Need advice on Multi-Williams "restore" job.

[Teknotoyz]

This is a DRAFT drawing of the metal plate on a Joust control panel to fit the Phoenix Arcade Multi-Williams CPO. I will call it final when I have one made and it matches up. If anyone wants to confirm if the other Williams cabinets use the same size metal, I can include that in the final drawing.

 

[TheSilby]

Joust is the only game that I am aware of that used the metal plate. Moon Patrol may use something like that, but the size will be different. The reason for the metal plate is because of the 2 way sticks. A big oblong hole needed to be cut to mount. The metal plate was to give a solid spot for the CPO to attach without having the oblong hole at the top of the control panel too. Defender got around this by using a hard thin plexi CPO. Robotron did use small square metal plates in order to have a void for the joystick washer to reside. I believe that is what you are planning to do.

 

[Teknotoyz]

Slow progress on this CP, cold in the garage and trying to be patient.
Received the bezel from Redlines, starting to look like a Joust again!

I filled the wood with bondo, someone said to use shiny cardboard as a backer, I didn't have any, so I used shipping tape over cardboard then stapled it to the underside of the panel. Just dropped the bondo in, made sure all the air was out and sanded the top. The cardboard was very easy to remove and the bondo was baby smooth on the underside.

Holes are done in the metal, I have some fine tuning to do to get them exact.
The metal is very smooth, the pic is catching light off the buffing marks (figure it should help the CPO adhere).
(hole pattern is for the Phoenix arcade CPO.)

I just ordered the buttons from Bob Roberts, will wait till the order arrives before I begin drilling the wood. I like the way this is turning out.

FS: I do have 2 sheets of stainless metal with no holes and one drilled like in the picture if there is any interest for others with a Joust panel.

 

[Teknotoyz]

The right way to mount the joysticks is to
a) mark them from the back,
b) drill a pilot hole through (a drill press helps here),
c) use a spade bit to countersink a hole the size of the t-nuts on the top of the CP,
d) drill a hole the size of the OD of the threaded part of the t-nut partly through the CP so the t-nut fits snugly,
e) finish drilling through with a 1/4" (or the appropriate size for the joystick bolts) twist bit.

That way you screw the bolts to secure the joystick in from the back but you won't leave bolt holes and you shouldn't have to worry about the bolt head slipping like you would if you did it the other way (bolt from the top).

Really horrible cross section drawing:

[FONT=Courier New]          CP Top [/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]-------------------------------------+  metal plate[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New][FONT=Courier New]-------------------------------------+[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]-----------+[COLOR=red]==+[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]+==[/COLOR]+------------------+  wood CP[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]           +-+[COLOR=red]| |[/COLOR]+-+    [COLOR=red]T-Nut in Red[/COLOR]  |[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]             |[COLOR=red]| |[/COLOR][COLOR=black]|                    |[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]             ++ ++                    |[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]              | |                     |[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]--------------+ +---------------------+[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]        Cp Bottom[/FONT]

ken

Thanks Ken... I took your advice and am very happy with the results.
The panel woodwork is done, but this is killing my patience!

Made the pockets for the dust covers, mounted the joystick tee nuts, checked the fit of all buttons. I'll be using Williams leaf switches from a stargate harness I nabbed on Ebay.

This is about as close to a factory Multi-Williams as I can get.

I will have just a little Bondo to add along the front as my Stanless top is 14 gauge rather than 16. It was free, so I can't complain too much!

The trick to dealing with drilling stainless steel is slow bit speed, lots of pressure. The stuff just stays together and gets friggin HOT if you run the bit fast or stay in the metal long.

 

[benkeezer]

Looking good! You're my inspiration to start my mulit-williams. Started gutting the cabinet yesterday.

 

[Teknotoyz]

Looking good! You're my inspiration to start my mulit-williams. Started gutting the cabinet yesterday.

I'm glad this is doing some good! I figure I'd chronicle my way through with pictures so others could get ideas from my project.
This CP has been a job, wood and metal are most definitely different struggles in a control panel. Then of course this one was both, my first like it.

=======================

My weekend control panel work is done, my goal was to get the shell of the machine done. Now on to rebuilding the power supply and getting the jamma harness installed. I want to do lots more to polish up the outside, but I want to play worse!!

I think the Phoenix arcade CPO fits well with the stock Joust bezel art.

 

[TheSilby]

Turned our really nice. How does the transition from metal to wood feel under the CPO? Can you notice it at all? I like the fact that the dust washers are underneath like they should be.

 

[Teknotoyz]

Turned our really nice. How does the transition from metal to wood feel under the CPO? Can you notice it at all? I like the fact that the dust washers are underneath like they should be.

I filled the transition area with wood filler. Sanded very well, you can't feel any ridge, just a smooth arc down the front.
(ah, didn't get it perfect between the 2 buttons on the transition (green and red buttons), but not noticeable unless your checking)

 

[jdhogg]

Very nice results! I do lilke the look of the dust washers under the metal. Very clean. I'm too far along to do that now.

You inspired me to get mine going again. As soon as I'm done with the wiring, it should be warm enought to apply some bondo outside. Hoping for completion end of April.

 

[Teknotoyz]

Very nice results! I do lilke the look of the dust washers under the metal. Very clean. I'm too far along to do that now.

You inspired me to get mine going again. As soon as I'm done with the wiring, it should be warm enought to apply some bondo outside. Hoping for completion end of April.

LOL, one advantage of the garage room... I can Bondo and the wife doesn't smell it. I do have more metal if you decide you want to do something similar. I used your Bob Roberts order, appreciate the info you sent. I got really lucky and nabbed a Stargate harness with 8 or so of the Williams leaf switches for $11, saved a bunch there.

 

[Teknotoyz]

Talked to JROK about the power supply for his board. He recommended to use the original Williams supply if that was my preference. It was cheaper to rebuild (12v LED was out), and the JROK board draws a pretty low current on the 5v circuit (~300mA) which puts a light load on it. So tonight I used Bob Roberts rebuild kit and all 3 LED's came on once I got it re-installed. Funny part is, I'll pull the fuse to the 12v section as it's not needed, but I figure the rebuild would mean fewer problems down the road.

Switcher vs Linear seems to be an age old debate, but I like original even in a conversion.
(Williams cabinets also pull the GI circuit through the power board.)

 

[Teknotoyz]

Well, the project was long to finish, now fully operational. Still some cosmetic cabinet work to do, but time to move to the next project. Will come back later to do some more.

JROK game selection menu

Set it to boot to Joust!

Very happy with the PA Multi-Williams CPO

All leaf switches and Wico joysticks

Cabinet looks empty with the little JROK in place of the original boards.