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Last november I bought a 20" generic euro cab, with its restoration in mind.
Here's a report of the restoration :)

Here's a picture of the cab when I got it :

(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/borne_origine_tn.jpg)

1. Weight

The cab weights between 80 and 100 kgs and is a pain to move. So I've installed 4 rollers on the underside (will ease cleaning behind and under the cab, will rise the WAF  :96-)
Each roller can take 40 kgs, it'll be more than enough


2. Marquee

Was back-lit by a neon light which wasn't working anymore.

(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/lightbulb_tn.jpg)

I wasn't happy with the 220V power supply, so I replaced it with a 12V LED strip light :

(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/marquee2.JPG)

I also changed the coin-door wedge lights by 12V ones.


3. Control panel restoration

The original control panel was really worn off, and I wanted to have 6 buttons by players. Its restoration was done in 4 steps :
- mechanical stripping to remove previous design
- previous holes filling with synthetic resin + filler
- sanding to get a homogeneous surface
- drilling of the new holes using a sheet metal punch

Here's the final result :

(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Panel/panel.JPG)

I also stripped the coin-door and painted it in black ...


4. Panel design recreation

As the original CPO wasn't in a really good shape, I started its vectorization.
To do so, I took high res pictures of the existing panel to be used as a work base, then I used Inkscape to do the vectorizing itself.
Here's a sample of the used pictures :
(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/cpo2_tn.jpg)

(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/cpo1_tn.jpg)

And the final result :
(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/panel_jeutel.jpg)

I have to say I'm quite happy with the result   8-)

I ordered the repro to the printer, and here's what I got :
(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/repro2.JPG)

Installing on the panel ...
(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/repro3.JPG)

... and the final result after putting on joysticks and buttons !
(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/repro4.JPG)

Looks way better now :)


5. Coin door design recreation

This design was completely washed out, amazingly only the blue color resisted the ravages of time ...
I used the same technique than above to vectorize :
Original design :
(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/front_overlay_tn.jpg)

I had to look for similar cabs on internet to get the correct colors ...

Vectorization :
(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/front_panel_tn.jpg)

And now a global pic with everything in place (to compare with the first pic of the post) :
(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/borne_deco_terminee_tn.jpg)


6. Last bits

Cab was fully wired to Jamma as previous wiring was proprietary.
For the coin mechanism, I didn't wanted to change the existing one by adding a button or something similar, so I did some tweaking : using some wire and a lot of patience, I succeeded in linking the coin eject mechanism to the coin add :

(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/coindoor.jpg)

Works like a charm, and can be removed anytime 8-)

I also did a capkit, it wasn't easy as some capacitors weren't described in the documentation, but hey, where would be the fun otherwise ;)

I'll finish with 2 pics of the cab in its final state :

(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/term1.jpg)

(http://runik.free.fr/Arcade/Renovation/term2.jpg)

Well, I guess that's all for now  ;)

Wow what a project. It is amazing what you can do if you have the patience. Not one of my talents. :72-

Good job Runik.

Ron (r273)

 :212-

What a great job!!! :244- :244- :244-  :259- for sharing and for your patience and skill! :88-

CaptainHappy :95-

Thanks a lot for your kind words guys  :131-