... And the project is across town at the moment.

Long story short. I recently replied to a local craigs list ad advertising "20 arcade games for $100 each." me and a couple of buddies went to see what the guy had, and it turned out to be a garage full of uprights. Almost every one was a conversion, although my pal bought a really rough Galaga which we're slowly restoring.

I bought a Centipede cabinet that had been badly converted into a "Raiden DX". I also spent more than I should have... Closer to $400 than the advertised $100. It was a working Raiden, but I'm not a fan of that game, and only wanted the cab and monitor.

I know photos would be better, but here's what I got:

The Centipede cab still had the original side art. The left side was "ok" but far from mint. The right side was bad, with massive peeling of the upper half. At least that side will have to be replaced with new art.

The Centipede marquee was long gone, replaced with a hideous generic Raiden DX marquee.

The original wiring was also gone, replaced by a jamma harness. The original control panel had been mutilated, drilled with holes for new buttons and the two joystick control scheme that had been installed.The glass bezel was also missing... In essence, if the side art had been gone, no casual bystander would have ever known the cabinets origin. 

I removed the awful marquee, gutted the wiring, and removed the control panel. My plan is to cosmetically restore the cabinet back to a Centipede with a couple of mods. I'm going to instal that Icade 60 in 1 board. I realize that a lot of people here probably have low opinions of them, but it seems like a good compromise to me for several reasons.

1. The cab has already been badly converted, and it's not cost effective for me to faithfully restore it back to a Centipede.

2. Space... Or lack of it. I own a house, but it's small by almost any standards (Under 800'), and I'm married. Plus I already have a Joust and Pac Man taking up space. I need more bang for buck... Or bang for space, I guess. I also like most of the games on the board, and the cabinet has a vertical monitor. I'm going to build a more extravagant mame machine next year, but I want to avoid a computor based system for this one.

3. I'm not actually doing anything irreversible to the cabinet. It was so thoroughly converted that I feel that my cosmetic restoration will actually keep it closer to its roots than anything else. I've already bought all the missing pieces for it. Two original marquees, an original bezel, even an original control panel (Just in case I ever want to go all the way, and completely restore it to a Centipede) although I plan to use the swiss cheese cp... I need a joystick and three buttons to go with the trackball. I still need repro side art, but that's all.

So any opinions? I know that Centipede is fairly common... And yeah... No photos yet... But does this sound like a decent plan? The multi board plays Centipede and Millipede so I don't feel too bad, but any input good or bad would be appreciated. I'll try to get photos up this weekend.

Thanks! 

[Spyridon]

Considering the condition of that game, I see no issues with putting a 60 -1 board in it, however, this project will get moved out of the restoration section since you won't be restoring it back to it's original game.


That being said, since you already acquired many of the parts and these type of cabs do make the best restoration stories...


(and yes, unfortunately you did over pay for the cab)

[StuDaBaker]

(and yes, unfortunately you did over pay for the cab)

Maybe so, but even with Centipede being fairly common, they don't turn up everyday on CL, at least not by me. As long as the wood is in good shape, has a decent monitor, and it was fairly local to him, meaning he didn't have to pay additional freight, if it's something he really wanted, then it's not a terrible deal. Especially if he can get a few bucks for the Raiden stuff he's pulled out of the cab on Ebay or something. My 2 cents.

I've recently bought a complete centipede wiring harness, mainly for the coin door harness, test switch, and volume pot that I plan on putting in my centi I'm slowly working on. If you decide to go original, I'll probably have it switched out sometime after the holidays and available cheap (because of the hack job on the coin door wiring, & no volume pot). Other than that it works good with a switcher.

[Skintaster]

Considering the condition of that game, I see no issues with putting a 60 -1 board in it, however, this project will get moved out of the restoration section since you won't be restoring it back to it's original game.


That being said, since you already acquired many of the parts and these type of cabs do make the best restoration stories...


(and yes, unfortunately you did over pay for the cab)

Doh! Sorry... I was hoping this was the right section because of the cosmetic resto plan. 

Hopefully some of y'all veteran restoration guys will grace me with advice wherever this thread ends up... I'm going to need it!

For the record, personally I would never alter an unmolested classic. Just not my style. And yeah, I WAY overpaid for the cab. I could have probably bought a working Centipede in nice condition for what I've already spent on this endeavor... I just couldn't stand to see a cool old game left in the state it was in. I thought I was getting an "ok" deal because the monitor was pretty decent, but one of my pals accidentally totaled it... Long story. I already bought a brand new replacement to help kill the pain.

[Skintaster]

(and yes, unfortunately you did over pay for the cab)

Maybe so, but even with Centipede being fairly common, they don't turn up everyday on CL, at least not by me. As long as the wood is in good shape, has a decent monitor, and it was fairly local to him, meaning he didn't have to pay additional freight, if it's something he really wanted, then it's not a terrible deal. Especially if he can get a few bucks for the Raiden stuff he's pulled out of the cab on Ebay or something. My 2 cents.

I've recently bought a complete centipede wiring harness, mainly for the coin door harness, test switch, and volume pot that I plan on putting in my centi I'm slowly working on. If you decide to go original, I'll probably have it switched out sometime after the holidays and available cheap (because of the hack job on the coin door wiring, & no volume pot). Other than that it works good with a switcher.

I'd probably be interested in your wiring harness when you're done with it. Let me know if and when it's available. Thanks! 

... And if anyone really wants a working Raiden DX board drop me a line.

[Skintaster]

Hi everyone. I still don't have photos, but I was hoping that I could get some advice.

I was at my studio over the weekend trying to get some work on the Centipede cab. The biggest obstacle I'm facing (So far) is the removal of the right side art. The top quarter has been nearly completely removed. I've been using a hair dryer to try to continue the removal, and it's been working... Kinda. It's been very slow. I'm patient, but it's SO slow that I'm wondering if there's a better way.

It also seems to be leaving a thin layer of vinyl behind, or it might be adhesive residue, not sure. Should I upgrade to a proper heat gun? Is there a chemical solution that wont damage the particle board. I've read many threads addressing removing paint from old cabs, but I'm concerned that most of the solvents would damage the particle board, which is currently in pretty good shape.

Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks

[Spyridon]

Use Citristip then most of the vinyl will come off with a scraper.  Then sand off the remaining residue.

Here is mine.

[Skintaster]

Thanks! I'll look into using Citristrip. 

Yours came out great.