Not so good, not so bad

This is my Head On from Gremlin, 1979 I picked up it last year in Germany. Cabinet is complete (with the exception of the back panel) and general conditions are not so bad…

• CPO: small damages and very dirty
• SIDE ARTS: damaged
• PLEXI: some scratches, no burns
• CARD BOARD: german sticker with the instructions
• WOOD: not so bad…
• MARQUEE: good conditions, minor scratches
• TV: very dirty
• PCB: good conditions
• PS and WIRING: good conditions

Cardboard

Cardboard had a big sticker with German instructions


I used some water to soften the sticker but I had the result to damage the card board only. Then I used the flux and the glue dissolved.


I used a couple of cardboard centimeters to cover the damages


Result is not so good but at the moment I consider it acceptable.

Coin door

Usual treatment for the coin door… more or less… These were the starting conditions


One of the holes has been forced


First of all I used pliers and hammer


then epoxy


last step: black paint


This is the final result of the rest of the coin door. Just abrasive sponge and black paint

CP

These were the conditions of the Control Panel as I found it.


It was very dirty so I decided to clean it before deciding to keep it or not.


CP was rusted under the overlay so I decided to remove it.


Joystick and buttons were in good conditions, only some rust on the external parts


Once I removed the CP I proceeded to scan it.

Front

White part of the front panel was not so damaged but replacing both sides with a new vinyl I decided to do the same here. On the contrary black part was damaged.


so first of all I removed both black and white parts


then I replaced white part with a thin vinyl and black part with a rigid layer

Head On: Marquee

Marquee was quite dirty and had some scratches. This picture has been taken before cleaning.


and these are some scratches


so I used sandpaper 300 and 400


this is the result


and then I used NOVUS 3, 2 1nd 1

Plexi

Same situation for the plexi. some scratches and nothing else. Same treatment of plexi.

Side art

Side art were really corrupted and I decided to remove and, if I can, to reproduce them.


I had to remove the white vinyl too and the first thing I had to do was to replace both sides with a new white surface


this is the new cab 🙂


I scanned both sides with a professional scanner /300 dpi) but the lamp was defective so I have a couple of “violet” strips.

Inside

Inside the cabinet I found everything in good conditions. Just some dust. I needed to wash and clean the PCB, that’s all.

Troubleshooting PCB: Garbage on screen

On July, after the VASP 2014 Head On dead. Switching on the game I had these results:  

After some inspections I found a faulty 7408. more in detail: U38, Pin 8. This pin controls Address5 from CPU

Joystick

Joystick wasn’t so flexible and sometimes player car couldn’t be driven in the right direction. Disassembling it I could see the rubber was damaged (by the time… by the use..)

And I replaced it remaking the surface using a new rubber sheet

NEW Joystick

After some games I understood that I didn’t like that joystick at all… I had a very performing joystick, actually new.


I removed the original stick and the mounting plate, then I screwed the mounting plate directly on the new joystick and substituted its stick with the original one. This is the result.


The new joystick is aesthetically identical to the original one but it is much better!   Obviously the original parts have been saved into the cab 😀

New artworks

Yes, new side arts and new CPO these are the new side art stickers


and this is the new CPO


actually I couldn’t find someone could print the CPO on a plastic surface similar to the original, so at the moment I printed it on glossy vinyl… This is the cam as it is now: