Defender restoration project

[sfrascella]

Ok, I bought this thing on E-bay a couple of months ago and have been slowly making progress. The plan is a total restoration and with the coming of winter and no garage, I decided to start with actually getting the game in working condition before I do the cosmetic repairs to the cab.

Here are some pics of what kind of condition it was in when I got it home. I will post more pics of my progress later today.

[sfrascella]

After buying a set of working boards and used marquee on E-bay, a new repro plexi-bezel from Arcadeshop, and some parts from Bob Roberts this thing is starting to look a little more like the game I put so many quarters into back in the 80's.

If you can't tell from the pictures above, when I picked this up all I got was basically a box with no back door, a stripped down coin door, a broken marquee light fixture, and a control panel that needs repaired. I repaired the large crack at the top of the cab with some wood glue and bar clamps. I installed a new ballast and rewired the marquee light and got it working. I also had to make a new wiring harness and elected to go with a new switching power supply instead of the old linear power supply.

Here's some more pics.

[Level42]

Nice project.....I had never played Defender /the arcade version/ before until my visit at Funspot in aug/sept 2006. I was confused by the controls, but what a great game...

This looks promissing !

[sfrascella]

Yes the controls are confusing at first, but once you get the fingers for it the game is very addicting.

I saw your project thread as well, looks like you are doing a great job with that. If all goes well here I will have a Galaxian project cab next week. I told the wife I wouldn't do another one until summer, but this is to good to pass on.

There will be another update tomorrow with pics...

[sfrascella]

Update

I got a new 19” Vision Pro monitor a few days ago and finally had some time to get it installed. It was actually easier than I expected to install and wire, even the bolt holes lined up perfectly. The only problem was the video harness that came with the monitor is a bit short, so I will have to rewire it.

I also desoldered the old wires on the control panel and soldered the new ones in place. Then I hooked up the control panel to see if these old leaf switches would still work and everything except player 2 worked fine. A quick cleaning of the switches with a business card and then all worked as good as new.

I played for about 2 hours last night and had no trouble at all with the control panel or the new monitor. It does need a new joystick though, this one is a little to sloppy for good game play.

Things I still need to do before this is complete:

1)Wire the coin door. I have 2 silver doors that I will try to make into one good one.
2)Make a new back door. For some reason all these old cabs are missing the back doors.
3)Clean up the wiring, tie wraps and clamps as needed.
4)A new control panel overlay. Anyone know if the repros from arcadeshop are any good?
5)New T-molding.
6)Sand, patch, and paint. And save the artwork somehow.

Even though this isn't finished yet, I must admit I am as high as a kite right now having a working Defender for my first for my first restoration project!

Here's more pics