With the right tools, this is probably a fairly easy job. They make a crimp tool specifically designed to crimp the pins of the edge connector. I do not have this crimp tool so it took me a little longer crimping each pin with a pair of needle nose pliers. I labeled the parts and solder side of the old and new edge connector to keep from getting confused then began working wire by wire from one end to the other. Here are a few shots of the work in progress and the completed edge connector:

Tuesday night, it was time to address the A/R II board with a repair kit obtained from Bob Roberts.  The repair kit consists of new capacitors for the A/R II board, two new resistors and two new transistors.  I took me about 30 minutes to unsolder the old parts and solder the new parts to the board.  The main concern with the capacitors is ensuring that the polarity is correct.  There are two leads on each capacitor, one positive and one negative.  These must line up correctly with the positive and negative points on the board or you’ll definitely see some smoke when you apply power to it.  Here is a shot of the A/R II board before the repair kit and after:

I then plugged the A/R II board into the power supply and powered the machine up without connecting the edge connector to the PCB.  No smoke so I then connected the edge connector to the PCB and powered the machine up again.  I was met with the same looping screen as described in the previous post.  I’m convinced right now that the PCB itself is bad.  I guess I’ll try and get it tested in a known working machine.  I might have some better news regarding a different game tomorrow.

It appears to be some type of power issue causing the game to go into an infinite reset cycle.  I’ve ordered a repair kit for the A/R II board which consists of new capacitors and a few new resistors.  I’ve also ordered a new edge connector to ensure I’m getting good contact to the board.  Any other thoughts or ideas on the problem would be appreciated.  The parts will probably arrive on Monday, so I guess I’m tearing out carpet this weekend.

My first step was to start checking the voltages going to the game circuit board.  Everything checked out fine except the 5v test point was a little high at 5.4 volts.  I dialed that back down to an acceptable 5.1v range using a pot on the A/R II board (Audio Regulator PCB).  I started talking to fellow collectors about my problem and one requested a picture of the scrambled screen to try and help diagnose the problem.

As luck would have it, I fired up the game to take the requested pictures and immediately smelled smoke.  I quickly went to the back of the machine, powered it off and saw a stream of smoke rising from the game circuit board.  Most of the resistors in the circled area are fried (click for a larger picture):

I’m told this is what happened; the edge connector was not making sufficient contact and +5vdc shorted to ground.  This resistor network was the weakest link before smoking resistor R30 on the A/R II board.  Sure enough, I checked and resistor R30 on the A/R II board is fried.  Just for reference, here’s a shot of the A/R II board when it was working.  R30 sits between the 6 and 9 pin connectors (click for a larger picture):

I was also told to check the edge connector on the game board and check for burnt areas. Sure enough there is a small burn near the first finger on the parts side:

I can handle the repairs to the A/R II board but the game board repairs may be above my level of expertise.  I’m going to look for a cheap, working replacement board and send this one out later for repairs just to have a spare around if the need arises.  Until then, Dig Dug will sit in silence while Donkey Kong laughs at him (I hope I didn’t just jinx myself)!

Parts Ordered

Work Log

Let me know, via the comments below or the contact form, your thoughts on this information. I’ll continue to maintain the logs for my own personal information, but am curious to know if anyone else is interested in seeing the content of the logs. I don’t intend on maintaining a “running log” on the blog for each game but will post one similar to this as each restoration nears completion.

The t-molding that I ordered arrived so I decided to finish the other side. Unfortunately, this was the side that had some repairs done, so a new groove would have to be routed. I used my router and a slot cutting bit and routed a new groove for the t-molding on the repaired corner. I then installed the rest of the t-molding. It’s a fairly simple process as outside corners get cut with v grooves to fit the t-molding and inside corners simple get slots cut. All of the cuts are made with a utility knife, although specialized tools are available.

The marquee retainers, top vent cover and all of the bolts were repainted with two coats of Rustoleum flat black enamel spray paint and reapplied to the cabinet.

Finally, I constructed a new montior bezel out of cardboard and installed it over the monitor. Here are a few shots of the new cardboard bezel in place, a screenshot of the game running and a shot of the front of the cabinet with the coin door reinstalled.

Finally, a shot of what it’s all about; introducting my kids to some of the classics I grew up on. Here’s my youngest son enjoying a game. He’s hooked. It also gives you a pretty good overview of the finished product, before and after.

There are two minor things to finish on this restoration. I need a new power cord with a grounding plug and will install one as soon as I get around to ordering it. I also need to construct a new back door, but that will have to wait for warmer weather.

Once the laminate was dry, I applied the new t-molding to the right side of the cabinet. After finishing the right side, I realized that I did not have enough to finish the left side. I placed an order for more t-molding on Saturday and will have to wait for it to arrive before I can finish. Bored, with nothing else to do, I reinstalled the wiring harness, control panel, marquee light and speaker.

Sunday, I disassembled the coin door and stripped the paint from the parts using my palm sander and Dremel. After cleaning the parts of dust, I applied one coat of Rustoleum flat black enamel spray paint. Once the base coat dried, I applied two coats of Rustoleum black hammered spray paint. This will give the coin door a texture similar to it’s original.

This evening or tomorrow, I’ll be reassembling the coin door and reinstalling it back into the cabinet. Stay tuned!

The side art was stripped from both sides of the cabinet using a heat gun and some good old fashioned elbow grease. Once the side art was removed the entire cabinet was sanded, first with 80 grit paper, again with 120 grit paper and a final sanding with 220 grit paper. I then applied two coats of primer to the entire exterior of the cabinet, sanding between coats with 220 grit sand paper.

Once the primer was finished, I painted the front and back exterior of the cabinet with four coats of flat black latex paint. I applied the paint with a spray gun. I didn’t want to destroy the orignal stickers on the back of the cabinet, so I masked them with masking tape prior to spraying. Here are a couple of pictures of the final results:

There’s a bit of overspray on the primed sides of the cabinet, but as long as it’s smooth it shouldn’t matter. The side is getting covered with one large adhesive decal. While I was painting, I decided to do a bit of work on the coin box as well. The coin box and utility panel were sanded down and painted with 2 coats of Rustoleum flat black enamel. All of the components were reattached with new screws. I think you’ll agree that the results are worthwhile. Here’s a before and after shot (there is a bit of dust on the final picture as I forgot to take it out of the garage while I was sanding the cabinet…it wiped right off):

Finally, I began to apply the new side art. The side art was printed on self adhesive vinyl using a 42″ HP Design Jet 500 on best quality settings. I downloaded the art file from the Arcade Art Library and cleaned it up to my liking. Essentially, some of the curves were pretty jagged so I took the time to smooth them out in Adobe Illustrator.

Before removing the old side art, I took some measurements for the bottom and back side so I would have reference marks to line up the new art. The bottom half of the art got taped to the cabinet so it wouldn’t shift and I began applying from the top down. It was then a matter of applying the new side art, moving slowly to make sure there were no air bubbles or crinkles in the artwork. I then trimmed the edges of the art with an X-acto knife. I only have one side done right now but hope to finish the other tomorrow night. Again, a before and after shot:

In case you’re wondering, this was the side that had the chunk missing which was repaired. There is no visible sign that the corner was repaired. After I finish the side art on the other side, I’ll be putting a coat of liquid laminate on top of each side to protect the art. I then need to finish restoring the coin box and coin door, install new t-molding and put the cabinet back together. Stay tuned!

It involved plexiglass, a putty knife, Bondo and lots of sandpaper. After doing some research, I learned that one thing Bondo will not stick to is plexiglass. I decided to make a “frame” for the missing corner out of some plexiglass I had laying around. Doesn’t everyone have spare plexiglass laying around? I couldn’t match the curve of the corner with the plexiglass so the frame would be made at a 90 degree angle. After the process was complete, I would go back and cut the corner to the appropriate shape.

I attached one piece of plexiglass to the back edge of the cabinet. I drilled two holes in the plexiglass and attached it with drywall screws. I butted another piece of plexiglass up to that piece at a 90 degree angle and attached it to the bottom edge of the cabinet. I then placed a piece of plexiglass underneath the pieces and clamped it all together.

I started filling the frame with Bondo, spreading to around with a putty knife. It actually took three coats to get it to the proper level. Then came the fun part…..sanding. I spent at least an hour sanding the Bondo to be even with the wood on the cabinet. Once I had it fairly close, I measured the angle on the right side corner, duplicated it on the left corner and cut the new piece to shape.

It still needs a bit of sanding but the corner has essentially been replaced and it’s rock solid. Unfortunately, I learned one lesson…the side art is one big “sticker”. I think I’ve essentially destroyed it, but I have a plan for repairing it. Stay tuned.

As you can see, it needs a lot of cleanup. I’ll be scrubbing the inside and outside of the cabinet down with Simple Green. The coin door and coin box with be cleaned with Simple Green and then I’ll take my generic Dremel tool to them and sand off most of the rust before repainting. I’ll take some nylon brushes to the PCB and audio PCB and attempt to clean some of the dust off. The marquee and bezel will get a good cleaning with Windex and then some anti-static gel cleaner that I use on my LCD monitors. The monitor will be cleaned with Windex and the same anti-static gel and the board will get cleaned with a nylon brush.