Centipede Restoration

[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....