The Hardest Control Panel to Disassemble

Hyde

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I think I've found the world's hardest/time consuming control panel to disassemble.

GORF.

I spent close to 4 hours taking the control panel apart and cleaning/repainting the metal joystick brackets. The joystick alone (which is held together by security screws) has about 3 layers of intertwined brackets, mixed about with numerous other screws, a spring, and wires all over the place. Not to mention the fact that it has has 2 pcbs attached to it, on one top and one on the bottom. And the metal control panel plate itself is bolted really tightly to the wooden control panel, and it even curves around the edge. The whole assembly could survive a nuclear holocaust; it's practically a tank!

And while it was a killer to clean, the end result is pretty nice:


Before Pic of Joystick Base:


Afterwards: (Can anyone guess what that game in the background is? :D)


And no, that is not a repro CPO!

Let me ask you this, what do you think is the hardest control panel to disassemble? It it GORF, or something else?
 
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I found zaxxon to be a PITA the one time I pulled one apart to rebuild a flight stick. Still haven't torn into the paperboy but I know that will be a pain.
 
If you mean taking everything attached to the control panel apart I say Out Run has that beat by a long mile!!
 
Tron looks like it sucks pretty bad. Take a Gorf panel and then add a complicated spinner assembly. I did my Gorf panel as a warm up for my Tron panel.
 
Wow.. that joystick takes the cake.

Is this a new game that you picked up recently?
 
outrun is probably the winner. If you spent 4 on gorf, you would spend 8 on outrun.

I would think taking apart and rebuilding the control panel to some deluxe driving games could get pretty rough..

repairing the guns to aliens extermination looks like fun too. Saw the guy at dave and busters working on it and it looked pretty busy inside..
 
Wow.. that joystick takes the cake.

Is this a new game that you picked up recently?

Yeah, I just got myself a GORF about a week ago. I'm doing some cleaning in the meantime until my multimeter shows up (so I can do some troubleshooting - the game currently doesn't work).

outrun is probably the winner. If you spent 4 on gorf, you would spend 8 on outrun.

I would think taking apart and rebuilding the control panel to some deluxe driving games could get pretty rough..

repairing the guns to aliens extermination looks like fun too. Saw the guy at dave and busters working on it and it looked pretty busy inside..

Ah, driving games. I never even thought about those! And regarding Phet's post, Tron would be pretty bad as well.

Speaking of which, does anybody have a picture of the Outrun control panel from the back? I'd like to see what it looks like to compare with.
 
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Removing a Gorf control panel is really easy once you know how to do it.

Just open the coin door and reach in and release the One-Lock mechanism behind the 4 duplex screws under the tighting rods. Don't forget to remove the shoehorn washers before the duplex screws or you could strip the tighting rods or even break little plastic guide rails. Once you do this, the whole thing comes apart.

Nothing to it.
 
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This biggest piece of $hit is the hardest to disassemble AND to scrap out. The control panel looks simple to take apart -- then again so does the cabinet, but its very deceiving.

May all of these cabinets be melted into pen holders.
 
Removing a Gorf control panel is really easy once you know how to do it.

Just open the coin door and reach in and release the One-Lock mechanism behind the 4 duplex screws under the tighting rods. Don't forget to remove the shoehorn washers before the duplex screws or you could strip the tighting rods or even break little plastic guide rails. Once you do this, the whole thing comes apart.

Nothing to it.

Removing the panel is the easy part. I was talking more about disassembling the joystick. That was a real pain!

May all of these cabinets be melted into pen holders.

Wait, melted?!? Don't tell me those cabinets are made of metal!
 
I have to agree, I replaced my control panel on my Gorf with a repro and it was a pain, it didn't help either that my screws on my joystick were rusted and stripped so I really don't miss taking that one apart.
 
I dunno. Some tough ones I've done are Road Blasters, Hydro Thunder, and others like that.

I once had to completely disassemble an Arctic Thunder steering wheel assemble because two of the bolts holding the monitor bezel assembly had completely stripped and I was out in the field without any of the stuff I needed to get them out. That was a lot of fun (not)...
 
Yeah, I just got myself a GORF about a week ago. I'm doing some cleaning in the meantime until my multimeter shows up (so I can do some troubleshooting - the game currently doesn't work).



Ah, driving games. I never even thought about those! And regarding Phet's post, Tron would be pretty bad as well.

Speaking of which, does anybody have a picture of the Outrun control panel from the back? I'd like to see what it looks like to compare with.
Here is a pic of outrun and some of its parts loose. It takes 10+ screws just to free the metal chassis from the wood frame.. Not pictured are 3 of the 4 gears, springs connecting the metal tension parts, keys to align parts, rubber stopper, and the shaker motor. Not to mention the shifter which has its own issues..

I forgot about viper. That would be no fun.. But then again neither would xenophobe or xybots.

controls-51.jpg
 
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I finally got my Out Run panel back together last night. The biggest problem with Out Run is the little key that sits in the shaft to keep the gears in one position is really hard to remove. Combine that with the fact that a lot of these old assemblies are all gunked up with old grease and you have a recipe for frustration.

I took some pictures of the reassembly here:

http://gallery.metahugh.com/main.php?g2_itemId=24901

I applied some Teflon grease and now this puppy works perfectly. Rewarding in the end but totally frustrating during the process.
 
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