Defender (Black Tiger) de-conversion/restoration.

[ArcadeAddict77]

Here is my stripped out, converted to Black Tiger Defender cabinet.

Starting condition:

• No defender boards / metal plate, loom or power block.
• bottom of sides endured a lot of damage due to no leg levelers.
• Jamma conversion to Black Tiger, looks like a rushed job. Must have been operational though as there is Black Tiger burn on the tube.

First impressions on receiving it is there is some major work to do to make the cabinet solid again. The back lower panel is present, but blown out and expanded due to being MDF. Cabinet must have seen some water exposure. Side pieces which hold the back door in place are in the cabinet, but also need replacing. Lots of rust on just about any metal work.

Here is a link to the album I am keeping on Google Photos. This probably includes additional images I am not posting in the restoration log here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/oWTRTeZu7X3zDrd82




This cabinet also has the honour of being mentioned in:

https://arcadeblogger.com/2018/01/12/where-did-all-the-defenders-go/


and

https://arcadeblogger.com/2017/01/06/the-wonderful-world-of-arcade-cabinet-conversions/


It's a nice feeling to know one of these defender conversions is being returned to its original purpose.

Side notes: If you have not already join the WILLIAMS DEFENDER PLAYERS UNITE facebook group, then run over to http://mahugh.com/defender-the-last-word/ to read all about gameplay.

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History on this cabinet.





Of course originally a Defender.

Converted to a Jamma cabinet Black Tiger. Sides painted Black, Black Tiger sideart applied. Everything Defender on the inside stripped.

Conversion almost certainly done by Derrick Music Company at that time operating out of Hinton, West Virginia.

CoinOp Warehouse listed the cabinet on 10th December 2016. Described as "complete but not working Black Tiger in an old Defender cabinet".

Donnie B bought the cabinet two days later.

I bought the cabinet in pre-restoration condition and received it on 15th June 2017. Donnie's Dad actually delivered the cabinet to me in with the purchase price as he was in my area at the time. He had what I remember being a Ford F-250 or bigger truck with a tail lift on it. I remember asking him about this and he said he has a route and this makes it so much easier hauling machines around.

I began the deconversation and restoration began that same day.





A couple of articles I was able to find on the operator, seems like he had a large operation beginning back in the 60's and running right the way through the golden age of the arcade.

https://vendingtimes.com/main/articles.aspx?iid=33E7FE7E93214687A162885B66ABCE71

https://books.google.com/books?id=wwoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=derrick+music+company+wv+coin+operated&source=bl&ots=cSsGoAGFmP&sig=wANVH-z3P1ATP7Sw4POpfrb9BxI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5tPvusajWAhVH6yYKHXw9Ayc4ChDoAQgnMAA#v=onepage&q=derrick%20music%20company%20wv%20coin%20operated&f=false

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Restoration log begins:




Before getting the cabinet I was doing some research on paint stripping. This seems to be the least aggressive paint stripping method I have found so far for stenciled Williams art.





Little bit of stripping down the cabinet so far, assessing what needs doing.




First four pictures from the sellers location

ArcadeAddict772018-03-13 12:52:30

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

Pics from day 1 when I received the cabinet.

Peice of perspex or something with the top quarter of Defender art on it. The Black Tiger cardboard bezel sat behind this.

Black Tiger art was already taken off one side of the cabinet. Took a shot here to show BT art.

Inside of the coin door, speaker shelf is rusty.

Green paint wants to come of or Defender wants it off. Either way this was seconds of effort to get this amount off.

Parts pile.

Looks like it must have been fitted with an 8 way leaf joystick and leaf buttons.

1103?

ArcadeAddict772018-03-06 14:46:05

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

After round one I have the marquee stripped out, the coin door out, and pulled as much paint off which peels. The coin box and internals of the coin door are really rusty. Threw the coin box retaining guide into some white vinegar to see how this works out.

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

More time spent today working on Defender. Though I really need to start making the cabinet solid I could not resist getting more of the side art visible. Clear packing tape stick down and lift off looks like it is going to take care of this whole thing.

Control panel is not the original. It does not have the elongated hole for the Defender joystick. Found holes filled with epoxy where 1 and 2 player joysticks once were.

White vinegar bath time for metal parts. The first piece I tested this on came out better than I expected.

Cut some new supports for the back door. The old ones are shot.

Lastly I am taking apart the jamma loom / power to see what is going on. I seem to have found the earth ground hooked into the regular ground and +5v

You can clearly see Earth (green) connected to +5v in the block there. Ground (black) sits on the other side below the black wires curling around. Really glad I decided to check everything going on there.

More soon.

ArcadeAddict772017-06-17 16:59:35

 

[funhouse]

Looks great - especially the paint removal.

It's in good condition underneath isn't it - almost like a protective paint shell.

Keep going!

 

[Bods]

Cracking start bud

Pretty much the same boat my Star Wars cockpit is in which was shipped over from USA. Painted over original artwork only twice the outrun side art applied which has ruined some of the original art, but it's got I'd say 85% of original on first side stripped, some areas came off quite easy like yours other parts not

Gotta say, I do like the artwork on that marquee, not on a defender cab mind but that's nice, certainly a great feeling when that layer of paint comes off to reveal the original underneath

 

[Fuzzy]

Great job so far! Side art looks in great nick!

 

[RolyRetro]

My outrun mini also has black paint over the original Sega artwork, I'm wondering if I could try and remove it, worth a try. Good work so far!

 

[chadsarcade]

Nice project!

The 4th terminal down on your PSU looks like Gnd, not +5v (even though they used a red wire) so it's not quite as bad as it could be. It's common to link Gnd with Field Gnd on the PSUs whichis essentially what's been done via the terminal block.

You're lucky in that the artwork is well preserved under the green paint and coming up so easily - wish my first Defender cab had been like that.

Look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Bods]

I bought paint stripper to get it off mine cheap 4.99 no nonsense stuff from screwfix as some areas wouldn't come off easy at all specially with 2 lots of paint. Found wilko have same type stuff 500ml for 3.49 and that probably do 2 cabs or more

Just nicely softens the paint and some just peeled off in big bits, still got other side to go yet, suppose it depends on the paint used but most people that have removed paint from cabs so far seem to have good results

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I certainly need it for the state this poor cabinet is in. Everything which is present has had a hard life. The only exception seems to be one side of the cabinet in regards to the art. Those first pictures were of the better side. After stripping down the other side I can now see some scratches on it. This does not change my plans though. This one is a survivor to get this far in the kind of humidity we see in the Carolinas.

Nice project!

The 4th terminal down on your PSU looks like Gnd, not +5v (even though they used a red wire) so it's not quite as bad as it could be. It's common to link Gnd with Field Gnd on the PSUs whichis essentially what's been done via the terminal block.

You're lucky in that the artwork is well preserved under the green paint and coming up so easily - wish my first Defender cab had been like that.

Look forward to seeing your progress.

I totally see that now, there is a beige colour ground lead in the block. Good to know joining ground and field ground is not an issue.

Not too much on updates side here, but:

Found a key to the back door lock in the cabinet, which neither good or bad. The back door lock is missing the lock bar. No key for the coin door found, which is different.

Apart from what I pulled all the parts out of the vinegar bath after 24 hours. The vinegar itself now looks downright nasty. Cleaned off as much loose corrosion off and put them back in.

Cabinet is stripped to the point where I am ready to pull the monitor. Speaking of which the chassis on this kind of scares me. Any thoughts on just trying it out or going preemptive on it?

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

Reading through https://arcadeblogger.com/2017/01/06/the-wonderful-world-of-arcade-cabinet-conversions/ and found a picture of this very same cabinet!

Every detail of this picture convinces me this the machine currently sitting in my garage.

The top quarter of the defender bezel art on the inside of the plexi. BT art missing on the left side consistent with my photos.

 

[Bods]

That's nice to see it in that blog and interesting read with great pics too

I did do some searches to try and find pics of my Star Wars, see if there was any history I could find on it or some pics when it was converted to outrun before afterburner in there now but nothing found yet, be nice to know arcades they've been in

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

Been on holidays so progress has been slow. I have been able to paint the new strips for the back door and install these with my brad nailer. Then started cutting a new rear bottom panel. The old one was made of MDF and is swollen in just about every direction.

I am using the old piece and the dimensions from http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,65938.0/all.html to fabricate the new piece.

New piece in place. It does not fit as I have not made the cuts which the cabinet expects to be on the back. In two minds on how to make it fit. If I made the same cuts as the original I will end up filling it back in with bondo. So I'll probably just end up altering the new piece slightly to mate it to the cabinet.

Next up drilling and routing out the ventilation holes.

ArcadeAddict772017-07-10 01:03:31

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

Holiday and business trip out of the way I was able to get back to this project.

Routing the vent holes in the panel I have been working on. First on a template of 1/4, then in the piece. Its not perfect, but it will never be seen. I may do some filling in the holes to straighten the lines out, the curves turned out nicely.

Everything looks a bit rough right now. More work to do, but getting to this point has been a job.

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

Micro update #2. Applied ample wood glue and went overkill with the brad nailer. The cabinet feels much better than before.

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

Next up I painted the bottom panel and made sure the door still fit. The door seems warped, but will work as is or I can cut a new one later.

Next major task is the bottoms of those sides, they are really bad.

I needed a change of pace for the moment though and took to the front coin door panel with 91% isopropyl alcohol and magic erasers. Love it. Once again the arcade operators applied a protective coat to save the artwork for when this machine retired into its home use life.

Quick before recap:

Then after:

Couple of pics showing the new rear panel.

ArcadeAddict772017-08-03 01:15:03

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

One side glued and clamped. A small amount of bondo work on this side and it will be all done. It is the second side which is a nightmare.

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

I'll probably end up using some or all of the techniques in this video:

https://youtu.be/RxVHSO2R7Ic

ArcadeAddict772017-08-04 13:44:02

 

[ArcadeAddict77]

Working on this side of the cabinet. I currently have the laminate and layers of wood glued together. Can of Bondo waiting in the wings to fill the voids and bring back the strength to the cabinet. New leg levelers on order so once I have all this done no more scraping the machine across the floor.