The old machine had been standing outside for qite some time. It was obvious that the machine was defecive, but If I could fix it, it would be a rare opportunity to own something special.
The outside looked good enough to work with. The back cover was missing, so the hardware had been exposed to weather, various animals and direct sunlight. Many of the stickers on the eeproms had peeled off, leaving the light-programmed eeproms to go blind and eventually die.
The display was crap from the beginning, but the glass cover was still in one piece. Turning on the machine showed that It was apparently built around 1982 according to the software. The display would die out after about a minute.
- The first few seconds after switching on the cabinet the screem would show the original game BAGMAN. The player only moves through the score bar. This was caused by the corrupted eeproms inside.
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One joystick and two start buttons. If I would get this thing back to work, that would e one of the first modifications I would make, not knowing where I am today.
The coin mechanism was still working and even though the bank door was missing, the cash drawer was still there (empty).
The single center speaker was still working but according to current standards that would also be replaced by at least stereo speakers.
- The interior of the cabinet shows in what a hopeless condition it actually was.
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Initially my older brother and I had the plan to fix the defective eeproms and replace only the display, trying to keep it as original as possible. The idea was dropped after I realized I wanted more. This machine had no specific theme from the outside, so why not put a different game on it with the same controller layout. Even though we tried to revive the original firmware a few times over the years, I decided to make a major change in 2009 by replacing the hardware with a XP based desktop pc running MAME. The display was replaced with a standard 14" CRT pc-monitor. All buttons were connected through a modded keyboard print, soldering the wires to the corresponding buttons needed for MAME. The start buttons were moved to the easier-to-drill wood part as their empty spaces are filled with industrial push buttons. Those were the best choice of the few similar sized buttons available in local hardware stores. I got three buttons because a third button would majorly increase the number of games to play in MAME. The print on the original plexiglass dashboard shield was not really suited for extra buttons, so I decided to leave it off.
Drilling an extra hole in the steel plate dashboard would take quite some time without the proper tools (which are basically a hss step drill and a dremel). I had it done by a friend of mine. Afterwards the whole thing was sanded off and covered with black adhesive vinyl foil. For experimental cosmetic reasons the edges of the main body were covered with simple red tape and the joystick knob was replaced with a red one. The bank drawer is done with the same adhesive vinyl as the dashboard.
- The industrial buttons were very heavy to push. Later on I started looking on the internet to see what's available online.
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