Beginning with a simple renovation

[NES4Life]

Hey all,
This is my 1st post on this forum so a big hello!

I've just bought a 'Fitter' (aka Round-Up) by Taito arcade cab - it was only £15 and just around the corner from my house. I'll attach a photo when i get next get near  a PC. It didn't turn on and the seller said they didn't know if it worked (yeah right!). Anyway, I got it home to my garage, opened it up, connected the single loose wire from the internal switch to some internal voltage stepper, plugged it in and got it working! But here's the interesting part, it's a plain pub-style 5ft cab, with a wood effect laminate surface, no side art, and a 'Fitter' marquee, running a Pac-Man PCB. Don't get me wrong I like Pac-Man, but i have a feeling a working 'Fitter' PCB would probably have been more rare.

So I thought I'd join this forum to share my arcade story, and to get some tips on restoring or doing something interesting with this cab. I need to get some micro switches for two buttons, and I might change the joystick if anyone's got a good source for a few arcade parts. The screen is fine, although with a little burn-in, but the coin mech isn't accepting any coins. There's a sticker next to it labelled 'new style 10p' so I mainly trying those - the microswitch does work though.

So the big question, what would you do with it? I'm leaning towards cleaning it up, fixing the controls, changing the action button to 'add credit', and replacing the marquee with a simple Pacman design. I know I could hunt down a 'fitter' PCB, but it'll probably cost a bit and I'm not too experienced with PCB replacement. I could gut it for a JAMMA or MAME brain but I've a feeling that's a cab's 'end-of-life' route... and Pacman still works!

Please let me know your thoughts.

NES4Life

[subzero1970]

£15??? what a steal!!

[NES4Life]

Yeah a bit jammy! I guess they didn't know what it was really worth - especially as it 'wasn't working'.
Not been making any sounds so I'm going to investigate the speaker setup tonight.

The base is disintegrating so I need to reinforce it and fit some locking wheels.
It's pretty dusty/grimy inside the cab... what's the best way to clean the PCB?
I guess I can't hoover in there due to static etc.

I'll get those photos I promised in a bit.

[NES4Life]

Here's the cabinet photo and that trivial loose wire
 

[Belike]

Hi and welcome here.
Fitter is a Zaccaria conversion of Round Up and the pcb is really, really rare, I saw only one for sale in the past 5 years, that is the one I bought.
https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=1156.255
That marquee is a custom made one, the original looks quite different.

If I were you, I would swap that marquee for a pacman and leave the rest like that.

[NES4Life]

Nice to see 'Fitter' in action Belike. Nice marquee too!

I'll get the dimensions of my marquee and order a Pacman replacement.
Do you guys have a recommended source for bespoke or mock original marquees?
Or do you simply make them or get them professionally printed? I assume it's not vinyl but its got to allow some light through right?

Still need to get a handful of replacement microswitches and maybe a new joystick.

[subzero1970]

ugly cab but i wouldnt have passed on it either!

[NES4Life]

It's not the prettiest but still a bargain.
I could strip it, paint it and chuck in some JAMMA goodness - the monitor is in good shape.
But still leaning towards a few adjustments and enjoying Pacman for a while.
Might setup a forum poll for guidance - I'll then document what I do to it if it's significant.

[subzero1970]

whereabouts did u get it from?

[NES4Life]

Got it in Kent, UK.
An equine feed seller (of all places) had it sitting outside their warehouse with a £15 post-it note on it.
Haggling to £10 was out of the question
Seen some nice replacement parts on gremlinsolutions.co.uk - definitely going to get an iconic red ball-top joystick!

[NES4Life]

So, fitted the cab with wheels so I could move it about - unfortunately they were not strong enough and I broke one straight away! Will get some industrial strength ones tomorrow!

Removed the 'Fitter' marquee to find a single bulb illuminating it from one side - pulled it out and replaced it with a strip bulb for some even lighting across the entire marquee. Looks really nice now.

Also, I don't have the keys to the coin compartment so I drilled it out - found £1.20 in 10p pieces! Adjusted the coin mech and it now accepts 10p pieces flawlessly.

[NES4Life]

So in an interesting turn of events... it's not a 'Fitter' PCB nor a Pacman PCB... it's 'Hangly-Man'!
Didn't notice that the maze was altered and the ghosts were named with the original Japanese until I started playing it. Apparently is a little rare - alteast compared to original Pacman.

Anyone played Hangly-Man before?

[Muerto]

Got it in Kent, UK.
An equine feed seller (of all places) had it sitting outside their warehouse with a £15 post-it note on it.

Uh! - whereabout in Kent??, live here myself... (for now..)

[NES4Life]

Got it in Ashford Kent.
So Muerto, where can I buy a Pacman / Hangly man marquee in Kent?
I guess I'll end up getting one made online.

[Muerto]

You could be lucky and get a original Pac Man marquee on ebay.co.uk, but my best bet would be ebay.com - though bare in mind that a Pac Man marquee (original) is a lot bigger than the marquee on your cab.. I dont have the exact meassurements atm. Coz my cab is in Denmark atm, but perhaps someone on here can reveal the meassurements....(Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Galaga, etc is the same size)
I have never seen a Hangly Man marquee, but if you found one, i would defenetly go for that!!!!!!

If you decide to JAMMA the cab and want to sell the Hangly Man PCB, please PM me