When I was a kid in the arcade I would spend my quarters like they were going out of style.
One game I was good at was Championship Sprint by Atari. I believe it was Super Sprint that my local arcade had first and eventually that was swapped out for Championship Sprint.
I eventually forgot all about arcades, and almost 30 years later I began collecting them. I forgot the name of my 'racing game' and many others but eventually as I got deeper into the hobby, it all came back to me. I never thought I would find a Championship Sprint though.
About 3 weeks ago, I was headed to a warehouse (of sorts) to see if I could score a cabaret cabinet, I wasn't expecting to leave with anything having been there before. A few months earlier I got my Pole Position form the same guy. When I walked in, the first cabinet I saw was none other than Championship sprint. Well, it wasn't working but aside from A LOT of water damage and a missing power supply it was complete.
I made the
and raced home with my soggy new arcade!
It went straight into the back yard, I have no garage so I thought I would dry it out before bringing it in.
As you can see it was dark when I bought it so I didn't really give it a good survey when I bought it...
the next moring showed me the true condition... it was not pretty.
Like most of us I have watched John (and a few others perform their bondo magic and make old look new again... but due to swelling I didn't think this was the way to go.
I ended up re-watching his pac-man cabaret restore video, and the episode where he fixed the corner with dowels and a new piece of wood.
I thought I would give that a whirl, or this cabinet would be a total loss.
After surveying just what to do I realized this was going to be a terrible project - with fall around the corner I had only a few days left before rain and wind forced me to see if my wife would let me bring this in the house. *not likely.
The next morning I bought a sheet of malimine and everything I needed to get it done.
I started by removing the hardware:
I even labelled the wires - something which I rarely have the forethought to do!
I pulled the CP and the monitor.
The Transformer, Light, Fan, coin door and the very rough gas petals too...
My hot tub made a perfect place to store things from glass to the cardboard bezel and the PCB too!
Before getting started I cleaned the inside of the cab, the wires had stuff on them - Mold? Plague? who knows... I cleaned them very well with a toothbrush. This was also a way for me to avoid cutting this up as I was very nervous.
Ready for the amputation?
What have I done?!
As you can see things escalated quickly! I got nervous as the front came off too.
Time to Fabricate replacement parts.
Unlike John, I was drinking beer all day while doing this... at this point the sun had gone down and I didn't trust I would have all my fingers if I continued so I decided to go to bed.
The following day I was hung over, and in a hurry because rain was forcasted for late afternoon so I had to get this together and I didn't take photos of the assembly but, I used dowels, glue, melamine screws, and of course the plywood floor and lower back piece.
As you can see I skipped the multi-tier shelves in the coin door area... NOT EXACT I know But hey, it is better than it was.
After moving inside I started bondo work... I was very careful with how much was used...
*I know why John is so happy all the time now... those bondo fumes... I have been considering becoming a Huffer!
On to paint... Oil based malimine paint... I masked off the side art. because it is not HORRIBLE and I dont want to spend that kind of money on a sticker... maybe later though.
I didn't take pictures of me cleaning the CP and oiling up the steering wheels.
nor did I photograph the sanding and spray painting of the gas pedals...
After all was said and done here she is all put back together...
There she is! Lets call that a successful restore. Not up to John's standards but it was my first...
I am pleased wit hte cosmetics...
Sadly after all of that I have monitor AND PCB issues... I will save all of that for another post in another section.
