Operation "Pole Position"

woodsy169

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A good friend's wife wanted to buy him a Pole Position as an anniversary gift (I know, really cool chick eh?), so she asked me to put one together for him. I had a non-working (go figure) one in the garage and it was pretty rough, so I went looking for one for this project. Well, I picked up a really clean, empty cab from Justin and wanted to keep it for myself, so the "rough one in the garage" became the front runner for this project. Here are some pics of the restoration in progress...I have almost completed the painting (only a few minor touch ups left) and reassembly is scheduled for Friday night. Anyway here goes...

Pics of the cab before taking it apart...

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Front corner damage...

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Rebuilding the damaged corner with Bondo after cutting away the damaged vinyl...

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Sanded it smooth...

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and rounded the corner...

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Cut away the vinyl from the gouged areas on both sides and filled with Bondo as well...

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Sanded and primed....

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Masking off and painting everything...

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DONE!!

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The colors aren't EXACTLY like the original, but I think it turned out great. The white is Rustoleum Satin White, the blue is Rustoleum Sail Blue, the silver is Dupli-Color Instant Chrome Spray Enamel, and the red is Dupli-Color Chevy Red (the guy is the GM of a Chevy dealership). I used Rustoleum Black Appliance paint on the steering wheel...Rustoleum Satin Black for the front of the cab and all other black pieces, and Krylon Fusion Black for the shroud.
 
Here are the other parts cleaned up and painted...

Steering wheel taken apart...before being sanded, Bondo'd, sanded again and repainted

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Optical board from a mouse mounted where the old optical board was...all three controls are run from this board. (Shifter is button 1, gas is button 2)

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Completed control panel with refinished steering wheel, new overlay, bolts repainted and a center decal made using a color laser printer (rigged I know, but it's all I had) I laminated it as well to give it a reflective sheen...

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Plastic, cigarette burnt shroud after the burns being sanded out and repainted...

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Coin door after being stripped, sanded and repainted...new locks added.

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Pedal assembly after being stripped and repainted...new non-slip grip added to pedal to replace the worn out one.

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Switch mounted to pedal, which is wired to the second mouse button since it is a MAME PP.

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Final assembly pics...

19" VGA CRT mounted using the WG 19K4900 frame...only the top bolts attached which allowed the frame to be secured to the cab.

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Another pic of the monitor with the shroud and control panel mounted.

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Marquee mounted and lit...

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PC power switch and speaker amp mounted behind the coin mechs

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Complete with all controls and t-molding...final pics before shrink wrap and loading up in my truck for delivery!

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ShifterMAME menu pulled up...you cycle through the games by turning the steering wheel and select the game by pressing the gas pedal.

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And here she is in the new owner's game room...had to help carry it up the stairs! HEAVY!!!! Oh well, the look on my friend's face was priceless when I delivered it. He was in shock that his wife actually bought him his all-time favorite arcade game and let him bring it into the house!!

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Do you have any more info about ShifterMAME? I've got a sinking feeling that's the only option those of us with Off Road cabinets are going to have some day.
 
Do you have any more info about ShifterMAME? I've got a sinking feeling that's the only option those of us with Off Road cabinets are going to have some day.

Yep, I actually put Off Road in that cab along with Pole Position I & II. Do you need a copy of ShifterMAME? If so, shoot me your email...
 
Wow dude thats awesome, That gives me hope. I have 2 cabinets in the garage I was looking to sell but I might keep them and build one. I would love more info on the Mame. Are you running it off a computer? I've never heard of mame racing games.
 
You did a fantastic job!! Looks amazing. But!!

You may want to consider getting one of the analog APac devices from Ultimarc that will allow the gas pedal to work properly. As you have it now (wired to the mouse button), it is either on or off... there is no way to adjust the speed with the pedal like you can do on the original. Part of the technique of playing this game is the ability to adjust speed into the corners and such.

You can easily change this so that the pedal will work as it did on the original. Here is the device:

http://ultimarc.com/a-pac.html

Either way though... nice job! And I am in no way trying to be critical here. Just wanted to pass along the info.. in case you were not aware of this device and what it can do for the game.

I have an original Pole Position and am used to having black t-molding. Your choice to use white t-molding was a nice and unique touch.

Thanks for sharing!
 
Wow dude thats awesome, That gives me hope. I have 2 cabinets in the garage I was looking to sell but I might keep them and build one. I would love more info on the Mame. Are you running it off a computer? I've never heard of mame racing games.

Yes, it is running off of a computer. The ShifterMAME is a recompile of v125 to use 360 degree steering wheels, Star Wars yokes, etc.
 
You did a fantastic job!! Looks amazing. But!!

You may want to consider getting one of the analog APac devices from Ultimarc that will allow the gas pedal to work properly. As you have it now (wired to the mouse button), it is either on or off... there is no way to adjust the speed with the pedal like you can do on the original.

I have an original Pole Position and am used to having black t-molding. Your choice to use white t-molding was a nice and unique touch.

Yep, I already knew about the APac...I was under a 3 week deadline to complete this cab start to finish, so I used what I had available. I am going to use an APac for the next one that will go in my home arcade. It is currently stripped down and being cleaned.

A friend of mine had the white t-molding on his and I thought it looked awesome, so I added it to this one and will add it to my other one. I do like it better than black...seems to make it stand out a little more and adding a blacklight to the arcade will make it glow!
 
Great work! I'm currently trying to convert a Monaco GP cockpit to MAME Pole Position. Sent you a PM if you would be able to help answer some questions. Thanks!
 
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