ekalb
Member
I think I am 98% done with my restoration of this game. I bought it back in early February pretty much site unseen except for some images here:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjyGxTLM
I knew the art work was shit, but I was expecting a cabinet that had not ever seen any damage. What I got seemed as if it fell off a truck at least once in its life and was re-assembled by someone missing their eyes. Just horrible attention to detail, making sure things were square, using appropriate hardware, etc. I swear this thing was underwater at a beach at some point. ugly.
I'm totally happy with the purchase and mean no disrespect to anyone that may have had this game in their possession at one point. It just kinda is what it is or was what it was as far as the condition was concerned.
All the black parts of the game were actually vinyl. In the process of taking it off I was able to get a few decent size pieces, otherwise I was lucky to remove dime size pieces. It was a very long process (maybe 10 hours). I also noticed that the shelf that holds the steering column was cracked to shit and reassembled poorly. I rebuilt that with dowels and it should be stronger than ever now. Shit was just fucked up all over the place.
The metal parts were all covered in rust, so I sent them all out to get sandblasted and powdercoated.
I had to take apart the entire seat section to get it back to square. I dont have pics to show that really.
I did a TON of sanding and a good amount of Bondo work. I also needed to use a bunch of wood hardener since the cab had been exposed to water at some point. All of these things made the wood super strong and stopped any flaking. For some reason I can't seem to find my pics of any of this. You can trust me that many hours were spent in this stage though.
All the glass was intact, but I had all new pieces made anyways so they looked brand new. The old artwork behind the glass develops cracking and flaking after 30 years.
I made my own makeshift paint spray booth in order to contain any over-spray with my HVLP gun. It was my first time using it and I loved the results. NO brush marks and an ultra smooth finish. I figured the paint would look nicer, last longer, and be less of a headache than reapplying vinyl. Plust it gave me an excuse to get the HVLP gun. I'm happy I went this route.
I couldn't find satin black hardware, so I painted my own.
I had a sheetmetal shop cut me a new floor. The old one wasn't worth salvaging as far as I was concerned.
The sideart was a crazy pain in the ass to apply, but it looks great.
All new lights, ballasts, starters etc.
I just got done putting on the new T-molding track a few minutes ago. Looks original.
The coin door and coin door lights function fine, I just forgot to plug it in for the pics.
I'm sure I am leaving out a ton of details, but you get the general idea.
The not complete part is the missing seat. There are a few guys out there with NOS ones that are trying to get new ones made, but not much progress with any of them yet. I think I will just have an upholstery shop custom make me one out of some form of foam and leather or vinyl until something authentic shows up on the market.
Overall it was a crazy pain in the ass, and huge wallet drain, and a decent learning experience. I'm not sure what I will do next as far as games go. Its sitting in a holding pattern on one side of the basement while I figure out exactly what section of the basement I am going to finish off. It will end up in a dedicated arcade room, but it may not happen until after the summer.
The purists may cringe at some of the routes I took, but I dig the outcome. Not bad for a first restore. I did keep the weapons van button (which is beat up) original. I liked the idea of not replacing that for some reason. I may change my mind.
The one thing I enjoyed more than anything was my dad checking it out and remembering us playing it together as a kid on his computer.
Here are some pics of my process:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjyGxTLM
I knew the art work was shit, but I was expecting a cabinet that had not ever seen any damage. What I got seemed as if it fell off a truck at least once in its life and was re-assembled by someone missing their eyes. Just horrible attention to detail, making sure things were square, using appropriate hardware, etc. I swear this thing was underwater at a beach at some point. ugly.
I'm totally happy with the purchase and mean no disrespect to anyone that may have had this game in their possession at one point. It just kinda is what it is or was what it was as far as the condition was concerned.
All the black parts of the game were actually vinyl. In the process of taking it off I was able to get a few decent size pieces, otherwise I was lucky to remove dime size pieces. It was a very long process (maybe 10 hours). I also noticed that the shelf that holds the steering column was cracked to shit and reassembled poorly. I rebuilt that with dowels and it should be stronger than ever now. Shit was just fucked up all over the place.
The metal parts were all covered in rust, so I sent them all out to get sandblasted and powdercoated.
I had to take apart the entire seat section to get it back to square. I dont have pics to show that really.
I did a TON of sanding and a good amount of Bondo work. I also needed to use a bunch of wood hardener since the cab had been exposed to water at some point. All of these things made the wood super strong and stopped any flaking. For some reason I can't seem to find my pics of any of this. You can trust me that many hours were spent in this stage though.
All the glass was intact, but I had all new pieces made anyways so they looked brand new. The old artwork behind the glass develops cracking and flaking after 30 years.
I made my own makeshift paint spray booth in order to contain any over-spray with my HVLP gun. It was my first time using it and I loved the results. NO brush marks and an ultra smooth finish. I figured the paint would look nicer, last longer, and be less of a headache than reapplying vinyl. Plust it gave me an excuse to get the HVLP gun. I'm happy I went this route.
I couldn't find satin black hardware, so I painted my own.
I had a sheetmetal shop cut me a new floor. The old one wasn't worth salvaging as far as I was concerned.
The sideart was a crazy pain in the ass to apply, but it looks great.
All new lights, ballasts, starters etc.
I just got done putting on the new T-molding track a few minutes ago. Looks original.
The coin door and coin door lights function fine, I just forgot to plug it in for the pics.
I'm sure I am leaving out a ton of details, but you get the general idea.
The not complete part is the missing seat. There are a few guys out there with NOS ones that are trying to get new ones made, but not much progress with any of them yet. I think I will just have an upholstery shop custom make me one out of some form of foam and leather or vinyl until something authentic shows up on the market.
Overall it was a crazy pain in the ass, and huge wallet drain, and a decent learning experience. I'm not sure what I will do next as far as games go. Its sitting in a holding pattern on one side of the basement while I figure out exactly what section of the basement I am going to finish off. It will end up in a dedicated arcade room, but it may not happen until after the summer.
The purists may cringe at some of the routes I took, but I dig the outcome. Not bad for a first restore. I did keep the weapons van button (which is beat up) original. I liked the idea of not replacing that for some reason. I may change my mind.
The one thing I enjoyed more than anything was my dad checking it out and remembering us playing it together as a kid on his computer.
Here are some pics of my process:




. 19 out of 20 folks would have left that cab as is or parted it. Very nice work dude