Pac-man restoration - Return from Doh!

[Spyridon]

Okay, second side and the front is done.  Turned out really nice!

Back plate made it through multiple rounds of paint


I also put on the new orange t-molding.  Had to lay it down in order to hammer in the t-molding on the bottom


While I had her on her back, I replaced the old leg levelers with new nylon ones

Another nice feature of these nylon legs, is that they are longer than the originals.  This allows me to raise the cab about a half inch (I'm 6'5" so the higher the better) more off the ground.

And the finished exterior, ready to be moved to the basement for reassembly:




I'm very pleased with the way this one is turning out   

[Superully]

"very pleases" is an understatement!!! this is one heck of a job - congratulations.

[Level42]

I feel a RESTOREY coming up  

[RetroACTIVE]

Yeah... you really do some fantastic work!  I'm impressed with your paint jobs... they are top notch! 

[orion]

Yeah... you really do some fantastic work!  I'm impressed with your paint jobs... they are top notch! 

They are. I seem to remember Spydron getting advice from Wondercade on painting techniques... they were obviously good pointers. I wonder if it would be possible for a mod to dig those up and sticky them somewhere.

[Spyridon]

I seem to remember Spyridon getting advice from Wondercade on painting techniques... they were obviously good pointers.

Gorf was my first paint job using a sprayer and Wundercade gave some great tips that I've been using ever since.  That's the nice thing about posting these on these boards.  I've gotten tons of good advice from lots of helpful people.  Couldn't have done these without help.

[Spyridon]

While watching the Phillies playoff game tonight, I installed the screen in the back of the cab.



Also, installed the coin door:

[Spyridon]

Installed all the guts today.

Speaker and lights:

Everything else:


I used double sided foam tape to secure the new piece of tinted plexi to the inner bezel

Once attached, I removed the remaining protective layer


(almost) Everything in its place:


Time to power him up and see what happens:


It still works!  Monitor picture is beautiful


Remaining items to do:
Check coin mech wireing as they aren't working
Replace marquee with NOS one.
Anyone have some recommendations on what to use to remove the protective covering without damaging the plastic?

Install Six-pac kit to allow me to play Pac, Ms. Pac, and Pac Plus in fast and slow versions
Install Midway logo plate on coin door (any news Peale?)
Take final pictures!
Rearrange games in gameroom

Almost there...

[SirPeale]

I haven't called the company back yet on the rivets.  They weren't too forthcoming on the samples they /did/ send me, and since they were the wrong ones (thanks to some bad data) I'm allowing some time to pass before I ask for some others.

[Namco]

I haven't checked on this thread in months. Just read it front to back, amazing work!

One request however, replace those yellow (2700K) Compact Florescent lightbulbs with those of the daylight variety. They usually cost a couple bucks more but produce great white light and really bring out the colors.



Seen here is regular "soft white" on the left and the superior "daylight" on the right:

[Level42]

My guess is Spyri is trying to reproduce the warm light of the original incadescent bulbs as much as possible...

[Spyridon]

My guess is Spyri is trying to reproduce the warm light of the original incadescent bulbs as much as possible...

Yeah, Yeah...that's it.

Actually, those are the bulbs that were in there and I didn't change anything.  I did think that it looked a bit too yellow but I haven't given it much thought yet on what I'll end up with.  I may consider those white light bulbs if the yellow bugs me.

[opt2not]

My guess is Spyri is trying to reproduce the warm light of the original incadescent bulbs as much as possible...

Yeah, Yeah...that's it.

Actually, those are the bulbs that were in there and I didn't change anything.  I did think that it looked a bit too yellow but I haven't given it much thought yet on what I'll end up with.  I may consider those white light bulbs if the yellow bugs me.

I say keep the yellow, it feels warmer and goes well with the yellow colour of the cabinet. Besides, like Level said, it's original!
Just my opinion though.  Your cabinet is still wicked awesome regardless!

[WunderCade]

I am conflicted over this too. Mine has the original incandescent bulbs and it is rather yellow compared to my other cabs.  I've been considering switching over to the daylight (white) ones just so the cab's lighting matches the others.

[Level42]

Well Midway shouldn't have switched to incandescent in the first place. Galaxian production started with decent fluorescent fixtures but switched to the incandescent set-up later in production, probably to save a buck or two. They're responsible for quite some waste of energy and CO2 production because of that, seeing Pac Man's production numbers. Besides that I can't think op's were happy with it, higher electricity bill but probably much more important for them in those days, exchanging blown-up bulbs pretty regularly compared to fluorescent. Also the fluorescent tube gave a much better spread and even light. However, if you strive for originality, I'd opt for the yellow looking lights for the Pac too. With all it's drawbacks in looks, it is how it was.And by using those fluorescent versions the energy issue is solved.

I do find those SF pictures before and after interesting though. At first sight I prefered the left (yellow) one because of it's warmer tone. But after some looking, the one with the daylight produces much brighter colors, the difference in colors is much more noticable.
Very interesting, since I tend to buy warm (yellow) colored fluorescents if they don't work anymore in the cabs I work on. It might be better to try a white one next time, they are also considerably cheaper.

[Namco]

Well Midway shouldn't have switched to incandescent in the first place. Galaxian production started with decent fluorescent fixtures but switched to the incandescent set-up later in production, probably to save a buck or two. They're responsible for quite some waste of energy and CO2 production because of that, seeing Pac Man's production numbers. Besides that I can't think op's were happy with it, higher electricity bill but probably much more important for them in those days, exchanging blown-up bulbs pretty regularly compared to fluorescent. Also the fluorescent tube gave a much better spread and even light. However, if you strive for originality, I'd opt for the yellow looking lights for the Pac too. With all it's drawbacks in looks, it is how it was.And by using those fluorescent versions the energy issue is solved.

I do find those SF pictures before and after interesting though. At first sight I prefered the left (yellow) one because of it's warmer tone. But after some looking, the one with the daylight produces much brighter colors, the difference in colors is much more noticable.
Very interesting, since I tend to buy warm (yellow) colored fluorescents if they don't work anymore in the cabs I work on. It might be better to try a white one next time, they are also considerably cheaper.

Well, they've always made daylight versions of incandescent bulbs too. They had a kind of bluish-white coating on them as well as a higher color temperature. There was nothing stopping an op from using a couple of those. I remember experimenting with those "cool" light bulbs as a kid in the mid-80s. I'm not sure exactly when they were invented but daylight colored light is not exclusive to CF bulbs.

[SirPeale]

An op is going to go with whatever the cheapest option is. 

Sometimes those decisions make sense in the short run, but not in the long.   Like the lighting.   Maybe there was a sale on 60W bulbs that day.  So those get used instead.  They're not concerned with power usage - the location pays that!  But this backfires as the marquee area heats up, bleaching the marquee at best, melting it and burning the cab at worst.

That's why the florescent fixtures became an industry standard.  They run cooler, use less energy, light a broader area, and last a heck of a long time.   When I was working for an op, any time we found a cab using incandescent fixtures they were ripped out with great prejudice and replaced with a florescent fixture.

[Spyridon]

Installed the Mark Spaeth Six Pac today


First step was to remove chips 5E, 5F, 6E, 6F, 6H, and 6J


Then install the new PCB on the edge connecter and the chip in socket 5E


and play...


This really is a nice kit.  The only thing that would make it better would be a high score save.  I realized that I had never played Pac-Man Plus before. What an odd game.

[DjinniMan]

I'm in awe.  This restoration is amazing.  Absolutely gorgeous.

[Level42]

No offense, I love Mark Spaeth's stuff but I hate that e-mail address there.

I'm very glad he didn't do that on the SW/ESB kit.

[Spyridon]

No offense, I love Mark Spaeth's stuff but I hate that e-mail address there.

I'm very glad he didn't do that on the SW/ESB kit.

I agree  (I also have his SW/ESB kit on the way to me)

[WunderCade]

Mark said that a simple little tweek with a programmer could get rid of it, although he made sure to point out that'd be "tacky" in the same breath. lol

But if I had a programmer, I'd definitely get rid of it can't imagine it'd be any more tacky than having it on there.

[Level42]

Sure, all it takes is reading the eprom, finding the string, removing it, erasing and reprogramming the Eprom.

Unless he build in some clever protection, which I doubt.

It's just that an e-mail address is so NOT-80's.... it also seems not the smartest thing to do with Namco chasing it's IP.

[MaximRecoil]

It's just that an e-mail address is so NOT-80's....

I disagree. Lots of people in the '80s had email addresses, especially people like Mark Spaeth (an MIT student). If an MIT student in the '80s made a multi Pac-Man board for sale to fellow hobbyists, I can see him including his email address on the screen. It would have been a very "techie" thing to do back then.

In fact, MIT figured prominently in the origin of email, some two decades prior to the '80s:

Electronic mail predates the inception of the Internet, and was in fact a crucial tool in creating the Internet.

MIT first demonstrated the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) in 1961. It allowed multiple users to log into the IBM 7094 from remote dial-up terminals, and to store files online on disk. This new ability encouraged users to share information in new ways. E-mail started in 1965 as a way for multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate. Although the exact history is murky, among the first systems to have such a facility were SDC's Q32 and MIT's CTSS.

[Namco]

It's just that an e-mail address is so NOT-80's....

I disagree. Lots of people in the '80s had email addresses, especially people like Mark Spaeth (an MIT student). If an MIT student in the '80s made a multi Pac-Man board for sale to fellow hobbyists, I can see him including his email address on the screen. It would have been a very "techie" thing to do back then.

In fact, MIT figured prominently in the origin of email, some two decades prior to the '80s:

Electronic mail predates the inception of the Internet, and was in fact a crucial tool in creating the Internet.

MIT first demonstrated the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) in 1961. It allowed multiple users to log into the IBM 7094 from remote dial-up terminals, and to store files online on disk. This new ability encouraged users to share information in new ways. E-mail started in 1965 as a way for multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate. Although the exact history is murky, among the first systems to have such a facility were SDC's Q32 and MIT's CTSS.

Yeah, but it's a Gmail email address. Gmail is so modern and "Web 2.0". Not a very cool thing IMHO to have on your vintage looking arcade cab. It would have been fine if it was some obscure edu or something, but Gmail?, it ruins it.

[opt2not]

Yeah, but it's a Gmail email address. Gmail is so modern and "Web 2.0". Not a very cool thing IMHO to have on your vintage looking arcade cab. It wouldn't been fine if it was some obscure edu or something, but Gmail?, it ruins it.

+1 

[MaximRecoil]

Yeah, but it's a Gmail email address. Gmail is so modern and "Web 2.0". Not a very cool thing IMHO to have on your vintage looking arcade cab. It would have been fine if it was some obscure edu or something, but Gmail?, it ruins it.

I didn't actually look at what email address he was using. Yeah, using a gmail address sucks. An mit.edu address would have been good. In fact, it seems that he does indeed have at least several addresses like that, including a nice, basic address (link).

So with regard to the following post:

Mark said that a simple little tweek with a programmer could get rid of it, although he made sure to point out that'd be "tacky" in the same breath. lol

Maybe the ideal solution would be to change it to his mit.edu address, rather than deleting it altogether.

[RayB]

How about NO email. It's so unnecessary.

[MaximRecoil]

How about NO email. It's so unnecessary.

The "Six-Pac" kit itself is "so unnecessary". I agree with the creator of that kit that it would be "tacky" to simply remove his email address from the screen. If someone wants one without it, nothing is preventing someone from designing and manufacturing their own kit.