Jess' Arcade Restoration

The first thing I did to start off this restoration project was do some research. I found some great sites that are dedicated to arcade restorations and collections.

Arcade Restoration Workshop - The name says it all.

Dave's Classic Arcade - Great personal restoration and collector site

Mike's Arcade - Good place for Nintendo arcade parts.

Arcade Amusements Shop - Excellent site for arcade parts.

After some research, I started to take apart the outside of the cabinet. I unscrewed the upper marquee bracket and removed the marquee. I removed the back cover (lock was broken and it was held in by two screws). I pulled the bezel bar from the back of the cabinet to release and remove the bezel. I unlatched the clips underneath the control panel to remove it.



Here is a shot of the inside after removing the back cover:



The power supply has two plug outlets. The monitor is plugged into one outlet. The light fixture was plugged into the other outlet. The light wasn't turning on, so I thought it was a blown bulb. After buying a new bulb, I found out that the power supply only outputs at 100V, which means it can't power the monitor and light at the same time. The solution was to strip the light fixture power cord and attach it directly to the power supply. One end to the 0V (black) and one end to the 120V (white):



Now it lights up just fine.

Even though I am planning on replacing the control panel overlay and the buttons, I couldn't help but to clean the 20+ years of dirt and grime that has accumulated. I took out the leaf switch buttons and the joystick to clean them:



I was lucky that the wiring was all organized and attached to the board.



The joystick was pretty nasty and it took a good couple of hours to get it clean. I still have to sand some of the rust off. I spray painted the stick metallic silver because some of the original finish had peeled off.



The two blue buttons are for 1-player and 2-player. The orange button is for jump. They have some serious wear and burns on them. These will probably be the first replacement parts I order.

Here is a shot of what's left of the side art on the cabinet:



I'm going to have to buy replacement side art, but that will be one of the last things I do since I have to strip, sand, patch, sand, prime, and paint both sides.

Well, that's all I've done for now. After I finish these things up, I'm going to try and sand and patch the sides of the cabinet and take out all the t-molding.