Several new projects - Defender rehab 1st

[More Cowbell]

I won an auction on eBay for 4 cabinets that are about 60 miles from me. I'm going to pick them up tomorrow. The cabinets are Defender, Berzerk, Track and Field, and possibly Space Duel. I'll mostly be concerning myself with the Defender, Berzerk, and T&F. There are no monitors or boards and it looks like all of them have been painted over so it's pretty much just the cabinets that I'll be building from. I think what I'll try to do is restore the cabinets to look like original but I'll run MAME in them. At some point in the future I may try to restore them completely or someone else can.
Question for you, I like Hyper Sports better than Track and Field, were these the same cabinets?
I'll post some more pictures once I get them home tomorrow.

[leapinlew]

Bleemus has a track and field cabinet that was converted to Klax and he's doing a klax restore on it. He is currently dealing with the t-molding on his which is offcenter. His thread is in PA

[Veeb0rg]

It might be a space dual.. it looks like my cab, but i don't remember that plack above the coin doors..

i hope they didn't drill holes in a stock CP for space duel.. i've only been after one of them for a long time now..

edit: its a gravitar cab.. space duel has 2 6x9 holes above the coin door, gravitar only has 1

[theCoder]

Man, 3-4 projects at once!  That would kill my family life not to mention my wallet.  Good luck with them.

[More Cowbell]

OK. I picked up the cabs and let me tell you, renting a truck for just s few hours is sucky. Cost me $79 plus gas from Home Depot and that was a killer deal compared to most. I don't want to buy 4 at a time again.
They were in ok condition, very dirty but that's what I wanted to see. Dirt can be cleaned. A few bonuses were in there. Both Defender bezels were in tact and in great shape. That'll save me some money. One of the cabs had 2 working Happs Perfect 360's in it. I don't need them so I'm letting you all know first that they're for sale. $50 shipped sound fair? PM me if interested. Also, there was a Smash TV board in the Defender. It appears to be in good shape although I can't test it. PM me if intertested in this too.
I cleaned them up and started on the Defender right away. As you can see from the pics the paint came off pretty well and underneath one layer was the Defender dude in all his glory. Whatever paint they painted over it with was that textured "rock" paint. 
I'm not sure how to proceed on the Defender sideart. It needs black, yellow, and red touch ups but there's no good way to do all of them without screwing something up. Even though the art is pretty well salvaged I'm considering buying templates. I will try to produce my own templates for the front art. Speaking of the front, someone cut a 4x6 or so hole in the front. I filled it with a piece of wood and spackled it up and it looks as good as new.
The Berzerk cabinet has me confused. The black layer of paint peels right off but it's orange underneath. It appears to be the original color because there's wood under that. Berzerk wasn't orange. Could it be something else? There's no art on the sides and the cab has "1979" etched in it at the top. Curious. I think I'll still make it Berzerk unless someone lets me know that it's something cooler.
Let me know if you have ideas or suggestions.

[More Cowbell]

Here are some pics of the Space Duel control panel. It's been drilled more than Paris Hilton.

[Veeb0rg]

gravitar..

http://www.mameworld.net/massive/Cabinet/Gravitar/Gravitar.htm

check out the 2 buttons paired together, the one is raised up slightly.. the hole on this cp is also the same way..

definately could be used to make a repro out of sheet metal..

[More Cowbell]

Things are moving along nicely on these. I had planned on working on one at a time but I ended up working on 3 of them based on the wait times for several things (primer to dry, paint to dry, trips to Home Depot, monitor pickup, etc).

Defender - Paint is all stripped and the sideart is recoverable. I have started touching it up but it is a very slow process. I'll post some pics later. I bought a 21" computer monitor for it (since it will run the MAME Defender) and it didn't fit right in the cabinet. It fit but it sat too high so I had to cut out the monitor shelf and lower it. I bought a "short-back" 21" monitor so it barely fits. A note on the monitor, I got it for $45 from a place that sells previously leased monitors. Great deal, these suckers are huge. I bought 3 of them and may buy another for the final cabinet if the others fit. I have a leaf joystick on the way and my buttons are ready to go. I ordered the CPO and marquee from classicarcadegrafix.com yesterday so it will be next week before I have them.

Hyper Sports - I stripped the black paint off the sides leaving only the white laminate. It sure stripped easily using only my scraper and no stripper. I'll need to repaint it white due to several blemishes but it should look awesome. The sideart must have been removed in the past (it was Track and Field but I'm making it Hyper Sports). There was no control panel so I had to fabricate one from wood. It came out nicer than I had hoped and will still work with the hinges and everything. I need to figure out how to fit and hold the monitor so I'll work on that in the next couple of days. Again, ordered CPO and marquee yesterday.

Gravitar - Never played this game so I'm not trying to keep it original. I'm going to MAME it and hopefully sell it to recoup some expense of the other ones. I will set it up with 2 joys (T-Sticks) and 6 buttons each so it can play most of the classics and the fighter games. Just need to fit monitor and received the CPO (generic CPO came with it and I'm keeping it in there to save $).

Berzerk - Haven't really done anything with this yet besides start peeling the paint off. I need to find my heat gun to try to get the tougher paint. Then I'll repaint it black and probably buy a stencil for the sideart. CPO and marquee are on their way.

 

[divemaster127]

Paris hilton thats funny,  nice bunch of cabs
dm

[Stingray]

Looks like you were able to get most of that cruddy black paint off the Defender. How well did it clean up? Is the sideart going to be usable?

-S

[Wade]

Classicarcadegraphix?  WHY??

I rented a Uhaul truck with ramp for $19 plus mileage.  It came to around $50 (the game was about 10 miles away but obviously it wasn't a straight drive to and from).  Mileage is the killer, it was about $0.70/mile.  How was it at Home Depot?  I was happy to pay $50 though (I was picking up a 650 pound Daytona USA 2).  Sounds like it was a little cheap at HD.

Wade

[ArtMAME]

I bought a 21" computer monitor for it (since it will run the MAME Defender) and it didn't fit right in the cabinet. It fit but it sat too high so I had to cut out the monitor shelf and lower it. I bought a "short-back" 21" monitor so it barely fits.
 

What brand and model are those "short-back" 21" monitors?  How deep are they.  I have one that is about 20" and another one that is about 19" deep. 

[More Cowbell]

Looks like you were able to get most of that cruddy black paint off the Defender. How well did it clean up? Is the sideart going to be usable?

With a ton of stripper (mmmm... strippers) and elbow grease I got all of the rock paint off. The art underneath was in pretty good shape, good enough to touch up rather than start over.

Classicarcadegraphix?  WHY??

I rented a Uhaul truck with ramp for $19 plus mileage.  It came to around $50 (the game was about 10 miles away but obviously it wasn't a straight drive to and from).  Mileage is the killer, it was about $0.70/mile.  How was it at Home Depot?  I was happy to pay $50 though (I was picking up a 650 pound Daytona USA 2).  Sounds like it was a little cheap at HD.

I used Classicarcadegraphix with my MAME machine last year and was happy. It looked like the prices were as reasonable if not more than some other sites. The truck was a huge pain. Yeah, UHaul is only $20 but when you add $.70 a mile for 120 miles round trip it adds up. At Home Depot it is a flat $20 per hour pretty much so I hauled @$$ and ended up having it for 4 hours total ($80). Plus gas. Only some Home Depots will allow you to rent if you don't buy something big at their store. They are reserved for the people hauling big stuff home.

I bought a 21" computer monitor for it (since it will run the MAME Defender) and it didn't fit right in the cabinet. It fit but it sat too high so I had to cut out the monitor shelf and lower it. I bought a "short-back" 21" monitor so it barely fits.
 

What brand and model are those "short-back" 21" monitors?  How deep are they.  I have one that is about 20" and another one that is about 19" deep. 

The monitors are Viewsonic and they look great. The short back ones are only and inch or two shorter than the regular but it makes a big difference when the back of the monitor is hanging out the back. I think they were a tad under 19" deep.

More pics soon. I've been traveling for work lately so I have little time at home.

[More Cowbell]

Received all of my marquees and cpo's. They look awesome, especially the Hyper Sports. It is so vibrant and colorful. The only thing I'm not 100% happy with is the Defender cpo. It appears to be a bit overexposed or something. It looks like the words bleed a bit and they are kind of hard to read. It's not enough to make me want a new crisper looking one, just something I noticed. Now that I have all of these in hand I can finally start putting the control panels together which means I can start getting the systems set into the cabs. One thing I noticed recently that kind of ticks me off is that the picture of the cabs in the auction shows the Hyper Sports cab with a control panel with joysticks. When I picked them up, the control panel was gone which meant that not only did I not get the joysticks either for use in another cab or for resale, but I had to fabricate a new control panel out of wood when the original was made of metal. Again, just annoying.
I cut the t-mold slot in the Defender control panel and then cut the holes for the joystick and buttons last night. I had to fill a small chunk on the edge with wood putty so it needed to dry overnight. Tonight I'll put the cpo on and start hooking up buttons and the joystick. Then it's just a matter of connecting up the keywiz and dropping in the monitor and system. As much as I hate to cut a hole in the cab for an extra button, it looks like I'll need to add the Shazaaaaaam! button in order to access Enter, Escape, and Pause. I figure I'll put the button on the bottom of the outcropping (above the coin door), that way it can't be seen and it's out of the way. Does Radio Shack have small buttons that would be good for this? I'll need to do it with the other cabs too.
Pics soon.

[ArtMAME]

I am using these small buttons for my admin buttons.  Got them for $1.19 each at Fry's.  RadioSlack should have some of them.  They are OK for admin buttons, but not for gaming. 

Also, what kind of monitor are you thinking about putting in the Track and Field cabinet?  A PC monitor?  If so, I am interested in how much space you have inside the cab to mount the PC monitor.

[More Cowbell]

I am using these small buttons for my admin buttons.  Got them for $1.19 each at Fry's.  RadioSlack should have some of them.  They are OK for admin buttons, but not for gaming. 

Also, what kind of monitor are you thinking about putting in the Track and Field cabinet?  A PC monitor?  If so, I am interested in how much space you have inside the cab to mount the PC monitor.

Yeah, I'm looking for buttons that are small and not real noticable. Those should do the trick. Thanks.

I am using a computer monitor in all of the cabs. I got a great deal on 21" short back monitors ($45 each). I believe they are about 19" deep which is going to leave the back of the monitor hanging out about an inch. I can deal with an inch.

Do you have a Hyper Sports or Track and Field cab? What did you do about the t-mold? I understand it is offset slightly which makes it difficult to replace. I'll need to find a way to do it as mine was trashed.

[ArtMAME]

Do you have a Hyper Sports or Track and Field cab? What did you do about the t-mold? I understand it is offset slightly which makes it difficult to replace. I'll need to find a way to do it as mine was trashed.

I don't have a T&F cab, I was thinking of getting a half-stripped cab locally that was converted to Mortal Kombat, putting a PC monitor in it and converting it to a T&F/Hypersports themed cab.  I may or may not get it  ...

Anyway, if you want offset T-molding, go to

http://www.outwater.com

They have every kind of T-molding imaginable  .  Really... check it out.  I got a 250 foot roll of regular T-molding for good price, and I got it within 3 days I think.

[More Cowbell]

Thanks, Artmame. 
I checked out the site and they really do have everything you could ever imagine. One slight hitch is that for the offset molding there is a 5,000 foot minimum. I figure I'll need to do about 167 Hyper Sports cabinets to use it all. Guess I better get started. 

[ArtMAME]

One thing you could try is filling in the existing groove with bondo or wood putty along the entire edge, then re-routing a groove for regular T-molding. 

I had to do this on a section of a cab I was building because my router drifted while routing and the groove became uncentered.  I patched it up and rerouted it and it worked fine.

Maybe a longshot but worth a try.

[More Cowbell]

That would probably work very well. I was considering doing it the shortcut way and simply cutting the regular t-mold slot and then gluing it in since the slot will be too wide. Your way is much more... responsible. I'm all about shortcuts though so I have a feeling it will end up glued. I'll worry about it in 20 years. 

[Wade]

Keep looking, I think that offset T-molding is available somewhere.  How wide does it need to be?

Wade

[More Cowbell]

I have it on my list to measure out exactly how offset it needs to be. The offset molding that I found is offset 9/32" to 17/32" (so essentially the groove needs to be set at 1/3 rather than 1/2). I'm hoping that's what the cab is. I'll check it tonight.

In other news, Defender is working and essentially finished outside of some additional touch ups to one side, painting the kick plate scene, and wiring up the switch to rule them all. I have printed out what will become my template for the kick plate, I just need to trace it to something sturdy to use as a stencil. I'm thinking I'll need to spray some white primer before painting the red and yellow on since the colors don't cover black well at all.

I installed MALA so that I can boot up the machine straight to Defender without need for mouse or keyboard at all. It's pretty sweet. I can exit out of Defender and go into Stargate through MALA too without mouse or keyboard. Easier than I had ever hoped.

[More Cowbell]

I'm finally back in after being "inadvertantly" kicked out due to a "technical" issue a week ago. It feels good to be back on the inside.
Things are moving slowly as I've been travelling a lot. I'm currently in Plano, Texas so everything will need to wait until this weekend to keep moving.
Defender - Almost done. Still need to paint the kickplate scene which is giving me fits. I'm thinking I'll need to prime the scene white and then paint the red and yellow since the colors will absolutely not cover black. It would take 50 coats for them to show up at all. Hopefully the priming then colors on top of colors won't come out bad. I also need to touch up the paint on one side. Finally, I need to get the coin door back together and wired up. Otherwise, it's done as far as I'm concerned.
Hyper Sports - I order a sample of some offset t-mold to make sure that it works ok. If it does I'll order 30' and that'll be set. I need some smoked glass which I think I have found for about $40. Then it's just a matter of wiring the coin door and I'll be good to go.
I need to paint the monitor fronts black on both of these machines as you can see them through the glass a bit. I also need to wire the master switch to both of them. I bought some flip switches at Radio Shack here in Texas. I hope I can get them home without an overzealous airline person thinking I am doing something dastardly. I will be wiring them to the power strip in the cab. I simply plug everything into the power strip, wire the strip to the switch, plug in the power strip and voila, instant master switch. Works like a charm.
MAME Cabinet - This is almost done as well. I took the simple approach on this one with black paint and generic CPO. The first CPO had a funky crease in it and a replacement was sent. The second CPO had an even funkier crease/tear in it so I am waiting on a response about replacement. They jammed the second one in a makeshift, taped together box too. You'd think they would get a hint. Classicarcadegrafix really needs to come through with the third one or I'll be going elsewhere in the future.
Berzerk - Slow movement as I've been concentrating on the others. Not much to report on this outside of one side completely stripped and sanded.

[ArtMAME]

Hey, good progress on those cabinets.  Are these the latest pics? looks like the last post on here was back in October. 

I just got a project Track and Field finally... it was a Street Fighter II conversion... it will become a T&F/Hypersports/88Games Multi-MAME when I finish with it

I see you found a source for the offset T-molding... where did you get it?  I will need some soon for the T&F cabinet.

[More Cowbell]

Funny you should resurrect this thread since I just finished the last cab and got it into my basement last night. Berzerk has waited a long time as other projects got in the way. I still need to get the Berzerk sideart stencil and a real bezel but it's mostly complete. Unfortunately, the offset t-mold sample that I received didn't work out for the Hyper Sports. It was too offset. I'm thinking I will need to go the reroute a center cut and use regular t-mold direction. What a pain. I love having the Hyper Sports cab though, that was one of my favorite games of all time. I'm still having trouble getting T&F to work very well in MAME though. The buttons don't seem to want to work together.

[ArtMAME]

Bummer that the offset T-molding did not work out 

I may just do the filler then re-route for the T&F cabinet, I have tons of regular black T-mold from that 250' roll that I got a long time ago...

I will try T&F on my BIG MAME cab to see if it works properly... it has been a while since I played it but I don't remember having any problems like you described... 
I was using MAME 0.99 command line version and an old IPAC from Ultimarc.

BTW... are you getting the Berzerk stencils from Brian at Oleszak Creations?

http://www.oleszakcreative.com/store/shop/item.asp?itemid=79

I got my Robotron stencils from him and they came out very nicely:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=63639.msg634790#msg634790

[ArtMAME]

I'm thinking I will need to go the reroute a center cut and use regular t-mold direction. What a pain.

Hey, I just thought of something... if you do fill the groove and re-route, you probably need to make sure you fill the groove out completely and let it dry solidly... I can imagine big chunks of wood flying out of the router if your router drifts too close to a partially-filled portion of the offset groove... you may end up with a 1/2" T-molding groove in some places... , not good... 

You could probably try it out on a small portion of the cab to see if it will work... just route SLOWLY and evenly... to make sure the router does not "drift" into the offset groove...

Also, do you have any tips on how to mount the monitor in there?  I have a 19" PC monitor that I may put in there, which may just fit since it is just shy of 18" deep. 

Nice Xevious cabinet BTW 

[More Cowbell]

The Xevious was a great find. It wasn't working but was completely intact so it gave me a chance to troubleshoot and learn about the workings of a real arcade machine (it was my first).

I put a 21" monitor in the Hyper Sports cab. The great thing with that was that all I had to do was flip the old monitor rails (the rails that held the monitor frame) over and the big monitor sits nicely on them. I didn't have to screw it in because it's such a tight fit between the sides and the back. If I ever move it I would take the monitor out anyway. I did have to cut a hole in the back since the monitor was so large.

That stupid t-mold is going to be the very last thing I do since it will be such a pain. As you described, there are a lot of potential mishaps that can happen thanks to that offset groove.

Let me know what you find out about the T&F. I believe I'm using a MAME32 in the .80's but if something else works better, I have no problem switching it so that I can play both Hyper Sports and T&F.

[Wade]

Consider getting oversized Tmolding, then using one of those Tmolding trimmers (I've seen them at Lowe's).

Wade

[paigeoliver]

That Berzerk is orange because you don't have a dedicated Berzerk cabinet, you have a dedicated Frenzy cabinet.

[More Cowbell]

That Berzerk is orange because you don't have a dedicated Berzerk cabinet, you have a dedicated Frenzy cabinet.

Yeah, I figured that out at some point along the way. I decided since they are the same cab to just go ahead and make it Berzerk since I never really cared about Frenzy and honestly don't even remember ever seeing one before.