I ain't afraid of no ghosts! My Pac-Man Multi restore

[Jedidentist]

I ain't afraid of no ghosts! My Pac-Man Multi restore

Presenting my newly restored Pac-Man...another long-winded Jedidentist restoration post with too many pics. Nothing groundbreaking or really new here, but I put forth the effort and nobody at my house seems to appreciate it…so you guys have to put up with it. This started out as a fully working Pac in nice condition with a 6-Pac installed in it that I picked up from Cartouche. I'm not really a Pac fan, but Ms. Pac is the only game my wife said she'd play. I also wanted several other classics, so the idea of a 60 in 1 crossed my mind…and what better classic to put it in than a Pac-Man! Then, about 2 weeks later, I saw JeffC did exactly what I wanted to do…I guess great minds think a like:
http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=136243

A HUGE thanks goes out to him for all of his help, both by posting his thread (as well as linking others that I looked at), as well as helping to answer a lot of my questions both on this project and several others.

So here's what I started out with, in various states of disassembly:

 

[Jedidentist]

At a quick glance, it looks decent and I was originally going to try to touch it up and leave it all original. However, when I actually saw it in person, I noticed a lot of chipping of the base (no leg levelers), there were lots of stains in the particle board base and a little water damage, a fair number of gouges and scratches on the sides. A previous owner did a nice job at trying to touch up the front with some sort of overlay, but you could tell it was touched up. So, a full stripping it was!

Found out after doing the sides that Citristrip would have saved me hours! I used it on the front and was done in 20 min. Bondoed corners and side gouges…this is always the worst:

Primed. Note, Krylon primer SUCKS! It doesn't cover for crap. I went through 2 cans and barely made a dent before switching to my usual Rustoleum Auto Primer:

For paint, I went with Benjamin Moore Satin Impervo Enamel and the Preval system that several others have used to spray. I actually dragged the entire cab to the hardware store for a paint match and still had problems getting it close. I did a lot of custom tweaking before getting I really close. It took me 3 cans of yellow to get it right (at $20 a pop) and I still ended up mixing two of them in a 2:1 ratio to get what I felt looked right. My blue and red came out nice from the get go:

The blue is on the side, the red is actually painted on the eye, and the yellow is clearly visible…the final color was actually "oranged down" a little when I mixed 2 other yellows I had mixed later. Even with primer, it took 8 coats using the Preval system to finally get the yellow done. I used a toothbrush for the splattering of the blue. I got it a little heavy and it ran in some spots, but I used my thinner to remove it before it set.

 

[GameyMcGame]

Sweet.

I'll have to dig up your post a year or so ago saying you were 'done with 3 games'!!!

 

[Jedidentist]

So on to the stencils…another sucky thing to do. I don't know if this or Bondoing is worse…I think I'm going with this. This is so painstakingly annoying and you have to have incredible patience. Some of the more delicate areas pull away with the backing and others will pull away with the pre-mask. I found that pulling straight down in short strips helped some, but it still required the use of an Exacto knife to slowly tease short pulls away.:

Oh, and to add insult to injury, I found out after the fact that RSC1-Red means Right Side Color 1. I knew the order of the colors, but my dumbass realized this labeling after RSC1 was on the LEFT side. Fortunately, I didn't paint first, but it set me back a week due to waiting for a new stencil and my work schedule. I used the crappy Krylon primer again before each color because it was thinner than Rustoleum.

I did the first 2 sides while I was waiting for the new stencil to come. When it did, I thought I would try the red without primer first…big mistake. The paint was so thin that it would have taken another 8 coats to cover the little blue splatters. I ended up sanding the red back down, priming, and then redoing it again. It also says you can paint over the primer at any time, but if you do it in 10 min (like I did) you can get cracking…just wait a little longer.
More obligatory pics of the different layers:

It's been recommended MANY times to pull the stencil just after the paint gets tacky…which makes sense to limit pulls. However, the different colors required 4-5 layers, so that made this impossible. Even with the black, which I used regular Rustoleum Satin Black, I still couldn't do it because I needed 3 coats…nor would I want to because even if you could get the main stencil off, you can't get all the little pieces off until it's fully dried. I just went VERY slow, went in small pieces, pulled 90 degrees away from the painted part, and used an Exacto knife and had very few pulls. The only problem I had was one whole section of blue that debonded, but there must have been something on the surface that prevented good adhesion.

 

[Jedidentist]

So after the painting and a coat of Krylon clear satin finish, I finally put some new leg levelers on:

You can see the bondoing I did to fill in some dents in the wood from water damage as the bottom wasn't really too level. I was going to paint it all, but then figured nobody was ever going to see if (except for you guys), so I just clear coated it to seal it and was done.

I sanded and cleaned the coin door…Naval Jelly works great on coin slots…and just re-painted it. My games don't get much abuse, so I can't justify powder coating. I also replaced the Midway plate. I put on all new T-molding and then on to the control panel!

I went with a standard multicade board. I'm not a huge trackball game fan, but figured it was worth it for completeness' sake. Like Jeff, I went with the Ultimarc Mag-Stic plus with the regular length ball-top so I could switch between 4 and 8 way without having to take anything apart. I don't know if I like the microswitch thing yet, but it's only been a couple of days. The problem with it is that it doesn't fit the holes in the control panel, so I had to make custom mounting plates. I went a little different than Jeff in that I used mending plates that I found at Home Depot, so I at least had 1 fewer hole to drill by hand (I don't have a drill press). I added extra holes along the side so that the stick was bolted to the plates before mounting to the panel. I also went with a red let trackball from Twisted Quarter for extra bling…not very "classic", but I couldn't help myself. I was going to try to avoid using wood at all, but after seeing how the original CP mounted, I had to do something because I wanted to use those little metal nub things on the top to help mount it. So, 2 hours of trial and error later with a jig saw and Dremel tool, I was all set:

Of course, I found out after the fact that I also mounted my trackball the wrong way and wired my joystick backwards, but easily fixed. I used one of those compass-type scrapbooking cutters, like Jeff, to make perfect circles for all of the buttons.

 

[Jedidentist]

I had planned to use the original glass bezel, but it slid during transport and left some decent scratches:

I did my best with acrylic paints to repair it…and it came out pretty well:

However, it wasn't perfect, and there's some bubbling around the instructions that is tolerable, but noticeable, so I just bailed on it and got a plexi repro one. I know there are glass repros out there, but I wasn't going to cough up the extra $100 on it.

 

[Jedidentist]

As for the wiring…another mess I got myself into. I wanted to keep everything as original as possible, so I was going to just use the original harness and add wires where needed to the JAMMA adapter. However, after looking at all of the desoldering and crimping I would have to do, I opted for one of Arcadeshop's harnesses…great buy for $55. The only thing was that the monitor connection wasn't correct, so I had to use the old connector and move a few wires to get it correct:

There were also issues with the wiring not really reaching the marquee lights, and I would've had to cut the original connection to make it work. It also seemed to be missing a second connection to the monitor for the power, I think. Bottom line…I ended up using both the original and my new power supply. I was going to keep it anyway, so I just plugged the original into the switcher without any issues. So, even though I JAMMAtized this classic, I didn't hack the harness and the control panel is intact…minus the mounting brackets. I ended up painting the cabinet floor black because I couldn't remove the water stains…even with bleach and Oxy clean…and it ended up turning black as I was spraying the monitor area anyway, so I just finished it off. It looks like a jumbled mess, but all of the non-used wires are nicely tied up:

As you can see, I also re-mounted the original board. At this time, I'm really torn between keeping everything, or selling off the board (especially the 6-Pac, but I don't know what chips I'd need if I removed it), populated control panel, or glass bezel. I do need to sell off the JAMMA adapter I bought (which already has some wires soldered to it for P1 and P2) and the trackball harness…anyone wants anything, PM me…I'll listen to any offers.

 

[Jedidentist]

So here's the end result:

 

[Jedidentist]

And in the lineup. It looks sort of orphaned, but I've got a baseboard heater there that I want to avoid, and my next project is a Turbo that will go near it. I'm still toying with moving them all around, but I don't know which order to go with yet.

And again, a huge thanks to JeffC for his tremendous help as well as the anonymous people that helped me with the stencils and CPO…THANK YOU!!! Also thanks to Pacray and Nixs for answering some of my questions and anyone else I forgot!

Derek

 

[mhanlen1]

Awesome job man. I love my own super pac multi.

 

[Silverunicorn]

Wow, that looks like crap.


















NOT! That is amazing work!!!! Very nice restoration on a classic machine!

Chris

 

[Level42]

Such lovely work on the artwork.....why ruin it with a multi-pcb !?!?!?

 

[Jedidentist]

Sweet.

I'll have to dig up your post a year or so ago saying you were 'done with 3 games'!!!

Yeah...f'in hobby! I blame my pilot friend on this one. No really...I'm done after Turbo and Return of the Jedi...well, maybe a Twilight Zone...and if I saw a Haunted House EM, I might not turn it down...or a pinball one...

 

[jayleone]

Looks amazing Derek. You're hooked!

Oh, and don't forget Return of the Jedi next

 

[Jedidentist]

Looks amazing Derek. You're hooked!

Oh, and don't forget Return of the Jedi next

You selling?

And 42...yeah, I know. However, I can't have a DK or Galaga or others like that. I have room, but not that I'm allowed to use (according to my wife), so we all have to make our compromises. I tried to respect it by doing it as perfectly as I could and keeping all the original parts intact to either help others restore theirs, or to be able to convert it back if need be.

 

[Level42]

Yeah I understand... I only have room for about 13 cabs...not because of my wife, simple no more room....

Anyway, great job. I've got a tube with Ms.Pac stencils standing right next to me, and they scare me to death....

 

[smalltownguy2]

Nice looking project, for sure. I may have to PM you on your stencils -- I'm in the market for my Ms Pac.

There's lots of opinions on whether or not it's OK to multi an original cab. I'm sure some will give you crap for not going OEM. Just remember: your cab = your choice. 'nuff said.

Very nice job. Almost makes me want to try that with my Ms Pac project.

 

[Jedidentist]

Yeah I understand... I only have room for about 13 cabs...not because of my wife, simple no more room....

Anyway, great job. I've got a tube with Ms.Pac stencils standing right next to me, and they scare me to death....

Stencils scared me too, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. If you've spent all of that money, you can't just let it go to waste!

 

[Jedidentist]

And check out this photo my dad just found:

1st day of 2nd grade. How do you like that belt buckle! ;D

Thought it was appropriate for the thread...

 

[Tronic]

How do you like that belt buckle! ;D

Thought it was appropriate for the thread...

It doesn't look like you stopped at the belt buckle either. I see two tron helmets above the TRON. Do you wear them to the office?