My Ms. Pacman Restoration!

vader1979

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Donor 2021, 2023
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bismarck, North Dakota
Heres my resto thread of my Ms. Pac. Enjoy!

Here is the final product...

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this is what I started with. She had some bad damage on the front panel from a coin door break in . Also a chunk missing on the left corner by the CP. the artwork was very dry...and all the wood was getting that cracked, peeled look. The coin door was completely destroyed. It didn't work...needed PCB repair, and she got a Deluxe cap kit from Bob Roberts. she needed some loving! There was some type of insect nest built inside the marquee area and INSIDE the speaker...so that was tossed out and a new speaker purchased...

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Started by building a "tent" in my unfinished basement to do all the sanding/bondoing. Necessary to not get dust everywhere.



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Next came the fun bondo/sand/bondo/sand process....

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Primed and ready for paint!

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painted the top..back..back door..and front inner edges with latex semi-gloss matched to the blue from my art decals...

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after the door was painted blue...I masked off it all and sprayed the inner areas of the vent holes...

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Prepped for the black spraypaint...

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black area done...

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Art lined up and ready to install...

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front panel art lined up...also put on the caster wheels...

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Art applied and t-molding installed...

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here it shows how well of a match the paint to art the blue is...

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Decided to paint the black at an angle to closer match the original overspray look...

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Getting my metal was the one thing I had been waiting on for over a week to finish this project. nothing better than getting fresh powder coated metal!! The coin door was badly damaged...had to find a replacement...but even that one was still pretty dented. the powder coaters had a lot of time into it. Also the upper right corner of the CP was dented/bent. That also had to be straightened and flattened. But all and all they now look amazing! Gave the coin door a slight texture while the rest was made in card black...

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All original internal parts were kept in the machine...including the monitor. There was debate on whether or not I should have replaced the tube since it has some burn...but now that the new smoked plexi is on...and during gameplay it is invisible. Very little is seen when game is off. Chassis was re-capped..and I swapped the broken PCB for a working one. Power supply was tested and worked fine...replaced all fuses just in case. New Joystick was purchased and NOS white buttons purchased for the CP. I love this machine...she turned out gorgeous!! Too bad she is up for sale and I need the money for a Galaga or she wouldn't be going anywhere! I just hope whomever buys it takes great care of her!
 
That really did come out fantastic and thanks for sharing the steps!!! Did you fold over the art or cut it to edge? And when you taped it down, I assume you installed dry and just used the tape as the starting edge where to install it?
 
Great work. I have done a few Ms. Pacs over the years and appreciate the amount of work for the return. I finally picked up a new painted cabinet with original parts and felt a sense of loss for the seller knowing how much work it is even with decals to do a nice restore. Ms. Pac is an awesome game and should be in everyone's game room. It is just plain fun. Remember when the last NIB Ms. Pac was unboxed and they did a lot of colour matching and pics which resulted in a ton of resources for us to do restores?

Michael
 
Great work. I have done a few Ms. Pacs over the years and appreciate the amount of work for the return. I finally picked up a new painted cabinet with original parts and felt a sense of loss for the seller knowing how much work it is even with decals to do a nice restore. Ms. Pac is an awesome game and should be in everyone's game room. It is just plain fun. Remember when the last NIB Ms. Pac was unboxed and they did a lot of colour matching and pics which resulted in a ton of resources for us to do restores?

Michael

Totally agree, Ms. Pac is a game that is always worth restoring. This is the last one I've seen new, even though it has vinyl, in pictures and this was opened a while ago. http://www.basementarcade.com/arcade/mspacman/tlnmpm/index.html
 
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Once it was applied I cut it to the edge with an exacto knife. I installed it dry...I taped down the lower half first...folded top over and removed the backing while folded over and cut it off in the middle. Then the wife helped hold it...I used a squeegee and started from the middle to the top. Repeated for the bottom. Just went sloe and made sure not to pull too hard and that I got every inch with the squeegee.



That really did come out fantastic and thanks for sharing the steps!!! Did you fold over the art or cut it to edge? And when you taped it down, I assume you installed dry and just used the tape as the starting edge where to install it?
 
Just remember guys...this baby is for sale outright or partial trade for a galaga. also thinking now of getting a GORF as I just saw the review john made on that game. Really wanna get rid of this by xmas!! I am willing to drive to the twin cities to deliver...or reasonable distance to make the deal happen since I know living in the boonies doesn't help me sell this very well here in this small town.... Plus I hope while I am there to pick up another machine to bring home so it would work out for both parties...
 
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