Ground up Berzerk restore

Malice95

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Donor 2011
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Location
Howell, New Jersey
I picked up a berzerk a few weeks ago.. it worked when I got it home after
replacing a molex but died shortly after.. so the boards got shipped out for
repair and I decided to restore the whole cab.

The cab overall is in decent shape but I wanted it to look minty.

First I stripped everything out of the cab.. every nut, bolt, plate, etc.
Then the problems started showing up..

The bottom of the control panel area was split so I pulled the wood that
makes up the CP support. I am going to have to cut new pieces.

Then there was a big crack (about to break) on the front panel. I went back
and forth on whether I should replace the entire front or not, but its mortise
and tennon'd together. I would have to pull apart the entire cab to replace it.
So I decided to re-enforce the crack with a steel plate. It seems to have
done the trick.

The top had a big delamination going on.. bondo should fix this up.

And finally I noticed the kick plate was broken as well so that will need to be
replaced.

Spent about 3 hours today sanding the entire cab down to the wood. Got rid
of a lot of scratches and imperfections. I can see why Stern used a sanded
paint on these cabs.. the wood they used sucked.. they had to hide things.

I sand blasted most of the metal bits. Still need to strip the coin door and
sandblast it.

Hopefully I can get some of the wooden bits replaced tomorrow, install some
leg levelers, and break out the bondo.

Malice

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more pics

Cab stripped and sanded..

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You work fast...

I have a few questions. I have a project and plan to do it this summer/fall.

Are you planning on replicating the textured paint or are you going to go smooth? How are you going to apply it? What type of finish?

Are you going to fill a lot of the voids and imperfections in the plywood with filler? Yeah, that plywood they used must have been cheap and the fit on mine isn't great.

I'm 99% certain that I will use Rust-Oleum, semi-gloss, oil based black for the base. Seems the best match and it sprays well, thinned with acetone.

The short front/cross piece that the control panel rests on - on mine isn't broken, but it's as if it slipped downwards on one side, even with the tenon joint. I got a cheap Japanese flush cut hand saw at Harbor Freight and plan to cut it out and remount it.
 
Are you planning on replicating the textured paint or are you going to go smooth? How are you going to apply it? What type of finish?

I am planning on a smooth finish. While a sandy finish is original I wont be able to spray it from my gun and it makes applying a stencil a PIA.

Are you going to fill a lot of the voids and imperfections in the plywood with filler? Yeah, that plywood they used must have been cheap and the fit on mine isn't great.

Yep.. bondo is coming out next. Wood filler is okay but bondo seems to go
on smoother. I am just finishing up sandblasting everything today. I'd like to replicate the dimple finish on the coin door but I dont know how... post coming.

I'm 99% certain that I will use Rust-Oleum, semi-gloss, oil based black for the base. Seems the best match and it sprays well, thinned with acetone.

I was planning on using that as well and spraying it also. Its avaliable in my local big box store. I'm a couple weeks away from painting however.

The short front/cross piece that the control panel rests on - on mine isn't broken, but it's as if it slipped downwards on one side, even with the tenon joint. I got a cheap Japanese flush cut hand saw at Harbor Freight and plan to cut it out and remount it.

As long as the wood is good..
I'd give its a wack with a rubber mallet and see if you can move it back in
place then fire some brad nails in there from the side to keep it in place.
You're going to have a tough time getting it to hold well without the tenon.
 
As long as the wood is good..
I'd give its a wack with a rubber mallet and see if you can move it back in
place then fire some brad nails in there from the side to keep it in place.
You're going to have a tough time getting it to hold well without the tenon.

I should have added.. I tried to smack it back into place, but the staples complicate things and make it bind. And..the way it's put together, I can't seem to extract the staples. If I have to remove it/replace it and can't use the tenon joints, I'll probably use pocket screws and glue.

I'll also, most likely spray a smooth finish, but I've thought about doing a couple of roller coats first to give it some texture. The original sides finish on mine seems less sandy and more like the bumpiness you'd get from rolling, although I realize it was sprayed somehow. The front of mine is sandy.

As detail conscious as I usually am, I don't care about exactly replicating the sandy texture on the side, but it need not be slick. I'll probably spray the front smooth.

Here are some pictures of how I handled the bottom of mine. Since what I did from the usual perspective looks identical, I made the change. The 3/4" ply base with glides was a pathetic way to build these. Notice how the glides were installed in random places - same on a Stern pin project I have. I made the pieces from 2x4 stock, which fit tightly into the original dado, and I used glue. It won't come apart-

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You will notice from some of the other Berzerk resto threads those cabinents were shit. I still don't understand why they didn't use leg levelers - everyone seems to add them when restoring.

Looking good so far. It takes a lot of work to get these cabs back from the dead. On the flip side, you know when it's done it is in better shape than when it was new.
 
Great idea with the 2x4's for the base.. I'm gonna steal that one! I have
fix all the wood bits before I break out the bondo. Hopefuly I can get those
banged out this week in the evening.

Just to keep everything in one thread. I sandblasted all the
other metal bits today and cleaned up the coin acceptor part of the coin
door. Joey Cuda recommended Brasso and it worked great to removed the tiny bits of rust. Looks brand new!

I'll probably send the coin door out to be powder coated. Just need to
find someone who does it. Anyone have a powder coat finish recommendation?

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A bit of progress this week. I wanted to get the woodworking done but that
didnt happen. I did strip to coin door down to bare steel and repainted all the metal bits. I used the spray on bedliner trick to give it texture. Its not like
the original texture (how the hell did they do that) but I'm happy with it overall. Its dam tough, and feels like 100 grit sandpaper.

I got a PM today that my boards are fixed.. picked up a spare boardset I am
having repaired as well.. so in a week or so I should have a couple working
boardsets.

The original monitor had missile command burn on it. Obviously that isnt
gonna do for this soon to be minty cab.. so I picked up a burn free G07 this
week. I am going to have to rebuild her but it should be a good replacement.

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Wow you're almost a hair away from building this thing from scratch. Love this game, and I also want a bezerk machine. Can't wait to see it all done.
 
So in between the honey do list items today I was able to bang out the
wood working that needed to be done on the cabinet.

I got the bottom kick panel replaced. At the same time I used Joeycuda's
design with a couple 2x4's to add a nice spot for leg levelers. As soon as I
get my Leg leveler kit from Bob Roberts and install it, I'll stand it up.

I also fixed up the control panel.. glued and stapled back together. I tried to
use as much of the original wood as possible.. especially the front piece that
has the serial number stamped in it.

Next up is a day of bondo!

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Looking good man! Berzerk is one of the all time best games imo. btw do you have a picture of the monitor shroud? I'd like to see what an original looks like as mine is a replacement.

Tom
 
Do you have a picture of the monitor shroud? I'd like to see what an original looks like as mine is a replacement.

Here you go.. I believe it is original. Bit dusty.. I'll clean it before it goes back in.

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Wow that was fast! thanks very much :) I'll have to keep an eye out for one of those. If cleaning doesn't do the trick, flat black or semi gloss spray paint might make it beautiful again. I had to smile seeing pix of the bottom of your berzerk cab. That gave me flashbacks from earlier this week when I was installing wheels on the bottom of mine. Had to put 2-1/2" wooden spacers on bottom like you did to make it the correct height. I do not like those hollow cab bottoms. Taito and Nintendo are also like that.

Tom
 
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What kind of joystick are you planning on installing in your berzerk? I was holding out hope for a bat top but they are difficult and expensive to find. Was thinking of either a nos wico or sanwa JLF with octagon restrictor.

Tom
 
What kind of joystick are you planning on installing in your berzerk? I was holding out hope for a bat top but they are difficult and expensive to find. Was thinking of either a nos wico or sanwa JLF with octagon restrictor.

Tom

I am going with the Perfect360.. Its an optical joystick like the original batstick and looks more like a batstick than a red balltop. Supposedly its
really rocks for hitting the 45 deg shots.

http://www.happcontrols.com/joysticks/50608300.htm

I got mine from Mylstar in his store.
 
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