I cannot express how much I enjoy what has at this point become an entire restoration series. Can't wait to see the next project, and anything else you have in mind for the channel.
When I'm frustrated or spending hour after hour editing video and trying to make it just the way I want, it's definitely worth it knowing that there are people out there who can enjoy my long, drawn-out journeys with these games, and all the silliness that goes with it. I hope to keep creating this kind of content as long as I can keep finding interesting things to feature. Thanks so much for the kind words!
@tcurtis49 I can guarantee a lot of people love them consider yourself the ultimate in long form restoration on arcade machines ..........would love an outrun with mechanical base or a sit down star wars. ❤
Did I expect to spend my Sunday watching a 2 hour restoration video? No. Did I enjoy every minute of it? Absolutely. Well done, Tod. Love your channel!
Haha. Do I expect anyone to watch any of my silly long restoration videos? No. Do people watch them anyway? Apparently! Thanks for the compliment and glad I could provide a little entertainment for you :)
Found your channel as a suggestion. I'm 60 and I played most of these games, Pole Position, Zaxxon, ZooKeeper, and Galaga being my favorites. Fun to watch you restore these old favorites. Keep up the good work!
Thanks! I’m 52 so many good childhood memories for me as well. Makes finding and fixing these extra special. Zookeeper…hmmm…maybe you’ll see something related in a video this year…. :)
Thanks for throwing in enough parts to make it happen :) It worked out well and was fun to tinker with. I hadn’t planned on keeping it but we are having a lot of fun with it in the arcade.
I was Born in 2002. My parents allways have the NES with the Tripple disk Mario, Tetris and Football. Thats my only ponit, near this things. But I love, watching you restore these old arcade games. They look so nice. (And I have never open an old tv or so, all of that was before me 😅😂)
I found myself clapping and cheering as you brought it back to life at each milestone. As a 50+ year old male who enjoyed this when it was first released and came to my local 7-11 in a small East Texas town outside of Tyler, Tx, I really want to thank you for this excellent video and adventure. You’ve demystified one of my favorite childhood memories. I really appreciate you sharing this. Subscribed!!
Yes, it is still behaving! After I finished everything I directly wired the 5V and Ground to test points on each board to help bulletproof things and it has continued to work great. It is indeed still fun to play, even after all these years :)
For someone who confesses not to be a professional and does this for a hobby, you do a better job at this than some of the so called professional restorers' that I watch. Great job on this. I played this game so much back in the day! :o)
I’m kind of weird because I’m a perfectionist but a realist. I’d like for things to be perfect but I also want to maintain some of the flaws that make a game original. So there’s always a balance between the two. I also like to try new approaches just for the sake of seeing what works and I’m sure some more experienced restorers shake their heads watching me fumble along but that’s part of my fun. I appreciate everyone’s kind words and glad to see people enjoying it.
It's wild to me how well evaporust works. I was looking for something to remove rust off the metal shielding and screws on a vintage keyboard. Didn't want to use an aerosol can product because I didn't want to fill the screw holes. Tested out the evaporust at someone else's suggestion and crazily 4 hours of soaking later the rust was gone. Also, yes it does eat through plating and coating. Which is fine in most cases because the rust probably ate through it first. Just means the plating or coating will need to be reapplied or some other type of protection is needed if you want to prevent the rust from coming back.
It is a amazing product, it is completely harmless for most plastics and metals, but it will destroy stainless steel, AISA 304 at least the 316 type is better resistant against it. I work at the company that makes it and you don't want to know how we found out 😅😅
protip on the pin extractor- hold onto the wire from the back, and push it into the connector, then press the extractor into the housing, while pushing on the wire. this will make it significantly easier. otherwise, the barbs on the pin will dig into the plastic and making it difficult to remove. if done right it should take almost no pressure to remove the pins. if the barbs dig in you might have to press the wire into the housing with needle nose pliers.
Thanks! I'm experienced but not expert--there are some really knowledgeable people out there and I've seen some really impressive work. I'm good at trial and error, though, and usually find my way through projects :)
Pole Position was a favorite of mine back in the day. I loved the sit down version the most as I always seemed to score higher. Other favs were Robotron 2084, Defender 1 and 2, Missile Command and Star Wars.
I played a lot of Pole Position as racing games were my favorite. I have a Robotron and that game is really tough! But fun :) The others are classics that are always on my radar. Thanks!
I cannot believe you got that running again. I thought this was a lost cause early on. Glad you stuck with it! Pole Position was one of my favorites back in the day
Just made it to the end. Everything was right about this video; content, excellent storytelling, engaging, well edited, good video quality, etc (I definitely could go on.) I absolutely love your home arcade. I think I know what my first retirement project will be. Again, thank you for putting a smile on my face for nearly 2-hours. Can’t wait to go through the rest of your videos. 😊
Go find a fun arcade project and play around with it :) There are a ton of resources online and it is a great hobby. And enjoy the other videos-Tron and the RedTent were pretty insane compared to this one :)
Hey Tod! I hope you see this comment, But i was watching your Tron restoration yesterday and watched your Red Tent video today. I saw an Atari Race Drivin in the background.... and thats when it hit me. I thought to myself I remember seeing that carpet, and that minty restored race drivin on KLOV. I SOLD YOU THAT GAME! I hope you're still enjoying it!!
It’s still running great! If I run out of current projects I might do a retrospective on it since it was a bit of a crazy restoration. I still don’t know how we got it loaded on that trailer-it weighs a ton!
I think the cigarette burns lend historical significance. I've watched this and your TRON restoration. I subscribed because your work is outstanding. Thank you for doing these.
Awesome build! Pole position was the closet thing to real racing up to that point. it was so realistic for the times. I would spend all my money I made from being a paperboy on it. Now I'm addicted to sim racing.. It would be so cool to have one of those, it brings back great memories.
Another fantastic full restoration. Definitely a lot of work, those old boards when they get a bit of corrosion and/or battery damage can be a challenge for sure. An absolute classic game that will definitely get some play I am sure.
Great restoration. If I had all the quarters I spent playing this game I could probably buy one now. This was certainly one of my favs. But my game was Ms. Pacman.
Outstanding! Love your restoration videos. Way to bring that classic back from it's rusty, dusty, nasty grave. It seems to want to keep one foot in that grave though with every time you turn it on! It was both funny and frustrating to see the continuous errors with the board! Your patience is amazing. I would have looked at the power supply and behind the marquee and said "Nope, no way!" You said "challenge accepted!" Hope you get another 40 years of play out of it!! Thanks for the T-molding tip about the electrical tape. I built a replica of the Star Wars Arcade cockpit (put a pc for emulation, video on my page) and had a bit of trouble with some molding fitment on the back side sharp angles. I'll try that trick and find some black brad nails to finish it up nicely.
Thanks! Yeah, I can be really patient when working on these projects as I know once they are done then life gets boring again :) It was getting funny to me how crazy the boards would behave--I had to cut out a ton of it particularly around the time of the vertical lines because it was just too much back and forth between working and not working. Right now they seem to be solid so replacing the chip I burned up was probably the right solution anyway. The T-molding tip works pretty well for sure. I read that one a long time ago and have done it many times. It was also funny that I went through 95% of my T-molding application with everything perfect then the last little bit got me. Pretty much summarized every aspect of fixing up the game!
I usually don't write a lot of RU-vid comments, but you sir, you've earned it! I just stumbled across your channel and the amount of skill in every field (electrical engineering, carpentry, paint jobs etc.) is amazing and very satisfying to watch. Keep up the good work! Hoping to see more brilliant arcade cabinet restorations in the future. Greetings from Germany.
@@tcurtis49 A good friend of mine and fellow collectors has three arcade cabinets in his possession. Klax, Xybots and Hang On. Some years ago we also had a RU-vid channel for retro gaming stuff and we did reviews of the cabinets. Looking forward to your upcoming projects.
Wow, thanks! For a guy with a tripod and Adobe Premiere and no real experience working in the arcade repair business, I’m doing my best :) Maybe someday!
@@tcurtis49 All I see is professional enough to be on Netflix, and homemade enough to get connected with the creator and the content. It feels like those reality shows that I love to watch, that portray everything in a "real life" vibe. I stumbled upon your channel a few days ago and I am hooked! I now have hundreds of hours to watch haha keep up the great job mate.
I’m 15 and genuinely enjoy this I love older items as I have restored a vhs tape rewinder which has turned into a hobby of mine and honestly I would love to own a arcade cabinet as they would be fun for me to restore and for my parents to enjoy using.
I’ve been binging your videos for a bit now and you’re doing some incredible work here. Just a tip, but you should try some Ospho on the corroded bare steel parts. I use it all the time in automotive restorations for neutralizing rust. It should also protect your parts before you’re ready to paint them as well.
2nd video of yours I've seen now. I love the content, your content is honest and genuine in every way. Enjoy your arcade, you have clearly put the work in to enjoy it. I saw the tron video. I didn't think it could he saved when I first saw it. Never saw tron in an arcade but remember playing pole position lots.
That’s very kind. I definitely started doing these just to entertain and show what the process is like for me. I knew it would be different than what people are used to but after putting the Red Tent video together (my first big one) I hoped at least some people would enjoy the longer journey. And it looks like there is an audience for it, which is great :)
@tcurtis49 you defo have an audience. Please keep doing what you do. And please enjoy playing the crap out of those things once you've fixed them! Closest I mostly get now is retropi! These things need preserving for future generations, I respect what you are doing very much and want to see your arcade grow.
Thank you very much. I'm enjoying all your videos. Your patience in disassembling old wrecks in order to get the best possible authentic restoration is amazing.
I just started watching your video's, started off with Tron and now this. You have amazing patience and skills. I enjoy your video's and whilst amazingly detailed and lengthy I like the extra time and appreciate the efforts you have done
Good morning, sir. I must say that I'm absolutely thrilled to have found your channel. I'm an electronics enthusiast by night and a builder by day. I just wanted to say that I really appreciate your attention to detail, and it is so great to see these games being saved and given a second chance at life. Thank you for the wonderful content and your hard work in bringing it to us. Keep it up, and have a great day. Thanks.
I worked in the arcade game industry back in the day for 15yrs, repairing, maintaining and upgrading games. BTW, My favourite upgrade was the Hard Drivin' EPROM update.. Anyway, we bought 5 units of Pole Position right when it was released originally @ $5K CAD per unit (in 1982!) and placed 1 each in our favourite arcades. They were labour intensive because we would have to go 2-3x per week to EMPTY the full cash boxes (which hold ~$1200 in quarters) because the full cash boxes would actually cause the coin mechs to jam up ! It was an amazing game at the time, first real first-person type racing game. Prior to PP, all racing/car games were top-down view games. In our experience, the game was pretty robust, not requiring much in the way of maintenance, the biggest issue was the gear change micro-switches, the encoder on the wheel held up really well. But the cool thing was that folk used the cowling over the controls to place quarters reserving the next game, needed because there were actual line-ups to be able to play, sort of the same way that folk reserve games on coin-op pool tables. Yeah, fond memories. But if you want a suggestion, get your hands on a Hard Drivin" sit-down cabinet. There are some really cools stories about how Atari developed that game, to the point where some employees at Atari actually learned to drive a manual transmission IRL by playing the game (!!), you could actually stall the engine in the game using the clutch improperly ! and the force-feedback wheel was a first. Just a great game, one of the absolute best IMHO.
That’s awesome! And I have a full cockpit Race Drivin’ that I fully restored a few years ago. Works beautifully. You can catch a glimpse of it in my video game collection tour video :)
@@tcurtis49 Yeah, sorry to bombard you with that long story, but I have fond memories of the games. One place I worked at even got raided by the RCMP for selling grey market PCB's, LOL. And I still have the JAMMA wiring harness pin-outs committed to memory.
You're the real deal, entire package, Tod! Cabinetry, paint, woodwork, mechanical, and electronics. Kudos on a pitch perfect restore. Imo, keeping original artwork warts and all is important history vs painting over large sections. You did just enough touch up, no more. Only place I disagree are the particle board replacements like the top rear handle panel. I would have replaced with plywood for load bearing parts like handles. The back door is just a cover, not load bearing so ok with particle board there.
Thanks! And fair enough on particle board vs plywood-which I do normally switch to for cabinet bases and so on-but here a small enough piece to be strong as long as it doesn’t succumb to moisture damage again. Glad you enjoyed it and every restore is a personal learning experience for sure :)
Keeping those wonderful 80s old games running will be a chore in itself. You are young and dedicated though. An arcade room operator would be proud of your accomplishments 🥂 I used to like to do that stuff, I’m retiring soon.
People tell me all the time to use my games to open an arcade. Keeping games running is a non-stop task-there’s almost always something wrong with at least one game. I cross my fingers every time I power them up that they’ll all come on. So you know the reality of it and I couldn’t agree more :)
Great job Tod! Your attention to detail and skill make for excellent restorations. As a fan of the movie Airplane, I appreciate the subtle innuendos. 😂
I just happen to be working on not one, not two, but three separate projects of varying difficulty right now. All of which fell into my lap last weekend. One could be epic, one is straightforward, and the other is more console gaming than arcade. I may be able to bridge the gap with some shorter videos featuring interesting restores from my past…
Another great video on restoration!! Please post more… it seems there are only 2 and I’ve learned so much!! Would love to see anything else you e worked on. Thank you for such detailed, high quality videos ❤
Tron, Pole Position, and Red Tent are the 3 major restorations. There is also a nice video on a Sega store display cabinet. I’m working on projects now so more videos to come :) Thanks!
That was an AWESOME video! I really do love how you walk through the different steps and explain the chips and little tricks you've learned along the way of other video restoring! Helpful if I ever lose my mind and decide to tackle a video arcade restoration,
Man I just LOVE your restoration videos. The editing, the attention to detail. I love it all. Awesome job fighting through the board issues too! It all looks great.
Much appreciated! There was a ton of footage on this one and it was hard to decide what to include and what to discard. In the end I want to be educational for anyone wanting to understand the process but upbeat enough to keep the videos fun. Glad you enjoyed it!
I tried the pi position and it isn’t quite the same, particularly with sound effects like engine noise passing cars. It also was a but wonky reversing the accelerator pedal when switching between games. But I kept it just in case.
Can I recommend a small mirror on a small stand in front of the monitor for when you turn on the juice, that way you can watch the circuitry and see if the monitor lights without being in front of it? Great video, enjoying my childhood. Thanks.
I do that sometimes. I have a mirror from my childhood that I’ll get out of the drawer and set up. Essential on many cabinets when adjusting the colors, etc. Good tip! And glad you like the videos!
I love this sort of content. I love retro video games of all kinds as well. Is that a whole house dedicated to arcade cabinet space? That is so sick and makes me jealous! 😂 Great work and great content. Look forward to watching more of these.
Great! I’m glad to be able to entertain. You can see the whole collection on a walkthrough video on my channel. The entire house is not dedicated to it, but it’s getting close :)
I just discovered your channel and it's been a great experience! Loved to see the Red Tent restoration and this one too was incredible! I live in Brazil and I remember playing this Pole Position arcade (the one with the seat) as a kid back in the early 90's. We didn't have much of these here, it used to take several years to bring them over here. It was one of my first gaming experiences!
Only found your channel yesterday and watched this and your Tron restorations, both of which I really enjoyed. Absolutely top class restoration work and your videos are really well put together too. You deserve so many more subscribers! Looking forward to watching more of your content :)
Thanks so much! You’ll probably enjoy the Nintendo Red Tent as well- It’s similar to the other two. I’m glad people are watching and am hard at work on multiple projects right now :)
How come you Americans have such massive houses !! Definitely makes me want to leave UK. Great video series. I love pole position on mame as I could never afford a real cabinet. Looking forward to following your channel 😀
Thanks! We have a lot of room to spread out and in rural areas like mine every house needs to be on sizeable land for septic systems, etc, so houses tend to be big. Especially in the midwest where nearly everyone has a basement. Pole Positions are readily available around here-seems like I see them for $400-600 quite often. Definitely a classic!
That’s correct. In my other videos I should look more like someone who knows what they are doing. This was kind of a weird situation spot painting here and there. Thanks!
Thanks! I’m always learning new tricks along the way and that’s what makes it so much fun. I just picked up a project today (a couple, actually) so hopefully more content coming soon :)
I already have :) Sometime I might make a retrospective video because it was a major restoration. And a surprise one, as I had no idea that was what was originally in a cabinet I bought.
Thanks! I’m on it but it will be a bit. I wasn’t expecting these to be so popular so suddenly and have been focusing my time on my console collection. But I do have new arcade projects that should make for a couple of interesting videos this summer.
The cigarette burns... It was probably in a bar, or pool hall, etc. I grew up on arcade games in arcades, gas stations, restaurants, and bowling alleys. I spent many nights playing street fighter, mortal kombat, killer instinct, and more with a cigarette hanging out of my mouth in my teenage years.
Oh, yeah, for sure. These games were everywhere and smoking was far more common back then. I was just admiring those burn marks a few days ago while moving machines around :)
I just bought a baby pacman yesterday, it worked today. Then i tried to move it to its final home (3 feet away) and it died. This is my first machine, so I'm glad to see other people have issues with this too. It's super discouraging
@@tcurtis49 i'm cleaning the boards soon, do you have any advice for preserving the labels on the PCBs? It's mostly just stuff like who inspected it but it's still pretty cool and I'd like to keep them, but I'm not sure I'll do that and clean the boards
yo! I work on newer arcade machines, spesifically japanese import ones. its really cool to see how all of the old ones work with all of the boards.. nowadays its just a boring PC, some io board, and an LCD. looks like so much fun to mess with stuff like this, and to restore everything.
I have one and just don't like using it. I think it's because of my dental training that I want to feel in full control of what my hands are doing. I am using a precision chip lifter and I do like feeling how much tension I am using as I work each side up. But...I may give it another try and see what I"ve been missing :)
Awsome work! I think what i woulda done to fix the paint on the sides is, i woulda masked of the artwork with the cars and then just painted the entire sides new, because then you have it all the same color and it looks new and clean! :)
I'm guessing we're about the same age. I was never an avid arcade goer back in my HS days (early 80s), but I do remember Defender. I would pump a few quarters into that one.
