Restoring an all-time favorite…Punch-Out!!

I’ve been searching around, bidding on auctions, watching local classifieds like a hawk (a chicken hawk, to be precise), and even sent out countless emails to old contacts trying to track down a Punch-Out!! arcade cabinet.  Most of the time I was either outbid on eBay, was just a little too late with the local classifieds, or sellers just wanted too much for what they had to offer. Earlier this week I finally found a great deal on a working Punch-Out!! that didn’t have any structural or electronic issues, so I jumped right on the opportunity to get the game. Now, this thing is going to need some work to get it just how I want it, but I’m ready for some restoration work out in the garage before I move the game into the arcade room. I picked up a few restoration supplies at Home Depot yesterday, and I have some parts on order that should be here by the end of the week. Below are some of the pictures as the machine looks right now.

punch_out

control_panel

punch_out_screens

As you can see from the pictures, the machine is completely missing its sideart and the paint job is a little scuffed up in places. The upper monitor needs to have a cap kit done on it, the bezel needs to be replaced, and the control panel overlay is torn up in places. I already have a new CPO on its way, new sideart stickers, and two new orange buttons. The marquee is fine, but the bulb needs a new starter, and the marquee brackets actually need fixing.

Here is the fix list (not necessarily in order):

  • Fix marquee brackets
  • Install a new starter into the marquee bulb assembly
  • Strip down the cabinet, sand it down, fill in the holes/chips, repaint the sides, back, top, front
  • Apply new sideart and control panel overlay
  • Replace the bezel
  • Build and paint a new cabinet base (it’s currently missing one)
  • Install new casters onto the bottom of the cab
  • Install a cap kit on the upper monitor
  • Install new t-molding
  • Remove the coin doors, strip the paint, and repaint them
  • Install a cap kit on the sound board
  • Put the whole dang thing back together and pray I didn’t ruin anything in the process
  • Move the thing into the arcade room!

I’ll try and remember to take work in progress pictures as I go, but I’ll definitely post pictures of the completed project before I move it out of the garage so we can have some good before/after comparisons. This is the last of the “must have” games, so I’m pretty happy to have this one home. I also have my eye on a handful of other games that I found locally that need some restore work, but I’d most likely just get them back to 100% and flip them to other collectors.

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