How should I restore this Defender?

damadczar

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Donor 2012
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I essentially got this machine for free.

It's got working coin mechs, and a working monitor. That's about it. Oh, the grounding braid! LOL.
As you can see, someone was using it to play Gauntlet.
I believe I have the original linear power supply as well, but I don't think it works anymore.

Here's what I know I'm gonna do:

1. Restore the outside of the cab to Defender
- Scored a Defender marquee on eBay
- Got stencils from gamestencils.com
- need a new bezel

After that, I dunno. I had originally thought to make it a stealth multi-williams, using the defender mw cpo from TOG, and long term I think that's what I'd like to do the most. But until JROK puts out some new boards, I'm kinda stuck as I don't like the 19in1 option the more I read about it.

I'm basically asking for the best advice. Knowing that ultimately I'd love to have a mw, but I'm not opposed to having a dedicated defender either, what should I do? My arcade space is small, and I'll never likely have room for more than 8 of these things, so as nice as having a dedicated defender + a MW in a joust cab or something like that is, I don't think it's super realistic.

Do you think it's worth the trouble (read: cost) to restore it to a full defender, or should I just put in a jamma harness and switching power supply and get the 19in1 until such time as I can get a JROK board?

Other options include:
1. getting an original williams game board and doing some hacks ala sean riddle
2. mame for the mw until I can get a jrok (same as 19in1 really, but saves me money)

Other options? Thoughts?
My final (somewhat limiting) factor in this is cost. I'm prepared to spend a little bit on this (already have $100 in stencils and marquee), and I know I'll need to spend at least a couple hundred more, but I would like to keep costs down as much as possible, b/c the wife will hurt me otherwise! :)
 

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I love Defender and think its great that you want to go the restoration route. The reality of it is that you are going to spend more than the value of the machine to get it right.

If you love the game and plan to keep it, you're preserving an iconic title. If you just want to play Defender, its gonna be a lot of work. If you want to fix it up and sell it, you're going to lose money... I just spent about $450 on one that looks like it has been in someones house for the last 25 years.
 
I do love Defender, and it was one of my major grails to have, as I played the crap out of it at the local skating rink in the 80's. I plan on keeping it, either as a dedicated or mw.
 
that looks like an ideal project for the JROK board. If you have the skills and patience, repaint/restencil the Defender art, use a Defender marquee, etc..the multi control panel. It wouldn't be cost efficient to put everything back original, you might as well buy a rough, complete original game to restore, however, the cabinet is great for a multi..or maybe you'll pick up all the original parts over time?
 
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