I finally finished this project. I think I bought these sticks well over 10 years ago. Old enough that I can't find the ebay email. I'm using an original 2L6B Astro City panel with S mounts. I don't know if I swapped the mounting plates or not since all the pics I'm finding of LS-30s have flat plates, and mine have S plates. If they're not original then I most likely grabbed them off a compatible Seimitsu stick, maybe LS-32s. I used Seimitsu screw buttons with the Sega color scheme to keep it on brand.
Luckily nothing was missing from the sticks, so it was mostly just disassemble, clean and lube, and reassemble. You can remove the stick caps by shoving a paper clip up under them to push back the tabs. This is one of the worst parts of working with these sticks. The other worst part is the dust washer doesn't fit over the circlip that holds the shaft cover. I ruined one of my circlips, which luckily you can replace with an e clip from an LS-32. You're gonna want to lube every moving part. They went from hella crunchy to super smooth.
The biggest pain with this project is the stock joystick holes were not big enough. These sticks need almost a 35mm hole. I had drilled out the holes as big as I had at the time 5-10 years ago, and it was too small to actuate the diagonals, and that was when I shelved it. I ended up using a 35mm step bit to finally get the job done.
Another unique thing to keep in mind is the actuator is above the pivot point. So the directions are NOT reversed when wiring it up.
Also there's just barely enough clearance in an Astro City for the rotary dingus end. You'll want to orient the connector the way I have it in the pics. If its on the other side, the wires will rub.
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