Many of you know I picked up a Tron at auction recently.  Here's my repair log:

I'm slowly stripping parts off Tron to get it to the point where I can strip the inner sideart off, sand and paint...in preparation for the new inner sideart I ordered.

It's waaay too hot in the garage to do much though.  A few minutes at a time is all I can manage.

Yesterday, I put castors on the bottom of the game to make it easier to move around.  I took the curved plexi over the upper CP black light off.

Today, I took the lower CP bezel and light fixture off (really difficult to get the whole thing off, based on where the screws are mounted for it).

I swapped starters from the lower light to the upper light, and voila...I have black light over the CP.  This tube isn't nearly as baked as the lower tube, so I get decent fluorescence out of it.

Here's what the machine looks like now:



Some of you wanted to see the difference between the old joystick and new joystick under black light.  This isn't the best picture, given it was taken with my cell phone, in the garage, and not in total darkness...but it will give you an idea.



The new joystick (right) actually fluoresces far better than the old stick (left).

I started fooling around with the connectors.  The purple wire that goes to the power supply board (Connector J4, Row 1, Wire C) is a reset watchdog.  I pulled it.  Then I went  and reseated all of the power supply connectors again.

The game is playing blind again!  P1 Start doesn't seem to work, and the left coin switch switch (looking at it as if the door was open) doesn't work.

I found out that I can beat the RGP lightcycles level without having to see what I'm doing!

What castors are you using?

Quoted from OTTOgd

What castors are you using?

Locking castors from Home Depot.  They get the game a few inches off the floor...hopefully keeping any dampness off the bottom of the cabinet, and each wheel can lock in place so the machine doesn't move around during play.

I have this style of castor on each of my vids, and I've been happy with the results for several years now.

Tron is a pretty heavy cabinet, so I'm happy I don't have to try and muscle it around the garage anymore.

A trick I discovered for the lighted control panel art (above and below stick area), if you can't find repro's, is to buy some high quality florencent markers, and go over the lines with the respective colour ink.  It really works...  Not as good as repro's, but it will save you a couple hundred dollars.

Quoted from Bish

I found out that I can beat the RGP lightcycles level without having to see what I'm doing!

My favorite part of the game and you can do it with your eyes closed.  Now I know why I always prefered pinball.  Turns out I suck at video games.

ThunderStorm wrote this on CGCC:

Quoted from "ThunderStorm"

maybe i'm just stupid, but check out crappy tire, they have a couple different sizes of the BLB bulbs and super cheap too, when you consider shipping from an online source, i betcha it'll fit.

Hey!  You were right!  I picked up a set of them, along with a pair of FS-2 starters tonight at crappy tire.  The tubes were $6.99 each.

This is a 15W, Globe "EnerSaver" tube, type F15T8BLB.  Oddly enough, it's the same tube number as the Sylvania bulb, but it's substantially more pale, and not as fluorescent.



Here's what the machine now looks like with the proper "purple" blacklight mounted above the Control Panel.  If you want to compare tubes, check out the plastic bezel leaning up against the machine.



The joystick really glows now!



I even got the translite to light up.

Tron Plastics - old VS new

I just received my PhoenixArcade order today.  4 days from Indiana to my doorstep!

By contrast, I ordered some accessories from GroovyGameGear at the same time, and just got a confirmation e-mail that it shipped today.  Oops.

As impressed as I am with the speed that the order was sent, I'm doubly impressed by the quality of the products.  

Upper CP marquee:



Close Up



Lower CP Marquee:



Close Up



The lower CP Marquee has a part number on the edge...and although there are differences in the characters, you can tell it's the same person who did the handwriting.

The new plexi is much brighter than what was on the machine when I got it.  It just shows you how much the blacklight will fade the graphics over time.

Phoenix arcade is top notch.  Too bad they had that falling out with IPB.  They would have been great at reproducing a lot more sideart.  I guess they struck a deal with the devil (wayno) and now produce under his license.

Removing a TRON spinner:

More difficult than it seems.  I was under the assumption that this little screw on the spinner was a Set Screw.  It's actually a Roll Pin, and it doesn't matter what kind of hex key you use, you're not getting it to come out!



What you have to do is turn the control panel over, and remove both of these set screws on the bottom using a 5/64" hex key (allen key).



After you loosen both of these off, the spinner and shaft will come right out through the top of the control panel.

If you wanted to remove the spinner knob from the shaft at this point, you could remove the Roll Pin from the bottom of the spinner knob.

This took me at least an hour of ciphering before I figured it all out.  Sheesh.  Nothing's simple.

Removing the CPO:

The original CPO definitely had to be removed, as there were several damaged areas:





My heat gun has a bunch of different attachments for the barrel.  I chose a wide one with a very thin opening, to better direct the heat.



Incidentally, if you're looking to buy a heat gun, Canadian Tire has one on for $32.00 in a case.

I heated a small area of the CPO, and used a putty knife to slide under it.  The Tron original CPO has a thick black, almost rubbery adhesive.  It was essential to get it all up, while it was still hot and pliable, as when it cooled, it stuck back onto the metal, and also to the putty knife.  Nasty stuff to get rid of!













There's still a layer of sticky residue left on the control panel from the adhesive.  I'll have to go out tomorrow, and see if I can pick up some "Goo Gone" or some other product that will get rid of it easier.

You can also see from some of the pictures, that the bolts that go through the control panel, used to bolt the joystick and spinner in place, are mounted in small depressions.  On the original CPO, these left "soft spots", where you could press down on the overlay.  

I'm thinking about filling these in with JB Weld, so these areas will be flush with the control panel.  What does everyone think of that idea?

CONTROL PANEL RESTORATION (CON'T)

I mentioned the small divits where bolts had been pushed through from the top to the bottom side, so the joystick and spinner could be mounted on them.

Here is the top of the control panel after it has been sanded down around the divits.



I took cooke's advice (and others) and used bondo to fill them in.  



I wasn't successful on my first pass through.  This is the first time I've ever worked with Bondo.  It's like working with a combination of toothpaste and fast drying cement.  In the heat/humidity today, I only had about 2-3 minutes to work with it before it started to dry.



Lots of  thunder while I was working outside.  Bondo has a nasty odour, which begs for lots of ventilation.





I sanded, put a second coat on...sanded, and applied a third coat where necessary.



Tomorrow, I'll do the final sanding, and then I should be able to apply the overlay.

Great work! Thanks for the progress pics.