Multi-Pac Returns – A Pac-Man Restoration Story

Using Mike Doyle’s 96 in 1 Multi-Pac Kit

The Story:

This is the game that never went away! About eight years ago I purchased a bunch of games from an old operator nearby. I snagged a really nice Dragon’s Lair, my Turbo, and quite a few other games and parts from him. He was a good guy, and the stuff was priced right. However, he had a few Ms. Pac-Man machines that he wanted too much money for. This was understandable because it still to this day is one of the most popular games out there. I had a coworker who wanted a Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man, so I referred him to this operator. He ended up working a deal out for three games from him: a Pole Position 2, a beat up Pac-Man and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles converted from a Joust Upright. He felt like he could restore the Pac-Man cabinet.

Well, a couple years passed, and no luck moving forward on the games. He gave me a call and asked if I knew anyone who would want to buy them. I gave him a friend’s name, and he sold the Pac and the TMNT to him. More years passed. My friend who bought them never got around to working on them, so he called me and said, “If you want them, they’re yours.” Over the next couple months I got them over to my garage. The Pac-Man turned into this game, and I made the TMNT into Rushing Heroes. I’ll have pictures and a story for that one in a later update.

Spring Break week of 2006, I decided to restore the Pac-Man. I always wanted another one since I sold my first Multi-Pac. I am glad this time around that I have a full size Upright cabinet. Throughout the prior year I purchased new artwork, the 96 in 1 kit from Mike Doyle, and even a Multi-Pac marquee. The Pac didn’t work properly due to some board error, but luckily the 96-in-1 kit replaced the bad part. It worked great!

Restoring the cabinet was the hardest part of this project. I did the following tasks:

1. Stripped the Cabinet – I removed EVERYTHING. Wiring harness, isolation transformer, graphics, etc…
2. Repair the Cabinet – Used wood filler to fix all dents and holes.
3. Repaint the Cabinet – Painted the cabinet with a good semi-gloss paint and a foam roller
4. Install Cap Kit in Monitor – Always put in a new cap kit when working on old games. Really makes a difference in the picture quality
5. Reinstall all Internal Components – Returned the monitor, PCB, wiring harness, etc..
6. Rebuild the Control Panel – Stripped and repainted the control panel, replaced controls, and added new overlay (CPO)
7. Reassemble the Machine – Put back together and made sure everything worked properly
8. Install New Cabinet Graphics – Side art, front panel art, marquee
9. Install New Cabinet Plastic – T-Molding and front panel kickplate
10. Install Bob Roberts Button Light Kit – Decided to add this for a cool effect! (sorry purists)

Overall I think this turned out great. Already declining too many offers to buy it. The only thing about this restoration I regret is that I didn’t have any pictures of the restoration progress itself. At the time I didn’t have the digital camera to take them.

What it Still Needs:

• Could use a new monitor – The picture rides a bit high and I can’t tune it out. The convergence could also use some adjusting.
• New Monitor Bezel – There is some minor flaking on this original bezel.

Links:

Mike Doyle’s 96-in-1 Multi Pac – Highly Recommended!

Screen Shots (actual game):