Joust Cocktail restoration

Paladin

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The for sale thread for the Joust Cocktail I picked up was getting full of posts that were better suited to a restoration thread, so I'm starting one now. As of starting this thread the game is still loaded in our truck. I've got a large cabinet in the gameroom that will hopefully be removed in the next couple days so I'll have room to bring the cocktail in.

For now, here's a picture of what I'm starting with. I'd also like to throw out a big thank you to Josh for selling me this cabinet instead of MAMEing it!
Joust02.jpg
 
The night I brought the game home I ordered the repro plexi control and coin door panels from QuarterArcade. They still had them listed as available and I didn't want to take a chance that they would sell out so I jumped on them.

One thing I wasn't expecting was that the glass top has been replaced with tinted plexi. There's a seller in my state that has an original glass listed on ebay, but I don't know if it would be better/cheaper to get one made at a glass shop using the plexi for a template. I contacted the seller and he said his glass is about an 8 out of 10 for condition with no heavy scratches. I did find a small fragment of the original glass in the cab that I can take to a shop with the plexi to show exactly what thickness and tint I need.

The hardest part to find is going to be the joystick assemblies. The cocktail uses completely different parts than the upright. The same assemblies are used on the Defender and Stargate cocktails as well as the Stargate cabaret. Here's a picture taken from a recent ebay auction:
joystick01.jpg
 
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I have one in the shed I have been planning on restoring someday I did not realize that joy stick were different looks like I need set too I also need new wiring keep us updated on the restore
Robert
 
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any chance Dokert makes a harness for the joust cocktail
 
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It would be badass if there was enough interest for a run of new joystick parts, well, rebuild stuff like what Arcadeshop sells for the upright sticks. I'd take a pair if they could be made.

I am pretty sure the cocktail length sticks were repro'd years ago.
 
Good idea! I just PM'ed Takeman asking if they look like something he could repro.
 
Still no restoration work done. Hopefully the cab will move into the house today.
Here's a shot of the hacked control panel. It looks like I should be able to reuse them and not have to recreate.
Joust07.jpg


When Wico sticks were added they made a 'pocket' for the base by cutting a square hole in the bottom of the control panel and adding extra wood to cover it. I'm not sure if the best way to fix it is patch the hole with a plug, or if the bottom panel is easily removed to be recreated. I'm thinking that patching will be easier.
Joust05.jpg
 
When Wico sticks were added they made a 'pocket' for the base by cutting a square hole in the bottom of the control panel and adding extra wood to cover it. I'm not sure if the best way to fix it is patch the hole with a plug, or if the bottom panel is easily removed to be recreated. I'm thinking that patching will be easier.

Is the hole visible from the outside? Could you just leave the hole and then run the regular (and much easier to find) upright joysticks?
 
That's a good point. Unfortunately you can see the modification from outside. If it was done a little better it would be hardly noticeable though. In the pic below you see the T molding on the panel itself, then the wood trim then a third piece of trim that was added. It makes the panel much thicker than it should be. This would also cut down on room for your knees under the cab.
Joust06.jpg
 
I made a control panel for mine and found I could pretty easily substitute the already re-pro'd Williams 2-Way stick bases intended for Stargate or Defender. You have to do a little woodworking but its a far sight better than waiting for a ship that may never come (cocktail specific repros).
 
The way they did the hole under the cabinet is actually pretty good. On mine, they spray painted a couple of meatloaf pans black and screwed them in under the holes they cut for the joysticks. I did find a pair of the real cocktail joysticks, but I agree with Mongo. If they did a decent job of routing that hole out (and it looks like they did) just put the regular 2 way sticks in.

ken
 
I have a spare upright-style two-way in my moon patrol if you need it. Going to replace with a nicer one from the Stargate panel.
 
The way they did the hole under the cabinet is actually pretty good. On mine, they spray painted a couple of meatloaf pans black and screwed them in under the holes they cut for the joysticks.

Mine was the exact same way! I don't have any pics of what I did but I did give the panel to Dptwiz when he re-pro'd the cabinet. I figured if he ever mass-produced the cab, the sticks would be the difficult thing to get. I don't know if he still has the panel or not. It might have come back with the junk cabinet when he gave it back to me. It was really simple though. I just elongated the hole the stick fits in to match the Defender style stick. There was plenty of meat on the panel to hold it. The stick don't bolt through the control panel so lining up the different holes is not a problem.

As for my bases... I had someone lend me a spare base they had and I had a machinist buddy mill a set for me out of a block of some weird alloy they had in the shop.
 
lolz you said "plenty of meat" I tell ya, i have never reproduced a more god awful cabinet in my entire life. I damn near pulled my hair out trying to get all the angles, blind T-nuts and the like into the copy. Two were made, and i'll never make another.
 
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