arcade machine

All posts tagged arcade machine

Pole Position Restoration – Rear speakers

Posted by Andrew Burch on September 22, 2013
Posted in: Pole Position 2 Restoration. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

One of the small things on my to do list was to repaint the rear speak grills. They were looking worn and faded and with some small attention could be made to look as good as new again. Since I had the rear of the machine on it’s side (working on the shifter), I figured I could do this at the same time.

I removed the bracket holding the rear acrylic in placed, and then the two screws holding the back panel to the machine. There were cobwebs and dust everywhere, so a quick once over with the vacuum tidied it up nicely.


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Pole Position Restoration – Research & Monitor

Posted by Andrew Burch on September 8, 2013
Posted in: Pole Position 2 Restoration. Tagged: , , , , , , . 2 comments

The first two weeks of owning the Pole Position II machine was mostly spent playing it 🙂 It’s been a lot of fun and the kids (especially my son) are enjoying it.

As I mentioned in the previous post, there are a lot of little things that need attention on the machine. Nothing critical – the game plays fine – but can be given a huge visual boost with some attention. What I needed to do first was some research on pole position machines and find a starting point.

I spent a few nights hitting Google with a lot of search queries to find out all I could about the machine. The one I have is the Namco version and not as common as the Atari version – making artwork sourcing much more difficult (if not impossible). I was able to track down photos taken of similar machines at Aussie Arcade (where I hang out a lot) and a second link with some excellent photos taken from several angles (here).

With the images downloaded, I had them printed out and put them into my research notebook. On my previous projects I’ve made a point of keeping notes and research together in a printed format that I can access while in the garage working. It’s handy to have the information within arms reach, and also reference to spot smaller details that don’t always jump out the first time you see the photos.

Research
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Pole Position Restoration – Metal brackets

Posted by Andrew Burch on September 8, 2013
Posted in: Pole Position 2 Restoration. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

One of the first tasks I wanted to complete was restoring the metal brackets used on the exterior of the Pole Position machine.
The are three metal brackets in total that needed some attention. The first sits above bezel holding the screen acrylic in place. The second sits at the base of the rear tinted acrylic holding it in place. The final sits at the back, covering a wood join. These all had chipped paint and one had some rust setting in. The screws holding them in place were also getting some rust and had lost their nice black appearance. So time to strip them back and repaint!

Brackets
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Cab Project #5 – Pole Position Restoration

Posted by Andrew Burch on August 28, 2013
Posted in: Pole Position 2 Restoration. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Since finishing my last project, I’ve been itching to get onto something new.

My first desire to was to build a Tempest upright from scratch or source an original machine in need of some love and restore it. Lack of available Tempest machines (for restoration) and vector monitors + game boards (for a scratch build) has put that plan on hold – for now. I did investigate Tempest VectorVGA as an alternative but the price was off putting and in the end they are not making any more. Unable to locate an existing unit for sale left that at a dead end.

Another project I’ve been considering is building a Galaxian machine. The artwork is awesome and it would complement my Galaga machine nicely. I have most of the planning for this sorted and a parts list constructed.

I even began investigating the construction of a lowboy as they are quite popular and I have a nice 68cm TV sitting here that would be perfect with a new chassis for arcade gaming.

But I was then distracted by a Pole Position 2 cab a few weeks back that was for sale on the Aussie Arcade forums. This struck me as an interesting project to work on. It was mostly there – just needed some attention. I was pretty excited about the prospect of it being my next project. Sadly I just missed out on it.

Amazingly, another one shows up a few weeks later, and within driving distance too!.

Although lacking some things like original side part, bezel artwork and dashboard – it’s mostly there and contains a working Pole Position 2 PCB. I picked it up over the weekend brought it home.

Side 1
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Cab Project #4 – Multigame Cocktail

Posted by Andrew Burch on July 14, 2013
Posted in: Multigame Cocktail. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

This project was completed about a month ago and i’ve been a little slack in getting the posts up for it. But here they are – Project #4.

After a bit of a break from building machines, I was recently contacted about building a new cocktail cabinet. I had hopped to do a space invaders or frogger cocktail next, but this request was for multigame style artwork – so that’s what this will be.

After some investigation into artwork and what the new owner wanted, I ended up settling on this model:


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