I’ve been prepping the control panel for a few days. Obviously, the first step was to remove the old control panel overlay. Surprisingly, I was able to peel it off without much trouble. Unfortunately, all of the adhesive was still on the control panel. I did quite a bit of research to determine the best way to remove the adhesive. Since I was working in the basement I needed something that was relatively odor free. I saw several suggestions for a product called Citristrip which I found in a quart sized container at my local WalMart. The Citristrip was brushed onto the adhesive and I let it set for about 6 hours. You can apparently let it sit for up to 24 hours. Using a putty knife to scrape, the old adhesive slid right off. I rinsed the control panel off with water and dried it with a hair dryer then sanded both the front and back sides down to bare metal. I had to do a lot of hand sanding on the back side as my sander wouldn’t fit. I used 100 grit paper until the panel was bare, then hit it with 150 grit paper. Just for good measure, I sanded one more time with 220 grit paper (click on each image for a larger version):

I then decided to hit the control panel with a couple layers of Rustoleum paint. There’s debate about the necessity of this step but since my panel had some rust prior to sanding, I opted for it as the Rustoleum should prohibit rust in the future. I applied one layer of Rustoleum semi-gloss black spray paint to the control panel and waited. 8 hours later, I was still waiting as the paint was tacky and had not set up yet. I had to wait two days for the paint to dry. I decided to look for another alternative and found the Rustoleum “Professional” line of paints. It is advertised as having better spray coverage and a much faster drying time. I can attest to both and it’s only about $1 more than the regular Rustoleum paint. I’ll be using this on all of my projects from here on out:

Now the nerve wracking part… installation of the new overlay. As I said, you only get one shot at doing this right. Here was my plan of attack: I took the tube from a roll of paper towels and cut it in 3 inch sections. I made a cut lengthwise in each section which allowed me to vary the width of the tube. I put a tube in the player 1 start hole, the player 2 start hole and the fire button hole. The overlay sat down over the tubes and was aligned perfectly. I then placed the trackball bolts into their holes to align the right side of the overlay. I then put masking tape on both sides of the control panel overlay just above the bend to the front. This held everything in place. I peeled back the backing paper down to the masking tape and applied the middle section of the overlay first working out to each side. Once the top was in place, I removed the masking tape, took off the rest of the backing paper and finished the job. A couple of passes with a j-roller assured good adhesion. I installed the new trackball, the player 1 and 2 start buttons and the fire button. I didn’t take any pictures of the process as I was too worried about screwing up! I also forgot to buy a new white button but will do so in the near future.

That’s it. I made it! No bubbles and no misalignment. I probably spent 1/2 hour stripped the old control panel overlay and removing the adhesive, 45 minutes sanding, 1/2 hour painting (excluding wait times for drying) and an hour installing the new overlay and putting the panel back together. I’m not sure I’ll be any less nervous the next time but as Mr. Rogers used to sing, just “take your time and do it right”.

The monitor that came with the cabinet had a serious case of burn in. So bad, one would probably think they could play without even turning the machine on. I decided to use my last spare monitor to replace it. The spare monitor had a little burn but I don’t think it will be noticeable while playing the game. I hooked up the spare monitor, powered it on and immediately blew a fuse on the monitor chassis. That’s a hell of a start. I found a replacement fuse and powered on the monitor only to find that the screen was reversed side to side, as looking at it in a mirror. I knew that I had to flip the vertical yoke wires to get the image correct. Bob Roberts does a better job of explaining this than I ever could.  Once I had the image oriented correctly and adjusted, I installed the monitor into the cabinet (click on each image for a larger version):

I think everyone will agree that the new monitor is a huge improvement. I did learn a lesson last night that I can’t believe hasn’t occurred to me before. It’s much easier to adjust a monitor outside of the cabinet than it is inside the cabinet! That’s all of the work I accomplished last night. I did get my parts ready to begin working on the control panel:

I’ve got a few vacation days coming up so hopefully I can get the control panel knocked out. If it gets above freezing, I might even start on some of the cosmetic repairs to the cabinet.

I started working on the basement again in October and have made pretty good progress. New recessed lights have been installed to replace the hideous ceiling fans that the previous owner had installed. I still need to run the wiring from the switches to the lights. Most of the insulation has been put into place. All of the wiring to the outlets is in place as well as Cat-5 cable and cable for the satellite system.

I decided to put down a sub-floor just to eliminate the feeling of being in a basement. I found a product locally which is a 24 millimeter membrane with dimples that you place on the concrete. It acts as a moisture barrier and air gap and allows the concrete to breathe. On top of the membrane, you lay normal plywood just like you would any other sub-floor. This is the product I purchased. Because of a lack of storage space, I can only work on half of the flooring at any given time. I have half complete. I’ll need to move games and a few other items around to finish the other half. Before I move the games around, I’m going to go ahead and install the drywall on the half with the sub-floor. If mother nature cooperates, I’ll hopefully be picking up a load of drywall on my way home from work tonight. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to start raining and snowing sometime today. I’ll have some updated pictures after the weekend.

On the arcade front, I really haven’t done anything but I have been stockpiling parts in hopes of resuming some projects after the basement work progresses. Here’s what I have lined up, in order of priority:

Centipede

I have all of the parts to completely restore this cabinet. Phoenix Arcade had a Thanksgiving sale on Centipede side art, so I picked up a set. I picked up a marquee from a fellow collector. Another collector was parting out a Centipede so I grabbed his speaker & light assembly to replace the one from mine that was covered in mouse excrement. Finally, I have a new trackball and control panel overlay ready to be installed. The only thing this game really needs is a new monitor tube. I’ve been looking, but no luck yet. Centipede will be getting a complete restoration similar to my Dig Dug restoration.

Donkey Kong

This one will also be getting a full restoration. I still have the new control panel & joystick that I received last Christmas. It still hasn’t been installed. I have cap kits for both the monitor and audio board to install. I have two NOS coin mechs for the coin door. All I really need for this one is the side art. I’m considering a new new monitor bezel and marquee as well.

Donkey Kong Jr

A full restoration lies ahead for this Donkey Kong cabinet, converted to Jr. I really don’t have any parts for this yet, but do have a high score save kit to install on the board. It will be getting a new coat of paint in Jr orange, new marquee, control panel, bezel and side art.

Golden Tee Conversion

This one will get the hole repaired where the bill changer used to be, as well as a few other minor cabinet repairs, and be good to go.

Missile Command

Nothing major with this one. I’ve got a multigame kit to install on the board which allows you to play both Missile Command and Super Missile Attack. It saves high scores too!

That’s all for now. Hopefully some work actually gets accomplished this year! Finally, hats off to Jeff Rothe at Rotheblog for the new, free WordPress theme. I’m diggin’ it!

Centipede was developed by Atari way back in 1980.   If you would like to read a bit more about the history and details of Centipede, check out it’s entry in the Killer List Of Video Games.  As is customary with all of my dedicated machines, here are scans of the original Centipede marketing flyers:

One nice thing about the Atari cabinets, while different, they all share a very similar design and shape. From my experience with my Dig Dug cabinet, I have a pretty good idea what repairs need to be done on the cabinet and how long each will take. Unlike Dig Dug, reproduction side art is available, so if I decide to redo the sides, I have that as an option, verses printing my own.

As you look at the cabinet pictures, I’ll point a few thing out ahead of time. The cabinet is very unstable side to side. I’m going to guess that this is caused by the damaged and missing bottom board on the rear of the cabinet (where the power switch is located). There is really not an easy way to piece this board back together so I will cut a new piece and secure it in place, hopefully stabilizing the cabinet.

The top has separated slightly from the cabinet in the back. Again, I should be able to secure that back in place which should help with the stabilization. There is a chunk of wood out of the right front corner of the cabinet, which should be fairly easy to repair using techniques similar to the corner repair performed on Dig Dug. The question of preserving the side art comes into play. The big test will be to see how clean it comes. If it stays as dirty as it is now, I won’t worry about it and will simply replace it. The control panel will get replaced as will the trackball. The bezel and cardboard underneath are both in excellent shape.

Here’s where my little friends, the mice, apparently tried to make their escape. The marquee will have to be replaced.

Before you mention it, I know there is not a monitor in the cabinet. It was removed for testing purposes. Initially, when I powered on the game (after reconnecting half of the wires), all I got was a display with a blue screen. My voltages were good at the game PCB and I had another PCB that was reportedly tested and working. After swapping that PCB in, I had a similar screen, only white, instead of blue. I took the monitor out to test in my Dig Dug machine. Fortunately, the monitor works great.

I think I’ve pinned the monitor problem down to the power supply. I was only getting about 58 volts to various test points in the cabinet, where I should have been receiving 120. I have another power supply on the way, which will hopefully correct the issue. At least the monitor works, so my money spent on the cabinet was worth it. This one will probably move to the top of my restoration list due to it’s poor cosmetic appearance. Removing the mouse urine stench will be my ultimate priority.

Stay tuned over the next few days for pictures of my latest acquisition, Operation Wolf. I’ve been on a roll lately!

When I picked the Centipede cabinet up, I noticed a few mouse droppings in the bottom of the cabinet.  Not uncommon and surely something that would clean up fairly easily.  Today, as I was taking the monitor bezel off, mouse droppings started pouring out of the newly formed opening between the bezel and the marquee.  The marquee on this cabinet was pretty beat up and I really couldn’t figure out why.   I decided to take the marquee off to see what was behind it.  I was greeted with this lovely picture:

You can see little bits of the nest in the upper left hand corner of the picture.  I decided to remove the entire marquee and speaker tray to get a better look behind it, as this is the area that the droppings were coming from.  Here’s what I discovered:

So, I spent an hour cleaning the dead mice out of the cabinet along with their accompanying nest. The marquee/speaker tray smelled so bad that I measured it and threw it in the garbage. I’ll recreate a new one that doesn’t smell like mouse piss. My first order of business with this cabinet is going to be multiple cleanings with some bleach. Hopefully that’s the last of the rodents I find in the cabinet, but this thing is beat to hell and will be my biggest restoration challenge yet. I’ll try to grab some pictures of the entire cabinet in the next few days.  Sorry for the quality of these pictures but all I had with me was my cell phone.  Really, did we need high quality pictures anyway?

Yesterday, I picked up a non-working Centipede.  This one is in very rough shape and needs a lot of cosmetic repair.  It’s going to get a full restoration eventually, similar to Dig Dug.  I’d like to get the game working first before committing a lot of time to the restoration.  Pictures will be forthcoming.

I also made an offer last week on a non-working Operation Wolf.  I just got a call that they accepted the offer.  I will probably pick it up sometime this weekend.  Again, pictures will be forthcoming.  In summary, I owe you pictures of three new cabinets.  Stay tuned.