My Ms. Pac-Man Restoration (WIP)

ckasek

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I picked up a Ms. Pac-Man cabinet this past weekend with the intentions of fixing it up. Played a few games before tearing it all down, my only complaint was that the image seemed to be slightly rotated on the monitor, and I couldn't adjust the size enough to see the scores across the top and the lives/fruit across the bottom.

My plans for the restore are:
Sand, repair and re-stencil the cabinet (unless I can't find someone to cut stencils, then I guess I'll get a sideart repro)
New t-molding
Strip and repaint all the metal pieces (marquee brackets, CP, coin door)
New CPO (old one had a hole drilled in it for an extra button that does nothing and will be removed)
New leg levelers

The marquee and Glass are both in decent shape, there are some light scratches in the glass that are not super noticeable when you are playing, and a few small scratches in the paint underneath.

At this point, I've got everything removed from the cabinet, and have it ready to start stripping the paint. I've also got the coin door completely disassembled and have started stripping it with a wire wheel.

Really looking forward to making this my summer project. I'll be updating the thread with more pics as I go along. Any comments or advice is appreciated!

Here are some more pics of the cabinet:
https://picasaweb.google.com/106910...?authkey=Gv1sRgCJCo6vHwlpnWUg&feat=directlink
 

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Oh wow! When i first saw the pictures i though someone had cut the sides, but now i see it is just black paint! Whew! I thought you had a lot further to go there!

Sounds like you have a good plan started. Keep us informed how it's going. Good luck in your restore!
 
Hah, yeah when I first looked at the low-res pics that were posted on the craigslist page, I was worried about that as well...but a closer look at the pics and I was able to tell that they just painted that area black.

I did some sanding today, and I'm still at a loss as to why they put the black strips on there. After going over them with the sander, you could see the original art was still there, right up to the edge of the wood. Got one side sanded down to the wood, and most of the front and back, using some 60 grit discs on my sander. Hopefully I'll get the rest of the paint off tomorrow, and then I can get started on repairing the damage to the cabinet.

Also went over the marquee brackets with a wire wheel, really wishing I had something better than a cheap-o Skil wireless drill, the battery doesn't last very long and it doesn't spin that fast even with a full charge. Not sure what I'll do about the CP and coin door, might be time for a new drill :)
 

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Welcome to KLOV and good luck with your restore! You seem to know the arcade buzz words so have you already been collecting for a while? I'm actually restoring a Ms Pac myself right now. Yesterday I sanded down my front and right side and hope to do the rest tomorrow. Mine was in a bit rougher shape and I've had to deal with replacing the entire bottom panel and now I have to fill this hasty lock bar hole. It felt nice to strip half the cabinet so I can remind myself there's a light at the end of the tunnel with all this cabinet work. I'll be doing stencils too and it's my first attempt with them. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress. :)
 
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This is actually my first cabinet, though I'd been considering getting a cab for a few years.

I've spent a TON of time over the last week scouring these forums, byoac, the tutorials on rotheblog, etc etc trying to figure out what I've got myself into :p Fortunately there have been quite a few ms pac-man restores to lean on for direction.

Good luck with yours!
 
I'm still at a loss as to why they put the black strips on there. After going over them with the sander, you could see the original art was still there, right up to the edge of the wood.

My Ms Pac and SuperPac had been painted over in a blue texture paint. I had to first strip it then go with 40 grit to get to wood. Be happy you only had that little spot with black paint on it.

My guess on the black is that its to cover up the artwork thats bad. You can clearly see on my PacMan where people have stood with one hand on the joystick and one on the side of the cabinet while playing and the artwork has been rubbed off. My bet is it was to cover up the removal of the artwork from people's hands.
 
Filled all the holes and scratches and misc. cabinet damage, got everything all sanded down and primed. Almost ready to start painting, just waiting for the last coat of primer to fully dry.

Got a leg leveling kit from Bob Roberts the other day, that's been installed. Got the new CPO from quarterarcade, along with some used coin mechs (since my door had none) and a new lock for the coin door. Stripped and repainted the coin door, and cleaned up the insides a little bit. Would really like to find new 25 cent inserts since mine are all scratched up :( I have a new midway logo plate coming from arcadeshop, so that will get thrown on once it arrives.

Trying to figure out what to do with the control panel now though. I've got the old overlay peeled off, but the wire wheel just isn't making much progress on removing the paint (powder coat?). Anyone have a stripper they can recommend, or any tips for repainting a CP?

A question on the coin door as well - the power switch at the top of the cabinet had been disconnected, and from what I can tell, someone ran the wires to the switch on the coin door. There were two red wires taped off right next to it though, so I'm wondering if they are the wires that were originally connected. I attached a pic, if anyone can shed any light.
 

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Got some paint down on the cabinet today, starting to get back to being a ms. pac-man cabinet. got my new kickplate, t-molding and the midway logo plate for the coin door today from arcade-shop.com. Probably gonna re-paint the coin door though, the black is a bit too flat. Gonna have to find a can of the textured rustoleum and see how that looks.
 

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Thanks! I went with Glidden Rhapsody, despite some of what I read saying it's not an exact match and is a bit lighter than the original Ms. Pac-Man color. At first I was really nervous about it because it seemed very green, but after drying and comparing it to the original color, it looks fine to my eyes.

For some reason, I pictured the original cabinet as being more of a baby blue, which obviously isn't the case!
 
Things have slowed down a bit the last week, though I've still been making some progress. Another final coat of blue was put down on the cab, and it now has great coverage all around. Just waiting on the stencils so I can finish the paint job, but that will probably be another week or two before they get here.

I started working on some of the other pieces, like the wheels, internal plates, speaker cover, bolts, control panel and small details like that. Getting the rust off, sanding them down, and repainting as necessary.

You can't really tell, but I took out the brackets that the control panel rests on, and cleaned them up and gave them a coat of some gray rustoleum primer.
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I finally got the old CPO removed and stripped all the paint with a wire wheel. I've got the hole patched with some bondo from the extra button that was added, so hopefully tonight I can get it primed and painted.
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I disassembled the joystick, and man it was a pain in the butt! The centering grommet had rusted and was attached to the shaft, but I used some PB blaster to loosen things up and was able to get it removed. I then sanded things down to shine them up and remove all the rust, and now everything slides together smooth.
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The wheels were in decent shape, but were pretty dirty and had some rust spots on them. I took them all apart, sanded the axles (for lack of a better term) smooth, and stripped and painted the housings with gray primer.
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One of the previous owners had duct-taped a piece of cardboard over the speaker grille. I should have just saved myself the time and ordered a new grille, but instead I hit it with the wire wheel and repainted it. Things look much better now.
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Last night, I cut a new rear door out of MDF, I was pretty happy with how the notch on the bottom came out, since I did it with a circular saw and a utility blade. Need to cut out the windows for the vents, get it primed and painted, and then attach the screens.
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So, thats a small update of what I've been up to the last week. I'm real excited to get the CP repainted and the new overlay attached. Hopefully that will be done in the next day or two.
 
You're making great progress on this. What type of paint did you use, and what's your spray setup? (compressor size / gun type) Looks nice!
 
I've got a Craftsman 6 Gallon Pancake Air Compressor and HVLP Gravity Feed Spray Gun. The 6 gallon tank kinda stinks since the compressor pretty much runs constantly (and is loud), but it gets the job done.

As for paint, I used rattle-can Bullseye primer, and then sprayed Glidden Rhapsody. I mixed about 14 ounces of paint with 2 ounces of water to thin it out for the sprayer. It's the first time I'd ever used a spray gun, I think it came out pretty OK.

Here's the exact paint I used for the blue.
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Thanks for the info. I want to start spraying cabs so I like to find out what others are using. Is that Glidden latex? Did you have to thin it much?
 
Yeah, I went with a satin latex paint. About 14 ounces of paint to 2 ounces of water was how much I thinned it, and it goes a LONG way. I definitely didn't need a gallon, but was worried that a quart wouldn't be enough. Figured for the price of two quarts, I may as well just get the gallon though.

For spraying, I had the cab standing vertically, and went side to side 3 times, working my way from top to bottom. Then I did 1 or 2 vertical passes. I think I did this process 3 times in total, after the second time, there were still a few light spots, after the third paint application last night, everything is covered solid.

Once I get the stencils, I'll probably put down a light primer coat for the yellow, from what I've read you'll go through a ton of yellow otherwise trying to get a solid coat. Hopefully this way I can get by with just a quart of yellow. I plan on spraying the pink as well, and black will probably be semi-gloss rattle cans.

Hope this info helps, I was a complete noob at this when I started ~2 weeks ago, but so far I'm happy with my results.
 
Did you get stencils cut yet? Who are you using?

I chose to go with printed artwork for mine. My cab is currently out for painting now.

Nice work so far. I like what you did with your casters - I'll have to steal that idea.
 
I ordered my stencils about a week and a half ago, but it will be a bit before I get them. Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to disclose who is making them for me. Sorry!

As for the casters, I wasn't originally planning on doing anything to them, but i figured what the hell, I've already got the wire wheel on the drill, it would only take a few minutes to clean them up and hit them with some primer. If anything, hopefully it will prevent them from rusting any more.
 
Still waiting on the stencils to finish the paint job. While I wait, I put everything back together, and it's looking pretty sharp as it is. Can't wait to see how great it looks once the new art is on there.

I got the power switch moved back to the top of the cab from the coin door, and put in a new credit switch on the coin door where they had the power switch. Also gave myself a nice burn on my finger from the soldering iron. Oops.

This is what she looks like at the moment. Coin door reinstalled, new t-molding, control panel repainted and new CPO. Waiting until the art is on to put on the new kick plate.
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The completed coin door, I'm real happy with it. I'd still like to get repro 25 cent inserts, but it's not a big deal. Lovin the ms. pac keychain from OldTymeToys.
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New rear door, primed and attached. Still need to paint it and attach the screens, but not in any rush. Not the best cuts for the openings since it was done with a jigsaw, but good enough for me.
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This one is really better for the help forum, but you can kinda see the image here is crooked. The 1up score is chopped off the top, and the fruits are chopped off the bottom. I also haven't found the horizontal adjustment, I think this is the one buried further back int he board that you need a plastic hex wrench to adjust.
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This one is really better for the help forum, but you can kinda see the image here is crooked. The 1up score is chopped off the top, and the fruits are chopped off the bottom. I also haven't found the horizontal adjustment, I think this is the one buried further back int he board that you need a plastic hex wrench to adjust.
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If the picture is crooked, then you'll just have to rotate the yoke on the neck of the monitor. That will rotate the picture around to where you need it (easier to adjust if you stop it on the grid that shows up during boot).

For the width you're going to need the plastic tools to adjust the width coil. There should be a coil either sticking up from, or mounted on the side of, the monitor's chassis.
 
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