Neo Gee 4-MVS V3 project

PrairieDillo

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Neo Geo 4-MVS V3 project

I'll start off by giving Eseyo some props for inspiring me to get off my butt and work on my MVS some. I was gathering parts for this one since the CP was pretty messed up from being rusted through and under the CPO. Water was seriously trapped under there and the rust ate through the paint and sealed the silk screened layer to the rusty metal CP.

We both picked up MVS 4 slots in the Fresno fire sale months back and he's basically already done with his. I'm just getting started.

The CP is the worst part of this project obviously as you can see here. These machines were in laundry mats so they had seem some serious lint dust and moisture. This cab has like zero water damage so that's the best part of it. These 3Koam built MVS machines are particle board so they really can soak up some water. I know cause I replaced a rain soaked working V3 just like this one, for this one I'm working on. (upgrading cabs)

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The CP is the worst part of this project obviously as you can see here.


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stripped it down and primmered it. (wire wheel, sanding block, and steel wool/brake cleaner)

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Rustoleum Glossy Black Enamel in a rattle can.

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Populated with new Ultimate sticks, happ buttons, and NOS MVS CPO (E-"over"-pay)

I populated with Ultimates cause I felt like it didn't need competitions and would do better with the harder diagonals for the action, shooter and puzzle games that this machine is going to be for. I really don't play SNK fighters as I'm really a Capcom guy. (w/ good reason)

I also have some CPO buckling that I need to address.

To do list.
* strip down the coin door and clean everything out.
* remove the lock bar and contemplate patching the holes.
* clean out all of the dust and lint inside the machine and caked on the PCB, cables etc.
* 25" K7000 chassis rebuild and rejuv.
* work on the Marquee (it has some cracks) and dead EL panels.
* contemplate new white vinyl decals on the machine.
* repaint the black areas by lightly sanding it and rolling it w/ satin black.
 

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Looking good already. I love watching the progress on these machines.

It always inspires me. I'm just waiting on some warmer months so I can do some spraying outside (garage has become occupied for the winter)
 
a note about Happ Ultimates

Ok this is not a place for joystick pros or cons. I know all about them so please refrain from those types of comments. There are many many other threads about them.

I chose to go with ultimates for a few reasons.

1) They were among original joystick parts for these machines depending on inventory.
2) I had a spare pair and wanted to use them up in applications other than my Capcom fighter cabs.
3) They have more distinct corners which are good for some of the games I'm going to put in my home MVS unit.

Ultimates have problems however so I chose to fix 2 of them.

First, the actuator shown below has a thin wall that will crack under extreme pressure. I decided to fill/back mine up with hot glue to give it a more solid yet flexible backing. I've seen some ultimates that came out of operator machines that have the joystick feeling crunchy cause the actuator was cracked.

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Second, the actuator barely rides on the cherry switch red button. This gives it a very small margin of error. Some times the actuator will even miss the switch and give you a fail. An operator trick is to place a washer right between the actuator and the E-clip forcing the actuator to ride a little lower and become more centered on the switch.

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With these small tricks you have a more acurate and durable joystick IMHO.
 

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Memory Cart Sticker

I had removed both the outside and in inside sticker on my CP in order to strip it to the metal, primer and repaint.

I downloaded the scan of the Memory Card slot sticker and cleaned it up today. I did a high quality laser print at work and used packaging tape to coat it. After using a hole punch to knock out the holes and a knife to trim the slot out, I then applied it using plain ole glue stick. I didn't want something so adhesive that it could pull my paint off.

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I was also able to pull the coin door, look inside for loose trash/quarters and to unbolt the rest of the lock bars.

I ordered a cap kit for the board from CM and will pull the board for capping after I get that in. I wouldn't mind painting the metal cover also. This is one custom thing that guys often do when consolizing MVS boards that looks really good IMHO. It's also a Mod where the outside will still look original, so i'm going to go ahead and go for it.
 

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When you paint the metal cover are you planning to put label stickers back on it?

I'm planning to do this to my 2-slot, but I still want the stickers on the metal.

What color are you planning, too?
 
When you paint the metal cover are you planning to put label stickers back on it?

I'm planning to do this to my 2-slot, but I still want the stickers on the metal.

What color are you planning, too?

I've seen it done in red and it can look pretty sleek. I just mask off label stickers with blue painters tape. That's what I did for the inside label on my CP when I repainted it. Turned out great.

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I think red looks pretty awesome.

I'm going to do black on my two slot. I'm thinking I will attempt to cut the MVS logo out on in all that empty space with my dremel, and throw a red ccfl or some LEDs in it. overdoing it? (I realize that it's inside, but I think it would be cool to show off sometimes)
 
Yeah its not consolized so I'm just shooting it straight w/ paint. I did my 2 slot in black and will do the 4 slot in red tonight. I just need to take a good pick of it to show.

I actually did have the 1 and 2 stickers on my 2 slot but prefered the black glossy look to be clean.
 
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Looking good! My preference with the PCB cages tend to be to keep em gray with their stickers. Just preference though, not that hitting them with color and doing other stuff is "bad" or "wrong".

The CP is the number one, first thing I like to attack on these things. Knocking that rust off and getting a full coat of black on there makes a world of difference. :)

...now if only there was a good way to deal with tore up sides... :p
 
Looking good! My preference with the PCB cages tend to be to keep em gray with their stickers. Just preference though, not that hitting them with color and doing other stuff is "bad" or "wrong".

The CP is the number one, first thing I like to attack on these things. Knocking that rust off and getting a full coat of black on there makes a world of difference. :)

...now if only there was a good way to deal with tore up sides... :p

Yeah these are the minor things about a cab. I've seen rust on some of these cases so I think it's a cool thing to do. Most of the orignal guys painting it were consolized mods so they had a reason to dress up the cases better. I really don't need the labels although I took pictures of my 4 slot labels just incase I want to re-create them for replacement.

But I love the results.

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This board goes into this cab although

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back to the MVS4-25 Slot V3

Tonight I capped the mother board after getting my kit from ChannelManiac. He happened to be in town but I couldn't hook up with him for drinks cause I have been sick for 2 days.

Instead I stayed home and snuck out to the garage while my wife was watching TV so that I could work on the MB.

I had previously painted the cover so now it's all finished up and ready to go back into the Cab. I didn't want to install it till I had time to actually vacuum out the interior and wipe down some of the cables from the layers of dust on them.

I think it's pretty. I turned off the flash so the color came out a bit orange in this shot.

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I haven't changed the battery but it seems fine. I have been casually trying to source new ones for all of my boards.

The other issue is about the stickers which I had completely stripped off rather than masking off. I took pics of them since it would be easy to recreate once I matched the fonts. I do like the clean look w/ no stickers. They are only sticky back paper stickers however, nothing special.
 

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That looks like it's turned out a lot better than mine.

Since I'm painting mine in the cold, I'm doing it very slowly... paint, dry for a few then bring it inside over night... Had a few bubbles in mine though, and it got scratched... looks like ass...

How about the rest of the cab? any progress with it?
 
I need to go home and shuffle a few cabs before I can even touch the rest of it. My biggest problems were splatter and particles while it's drying. This is why some people have a booth.

Needless to say, my "to do" list is quite long. I have quite a bit of monitor work ahead of me also. I have like 6 monitors to cap, just in my garage.
 
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Watch out for that battery... they are known for holding their charge right to the end then *WHAM* dead...

...I replaced mine with a cordless phone battery I got from Radio Shack.
 
FF - yeah am trying to source a bunch of MVS batteries online.

So tonight while the Lakers were coming back against the Warriors I worked on the MVS a bit.

* moved it to a "worked on" location
* vacuumed and cleaned it out (very dusty) I had taken off the coin door for this reason
* installed the MV4 MB that I had previously gone over.
* did some fixes on the Peter Chou/Happ PS that had a broken outlet jack and non-working fan.

I then took some pictures.

I love how the red cover came out.
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finally a good shot of the refurbished CP with new CPO.
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The rear shot of the MB ... w/ removed coin door.
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The sides are actually not too bad. They just need serious cleaning. Maybe some new decals.... dunno the originals aren't all gone.
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Whats great is CMs cap kit to fix my dim audio. All the way up and it was more like 1/4 the volume it should have been. It wasn't even loud enough for a quiet garage so I knew it was going bad quick. I think the effects to music balance was also off. I don't think that he rakes you over on the price also. I think CM does it more as a service to the community. It was only $4 w/out shipping
http://www.arcadecomponents.com/index.html


Some guys like the wow of one big thread but this is journey for me. It was a good solid machine in need of some serious TLC vs a full tear down "gregtron" style restore. I wanted a very nice MVS keeper and this is how it's going. Thanks for following along guys.
 

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Coin Door Love

While I had the coin door out of it get to the MV and bottom of the cab for cleaning I decided to really knock it completely apart and to restore all of it.

First I stripped it all down and sprayed the bucket housing and the front layers of doors to freshen them up.

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I changed the locks, mechs, blubs and even the eject button insert cause I hated the big HAPP 25 cent fonts on the old ones. Everything was cleaned out and tested. It probably doesn't need anything new cause this one is staying home but it's a pretty solid cab so it deserves as much TLC as I can muster. I also sprayed the return flaps even.

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The cab is looking pretty good now.

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At this point everything under the monitor has been touched. The last major areas are.

* Monitor
* Marquee
* exterior

I'm holding off from the full Glam shots till everything is working/looking as good as I can get it.

NEXT UP is the monitor...
 

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One thing I've always wanted to do to the side decals is just mask them off or mask over them and exacto knife them out, then touch it up with a quick spray of white.

I've seen the decal replacements, but they don't seem like decals originally, like they were screened on to the siding that was used.
 
yea I believe that the originals were screened on.
Currently no one makes exact replacement reverse masks to respray your side decals.

I would say that this is a product that if someone made an exact replacement... it would sell. I for one would throw down money fast for that.

The other thing to note is that unlike Namco, it's doubtfull that SNK will be shutting anyone down for makeing reverse masks to repair your side art on this one. SNK Playmore is a very different company that barely answers the phone.
 
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