Space Invaders trimline found in the trash

[Leathco]

This machine was found on the curb knocked over, waiting to be picked up by the cities trash collection service. I went ahead and picked it up (it was night and I had no clue as to the condition, just tossed it in).

Well, finally had a chance to look it over today. The bottom has some water damage, and there looks to be moisture damage along a good chunk of the T-Molding. Monitor looks thrashed. Original Space Invaders boards are missing. From the damage on the bottom of the cab, the power supply board is prolly dead as well. On the positive side, there's only a little chipping on the paint on the monitor glass, and both the marquee and controls seem in good shape.







Not really sure what to do with it yet, so I have it sitting in my storage shed. I LOVE the size of the cabinet, a lot smaller than a standard cab. At least while its there it won't get more damage and I can determine whether to completely restore it or to just restore the outside and run a Raspberry Pi board inside or something.

[miner2049er]

It's better in your shed than in the trash. If the bottom is that bad you could always cut the bottom half off and make a cabaret for your kids.

[indieseoul]

Cool find Leathco! I hope that you can make use of the cab if not restore it to it's former glory!

[GameGavel]

Awesome! I hope you turn it into a project and get it up and running. Although it will be a great deal of work it appears. That is a great cab for sure! Have Scotty help you out! Worst case, throw it up on KLOV or part it out if the cab is not in recoverable condition.

[retroshaun]

Excellent - I love that cab, I have a friend with a mint one. I would make damn sure I got it working, even if only through emulation (blasphemy!). Shouldn't be too hard. The SI boards can be a little pricey to come by in working order, and you could easily fit an aftermarket PSU (you probably should do that actually!) The monitor is totally necked and needs removing right away... and getting a B&W replacement will be tough, hence the emulation route will be easiest and cheapest by far.

Replace the top piece of wood which looks a little grotty, new T-Molding, maybe make a new base. Repaint the coin door (see my scramble restore thread). IIRC this cab has wood grain sides? Easy to get hold of reasonably matched laminate if you need it.

Nice mid level project - go for it! :-)

[Leathco]

I found this site: http://taitotrimlineremake.blogspot.com/

Thinking of using it to help me work on this cabinet. Looks like there is a minor difference between mine and the one shown. The one shown has an actual joystick, and mine just has pushbuttons to move left and right. Different variations?

From looking at things, I'd have to buy a set of Space Invaders boards, plus a power supply and a new monitor. I'm looking hard at that Raspberry Pi board and just having a distro of Linux boot straight into Mame that will autorun Space Invaders, and using a Keywiz for controls. Just gonna be hard hunting downa monitor with the proper dimensions, as I want to touch up the paint on the bezel to keep the exterior as original looking as possible.

And yea, the base definately needs replaced. Also gonna take a lot of work to fix up the corners where the controls are, they are bowed pretty badly. Still should be a fun little project.

[SubaruBrat]

Shame about the tube being broken. Save everything else though, you might be able to find a good tube and use that PCB.

[miner2049er]

Silly question, were all the different sized and aligned cabs able to use the exact same PCBs?

[SubaruBrat]

In almost all cases, yes.

[retroshaun]

I found this site: http://taitotrimlineremake.blogspot.com/

Thinking of using it to help me work on this cabinet. Looks like there is a minor difference between mine and the one shown. The one shown has an actual joystick, and mine just has pushbuttons to move left and right. Different variations?

Yep - that was the way with the upright too.