Galaxian... operation 'back to life' ...WIP

[level42]

Great work Bruno !!!!

I'm so glad I found all your info about this, since I recently bought a Galaxian as well ! My serial number is 0815  !!!!

I saw you have 16.. what are the other serial numbers ?

My cab is SO old it still had the ORIGINAL black-leathered T-molding. First I thought this wasn't original, because I've always seen the famous green t-molding. But it IS original. Check out the Midway flyers of Galaxian.....that's the proof. That plus the fact that the T-molding on my cab was also nailed down exactly like yours.

About the marquee lighting: the Galaxion operations- and parts manual states that from serial nr. 3000 the bulb were used instead of the TL lighting. Mine has TL as well.
Lot of difference in current use ! (don't know how much watt the bulbs are)

My side art and kick plate look pretty good. I just painted the inside with a new layer of black.
I also have a WG K4500. There is burn-in, but it doesn't show while playing. However, there's bad convergence problems.....I've ordered a cap-kit and will try that first. If I can't fix it, I will take a TV like you did !

I don't know how to say this, but you made a little mistake while re-assembling the joystick: The dust-washer should go UNDER the Control Panel Overlay.....yikes  !

To make up a bit: You can get a brand new Midway Coin door plate from http://www.arcadeshop.com/parts.htm

Look for Midway Coin Door Logo Part #2 (Gold)
Here's a picture:
http://www.arcadeshop.com/pics/midway-logo-plate.jpg

It's 15 bucks, but worth it I think. I will be ordering from arcadeshop.com soon ( also that plate) so maybe we can combine the order (I am from The Netherlands).


Please have a look at :
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=61246.0

There's lots of pictures and info about my Galaxian.

Thanks !

P.S. Which size in cm's were those TV's ?

[DarthNuno]

Thanks Level42  

Yes, the serial on the three Galaxian are :

- 1691, the lowest one  

- 5xxx if I remember well (I don't have that cab' anymore, I sold it to a collector)

- 22577 is the serial of cab that is becoming a Pac Man cab.

Oh my god, you've a very low serial number   Congrats  

Regarding the marquee lighting, you're right : the 1691 SN cab has TL lighting, and the two others cabs ( 5xxx & 22577 ) have bulbs.
For information, in the SN 22577 there is a bulb of 40w and a bulb of 60W...

You're right with the black T-molding too. The pictures of the Galaxian cab shows black T-molding.

Don't bother you with hard fix on your monitor... If the CapKit can't fix your monitor problems, go with a brand new TV. You'll use true RGB signal from your PCB for a PERFECT arcade picture.

I use TV equal to 19" in theory, but in practise you'll find tv from 48 to 51 cm diagonale size, and it will fit every games that originally use a 19" monitor.

I've just buy a brand new tv three days ago for 126€. It already in the pacman cab and it's working like a charm. Stay tuned few days, I'll update my pacman WIP post and you'll see all the details    

Funny, I've just buy another brand new TV this morning for... 109€

Yes, I still have to go with 2 Midway Coin Door Logo

   I'll check your link, thanks for it  

Yes, I saw the post on arcadecontrols, I check that website almost every day ;-)

Keep an eye on the Pac Man post, you'll find the instruction step by step for putting a new TV into a Midway cab    

[level42]

Thanks for your reply. yes I was extremely lucky to find this cab. It's my first classic (although I also have a Atari Dominos from 1976, but that's hardly a classic...there's no PCB in there either ) Apart from that I have my Mame cab of course and a Tehkan Pleiads cocktail that needs a LOT of restoration.....but all is on hold now, all my love and care is going into the Galaxian.  I actualy told the seller that the t-molding had been replaced since originaly it was green hahaha. He didn't know (and care), and I only found out it WAS original when I got it back home !

I am also lucky that it's in such great shape still, I've seen plenty on the internet but I think this one has one of the best kept side art I've seen so far, not that there is no damage at all, but it's not too bad either.....also no water damage or anything weird like that.

I started cleaning the backside yesterday and it's amazing how filthy those things are. Especialy the smoke filth seems to keep coming off layer after layer !

It's a bit weird with the monitors for us here in Europe...on one hand, it seems impossible to find a real monitor, on the other there are plenty of (ever cheaper) TV's around that work perfectly because of our brilliant SCART !
Indeed brand new TV's now are cheaper than the cheapest "real"  arcade monitors in the US

Thanks for the size info, I think I will try the capkit first, also to learn from it. If it won't help much, I'll get a TV for sure.

When I saw the picture from the first TV you used on the Galaxian (the Samsung) I instantly thought that this was bad syncing. Don't forget that arcade PCB's run at 60Hz, even here in Europe, and that TV's normaly expect 50 Hz here.....a little bit newer TV's can accept 60Hz without problem (or adjusting).

I'm so glad I found this thread, and I think it's great you always put up lots of pictures !! F.i. I also want to replace my CP art, althougt it's not terrible, a good new one will always be worth it. However, both sites I found it (quarterarcade.com and arcadeshop.com) have only tiny little pictures.(which is not very smart if you want to sell stuff IMHO....) I was worried if the repro's had the same structure (the shiny parts) in the vinyl, but from your pictures I can tell it looks great ! Do you think quarterarcade.com and arcadeshop.com sell the same  CPO
s? I personaly do think so.

Both are not very quick in response to e-mails I sent, only got 1 reply from www.arcadeshop.com

Also quarterarcade prices are sometimes better on e-bay (even the "Buy it now" price)

I am really interested in how the Pac Man turns out !!!

Also big compliments about your collection and your great work on transfering your garage to a great game room !
I am still struggeling with that.I have some space in my house I could use as game room, but they're all upstairs, and dragging cabs up there is a nightmare. So far, I only put my cocktail and Dominos up there. However the Dominos is pretty small, and it has a detachable marquee box, so it was pretty easy to turn on the stairs....o well, I will figure something out...

[level42]

A little more (sorry )

1) I noticed you have a Galaxian-art key hanger, did you make it yourself ?  That's a very nice touch !

2) Do you think the "bubbles" or bumbs in the paint of the coin door were original or are they there from rust ? (you may have noticed that while sanding it) . It's a bit of a shame that those "bubbles"  have to go, but it's still better than all the rust showing of course. Your pictures inspired me to restore all the metal parts myself. I have been looking to replace them with repro parts from mikesarcade.com or arcadeshop.com (I think a Galaga panel should work) but I just don't get replies from those guys....maybe still on holiday. I think I will have my metal parts powder coated. It's a bit costly, but it is very beautiful and will hardly ever wear of again....

3) I am in big doubt: I personaly LOVE the green T-molding. It really stands out so well on this cab. I also think it may have been one of the very first to actualy use a color on the T-molding. However, my other feelings so that I should keep my cab as original as possible. So I should go with the black-leather T-molding......I still don't know what to do really...
From your serial nr, I personaly think the first 1000 run had the black leather instead of the green.

4) You also had a very high number, the highest serial I found on the net was somewhere 27... I think at least 30.000 Galaxians must have been built.(The upright that is). And there's also the Namco cab with the push buttons for moving left and right ( I actualy played that one YEARS ago and hated it because I was used to the joystick)

5) Does your joystick also have a lot of room (play) up and downwards ? I wonder if this was normal or that it's become this way from ware.

[DarthNuno]

Yeps, you're really lucky with that older Galaxian.   I understand you when you think about applying *brand* new green T-Molding... because most of us remember Galaxian with that green T-molding...
But if I was you, I would leave it like that... because it's original but also... very rare  

You're also lucky to have the artworks still looking nice    The artworks on my Galaxian are not very good, but it's ok for me. Note that the paint is now very old, so don't use too much powerfull cleaning product to clean it, or you'll destroy the paint  

Hey, you've a Pleias cab'  :    Woow... I love that game ... Can you publish a picture of it please    

Regarding the use of a TV, for once, we are more lucky than US guys    Yes, we have the SCART connector on most of TV, and from my experience, they mostly recognize 60hz signal but only with a RGB signal... If I can't fix a monitor, I'm automatically going with a *brand* new TV. Yesterday I bought a new on for 109€  

Regarding the quality of reproduction, I use to go with Quarterarcade ( Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, Galaxian, ... ). You can't go wrong with them  

For usual arcade items (jamma loom, new power supply, converter, ... ), I use to buy here : www.starcab.net
It's a french shop, low price & very quick shipping. I know the seller ( we are both on a same french forum ). You can order the 'custom' keyring overthere
 

Regarding the 2-ways joytick on my Galaxian, a also have a lot of room... I dunno if it's because the old age, but it's not a problem. I have the same think on the 2 ways stick from my Defender cab.

For the coin door restoration, you can go for it ! It's very easy. Only the first action can need some who has a 'professional sanding machine' I usually go to a metalist artisan and ask him to send the item ( for approx 10€ ), the others operations are showed here on the forum for each cab'    

Feel free to ask any question if you need  

[level42]

Yeah, I think almost certain that I'll go with the black-leather. I must respect a cab with such a unique"feature" and keep it original !

I think it's so weird no-one is selling galaxian artwork. Yes it's big, but so is the Centipede artwork. I think the real problem is finding (and printing !) this thick white vinyl....

Well my Pleiads is a cocktail, but the seller took out the PCB before I bought it     However I want to mame this one....when I am finished with my Galaxian AND Upright Mame cab.....

You can find some pics here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=49668.0

Long live SCART !  !!

Thanks for that link to  www.starcab.net !!!! I had not found them yet, it's great to have some European company. On the ohter side, I am lucky enough to live not too far from Suzo's headoffice here in Holland. And I can buy with them. However, they sure don't have all things we need. They're things related to arcade videogames become less and less. I still love their joysticks though !!! (And some of their personal.....saweet )
I'm sure France is a good location for finding cabs etc. My French is uhmmmm not so good, only the very basic stuff...


yeah, I think that room on the joystick is actualy designed to into it. They way it all fits together doesn't indicate that this is because of wear....you didn't have a ball handle on the Galaxians you bought did you ? From the pictures I only see the sticks. If you do have a ball handle, which color is it ? Will you be using it on the Pac Man ?

Yeah I will have my metal parts sandblasted before as well, same guy that does the powdercoating will do this. Powdercoating is great, it's very tough and good looking.

Thanks for all your responses and help !

Will you replace the bulbs in the Pac Man cab with a TL ? I put a very warm colored TL tube in my Galaxian, and it looks really good. That bulbs will be eating a lot of energy (100 watt with the current bulbs, obviously . A TL of that size only uses 18 watt. Sometimes complete TL fixtures wit tubes etc. sell very cheap at  Gamma and other DIY stores, but mostly they are bigger than what you need in the cab. I bought a new fixture, removed all the parts, and re-used them. Did have to connect it to the 230V side of course. I think I may make a seprarate switch, I think it's nice to be able to power only the marquee, very decorative !

Keep up all the great work !!! That Pac Man looks like a dream !!!!!!

[arcadefever]

hi level42 nice to see you here...

[DarthNuno]

Woow, you're living close to Suzo's headoffice ?  They are well know for their joysticks... great quality    I already contact them 2 years ago, and they told me they are selling only to professional ( with a TVA number... )...

I got this panel during my 'Pole Position II' road trip :



...and of course I've used this original 'two ways' stick  

For the Pac Man, I already have a brand new 4 ways stick with red ball top, the same one than you can buy at twobits.com  

For the Pac Man, I'll use the original bulbs, even if it gets more energy than a TL    

Thanks for your nice comments 'bout the Pac Man    

If you come to Belgium, just inform me... you'll be welcome in the Nuno's Lair to see all the cab and play them ALL  

[level42]

Woow, you're living close to Suzo's headoffice ?  They are well know for their joysticks... great quality    I already contact them 2 years ago, and they told me they are selling only to professional ( with a TVA number... )...

Yup. And I can buy with them... let me know if you need anything. You can download the full catalogue from their site. Indeed, best joysticks ever IMHO. Especialy the inductives !!!  I love them  !


For the Pac Man, I already have a brand new 4 ways stick with red ball top, the same one than you can buy at twobits.com   [/quote]
I actualy meant the balltop, but I understand you used the full stuff on the Galaxian...which makes sense

Mmmmmmm, microswitch joystick on a Pac Man ? MMMMMMMMMM !!!  Sorry but I'm a leaf man I know they're impossible to get...I've bought a set of Wico HOME joysticks for 5 euro some time  ago, these should be useable on a cab too...I may use one for the Galaxian....not sure yet. They are topfire now though, so I need at least a new balltop....the problem is that my Galaxian balltop is white and pretty much damaged. So I am looking for a solution with a white balltop. I know only Sanwa and Seimitsu have white balltops...so I might use one of those...

If you come to Belgium, just inform me... you'll be welcome in the Nuno's Lair to see all the cab and play them ALL  

WOAOHAOOOAAA You bet I'm going to take the offer !!! !!! I don't mind driving up to you especialy for that (It's great to have a company car !

Arcadefever, nice to see you here as well, I already knew you were active here too. I love your colelction and site , totaly drooling. I feel such a green beginner compared to you guys....but there's a start for everything

[level42]

Just wanted to add that the restoration of my Galaxian is documented on:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62784.0


Enjoy and thanks for looking !

[DarthNuno]

Just wanted to add that the restoration of my Galaxian is documented on:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62784.0


Enjoy and thanks for looking !

I saw it    I.M.P.R.E.S.S.I.V.E  

Great job  

[DarthNuno]

...woo... it's been a while on this one isn't it ?  

Ok, just a minor detail but... the coin door hadn't the midway plate, see  



...now fixed (Thanks Level42   ) :