Last november I bought a 20" generic euro cab, with its restoration in mind.
Here's a report of the restoration
![Smiley](http://newlifegames.net/nlg/Smileys/default/smiley.gif)
Here's a picture of the cab when I got it :
1. WeightThe 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
![Tongue Out](http://newlifegames.net/nlg/Smileys/default/Tongue_Out.gif)
)
Each roller can take 40 kgs, it'll be more than enough
2. MarqueeWas 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 restorationThe 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 recreationAs 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
![Cool](http://newlifegames.net/nlg/Smileys/default/cool.gif)
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 recreationThis 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) :
6. Last bitsCab 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
![Cool](http://newlifegames.net/nlg/Smileys/default/cool.gif)
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
![Wink](http://newlifegames.net/nlg/Smileys/default/wink.gif)
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
![Wink](http://newlifegames.net/nlg/Smileys/default/wink.gif)