A Stargate restoration and deconversion

[joeycuda]

The Stargate project is finished, except for some minor coin door work. It's a Stargate again, plays perfectly and seems reliable.

After replacing the lower backdoor with a new piece made from 1/2" birch ply, I had to make a new upper. With a Robotron upper door as a template, here goes..

Notice the original door has swollen and is much thicker than 1/2" at the edges:

 

[joeycuda]

I cut it and routed the edge so that it would fit snugly into the top edge of the lower door.

Next off was to make the recessed hole for the lock. I figured out which exact size forstner bits fit the hole and recess, so I could drill the recess first:

Here's the finished hole. Also, the door lock plate with 3 holes is the original type used on this cabinet (from the Robotron door). The one with 2 holes came from Bob R and is close enough.

Not shown, but I painted the door with satin black RustOleum, same as the lower back door, front and top of cabinet.

 

[joeycuda]

Another minor detail that had to be fixed was the fact that the rear interlock switch was removed, with the wires soldered and wrapped:

I bought a new switch from Bob R, but it must be slightly different than the original one, as it stuck out too far. I had to move the factory bracket back about 1/8" so that it could be flush with the door on it:

So, I pulled the monitor back out to clean some minor details. I installed the new switch and went with spade connectors. Aside from using spade connectors instead of soldering as originally done, it looks pretty slick.

Another thing I did was restoring the monitor adjustment mirror. It had a light haze of surface rust. I found a way to make it look new without putting any polishing marks on it.

I put the mirror/metal in a gallon Ziplok bag and added enough de-rusting type solution to get it very wet. Let it sit an hour or 2 and it easily dissolved the tarnishing and made it look new. Rinse with soapy water and quickly dry. Coat with car wax and buff.

 

[joeycuda]

Here's a shot of the inside of the restored game, now working:

May be hard to get this from the photo, but I also:

-did the lithium battery mod
-replaced ROM cable, which got rid of some random errors
-replaced interface cable, which had some corrosion
-replaced EVERY SINGLE IDC connector, using trifurcon pins
-replaced every single .156 header on the boards
-replaced the caps on the sound board
-rebuilt the p/s board
-new starter, ballast, bulb, with the bulb holders moved out so common size would fit.
-repainted every Philips head screw in the game

Time to work on something else...

 

[Icanbyorsuprman]

Wow! That doesn't even look like the same cab you started with. That looks incredible. You did an awesome job on the side art/stencil work.

 

[joeycuda]

Wow! That doesn't even look like the same cab you started with. That looks incredible. You did an awesome job on the side art/stencil work.

Thanks. The cabinet was a pain, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I gotta give credit to gamestencils.com for the stencils. It was pretty awesome, bringing back a Williams game from a collection of parts and a converted cabinet.

 

[retroACTIVE]

When I first started out... it had to be Defender, but man I sure do love them Stargate cabs! They're unique and colorful!

Yours came out awesome! Makes me itchy to do the same!

 

[gregatron]

Woah! I need to start cruising the restore section a little more often. I don't know how I missed this one. Awesome work man! That thing looks great. Nothing like transforming a fully beat down cab into a piece of art. Congrats on a great restore.

 

[Jeff F]

Wow, very nice job! I have a Stargate here that needs that done... mind if I drop it off?

Great work!

 

[joeycuda]

Wow, very nice job! I have a Stargate here that needs that done... mind if I drop it off?

Great work!

Psshhh..

thanks!

 

[WhereEaglesDare]

I am in the beginning stages of my own StarGate Restoration.

http://www.puttheglasseson.com/projects/stargate-rr-cabinet/

I never painted a cabinet before like this, what did you use to paint it? A compressor and paint gun? Any recommendations for good cheap equipment?

I almost have it all stripped down, tomorrow after work im going to give the sides a good cleaning and be down stripping it.

I saw how you glued the broken wood together. Did you use any bondo to clean up the bottom of the cabinet and smooth it out?

You said you bought a control panel, you mean you bought a complete panel? Why not just buy the overlay and fix the existing one.

 

[joeycuda]

I actually bought a complete game on Ebay, but the cabinet was crap, so kept all of the parts from it, including a nice, unhacked control panel. The cabinet I ended up restoring was a JAMMA conversion cabinet. Since it was a solid cabinet, I restored it, but used parts from a couple of other Stargate donors, a bezel I found on Ebay, overlay from Arcadeshop, etc....

I used a 33gal 6HP compressor and an HVLP siphon feed paint gun. I used Rust-Oleum quart cans of oil-based, gloss, paint, thinned 80% paint and 20% acetone. Actually, the yellow was the Rust-Oleum rattle can sun yellow. The Regal Red and Gloss Black used on the sides was bought in quart cans. The front/top/inner areas, back doors were all sprayed with their Satin Black, also bought in quart can.

I glued a lot of edges, because the plywood chips and slightly delaminates. Anywhere there was a chip forming, or loose layer, I forced glue in and clamped it.

I did use some bondo on the bottom edge. It really just filled chipping, the wood was solid. I'd never use Bondo for anything more than a filler for gouges, scratches, and slight chipping.

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[Auric]

Just curious... did you add back the gold/red lines going down the front of the cab?

 

[joeycuda]

No idea what you're talking about. I wonder if that's original. Got a link to a pic of that?

 

[Auric]

This is mine after I fixed up the CP, everything else is original:

I had the same thought when I saw them on mine, that maybe this guy I bought it from added them in later, but it turns out they are original:

I had never seen one with the stripes like that until mine. I wonder if they stopped doing it late in the run?

 

[Phetishboy]

Those stripes look sweet. Wow, just when you think you've seen everything.

 

[Auric]

Yeah, I love the look. Like I said, I just thought it was a cool 'mod' when I picked up the cab. Only to then discover that it is real.

Any other Stargate owners have the stripes?

 

[joeycuda]

I've seen several cabinets and never a trace of those front stripes. I tend to ignore the flyers, as they're often not the final production details.

Since my game is restored, repainted, and made from 2 or 3 games - not original - I'd put those stripes on mine if I had the exact measurements.

Any chance you'd have time to document this - measuring all the details of the stripes, how far each line is from the inner cabinet edge, how long each piece of the stripe is so we'd get the angles right, measured to the 1/16" accuracy?

 

[bryan95502]

I have two cabs.. neither have stripes. Looks nice though!

 

[Auric]

I've seen several cabinets and never a trace of those front stripes. I tend to ignore the flyers, as they're often not the final production details.

Since my game is restored, repainted, and made from 2 or 3 games - not original - I'd put those stripes on mine if I had the exact measurements.

Any chance you'd have time to document this - measuring all the details of the stripes, how far each line is from the inner cabinet edge, how long each piece of the stripe is so we'd get the angles right, measured to the 1/16" accuracy?

Yep I'd be happy to document it! Honestly until reading this thread I haven't realized how rare this seems to be. I can take measurements and pics tonight.