Ms Pacman Restoration Part 1!

[Cobolisdead]

So while I am awaiting my capkit for my other project, I pulled the second arcade of my recent haul out of the storage building and started working on it. It is one of two Ms Pacman machines.  At first when I plugged it in, it came on but with garbage on the screen. I decided to clean the thirty-four years of dirt and grime out of it so I could get a closer look at what is going on.  After vacuuming that out, I pulled back the safety switch and the screen went to a test pattern and then the game fired right up! I did notice that the joystick wants to stick to the left, but I bet with some cleaning that will go away.

The color on the screen wasn't perfect but I couldn't find where to adjust that. on the monitor. I will have to take a closer look and see what is going on with it. Other than that, I just need to fix the lights and the cpo.  I don't know if it would be worth it to try to fix the artwork. If I try to repaint it, I will have to fix all of the wood on the whole cabinet and then get the stencils.

Can anyone tell me what is going on with the PCBs? Does it have a speed chip on it? I ask because Ms Pacman is flying through the maze.

Here are the pics:

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Skywarp_TPK/library/project?sort=3&page=1








You can see the damage the coin door has from being on location. Someone had tried to pry it open.





These internal shots are from before I cleaned it.

[Malenko]

i like the patina of ages cabs, I wouldnt mess with the outside much unless there is a structural issue.

If MsPac is flying, it prolly has the fast rom installed.  Do yourself a favor and get the sixpac from the guy at KLOV turns pacmanor mspacman into pacman regular, pacman fast, mspacman regular, mspacman fast, pacman plus regular and pacman plus fast .

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=153189

I bought one from Mark and I love it.

[Cobolisdead]

Well, structurally, the cab is fine. The only issue is the back panel has to be screwed on and there are a few chips missing here and there. These cabs were on location for a long time, so its a wonder that they look this nice. I agree that the aged look looks nice, so it probably will stay this way.

That kit looks amazing! Is it easy to install? I haven't had much experience with working on PCBs.

 

[Malenko]

you just pull all the roms, install the 5E from the kit, move the Z80 fromt he daughter card to the main PCB, and put the kit on the extra edge connector. Takes about 5 min

[Cobolisdead]

Awesome! 

[yotsuya]

you just pull all the roms, install the 5E from the kit, move the Z80 fromt he daughter card to the main PCB, and put the kit on the extra edge connector. Takes about 5 min

Once you were the Padawan, but now I see you have become the master.

+1 on the 6-PAC. I put it in my recently acquired Ms. Pac-Man and couldn't be happier.

I'm one who likes a new, minty looking restore, but with this cab, I can't bring myself to sand it down or anything. I like the battle scars on her, for some reason. E ony thing I did was buy a repro bezel from Phoenix Arcade because my original has horrible flaking, and I bought a marquee from a guy on KLOV that had no fading. I did restore the coin door, but other than that, I'm going to leave the rest of the cab alone.

[yotsuya]

Oh, and if the 6-PAC is out of the picture, you can order the correct rom to get the regular speed version. I could also burn it for you if you send me the chip.

[Malenko]

naw you were a big help. appreciate it!

[Cobolisdead]

I sent him a PM asking if he has anymore. Hopefully he does.

[behrmr]

You might want to turn your blue drive down on your monitor.  The Six Pac kit is nice.  If you're handy with modding boards there's a 4 pac DIY mod that's just as nice out there but you'd need to do some soldering and burn some roms.

[Cobolisdead]

I agree that the monitor needs some tweaking. I just didn't have much time to work on it, and I couldn't find the adjustments on the monitor board. Hopefully I can get to that soon though!

[yotsuya]

I agree that the monitor needs some tweaking. I just didn't have much time to work on it, and I couldn't find the adjustments on the monitor board. Hopefully I can get to that soon though!

Colors aren't on the monitor chassis, they're on the neckboard. 

[Cobolisdead]

I have ordered the 6-PAC! Once I get that in, I will swap it out and really enjoy this machine!

[yotsuya]

I have ordered the 6-PAC! Once I get that in, I will swap it out and really enjoy this machine!

I love mine!!!!

[Cobolisdead]

Tonight I will be working on CPOs. I plan to use my new Harbor Freight heat gun to take off the old CPO, and put on a new one.  Hopefully this will go smoothly as I need to get done with this machine.

[Cobolisdead]

For my first cpo replacement and my first time using a heat gun, I think that it turned out rather well! I couldn't find my metal scraper so I just used a long flat head screwdriver and the old cpo just came right off! I like the way the new cpo looks, but it makes the old buttons look really bad! Over on KLOV they suggest that I soak them in bleach water and then clean them up to make them look a little better.

[Spyridon]

Buttons are cheap.  Just get new ones.

[Malenko]

get the leafs from GGG , they are start buttons so spring rate and all that other crap dont matter.

[yotsuya]

I bought new ones from Bob Roberts for my Ms. Pac.