"sup kehd?" from Massachusetts

[nago]

Hihi!

I recently bought my very first cab from GameSaru (thank you, friend!) - A Vewlix C for the express purpose of finally being able to play TATE shmups at home; a dream of mine since I found Ikaruga for $10 in a discount bin at FYE in 2003 for the gamecube

(Really fond memories of playing Raiden in arcades as a tot, too; I rented the SNES one from the local rental place probably a billion times...)

I played an exA Arcadia version of Touhou on a vewlix at Super MAGFest earlier this year and I couldn't get the idea out of my head, so I took the plunge. Thanks to Mrasmus, GameSaru and Greg Cotton from MAGFest for making it happen.

I've fully disassembled my vewlix, cleaned every last nut bolt and screw, and have been replacing cabling and parts and reassembling for a few weeks now while I research and plan various upgrades. Thanks a lot to this community for the wonderful info that really gave me the foothold I needed to make sense of anything as a complete outsider

Attached, bonus shots of most of a Vewlix C laying naked in my garage, awaiting cleaning from about two weeks ago

 

[ItsBobDudes]

You got a cup holdah on that thing to hold ya Dunks ?

 

[nago]

You got a cup holdah on that thing to hold ya Dunks ?

def need a custom ashtray with dunkies decal on it, now.

 

[twistedsymphony]

Welcome. Always glad to see new New Englanders here!

nice work on the tear down and clean up!

Massive thread here with loads of Vewlix info: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/taito-vewlix-vlx-appreciation-owners-thread.8709/

 

[nago]

Welcome. Always glad to see new New Englanders here!

nice work on the tear down and clean up!

Massive thread here with loads of Vewlix info: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/taito-vewlix-vlx-appreciation-owners-thread.8709/

Thanks! I've definitely already visited the vast majority of these threads in the last month

I've got it *mostly* reassembled now (and working/playable w/ an exA Arcadia), having replaced the FastIO with an exA IO and an exA-branded 2L12B, re-wired some of the old gummy, decaying mains wires (and added nice new nylon braiding), replaced the grody DC12V chassis fan with a nice new quiet noctua, got brand new seimitsu joysticks and buttons, and just generally have cleaned and polished the heck out of the whole thing. One of the things I am "stuck" on right now is that I still haven't succeeded in buffing/polishing the plastic trim to my satisfaction yet. Slow work in progress, but my fingies hurt and I've got some deadlines at work I need to pay mind to soon

[Guess it's a lot of exA stuff, but I didn't really have any clue of what would be compatible or not so I went kinda full-ecosystem to play it safe, but now that I've got everything in-hand I feel way more comfortable with DIY.]

I've also repainted the sun-bleached monitor bezel. It's mostly, mostly, mostly done - just some finishing touches for it to be back up to snuff ... and then the extremely long list of project ideas I've developed for myself while I tore it down and built it back up lots of posts to come in the future for silly things, for sure.

 

[tDRG]

Welcome! Cool cab

 

[ekorz]

Welcome!

 

[imbord3rlin3]

props to you bro for just going in and fully dissasembling and reassembling your first cab. thats badass.

 

[kikaso]

Welcome!

 

[sLpFhaWK]

w'sup kheD this forumz wikid cool. which part of mass? anywher near Boston?

 

[sLpFhaWK]

You got a cup holdah on that thing to hold ya Dunks ?

i got 2 on mine kheD 2 blue magnetic ones to go with my blue diamond. lol

 

[nago]

w'sup kheD this forumz wikid cool. which part of mass? anywher near Boston?

just down the street from the market basket on boston road

 

[sLpFhaWK]

just down the street from the market basket on boston road

oh wow we're real close then. I live in Malden, and to get to that MB it's only a few mins drive. nice to find local people interested in the hobby!! Can't wait to see your Lix all finished and complete! Heres my Blue Diamond running CPS2 Darksoft.

 

[DangerousDad]

Welcome. I've been stripping down and cleaning both an L and an FC. I only get like one hour a night to do it so it is taking a really long time. I do have the L all set to go though. Certainly a journey in itself!

 

[nago]

Welcome. I've been stripping down and cleaning both an L and an FC. I only get like one hour a night to do it so it is taking a really long time. I do have the L all set to go though. Certainly a journey in itself!

yeah I gave up a little polishing the plastic as I wasn't having much success with an orbital sander and a buffing pad, so I started putting the trim back on and I'll look into borrowing an orbital buffer later and try again another day. It's not too bad as is, I'm just a perfectionist.

it's almost fully back together, and it's playable now! what a marathon of subprojects, but it's looking great

 

[ArcSys101]

Welcome

 

[nago]

I stalled out a bit on polishing the plastic for the control deck, but I did get in my hadouken bracket and have successfully retrofitted a 4K monitor ... though after going through all the rigamarole of getting all of the spacers and etc ~ just right ~ so that the front looks nice and flush again, today I'll be taking it apart a final time to get all the lint out and do a final cleaning and re-assembly with foam tape &c.

In a house with three cats and two long-hairs, I'm sure it'll be really easy, right?

wish me luck!

Edit: here's a picture of the cab with the new monitor in; the upper trim is still half-off to make frequent removal and tweaking of the monitor assembly easier for the time being

I think the spacing here looks pretty good!