Vectorbeam Space War restoration – Part IV
Our first annual party was quickly approaching and I only had a few weeks to finish up the space war. I wanted to move it into the game room for people to enjoy. The cosmetic restoration to the cabinet was done; I just needed to finish putting everything back into the cabinet and hope that it fired up. The only thing holding me back was the control panel. The powder coating turned out too grey for this panel and would need to be painted again. I gave the panel a light sanding on the visible surfaces only and then a coat of black oil base Rustoleum satin paint. I used an HVLP spray gun and sprayed two light coats in short intervals. The paint stuck to the powder coating without issue.
I allowed the paint to dry a full day before I put on the clear coat. The finished panel looked great so I put it on the side and moved on to the next step. I brush painted the back door and the bezel frame with a fresh coat of black. I allowed that stuff to dry and started the re-assembly of the guts for the control panel. I purchased a new fluorescent fixture and some weather stripping to use for the “beer gasket”. It took me a few minutes of reviewing the old pictures to figure out how the whole thing was meant to go together, but I did finally get it. I almost spent some time touching up the flaked areas on the control panel marquee, but since I’ve heard some horror stories about bad touch-ups, I opted to leave it alone. A bad touch up is very obvious once the game is lit up. I’m anxious to get the completed panel back on the cab.
I then cleaned up the wiring harness and verified all the pins and sockets were good. I took apart and cleaned the counter and removed the old speaker with the deteriorated paper cone. The paper cone was falling apart as I moved it around until the whole outside edge had flaked away. I’d need a new speaker. There is no manual for the Vectorbeam version of the game available online and the Cinematronics manual doesn’t specify, so I grabbed an 8ohm speaker. I’d test it before installing. I cut a new cardboard bezel using a pvc end cap to get the right corner radius. I was ready.
I took everything out to the garage to re-assemble. While assessing the cab I realized 3 things; first that I forgot to cut the cord slot in the back, second that I didn’t finish up enough carriage bolts for mounting the cp and third, I am missing the coin box cover. No idea what happened to it, but the garage is a mess, I’m hoping it turns up. The other two items I could correct. I nailed the monitor cut out, cross brace and bezel frame back into place. I also put on the cp, mounted the monitor and the rest of the cab guts. You’ll notice that nothing sits low in this cab. Great if you ever have a flood and also easier to access. I fired up the game and got some shaky vectors and zero sound. I panicked as the party was only a few days away. I called Mark H and Bill K for advice, both great techs, mark especially gifted with Cinematronics. Armed with suggestions from Mark, I dropped off the board set at Bill’s house for him to look over that evening. In the meantime I’d move the game into the basement. I had to cut new holes for the speaker mounting, as the new one didn’t line up. I covered the openings with blue tape to prevent metal shavings from sticking to the magnet. I installed the speaker and grill using torx head screws.
Shortly after getting the cab into the basement, I got a call from Bill. He was dropping off a working pcb! As much as I would have liked to work on this pcb myself, under a time crunch you go with the pros. Bill came through in a pinch, thanks Bill. With the speaker in place and the pcb installed again the game was fired up and played great. She was ready for the party and for a place in the game room. Thanks to everyone who helped make this restoration possible, you know who you are 
Tags: Restorations, Space War, Vectorbeam