Bosconian Restore

[gameguy1957]

Bosconian doesn't usually get a lot of love, but it's one of the favorites of my oldest kid. So when the chance came up to get one I picked it up.

Only problem is that it's been enclosed in a sealed, and sometimes wet, warehouse.

So here's what I started with on it.

[gameguy1957]

Here's a close up of the filth in the bottom.

[gameguy1957]

Here's what's left after stripping everything out of it.

[gameguy1957]

Here's the inside after it was bleached out and aired out for a few days. The brown in the bottom and part of the sides is not from it still being wet, but some critters had a half eaten cloth bag full of smaller tea bags that sat in it as it got wet a few times. The color leached into the wood.

[gameguy1957]

Pics of the bottom. It was bowed and soft, so it needed to be replaced.

[gameguy1957]

Interior shot of the replaced bottom. Plenty of bracing around the sides to make sure everything holds.

[Mauzy]

Wow. Just looking at that mold has me reaching for my inhaler. Kudos for restoring something many people would have pitched! Is it safe to assume you didn't bother firing it up considering it's "damp" state?

[gameguy1957]

The shots of cleaning and reinstalling parts didn't turn out too well so I'm skipping right to the finished product in action.

Here's what all was done to it.

Disassembled and cleaned it out
Replaced the bottom
Scrubbed outside of cabinet
Removed and scrubbed all of the wiring, then dried it
Replaced bottom power board with a spare from a parts machine (Galaga)
Rebuilt the original WG 4600
Scrubbed, cleaned, disenfected, and removed funk from all of the other parts
Reinstall all of the parts
Installed switching power supply
Powered the game up and it works.

The kids got to play many games of Bosconian and when finished we moved it into place beside the Ms Pac and Galaga machines.

[gameguy1957]

Wow. Just looking at that mold has me reaching for my inhaler. Kudos for restoring something many people would have pitched! Is it safe to assume you didn't bother firing it up considering it's "damp" state?

No, I got several from the same location and all of them were nasty on the inside. Not afraid of the mold since it's so humid year around down here that most anything will mold over if it's not in the AC or in a room with a dehumidifier.

Everything got a good cleansing before it got moved inside.

On the condition of the cab, I'll rebuild just about anything. You should look up the restore I did on the Defender that had a bad case of termites. It's in an older post somewhere on this forum.

-JM

[Luigi]

Congrats for that find !! 

I love the game, got a "dedicated" (not original, but with original PCB) table and it's fun playing. Would love to have an upright version but I never saw or heard of one over here in Germany. I even didn't know the game before I got the table.

Bosconian is IMHO underrated and well worth some work to save the cab 

[shardian]

Bosconian is a great game.

That mold is scary stuff! I hope you wore a good respirator when working on it.

[Spyridon]

The shots of cleaning and reinstalling parts didn't turn out too well so I'm skipping right to the finished product in action.

Nice work restoring a cab that most people would have thrown out.  Too bad you photos didn't turn out.  We saw the beginning and the end.  I feel cheated that we didn't see all the work in between.

[Level42]

The shots of cleaning and reinstalling parts didn't turn out too well so I'm skipping right to the finished product in action.

Nice work restoring a cab that most people would have thrown out.  Too bad you photos didn't turn out.  We saw the beginning and the end.  I feel cheated that we didn't see all the work in between.

+1 

[RayB]

Good job. You mightwant to also seal up the interior wood with a good oil based sealing primer (like "Zinsser" )

[gameguy1957]

Good job. You mightwant to also seal up the interior wood with a good oil based sealing primer (like "Zinsser" )

Thanks for the suggestion. I never thought about sealing it.

Can all of the types of wood in a cabinet be sealed? I think there's plywood, particle board, and pressboard in that one and a couple of others I have that could be helped by sealing them.

Thanks again,

-JM

[saleem]

i too aquired a bosconian in pretty much the same condition as yours.

i had to replace the bottom and the lower back,i had a corner i had to cut off completely as it was far too soft and bendy.

everything is solid now,the wheel holes cut,legs are fitted and all the gibbins are back in and its running,love this game btw.
 
 

[Well Fed Games]

Wow, nice job on the new bottom. So impressed when people replace whole panels like that.

,love this game btw.
 
 

I had never heard of Bosconian until one of those TV plug-and-play games.... to find out that Namco had made another space shooter, that I had never played, AND was an incredible game, was a pretty cool thing.