Started working on the Tron cabinet today. I needed to disassemble it so I could paint it. Taking this thing apart will also make it much easier to clean thoroughly. This cabinet is probably the most complicated cabinet I’ve ever worked on.

I took a few pictures along the way:

Here is the art that shows the MCP through the shroud over the monitor.

This is the view from behind the cabinet through the shroud window where the MCP art usually sits.

Here is a shot of the lights near the control panel, with the panel removed.

Front view without the shroud.

Front view fully disassembled

Back view fully disassembled

Volume and test control bracket - severely bent up

After disassembling the cabinet, I focused my efforts on cleaning up the bottom inside area. This is where the AC power components (mounted on a piece of plywood) and the main game PCB boards are installed. I was able to really cut back on the amount of AC power components there were in the cabinet since many of them were used to feed the old power supply board that I replaced with a switching power supply converter kit. This really cleaned up the area well, and even gave me a nice place to mount the switching power supply. I took apart the whole assembly to sweep off 25 years of dust and grime, and to organize it a bit better. Here are some more pictures of the progress.

AC Power assembly board without components replaced by Switcher kit

Components replaced by Switcher kit - not longer needed!

AC power assembly board all cleaned up and put back into the cabinet.

Here’s the “guts” of the game all cleaned up and ready to go!

Another shot of the inside bottom of the cabinet.

Closeup of the Switcher Converter kit mounted on the cabinet wall where the old Power Supply used to be.

By Stern, 1982

STATUS: No Longer In the Collection

Post from old site last updated 1/19/2004

Over the next few weeks I will be moving content from my old site for historical purposes. These posts will highlight games from past Jeffsgames lineups.

Description of game:

You’re an escaped convict going back to the mines to get some stolen money hidden in there. Cops are everywhere and have no mercy. Fun game that is very challenging

Different games that this cabinet plays:

Bagman was the only PCB that I had for this cabinet. If I would have been able to find a Super Bagman PCB I could have swapped it in to play.

How I got it:

I got this game in my March 2000 bulk buy. It worked as soon as I plugged it in. The inside of the cabinet had virtually no dust, but the outside could use new yellow paint. The sideart only has a few small nicks, but the control panel is made with a clear plex overlay that has yellowed over time. I also got a set of NOS sideart with it which I sold to another Bagman collector since the sideart on this cab looks fine. The only problem with the NOS sideart is that the adhesive that holds protective paper on the face of the sideart has deteriorated, and the paper is difficult to remove. To cleanly remove it, you would probably have to use an adhesive remover like Oops!

Here are a couple shots of the NOS Sideart I had:

One problem I did end up having was that there was a funny jerking in the animation of each player when they moved. I tried to reseat the roms and other socketed chips but it didn’t help. I replaced the PCB and it worked great!

What it still needed when I sold it:

Really, this game was in great shape. It could use some touch up paint on the yellow sides, but that’s really about it. A Super Bagman PCB would fit in really nice also.

Who has it now:

Sold it to the owner of Stormy Records in Detroit, who is now enjoying it. He is already playing better than I ever did.

Final Thoughts:

I really like this game. It’s very hard, and I have to admit I’ve never cleared the first level. Needed the space for games that I am a little better at.

Personal High Score:

19,310 (I know, pretty pathetic!)

Bagman Links:

KLOV Bagman Page

Flyer:

- As shown on the Arcade Flyer Archive!

Screen Shots:

Galaga by Bally/Midway, 1981

STATUS:No Longer In the Collection

Originally when purchased:

Final Restoration:

Description of game:

Unofficial sequal to Galaxian, this is one of the most popular classic arcade games. Can’t count how many people have asked if I can find one for them. This cabinet is even more popular because it is a cocktail style cabinet, which is easier to keep in your home.

Different games that this cabinet plays:

Can also play Mappy and maybe some others. Not too sure.

How I got it:

When I purchased this I thought it was a Mappy. I got it home, turned it on, and the monitor came on but the game was dead. Found a power plug not connected that had some charring on it, cleaned it off, plugged it in and BOOM! Galaga!

Restoration Details (Completed 3/19/2000)

When I began the restoraton, the game is not in terrible shape, but it was in a Mappy cabinet. I’m not sure if they used exactly the same cabinets, but this one seems a little different. There are more grills (vents) and a wider opening over the control panels than my new underlay had. Probably later product enhancements but I’m not sure. I purchased new cocktail graphics (reproduction). Below is a picture of what it look like before I began.

As you can see, it didn’t look too bad. Obviously, the graphics had to be changed. I also needed to remove the lockbar. Inside, the game was still in great shape, just needed cleaned up. The only step that I did not do to this machine is to replace the woodgrain vinyl. Here’s what needed to be done for this restoration:

1. Remove all old Mappy graphics
2. Sandblast and paint all black metal parts (glass clips, coin door, control panels, vents, and speaker grills).
3. Remove lockbar and fill holes
4. Clean out interior
5. Install new cocktail graphics
6. Install new 3/4″ T-molding. The 1″ t-molding was still in good shape, and was a little difficult to find at the time.
7. Trade for a nice Tempest!!!

This game already was fully functional. The boardset had the Namco ROMs in it. I’ve already played it for hours and it works great. The monitor had just been recapped by my good friend Jeff Bovee (before I started doing my own cap kits). The picture looked great! Has anyone ever noticed that every time you move a cocktail, the monitor needs degaussed. After a while it ends up degaussing itself. It’s a good thing, because I’ve been too cheap to buy a degaussing coil!

Step 1: Remove old Mappy graphics

Well, luckily the top glass was clear with a Mappy underlay. The only thing I had to do to remove it is to remove the glass clips and pull the glass off the top. The control panel overlays were another story. After a little time with a heat gun and a scrapper, they were removed. Below is the player 2 overlay.

I saved them in case anyone was interested in making reproductions for this. They are not in the greatest shape as you can see, but with a little cleanup they will be fine. I ended up giving them to Jeff Rothe of Rotheblog

Step 2: Remove metal parts for painting

I removed the control panels, coin door, glass clips, and speaker grills for repainting. After looking closer at the coin door, I decided to skip doing it and just touch it up. At the time I thought that there would be way too much that I could mess up by sandblasting and baking the coin door. There really was only one small spot that needed paint. Here are a few pics of what it looks like when you remove these parts:

What a mess of parts! Below is a shot of the graphics that were to be installed later. They were very nice!

I took the parts in to work and sandblasted them during my lunch. I then phosphate coated them (for paint adhesion and corrosion resistance) and baked on a nice black paint. You’d need a sandblaster to strip them!

Step 3: Rebuild the control panels

Once the parts are painted, I could apply the new control panel overlays. The hardest part of this step is to get the overlay on straight. I actually forgot to mark on the joystick which way was up, but luckily I guessed correctly on both panels!

Step 4: Clean out cabinet and rebuild

Finally time to rebuild the cab. I took time to sweep out every area possible. I figured that there was a either a broken top glass or broken monitor in it at one point since there was broken glass still in the cabinet. I also wiped down the entire cabinet, trying to remove any leftover dust on the outside. It sure builds up on a cabinet in 18 years or so. I then reinstalled the pieces and the new top glass underlay. Finally, I applied the new t-molding and the game looked great!

Without t-molding.

Complete, with new t-molding installed

Step 5: Final testing and approval

The last step! I had to get an expert to try out the game to make sure everything worked properly!

What it still needed when it left my collection:

It could still use new vinyl over the wood to really make it look new, but that project is for the new owner.

Who has it now:

Traded it to Brian Penzone for a Tempest. I did see that it ended up on Ebay and sold for what I thought it would. Brian definitely got the better of me in the trade. The Tempest was not really in good shape. The monitor failed shortly after I got it. Then the PCB failed. I finally sold it after having it repaired just to get rid of it. Oh well, I wanted to have a Tempest really bad. I’m also a little disappointed that I didn’t get to be the one to give the Galaga to the final owner.

Links:

KLOV Galaga Page

Screen Shots:

I’ve owned two different Stargate cabinets since I’ve been collecting. The first cabinet was obtained in a bulk buy in 1999. I still have this cabinet and it is going to be a restoration project. It was actually a dead Do Run Run when I got it. Over the years I picked up a pcb set, monitor bezel, marquee and control panel for it. I got the second in another bulk buy in February 2003. The second was in much better shape. It was a Choplifter conversion. I ended up selling it soon after I got it, since it was working.

First Cabinet (1999):

Second Cabinet (2003):

This may end up being a good project. I’ve always liked Williams games, but I’d rather have a Robotron! Given my limited space I’m not going to be keeping this game long-term. I may sell/trade it for another project or game if the right offer came along. If not, I’ll probably restore it some day, then sell or trade it for a Robotron.

KLOV Links:

Stargate

Choplifter

Screen Shots:

Stargate:

Choplifter:

Just passed 200K for the first time ever in Donkey Kong! Settled in for a nice 234,600. 300K, here I come!

By Centuri, 1980

Post converted from old site, last revised 2/19/2008

Description of game:

Phoenix is a great “shooter” game that is one of the earliest shooters with different waves of ships for each level. There are five levels per round, and each one is different. The game starts out with a formation of fast moving, smaller birds. In the first level your ship fires at a slower rate. These smaller birds fly in formation above your ship. Birds will break formation and fly down towards your ship, firing shots back at you (similar to Galaga). The second level is similar, but the pace is faster and your ship fires much faster. The third and fourth levels have larger birds that hatch from flying eggs, and fly back and forth across the screen as they descend towards your ship. These birds must be hit in the center of their bodies, or they just lose a wing. In the final level you face off against the Mothership, where you must shoot through and destroy the alien leader in the middle of the ship, all while avoiding the continuing attack of the smaller bird formation above the ship. The farther down the mothership is on the screen when you shoot the alien, the higher your bonus score. The game then repeats the five levels in each future round, with increasing difficulty.

How I got it:

This one has a great story. A friend of mine decided to throw himself a 30th birthday party. A bunch of us went to an indoor go karting track that was about an hour away that we found on the Internet. When we got there, I noticed the black silouette of an arcade game out in the track building, covered in black tire rubber dust. I reconized it as a Phoenix. After talking to the owner I learned that it started smoking one day in their arcade years ago, so they threw it out there to get it out of the way. Since they didn’t want it, and I grew up playing one just like it, I worked out a way to pick it up the next week for my collection!

Recent repairs:

When I got it home, I had to figure out what to do to get it running. First and foremost I had to clean off all of the tire rubber that covered it from years of storage next to an indoor go kart track.

  

After cleaning it off both inside and outside, I started working on getting it to run. While inspecting the wiring I found that at one point someone tried to hook up a credit button on the coin door. However, to wire it they used Romex wiring (yes, the 14-3 solid copper wiring). I also noticed that there was a ton of additional build up of rubber, dust, and other stuff inside. The monitor was also different than any other I’ve come across in a color game. Not sure what model it is. The monitor chasis is mounted on a piece of plywood. Strange.

I rewired the credit button (since it was already drilled and mounted) and cleaned out the game further. I cleaned all the wiring connections as well. The game fired right up after that! The monitor was nice and sharp and the game worked perfectly. It really looks nice, except for the normal wear on the control panel overlay. The side art looks fantastic! It seems very durable.

What it still needs:

This game could use a new CPO to really make it look nice. However, the one on it isn’t too bad so I can live with it.

Final Thoughts:

This is a great classic that I played a ton when I was younger. It also has one of the best stories of my collection. Glad to have this game in the collection, and the kids love it!

Phoenix Links:

KLOV Phoenix Page

Four Player JAMMA Cabinet by Jeffsgames, 1998

Page content originally published 1/27/2004 (Project Completed 1998)

I’ve had a number of requests over the last few years to describe in better detail how I made this cabinet. It’s a great project and was a lot of fun to do. It’s also one that I can continue to make more adapters to have more games to play in it.

How Did I Start?

I had a small bulk buy years ago of 5-6 games. It was one of my first buys, and so I was a bit excited to get what I could. OK, I still act that way today even after collecting for about eight years. Anyway, since I had a couple cabinets that were in bad shape and not worth keeping I thought I’d try to build a nice four player cabinet. Didn’t have the money for a dedicated 25" model, and I thought it would be a fun project. I had a horizontal JAMMA cabinet that I sold to someone to get some cash for this buy so I didn’t have any cabinet to play JAMMA games in at the time.

The Anatomy of a Control Panel

As I was brainstorming the design of the cabinet and control panel, I listed out the games that I knew I would want the cabinet to play properly. The list ended up being pretty diverse and added some complication to the project. I wanted to play Street Fighter 2 and possibly other fighting games in it (2 joysticks/6 buttons each). I knew Smash TV was the biggest priority (4 joysticks/no buttons). And of course, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and NBA Jam (4 joysticks/2-3 buttons each). I decided to arrange the control panel as you see in the following pictures. The key design factors on it are that the left and right pairs of joysticks had to be on the same horizontal axis so Smash TV could be played properly. It is a two player game that uses two joysticks per player. The left joystick moves the player, the right joystick fires in eight directions - just like Robotron! I also needed three buttons per joystick "station" for four player games. Finally, I needed two stations with six buttons each, preferably in the center of the panel. No easy task!

To make such a versitle control panel, I took an idea from the console collecting days. Console games solved this problem by having a variety of controllers that could be purchased and used to play specialized games. Coleco had the Turbo controller, and the trackball controller. Atari had keyboard controllers, light guns, and other types of controllers. I didn’t want to make multiple control panels, so I decided to make multiple controllers in one control panel. From that idea I make four "controllers" - two single joystick, six button controllers, and two single joystick, three button controllers. I wired them each up to a male db15 connector like those found on PC controllers, all using the same wiring configuration. I adapted the JAMMA harness in the cabinet to match up to this configuration by wiring in Player One and Player Two db15 female connectors. This design worked well with the first three buttons of each controller for Players One and Two, which is in the JAMMA standard. As for the additional players or buttons, I would have to come up with some adapters to fill out the inputs. More on that below. With the "controllers" interchangable to the JAMMA harness, I’m able to play any game from any station that has the correct number of buttons just by plugging that station into the JAMMA harness. Pretty simple, huh?

Here are a few pictures and illustrations of the parts and wiring scheme I used. I used "solder cup" connectors, and plastic connector hoods, mainly because they were the lowest cost. A great place for these is Cyberguys.

Here’s the pinout for the db15 connectors I used as a standard. Note that the two controllers that only have three buttons do not use pins 8-10. Below are pictures of the parts I used.

To build the cabinet I used the side panels from an old Kangaroo cabinet that I had. The cabinet was falling apart and not worth saving. Ended up being pretty easy to do. It was shaped like it was to make it easier to construct and to fit a High Impact control panel overlay I picked up for it. I would rather have a different final shape, but it seems to work fine. Still a bit cramped when four adults are playing NBA Jam together, but not too bad.

As you can see from the picture above, it ends up being a rat’s nest of wiring. The next time I make a panel there are a couple things I’d do differently. First, I would add "coin buttons" to the bottom side of the CP instead of the front of the cabinet above the coin door (see picture and section below). Second, I would solder the wires directly to the switches instead of using crimp blade connectors. Finally, I would use longer runs of wire and route them along a common path to clean up the mess and to make the plugs able to reach farther from the control panel to ease attaching the panel to the cabinet.

Prepare Cabinet

The cabinet that I used was an old Stern cabinet that was in the style of Tutankham. Not sure what the original game was that was in the cabinet. It was a rough conversion to an Exerion that did not work. I stripped the cabinet down, cleaned it out, and primed and painted it. I bought a set of NBA Jam Tournament Edition artwork from RGVAC a while ago, so I decided that a red cabinet would look really cool with the artwork. Got a High Impact CPO to put on that actually looked really cool with the NBA Jam graphics.

One note about the cabinet that makes this such a great multi-game cabinet - it has PCB access from the front of the cabinet!

Since I knew that many of the games that would be played in this cabinet are the classic "quarter eater" games like TMNT, I put credit buttons on the front of the cabinet above the door. I used red buttons which blend in really well with the cabinet and most people don’t even know they are there.

I then installed a horizontal monitor, a new Jamma harness with DB15 connectors on the Player One and Two inputs, and the NBA Jam artwork. I had to cut a couple notches out of the cabinet the allow the control panel that I built to sit securely on the front of the cabinet. I really lucked out that the cabinet was not front heavy due to the size and weight of the control panel. I do know that I can tip it easily if I do not have a good grip with my two-wheel cart.

Game-Specific Control Adapter Harnesses

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition

NBA Jam

Smash TV

Here’s what the boards look like installed in the cabinet:

Final Thoughts

Well, the cabinet really fits in well with my collection. It can play many of the games that I really don’t have room for dedicated machines. I would still love to get a 25" Smash TV cabinet though!. Really I would say that as a first go, this cabinet came out great. It is very popular when friends come over to play. The control panel is a bit big which causes some difficulty in laying out the gameroom so I can get 4 players around the game. I think that I will probably do another one of these now that I know what I’m doing. Preferrably if I can get a 25" Konami or Midway cabinet to do it in. I would also love to come up with a better looking shape for the control panel. It fits well with the graphics of this cabinet, but I like the angled control panels a bit better.

Let me know if you have any questions or want additional details. I would love to hear if anyone decides to do a similar project. Email Me if you do!

STATUS: Playable in the Arcade - THIS GAME IS FOR SALE/TRADE

From time to time I will be copying in some of the old history and content from my old site. This post contains the general information This game was converted/built by jeffsgames in 1998

Description of game:

This is a home built four player JAMMA cabinet I built so I can play a few JAMMA PCB’s since I did not have full uprights for each. It was easy to do, didn’t take much more than a few common tools and a soldering iron, and is one of the favorite games for visitors to my arcade. I’ll publish a post a bit later detailing the work that I did.

Different games that this cabinet plays:

This cabinet can play basically any horizontal display JAMMA game that uses one or more joysticks for controls. Currently I play Smash TV, Street Fighter 2, TMNT, and NBA Jam. This game is a home-made conversion from an old Stern cabinet (probably Tutankham). The cab was already ruined, so I don’t feel too bad. The control panel was made from an old Kangaroo cab (also already ruined). I built it so the left and right pairs of P1-4 joysticks would be aligned horizontally with each other. The outside stations (P1 & P4) have 3 buttons each, and the inside stations (P2 & P3) have 6 each for Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, or whatever JAMMA+ game I want. My goal was to get a Smash TV board and can play it with my control panel. The cab has a really cool door at the bottom front that allows me to swap pcb’s without moving the game away from the wall.

How I got it

Picked both cabinets up with some other games in a small bulk buy. The Tut cabinet had Exerion installed in it, and was not working. It was also a poorly done conversion, with no original parts left on it. Even the metal marquee brackets were replaced with cheap plastic ones. The Kangaroo cabinet was even worse. It had Super Basketball in it. However, the structure of the cabinet was so severely damaged that I planned to cut it up and throw it out. Seemed a shame to waste the side panels at the time, so I made the control panel for this conversion out of them. Sold both PCB’s from them and stripped the cabinets for this project.

Repairs Made:

After the initial build, I did a few minor repairs to it. I changed the plugs for each joystick to db15 connectors so I can swap them around for different control configurations (see 3rd pic on the left). At the same time, I wired a couple of extra harnesses to go to Players 3 and 4 so I can have all four stations active in NBA Jam. I added some t-molding. In June 1998, the monitor went out on me. I just recapped it and replaced some transistors and it worked fine. Thanks to Bob Roberts for the parts.

What it still needs:

- NBA TE Kit or PCB (to match the graphics)
- Make Better Bezel
- Repaint the Coin Door
- Plex to cover Marquee
- Wire the Coin Door (including lights)

- New control panel (something better looking and more usable in the gameroom)

Final Thoughts:

Great cab to play all of those games that don’t deserve their own dedicated cab! I sometimes feel guilty for liking some of the more “modern” games, but oh well. A 4 -layer game of NBA Jam is great!

Links:

KLOV NBA Jam
KLOV Smash TV
KLOV Street Fighter II - Champion Edition
KLOV Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Screen Shots:

I just got word that I am going to be picking up a Donkey Kong Jr. cabinet very soon! I’ve wanted to pick up a Nintendo cabinet for this restoration for some time. I’ve slowly been gathering all the pieces I need to restore one. I have the game PCB, a set of new sideart, a complete control panel, and a marquee. What I will need is a monitor bezel, which is on the cabinet I will be getting, and a wiring harness. More to come…

I’m really increasing my score now, as I am beginning to learn some of the skills and tips from other players. I hit 193,800 this weekend! BUT…just like Steve Wiebe has Billy Mitchell, I have jsquared (KLOV name) who has to keep one step ahead of me. He just sent me notification of his 208,400 score. I’m coming for you Jodey!