John's Arcade Forum - Classic Arcade and Pinball Collecting and Restoring Discussion Forum - RETRO MAME - Nintendo Vs Forum

Well, after a couple of years of sitting back and wanting to get my feet wet in this hobby, I finally did it this weekend.  It's been discouraging somewhat trying to find some affordable classic games such as Donkey Kong etc... so I said screw it and found some games that I would normally not have been interested in.  I just wanted something to start working on at this point to get my hands dirty and start learning so this is what I picked up.  The games are Operation Thunderbolt (2 cabs), World Rally (upright), Monaco GP (cockpit), Cruisin USA (sit down) and Daytona USA (sit down).  The funny thing is that I was never heavily into racing games before.  Maybe it was because they were usually 50 cents to play.  Lol.  The Cruisin USA and Daytona USA will probably be cool to have.  My 9 year old son will like them too.  They pretty much all need work but are complete machines.  I actually got the Operational Thunderbolt running but with no sound but at least I have two cabinets full of parts to work with so I can at least get one working fully I'm sure.  I think the World Rally has a shot power supply but I will be testing the voltages etc... today.  Kind of learning as I go.  The Monaco GP is pretty much playing blind except for a coloured vertical line right down the middle of the screen.  The good thing is that the entire LED panel is fully functional.  I will check the monitor over the best I can and verify voltages and make sure all the connectors are secure.  Otherwise I guess I start with a cap kit if I can find one for that monitor.  The tube says A63AGD01X.  I will try to find some numbers on the chassis.  The cruisin USA is functional but the 25" monitor is not working.  He told me it needs a cap kit.  I did some searching and it looks like I need to order a U5000 cap kit for that monitor.  Not 100% sure though but the chassis says Wells-Gardner 25K5108.  Apparently the Daytona USA also requires a cap kit but I still have to take the back off and check things out further.  Anyways, I will post a couple of photos of the loaded trailer.  I wanted a Golden Tee but didn't have any room left.  I will be picking that one up hopefully in the spring.

I need to clean these cabs up a lot so do you guys gut the cabinet (pull all the PCB's, Monitor, power supply etc..) and clean them or try to clean them while they are intact?  I'm guessing that I should pull everything so I can clean all the parts properly as well as the cabinet.  Any opinions or tips would be great.  Thanks for reading and stay tuned for future posts as I'm sure I w :)ill have lots of questions.   ;D

Robert
(http://digitalorange.ca/arcade/IMG_5326.JPG)
(http://digitalorange.ca/arcade/IMG_5329.JPG)

Congrats and welcome to the madness!

Thanks John.  It's a good thing I've been watching your videos for the past 2 years.  At least I've learned a little from watching but it's always a totally different story when you start doing it yourself.  I'm going to have to go back and watch some again.   ;)

Wow - Congratulations on the finds.  I'm not there yet but hope to later this year.  Good luck and happy gaming!

You'll never leave....bruhahahahahhaha

welcome.

Awesome! I really like that Monaco gp cockpit

Thanks and good luck with your future finds!

Robert

Lol.  I'm still excited and go out into the garage to check them out all the time.  I'm still giving them a quick cleaning and making sure there's no hidden animals in the cabinets before I bring them into my home.  When I pulled into the driveway my wife came out and looked at me with a "WTF" expression and then said "I hope you're planning on selling these things right?".  Haha.  Oh man, she has no idea.  Lol.

I know, I love it too.  Even if I get it all working and I hate the game, I'll still probably keep it just because it's a cool cockpit cab.  Lol.

TWO YEARS?!?

I barely waited 2 months before I couldn't take it anymore and bought a broken Dig Dug cocktail machine to fix.  ;D

Congrats on the pick-ups though.  It looks like you'll be busy for a while.


Stan

Haha.  I was looking all this time for some good deals and I did build a Mame cabinet in the meantime if that counts for anything.  The machines have been keeping me busy for sure.  I am learning lots but it's a slow process.  I have the Operation Thunderbolt working and that's about it so far.  I am rebuilding all the monitor chassis right now so my long and forgotten soldering skills are coming back to me.  Lol.  I also picked up a Golden Tee Fore Complete but the power supply is shot so i just ordered a new one.  I also purchased a Time Crisis and an empty Silver Strike Bowling.  I purchased all the internal hardware separately for the Silver Strike and everything works so I just need to install it in the cabinet and it should be good to go assuming the monitor has no issues.  Fun times.  ; )