Galaga Restore

[Vilepickle]

Picked this up at the end of January in non-working condition.

First order of business: cap kit! I didn't even turn it on, but the seller had said the monitor was busted. He had the chassis loose so I decided to do that first thing.

That was fast! Within a few days the machine was working well.

Within the week I had a high score kit installed.

Had the machine on for several hours at a party in February and the power supply died on me. Instead of rebuilding it I ordered the switching PSU kit and installed it. I didn't use their wiring harness and instead opted to make nicer molex connections.

Next posts will be the start of the restore which I'm in the middle of.

 

[Vilepickle]

Stripped down the machine.

Bondo'd, sanded and applied new control panel art.

Bondo'd the back door. The cam lock spot was totally ruined.

Started bondoing the machine itself, removed side art and kickplate art with a heat gun and lots of chemicals.

Removed rust from the joystick with vinegar.

 

[Vilepickle]

Some more shots of the cab work, will be doing quite a bit to the surface including the bottom with bondo. The cab has a lot of minor damage but nothing too severe. The back edge had a good deal of damage though since I believe this machine is pressboard.

Going to work on the coin door, likely repaint it. I'd like to replace the Bally front plate but am having trouble finding the right size rivets from a decent shop.

 

[Vilepickle]

Second coat of primer is applied. I also added casters to the machine, I have them on an Asteroids I have and they're quite nice. 2 locking in the front and 2 normal in the back. I ended up removing the old wheels to make it look better.

 

[djsolzs]

Great work man... did you spray or roll primer?

 

[Vilepickle]

I roll the sides and brush the inside pieces. The other machine I've painted is my MAME cab, so I think this is the first one I've painted inside pieces on while it's put together.

 

[Vilepickle]

Quick update: finished the restore! This was after my last post of priming. I also show the inside with my switcher installed for the old power supply which failed and stripping the coin door paint.

 

[Vilepickle]

Shots of the painting process on the cab and coin door

 

[Vilepickle]

Putting things back together after the final paint.

Overall I'm very pleased with the restore. I had some hiccups on applying the kickplate decal with wrinkles but it's low down and not quite as noticeable. Overall not 100% original in my restore but it has some tasteful improvements (imo).

 

[oldfandude]

That looks totally awesome! Fantastic job!!!!!

 

[C65Mustang]

Looks amazing!!!! I can't wait to restore my cocktail