My latest take on a JROK Multiwilliams

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Part I

This is my second go at a Multiwillams cabinet. The first one was your standard one size fits all multiwilliams control panel in an already JAMMAtized cabinet.

It is a great game, however some of the little things bothered me. For one, it wasn't a Williams cabinet. I had laying around what used to be a Kangaroo cabinet at one time, and made a pseudo "Joust" cabinet out of it. Brown and black, with custom artwork.

I used 4" Wico balltops, since Robotron was the game I played most. This is quite a compromise when trying to play Defender/Stargate, also the sticks are not centered like a real Robotron, and Joust feels funny as well with the wrong sticks, and again with the wrong spacing. I used leaf buttons and sticks to get it as good as possible but I still felt something was lacking.

Picture for reference:
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My next plan was to make another using a Robotron cabinet. I would set it up as a Robotron, and screw the rest of those games. Robotron was the game I played, so I want the experience to be as good as possible. I could double up on a button, and maybe add one if I really wanted to play some other games. With the 8 ways I would be set for Bubbles as well, and also Splat!

So I picked up this beauty..
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Again pre JAMMAtized, however I soon found out that the harness was junk and I would have to redo it all anyway. Stripped it to bare wood, primed it painted it, vinyled the front, refinished the hardware, and started to collect parts.

Next was the work on the CP. I had to fill and bondo all holes and figure out how exactly to build the nice smooth panel with no carriage bolt heads protruding. Pictures from KLOV threads helped me out here, and eventually I ended up with this..

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Couple more holes to drill and route to set the leaf buttons, install the lights, joys, and CPO, then we are done here. I really admire all the work that Williams put into making a nice smooth panel. Much more than just punching holes in a sheet of steel.

Here is the finished CP. Wico 8 ways, new grommets, and 4" red balls.
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To be continued...
 
I hope you glued wood plugs in those holes and not just bondo.
The bondo would eventually let loose and show through the cpo.
 
Next up, I put everything back together, refinished coin doors, carriage bolts, correct marquee, glass bezel from Arcadeshop, Williams plastic bezel, etc.

Somewhere along the way, I had picked up a populated Stargate panel. I noticed it was the same size, so I tried it on. Perfect. Now I had a new idea. What if I wire the panel in a way that I could unplug a molex and have a quick swap to play some Defender and or Stargate? Sounds like it would be worth a try.

So, undoing 5 carriage bolts, lockwashers, and nuts is not exactly a "quick change" in my book. I needed to have an easier mechanism. I decided that wingnuts would be easy enough, and that 3 vs. 5 would be more than enough to hold the panel on the hinge. I still had the problem of holding the bolts to keep them from spinning, so I just welded the bolts directly to the hinge. One on each end, and one in the middle.

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Changing panels is as easy as opening the coin door, releasing the clasps, unplugging a molex, and spinning off three wingnuts. Not too bad, and can be done in a couple minutes total.



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Robotron, good for Bubbles and Splat! also.


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Stargate/ Defender. Dig that Willis CPO :)


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I thought Joust was a good idea as well. This panel is totally original, in great shape, so I wired up a little adapter to keep the original harness unaltered.

So that's it. Sinistar and Blaster are out in the cold, none of my panels have a joystick with enough buttons. No big loss to this guy. I could maybe do a Sinistar with three buttons to cover those two, but its pretty low on my priorities, no one seemed to every play those anyhow.
 
I hope you glued wood plugs in those holes and not just bondo.
The bondo would eventually let loose and show through the cpo.

Yep, all plugged up. The bondo (evercoat) is just the top layer keeping it all smooth. The CP was still a bit rough at that point, but it was the only pic I could dig up.
 
Interesting. I have here, what I thought was an original, well thought out, and documented idea that would benefit other collectors. Not getting a whole lot of notice.

Maybe I should have named the thread Best Multiwilliams EVAR!! or put Octomom in there, or just had Jr. PAC post it for me. Oh well..carry on.

Can I at least get a "cool story bro"?
 
Yep the same setup I have been working on for a couple years. When I finish I will be able to latch my spare cp's into the back of the machine. Anything to save some room and preserve the extra panels.

Love the idea...
 
Yep the same setup I have been working on for a couple years. When I finish I will be able to latch my spare cp's into the back of the machine. Anything to save some room and preserve the extra panels.

Love the idea...

Nice, I went ahead and put a couple picture hangers somewhat like this
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On the inside of the control panel. Then I can just hang them from a couple nails driven into the rafters (joists?) above the games.
 
Nice, I went ahead and put a couple picture hangers somewhat like this

On the inside of the control panel. Then I can just hang them from a couple nails driven into the rafters (joists?) above the games.

Cool idea. Space is always my biggest concern with swapping CPs.

What did you end up doing with the sides of the cab? Robotron side art or is it just blank?
 
I like it. Very functional and makes the games play the way they are supposed to play.

One of these days I will need to make it up to check out your basement.....
 
i think we are all silent as we are busy praying they make another batch of JROK boards.

i went through a whole pile of CP experiments with the 19-1 for Williams stuff.
ended up doing similar except I setup the 2 8 ways exactly like robotron and put 3 buttons in the middle.
ends up i only play robotron on it anway.
 
That's a great solution to the differing joystick issue between titles. It's one of the reasons I've never done a Multi-Williams, that and the fact that I accidentally ended up with one of each of my favorite Williams titles :)
 
What did you end up doing with the sides of the cab? Robotron side art or is it just blank?

Ah, you ask the tough question. It is painted grey and ready for stencil work. Unfortunately, I am not.

My cabs are so packed together down in the arcade, that it is not really a big priority for me to have nice sides on this one. The way I am laid out, for 30 games, I really only see 3 games side art prominently. So much great art I have on my cabs, all hidden by the next one.

PS anyone catch the score on Stargate? It is over one million. I think its safe to say that the panel works :)
 
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Very nice! I am slowly working my way there too.

I have a Robo that was converted to Mystic Marathon. I purchased a MW control panel but realized that would not make me happy. So I traded it for a Joust CP, now have a Stargate CP (still need to make the adapter), and have the parts to restore a Robotron CP (ugh!).

Have you ever tried playing the games without the hinge bolts? My latches hold the CP so tight that I have not even installed the hinge bolts in a while. Of course, I don't have my Robotron CP ready yet so that may change things. :)
 
Pretty sweet man! Joust, Bubbles and Robotron get all the play on my MultiWilliams and I don't really notice the button layout a problem since Defender and Stargate rarely get played.

Awesome idea though, and it looks great!
 
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