This was some case! When I got it, the old warhorse was filthy, inside and out, but I sensed a gem. I had seen it twice before, scouting out my other machines and couldn’t believe it hadn’t been taken by the time I needed a new project!

     I carefully removed and junked the old tube, and gutted the box for parts, much of which went back in. This one made me shake my head…it was the right design to be an original, but why repaint the lovely crème finish in black? Could have been modified from another game, sure, but there was no doubt…this one was going to be fully restored!

     Up top, you've got the old standard case on the left, and my remodded MAME case on the right.  This case was such a sweet deal to work with!  I did have to build more of a control panel front end to make it long enough for everything I wanted to do with it.

     Anyway, on this box I used my new standard layout.  Full six button per player, rectangular coin up in place (buttons left over from the Rockcade!), two eight-way sticks and mouse trackball, and flipper/plunger buttons.  I even included a second four-way stick tied to the Player One stick for the oldest games that played better with a four-way.

     The original art on the sides was mostly good, so I spray painted around it. I gave the entire case a fine sanding, a gray primer layer, and finally a satin cream-coat that was supposedly the exact shade of the original. I kept the original marquee but replaced the light bulbs with a glow-tube for safety and heat concerns. The “T-molding”, that’s the orange plastic edging that had been painted over black, was replaced with brand new, flexible stuff…I found a supplier on the Internet!

     I thought about trying to touch up the original glass bezel, but it would have been impossible to match the colors. In the end, I sadly had to scrape it all off the glass with a razor blade, and replace it with a printed paper and cardboard one, though the final effect was stunning.

     On this box, I started making a finished compartment behind the coin door, and simply removing most of the internal coin mechanism. I’m not one of those purist that insists the coin mech must stay and work properly…it really is cheaper to build in some coin buttons and use the space behind it for housekeeping issues.

     This machine also got a custom wallpaper for the operating system desktop, including the new owner’s first name, which I think is a cool finishing touch to have on your game. I bartered this one into a installed sliding glass patio door on the back of my house, and the new owner got it in time for a fabulous Christmas present for this family!  But you know me, by that time I was busy thinking of the NEXT machine...

     Click on PacMan to go back to the main Arcade!