Author Topic: APB Restoration - Done! (Read 28454 times)

RetroACTIVE · « **on:** October 04, 2009, 10:17:29 pm »

Got this machine off of ebay for $125 over a year ago (Oct 2009... its now Jan 2011)... Filthy, no artwork, no power supply, AC wiring a mess, monitor was bad, steering wheel broken, triac bad, coin door wiring hacked... a real mess. It turned out that the boards worked fine!!!! And the cab, although it needed some reinforcement and body work... was pretty solid.

Before:

After a ton of time and way way to much money... this APB is now done and in the game room accepting tokens

2600 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 05, 2009, 11:07:56 am »

While you are picking it up you wanna check out the Ikari Warriors that guy has?

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #2 on:** October 06, 2009, 07:01:20 pm »

Quote from: 2600 on October 05, 2009, 11:07:56 am

While you are picking it up you wanna check out the Ikari Warriors that guy has?

Its nice... it is a conversion (centipede style) but is clean. The joysticks are ball-tops but overall the game is good.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #3 on:** October 06, 2009, 07:11:55 pm »

Overall, the APB is in remarkably good shape....

This restore will be my "typical" except the great thing is that there is no water damage and the cabinet is solid... so I won't need to do any substantial body work... so for that I am psyched!

I will strip it... see if there is any artwork left but I'm not too concerned about that... I plan on re-coating it with some satin black... and hopefully the APB artwork repro will happen in a year or so to finish it off at another date.

As far as the electronics... it is missing the +5 volt switcher (easy fix) and it has an untested med-res monitor (I've not checked the model on this... but it does have slight super sprint burn so I'm sure its med res). It has a few hacks in there around the coin door there is this weird electronic money counter that is wired in...

The steering wheel is fine except the main housing is cracked... Got one one order with bushings.

Foot pedal is fine... nice and responsive.

This restore will be fun.... I think

TheShanMan · « **Reply #4 on:** October 07, 2009, 01:07:13 am »

"Typical" for you of course means "no stone unturned" (the OCD approach). Looking forward to the progress updates.

Spyridon · « **Reply #5 on:** October 07, 2009, 04:53:06 pm »

Are you done yet?

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #6 on:** October 07, 2009, 09:50:18 pm »

Quote from: Spyridon on October 07, 2009, 04:53:06 pm

Are you done yet?

I wish...I still have to put that football back together. I've been trying to get my games together for a party... but I'm afraid my A.R.-ness (as the TheShanMan has eluded to) has gotten the best of me.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #7 on:** October 09, 2009, 07:10:40 pm »

Got into the cab to see whats what...

First off here is a pic of the busted steering housing... I secured a NOS from videogameparts.com

Here is the power block... as you can see it is completely missing its +5 switcher... and could use a good scrubbing!

Sound board... filthy too

Here is where the fun begins... it has this elaborate? funky money counter that was soldered in-line with the coin switches and its wall wart was soldered into the ac power cord... check it out:

...yummie

I wonder if this dude is still in business... (I wonder if he's the dude who souped it up with the coin counter

)

Kevin Mullins · « **Reply #8 on:** October 10, 2009, 12:10:00 am »

Quote from: RetroACTIVE on October 09, 2009, 07:10:40 pm

it has this elaborate? funky money counter that was soldered in-line with the coin switches and its wall wart was soldered into the ac power cord

We had something similar on some automated batting cages at one point...... not in a fancy case like that though. Only benefit was they were easily resettable to zero.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #9 on:** October 10, 2009, 01:22:11 pm »

Quote from: Kevin Mullins on October 10, 2009, 12:10:00 am

We had something similar on some automated batting cages at one point...... not in a fancy case like that though. Only benefit was they were easily resettable to zero.

Someone must have had a specific reason for wanting it like reset capability I guess. I opened it up and found 2 C cells in there that had a complete and total meltdown ... it was really bad so its toast.

Kevin Mullins · « **Reply #10 on:** October 10, 2009, 06:33:21 pm »

Quote from: RetroACTIVE on October 10, 2009, 01:22:11 pm

Someone must have had a specific reason for wanting it like reset capability I guess.

My best guess is the ability to be able to move it from one machine to another and reset it once in the new machine.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #11 on:** October 18, 2009, 06:31:37 pm »

Well... I rebuilt the power supply (pics coming), built a video harness... plugged it in and viola! The darn thing works great!

Thyristors probably need to be replaced as the two marquee lamps are on continuously and do not flash with the activation of the siren.

I'm very glad. I'm really not in the mood to do any intense debugging... I have some repairs for other folks that are in the hopper and I don't have a heck of a lot of time right now.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #12 on:** October 27, 2009, 07:49:01 pm »

Here are a couple of pics of the re-furbed power block... I cleaned and painted the metal base (hammered silver), put a new 5V MeanWell switcher, new fuse block, new line filter and re-terminated all of the wiring... and as I posted prior... works fantastic!

2600 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 28, 2009, 09:22:04 am »

That's beautiful. I'm going to have to do that with a couple of my games.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #14 on:** October 30, 2009, 08:46:19 am »

Quote from: 2600 on October 28, 2009, 09:22:04 am

That's beautiful. I'm going to have to do that with a couple of my games.

Thanks... I was going to powder coat it like I did my Star Wars but it doesn't mean that much to me... plus I'd rather spend that cash on something else so a can of spray paint fit the bill for this machine

Here is the triac board... replaced the thyristors and opto-isolators...

Now the unit was missing one of the cardboard shrouds on the power supply block. On APB there is a shroud that covers the fuse block and one that covers the triac board. I cut a new one out of fish paper... you can see it in the bottom of the pic here:

I cleaned the sound board and re-capped it (although re-capping this is waaaaayyyyy not necessary!) but it was damned filthy... some of the board cleaner ate away at the serial number tag

... but again I'm not too hung up on that sort of stuff with this machine.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #15 on:** October 30, 2009, 09:12:12 am »

I've picked up all of the miscellaneous nuts, bolts, washers, straps etc... for this cab. I simply don't understand when people service machines they just rip them apart and half ass put them back together... missing pcb anchors and what not...

For me I was missing 2 out of 4 PCB thumb screws... all of the thumb nuts, washers, the EMI shroud and the board spacers between the APB and System II video PCB. Also the control panel was missing one of its anchor bolts... so I also picked up a box of them with associated washers.

Here is the EMI shroud I picked up from a kind gent over at KLOV... I also bought a new 120mm fan and fan cover (not shown)

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #16 on:** November 03, 2009, 08:29:43 pm »

Don't have a ton of free time... but managed to squeak this simple fixer-upper in...

Here is the old crappy cord... the ac plug was removed... it had been spliced in the cab to accommodate that silly money counter...

Purchased myself a new 10 foot cord and AC switch from Bob...

Popped out the old strain relief and removed the switch and stuff...

I cut the end off of the cord to match the length of the old molex / QD pigtail...

Here is the new pigtail, and the AC cord terminated with the .25" QDs

Finished product...

Nothing too thrilling here... just something to keep it going

Spyridon · « **Reply #17 on:** November 04, 2009, 10:20:00 am »

Quote from: RetroACTIVE on November 03, 2009, 08:29:43 pm

Nothing too thrilling here... just something to keep it going

May not be too thrilling, but it is nicely done.

ChadTower · « **Reply #18 on:** November 04, 2009, 10:33:31 am »

Yeah, he always does it top shelf quality.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #19 on:** November 05, 2009, 10:09:52 pm »

Quote from: ChadTower on November 04, 2009, 10:33:31 am

Yeah, he always does it top shelf quality.

Thanks man!

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #20 on:** September 02, 2010, 08:15:58 pm »

OK.... I'm back! I have finally got through all of my stuff... fixing other folks boards... acquiring games / pins and other crap!!!! Besides I need to get the garage emptied by the first snow

(something I promised last year... and I think the year before that...

I've decided to start with APB first. I have Space Invaders, Berzerk and Football still to finish... its just that APB is in a convenient place in the garage at the moment

I stripped it down to nothing... I decided to remove all of the crappy Atari vinyl ... its more work but in the end I will have a much more lasting finish than if I had just painted over the vinyl...

I've to just finish up a few dings with some bondo then I will hit the cab with several nice coats of satin black...

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #21 on:** September 06, 2010, 03:06:59 pm »

I couldn't just leave it alone... the monitor panel had been hacked to support a vertical monitor... (although I'm unaware of any vertical frames that are medium resolution)...

It bugged me... I can't stand it when people hack away at games to get stuff to fit... so I rebuilt the panel today...

Here is the old mess:

Here are pics of the old and new panels...

Here it is in place... not anchored yet.. I'm waiting for my new hot poly glue gun...

I still can't believe I am ACTUALLY working on this

TheShanMan · « **Reply #22 on:** September 06, 2010, 03:57:52 pm »

It's always fun to watch your restos. I just read through this whole thread again. I can't believe you even replaced the power switch. Unless there was a problem with the original one, that is proof of my statement earlier in this thread.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #23 on:** September 08, 2010, 08:36:48 pm »

Quote from: TheShanMan on September 06, 2010, 03:57:52 pm

It's always fun to watch your restos. I just read through this whole thread again. I can't believe you even replaced the power switch. Unless there was a problem with the original one, that is proof of my statement earlier in this thread.

It's quite comical I know. However in my defense.. the power cord was destroyed so that made me have to deal with it... and the switch was filthy... I hate grime and stink... so yeah... it happens.

Well, I decided to test fit the T-Moulding... and its a damned good thing I did!!!!! The slot is wayyyy too big for the replacement T-Moulding... so now I have to go through the process of filling it with bondo and re-cutting the slot!... No amount of glue or adhesive can fix it... the moulding just falls out...

Boing!!!

Here we go... fill'er up!

I purchased a new seat assembly from DPtwiz (Klov)... his seat is cut with the proper slot for the new T-Moulding!!!!

I'm soooo happy I tried this... I was just about to get ready to start painting it.... phew!!!!

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #24 on:** September 14, 2010, 09:00:12 pm »

Wish I had something to show ... filling up the tmoulding slot is killin' me!!!! Its using a but load of bondo and is taking me forever.... (not very thrilling work)

Anxious to paint!

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #25 on:** October 19, 2010, 09:27:48 pm »

Here are a few construction pics...

I rebuilt the lower panel recessed for a fan filter... I don't want anything sticking out beyond the wood surface (like the original fan grille) so I counter sunk it...

removed old one and old cleats... they were pretty much disconnected from the cab anyway... Atari glued them onto the vinyl and stapled them... I cut away at the vinyl and applied hot poly glue when anchoring the new ones...

Here is the new panel and cleats... with a light coat of paint

New cleat..

I tipped it on its front, plopped the door in to get the position...

Hot poly glue and stapled in place...

For those of you who saw my Star Wars restore... I pretty much did the same thing, except this one was a bit more fancy with the fan cut-out.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #26 on:** October 19, 2010, 09:34:34 pm »

Here are a few pics... this is only the second coat... I'll probably end up with 4 coats all said and done... pictures are kind of crappy... it looks much better in person.

PS... don't tell anyone I had my first paint accident in the garage... spilled about a pint of black on the floor... total duface move!

Witchboard · « **Reply #27 on:** October 19, 2010, 09:40:40 pm »

That chrome t-molding is gonna make it POP!

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #28 on:** October 20, 2010, 08:59:03 am »

Quote from: Witchboard on October 19, 2010, 09:40:40 pm

That chrome t-molding is gonna make it POP!

Yeah... new chrome t-molding looks really really nice. Even when I put it up against the cab when it was crappy it looked fantastic.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #29 on:** October 29, 2010, 09:50:27 pm »

Painting done
Tmolding done... (looks freakin' fantastic... pics are lame)
New fan installed
Electronics back in
Fired up... playing blind (of course... no monitor installed silly!)

Monitor is next...

This black is awesome! Good 'ol rustoleum thinned with acetone. Too bad artwork will cover 2/3rds of it

Installation of the new fan assembly...

a few more pics of the fan...

...thats it for the fan stuff

... still debating on whether or not to paint the shelf... it looks like crap... the old coin counter thingie had batteries that leaked leaving a nasty stain. I sanded it but it still looks like garbage.

... camera takes crappy pics but you get the point.

... don't mind the poopy coin door, its only there for access to the switches for testing purposes

jennifer · « **Reply #30 on:** October 29, 2010, 10:31:29 pm »

Are you going to put that coin door on that machine?.... Really?

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #31 on:** October 29, 2010, 11:48:08 pm »

Quote from: jennifer on October 29, 2010, 10:31:29 pm

Are you going to put that coin door on that machine?.... Really?

HA! Now that would be something! No way!!! I have a bunch of stuff to go to the powder coating shop, including a much nicer coin door... I only used that crappy one to coin up the game for testing.

jennifer · « **Reply #32 on:** October 30, 2010, 12:55:17 am »

Well then, I gotta say nice job. More folks should pay as much attention to details and stop trying to cut corners.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #33 on:** October 30, 2010, 02:13:36 pm »

Here is the installation of the D9500 tri-sync monitor...

Since it was a shelf mount, I had to remove it from its frame and put it on a D7700 frame I had kicking around from an old DK conversion ... usually I get rid of all my leftovers... this time I'm glad I kept it!

Bezel and glass aren't as nice as I'd like but they still look ok...

This monitor looks fantastic... worked like a champ... The original APB is Medium resolution and the harness uses +V +H sync connections... this does not work for the D9500 (at least it didn't for me). I had to connect it using -COMPOSITE sync. Thankfully the board puts out this signal... And remember boys and girls... use pin 10 on the D9500 header, don't combine -V and -H signals like you would on traditional analog monitors it doesn't work that way on this monitor!!!!

Spyridon · « **Reply #34 on:** October 30, 2010, 05:04:42 pm »

Quote from: RetroACTIVE on October 29, 2010, 09:50:27 pm

Installation of the new fan assembly...

a few more pics of the fan...

...thats it for the fan stuff

I'm a fan of your work.

Looks great. I've never played this game before. I'll have to fire it up in Mame and give it a try.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #35 on:** October 30, 2010, 05:54:52 pm »

Quote from: Spyridon on October 30, 2010, 05:04:42 pm

Quote from: RetroACTIVE on October 29, 2010, 09:50:27 pm

Installation of the new fan assembly...

a few more pics of the fan...

...thats it for the fan stuff

I'm a fan of your work.

Looks great. I've never played this game before. I'll have to fire it up in Mame and give it a try.

Your sense of humor blows!

Yeah, APB was one I played in college (1989-ish). Funny how I still remember the games in the social hall. Played a lot of APB, Arch Rivals, Off Road, Bad Dudes and Heavy Barrel...

APB is a silly game, the cab is equally as silly, especially with the goofy side-art that has yet to be applied. When you press the siren button the two red and blue lamps flash on the marquee. The humor is over the top NOT politically correct with cops having to get donuts along the way, and you as the arresting officer have to rough up the perp to get him to confess. Its a lot of fun and neat in the game room. There are tons of way better games out there but APB is one of those games that brings me back.

Spyridon · « **Reply #36 on:** October 30, 2010, 08:15:26 pm »

Quote from: RetroACTIVE on October 30, 2010, 05:54:52 pm

Your sense of humor blows!

Yeah, APB was one I played in college (1989-ish). Funny how I still remember the games in the social hall. Played a lot of APB, Arch Rivals, Off Road, Bad Dudes and Heavy Barrel...

Cool down a bit

In college (also 1989-ish) we played Arch Rivals and Chase H.Q. but not any of those other ones.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #37 on:** November 04, 2010, 09:33:47 am »

All the trim went to the powder coating shop yesterday!

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #38 on:** November 16, 2010, 08:44:47 pm »

Here are the pics of the stuff... some APB some not...

All said and done I will probably return a couple of pieces for refinishing... they are really decent at this place and will fix them for me no problem...

Atari coin door frame (bubbling on the bottom)
Galaga coin door (bubbling around coin shute and 25c window frame)
Foot pedal (bubbling on the corner and the hole for the axle is mucked up so bushing doesn't fit well)

Spyridon · « **Reply #39 on:** November 17, 2010, 09:01:22 am »

I really need to find a place locally that can do powder coating. That stuff looks really good.


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