Gorf restoration

[Spyridon]

  I'm so impressed in fact that I wouldn't mind GIVING this to Spyridon if he could restore it again.  I'm in NY which isn't too far away from PA.

Thoughts?

Thanks for the offer, but I've got one beautiful Gorf in my game room.  Don't need another one.  Besides, I've got to finish up Pac-man and Centipede.  Then I've got Gyruss, Galaga, Satan's Hollow, and Phoenix to get the same treatment.  Plenty to keep me busy.

[Spyridon]

Wow.  I read through the entire topic and was floored with your attention to detail.

Great, great, great work!   

I have an empty Gorf cab sitting in my garage that I almost MAME'd until I saw this.  I have the control panel complete with Joystick and all glass ovelays and such.  I probably won't MAME it, but I won't restore it myself either, as my time and budget is too limited.  I'm so impressed in fact that I wouldn't mind GIVING this to Spyridon if he could restore it again.  I'm in NY which isn't too far away from PA.

** EDIT:  Forgot to mention that the Gorf cab doesn't have a monitor or PCB in it.

Thoughts?

DeLuSioNaL29

Still have this?  I might reconsider doing another one.

[Silas (son of Silas)]

When I die I want to be born again as Spyridon's arcade playing buddy. Failing that, if I come back as an arcade machine I pray that after years of abuse at the hands of teenagers I end up in his basement.

[Spyridon]

If you remember back to after the painting was completed, I installed everything back together but the game wouldn't work.  I had a problem with the boardset.  I purchased a working boardset and replaced the nonworking one and was good to go.  Now, I decided I wanted to see what the issue was with the original boards.

It's always easier to diagnose problems when you have a working board to compare to.  One by one, I swaped each of the 6 boards in the rack to determine which board had the problem.  Didn't take long to find this one as the culprit:


I reviewd the board for any obvious problems but couldn't find any.  I know that heat is a problem with Gorf boards and that is why chips U3 and U15 usually have heatsinks attached to them.  Looking at the board, only U15 had a heatsink on it.

U3 at the top and U15 with heatsink at the bottom:


Thinking this was as good as any place to start, I swapped the know good U3 from the working set in and BINGO!  Working Gorf boardset.  Now all I need to do is find a replacement chip and I'll have a second working set.

Both of these boards only had heatsinks on U15 so maybe they didn't come from the factory with the heatsink on U3?  These boards require a unique style heatsink because of the lack of space in the rack system.  Doing some research, I was able to find someone that had matched the OEM part and had the heatsinks for sale.  I ordered one for each set and had them engraved with the chip location because once installed, you can't easily see the lettering on the PCB.

[Spyridon]

I just found out that this chip is a Midway custom chip.  I'm not going to be able to just order it from any of the typical vendors.  I'll need to find one from another Gorf.   

Gorf, Wizard of Wor, Robby Rotto, 10 Pin Deluxe, Professor Pac are a few of the games that used this chip.

So...anybody got this chip for sale?

[SirPeale]

Nothing like trying to find chips from fairly uncommon games. 

[Spyridon]

Nothing like trying to find chips from fairly uncommon games. 

Yeah, tell me about it.


A little more information I found out on these chips.  Early runs of Gorf were shipped with a heatsink on the lower chip, but not on the top (as shown in the pic above).  There was a high rate of failure in these chips, so on later runs, they shipped with heatsinks on both chips.

[WunderCade]

Your best bet is to search for those boards that have this chip, that are "too far gone" or non-working for sale cheap. Then just cross your fingers that one of those boards has a working chip and scavenge it.

[Spyridon]

The generosity of people in this hobby is amazing.  A KLOV member saw my post looking for the custom chip and sent me one for free.  He said it was a thank you for the great job I did on the Gorf restore.  Plugged it in and the board set is working perfectly! 

 

[Spyridon]

Some new photos for the gallery...





And one of me with my new Gorf t-shirt

[saleem]

is that thing on the back of the cab there because the monitor is colour and sticks out,thats to cover over the neck?

i got a space zap restore going.

the cab is having the cosmetics sorted but,it needs the monitor sorting,its the wgv1001,theres a prob with the ht lead (in that area) no power.pretty big job for me realy as i am after getting the artwork stenciled,the stencils are not available online (as far as i know) so i am after getting a laser cutting service here in uk,it will probably cost me a faortune but,will be worth it in the end.

space zap has a lot in common with gorf,some of its boards can be used with space zap,it uses the similar cage setup.

the door was well beat that is in mine,i had to buy a door like the one you got there,from usa,i will have to send it for sandblasting and get them to powder coat it grey.

i know this is old project and you are just updating the post with fresh pics but,nice job.
 

[opt2not]

Nice job Spyridon. That thing looks minty fresh!
Thanks for the new pictures.

Word on the street is that you got a Robotron restoration in the works?? Seem like recently we'll have a bunch of Robotrons back from the dead , a cocktail, a cabaret and I'm assuming a stand-up?   

[Q*Bert_OP]

is that thing on the back of the cab there because the monitor is colour and sticks out,thats to cover over the neck?

Yes. Wizard of Wor and Bosconian also have these...I think a bunch of the cabaret Midway games have them as well.

[Spyridon]

Word on the street is that you got a Robotron restoration in the works?? Seem like recently we'll have a bunch of Robotrons back from the dead , a cocktail, a cabaret and I'm assuming a stand-up?   

Wow, news travels fast.  I just worked that deal last week and I'm not picking it up until July.  It's a stand up and will get a full restore with stencilled paint job.

[DrumAnBass]

Beautiful work on the Gorf; looks brand new!! 

[west]

nice resto thread
I may also be doing a GORF resto soon and this gives me some inspiration 

[SavannahLion]

Can someone help me find my teeth? I lost them when my jaw hit the floor.

This is probably one of the best restores I've seen so far.

[rchadd]

Why did you have to lie the cab down to remove the monitor?

I couldn't figure out any way to get it out by myself.  It had your typical 4 main bolts holding it in, however, two were in the front and two were in the back.  Also, it wasn't one of those were if you took the bolts out, it would stay in place resting on some braces or wood.  The bolts were the only thing holding it.  It would take two people to remove it.  One would have to hold it (supporting all the weight) from the back, while the final two bolts were removed from the front. 

I looked at every possible way to get it out, and unless I missed something simple, laying it down on its side was the only way I could figure it out. 

i got to do the same thing tomorrow! i have a wells gardner k4600 in my gorf that needs a cap kit (well hope thats all!)

spent ages trying to figure if posisble to remove the chassis boards without removing the entire monitor.

i managed to remove two cards but doesnt seem able to remove the main pcb - anyone know if its possible?

it is definitely gling to be a two man job to remove it and quite fiddly at that as there is nothing to take the weight as you remove the 4 bolts. there are also brackets attaching to the side of the cab on the inside.
 

[Spyridon]

You should be able to remove the chasis without removing the whole monitor.  Be careful with the width coil that is attached to the frame.  You'll need to desolder the wires that are connected to it.  Be careful as it is fragile.

[rchadd]

ended up taking the entire monitor out - wasn't quite so hard as i first thought!

still need someone to help to hold the monitor in place whilst removed that last top bolt.

quite a few wires to disconnect but finally removed the chassis from the tube and flyback.

now got to figure how to get the circuit board away from the remaining frame and plastic holder

yes i noticed the width coil - seems like a strange design and no connector to allow easy disconnect!

[rchadd]

it was lucky that the lip of the monitor frame rests on the wood to allow remove of the bottom bolts!

[rotheblog]

Joe has done some amazing restorations - both this Gorf and his Pac-man stencil immediately come to mind.

[Spyridon]

Joe has done some amazing restorations - both this Gorf and his Pac-man stencil immediately come to mind.

Thanks Jeff.

[Spyridon]

Farewell my friend...

(but don't worry, I've already started collecting parts to do another one!)

[valgalder]

pretty much the coolest thing ever    Don't know how you could have parted with it..

[BobA]

Amazing restoration.  I don't usually check this thread but your work on the Gorf cab caught my eye and I am glad I checked out the whole tread.  It must have been like parting with a friend or family member when sending your cab out the door.

 

[Rick]

Farewell my friend...

Oh, no!  Where'd it go?!  That resto was so amazing.  (Tell me you received serious coin for it, or that it's going somewhere that you can still visit.)

[opt2not]

I hope it's going to a good home. The person who bought it better be a fan of the game!!

[BurgerKingDiamond]

I can't believe that after all of that tedious, patient work you let this go!

You have skills.

[Pinball Wizard]

If your feeling empty-handed now you could always come down to Baltimore and restore mine. I'm leaving in 7 hours to take a 5 hour trip to pick it up. Right price with only a monitor issue. I can't believe you'd part with the best restored game I have ever seen.

[Spyridon]

If your feeling empty-handed now you could always come down to Baltimore and restore mine. I'm leaving in 7 hours to take a 5 hour trip to pick it up. Right price with only a monitor issue. I can't believe you'd part with the best restored game I have ever seen.

You are only a 3 hour ride from me and I am available for hire. 

[Pinball Wizard]

Well I knew driving up there I was buying it almost completely blind since the pictures weren't too good but I got it back and it's in really good shape. Could use some new sideart but overall it's looking good so I guess I won't need you on this game. About how much do you charge a game anyways?

[Spyridon]

About how much do you charge a game anyways?

[Pinball Wizard]

Well I don't have that much, I only have:


I guess I'll just do my own restorations for now.

[Scottacus]

This topic is very well done and has been very helpful to me in restoring my Gorf game.

[opt2not]

I miss Spyridon's resto's. 

[yotsuya]

Me too.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Ditto.  His restos are top notch for sure.  I was serious about giving him my Gorf I had in my garage, he declined, so I got rid of it before he asked me for it a year later.  Such a shame!  I would have kept it had I known...

D

[Spyridon]

me too

[Spyridon]

This topic is very well done and has been very helpful to me in restoring my Gorf game.

Glad I could help