My first cab ever

[Chebby]

Hi, thank you to all the users of this forum. I found a lot of important information.

I want to open this thread to keep track of all the progress and work done on the Cab.

The Cab is a Vewlix L Ami, played the first time in japan in 2018... it was love at first sight.
It came complete with manual, marquee, 2 red brackets, 2 power supplies (game + speakers/fan), six buttons fast io, Nesica Card reader and various cables (usb, ethernet etc.etc.)
Overall in good condition, some scuffs on the metal body and the the side plastic parts of the control panel.

I'm not interested in running it on arcade hardware, so the plan is to remove almost all the original components and put a pc inside, perhaps with 2 hdds (multi - steam / mame), use a brook fighting board and change the monitor.

All suggestions are welcome!!!

The Cab:

 

[Raph_friend]

Looks great man, congratz!

 

[hoagtech]

I suggest you keep all original components so you can run Io and JVS as well as PC.

You can adapt controls through a Brooks UFB and still leave the capable hardware for an authentic experience down the road.

I wish you luck. I’m on the same journey

 

[astro_zombie138]

One of the biggest upgrades other than the monitor I did for mine was adding an additional amp. I just soldered the connections directly to the rear of the S connector on the Vewlix amp pcb. So it goes original speakers to vewlix amp s connector to new amp. Disconnected the power to the original amp and no cutting or altering needed. It made a huge difference to what the original speakers could do. I'm currently running multiple consoles and a steam deck through a brooks ufb but also have a TTX3 multi with fastio hooked up. Lemony made me a dual cable so I can have both connected without having to swap my harness.

 

[DelsArcade]

I suggest you keep all original components so you can run Io and JVS as well as PC.

You can adapt controls through a Brooks UFB and still leave the capable hardware for an authentic experience down the road.

I wish you luck. I’m on the same journey

+1, you're going to devalue it by stripping the original hardware and wiring out. Vewlixes aren't cheap... If it were me, I'd just add non-destructive changes to accommodate a PC and leave everything else alone. Or better yet, get a Chewlix so it won't be as bad to gut...

 

[Chebby]

@DelArcade @hoagtech
well honestly it's not nice to completely strip the cab, but I'm not planning to buy arcade hardware, also because a pc has everything I want to play and it's a more comfortable solution for me.
But at the moment I will follow your advice and keep everything intact.

@astro_zombie138
I was thinking of using the original amp for audio.
Do you say it's worth it?
mine has 4 ohm speakers.
two 10W and two 5W

 

[Chebby]

Yesterday I had my first deep cleaning session.
3 hours for the body, I'll do the control panel later
There was not so much dust but a lot of dirt and a THICK layer of nicotine
Taking the cab apart was a piece of cake, thanks to the tutorial by @penrhos

NOT FUN!

oh and I made a new friend

 

[astro_zombie138]

@DelArcade @hoagtech
well honestly it's not nice to completely strip the cab, but I'm not planning to buy arcade hardware, also because a pc has everything I want to play and it's a more comfortable solution for me.
But at the moment I will follow your advice and keep everything intact.

@astro_zombie138
I was thinking of using the original amp for audio.
Do you say it's worth it?
mine has 4 ohm speakers.
two 10W and two 5W

I was using the original amp for audio for about three weeks. Its good not great. Honestly a cheap kinter one from amazon sounds better. I'm just using that and I noticed a big improvement. You don't have to cut up any wires or anything. Pretty clean solution. I'd try it out and if it's not a worthy upgrade just return it.

 

[Chebby]

I was using the original amp for audio for about three weeks. Its good not great. Honestly a cheap kinter one from amazon sounds better. I'm just using that and I noticed a big improvement. You don't have to cut up any wires or anything. Pretty clean solution. I'd try it out and if it's not a worthy upgrade just return it.

can you send me a link of the amp you use? Thanks!

 

[astro_zombie138]

Kinter K3118 Texas Instruments TI Digital Hi-Fi Audio Mini Class D Home Auto DIY Arcade Stereo Amplifier with 12V 3A Power Supply Black https://a.co/d/2VzB8Y3

 

[Chebby]

Time to clean the control panel

The plastic Coin slot was yellowed. I've used some Sandpaper (320,500,800,1000, 2000, 3000) to bring it back to White.

Before:

After:

I've to keep cleaning the cp today, it is certainly the dirtiest part of the cab

 

[ianw]

Own 2 L Ami myself, keep original hardware, but get some new connectors off japan-arcade on ebay for brooks

 

[Chebby]

Polished the 2 little metal brackets of the Cp move strip with a dremel.
BEFORE:

AFTER

Also cleaned the wood panel with baking soda/salt/lemon, and then applied olive oil and let It rest for 48h

 

[Chebby]

Ok I've pretty much cleaned everything, I've also entirely disassembled and cleaned the original buttons and joystick ( I want to change only the Blue plungers with another color)

Also greased the joystick pivot and the buttons springs with shinetsu grease

 

[Chebby]

I forgot those rusty feet. To remove the feet you have to unscrew the entire leg:

Vinegar bath for 12h and cleaned with a metal brush

Then some black Paint

 

[kikaso]

I am always surprised at how well a vinegar bath works. Great work!

 

[ImportantBet]

Really impressed from this restoration thread despite this being your first cab.

Did you do any other restorations in the past for anything else?

 

[Chebby]

Really impressed from this restoration thread despite this being your first cab.

Did you do any other restorations in the past for anything else?

Thanks Brother. I have done some work on my consoles/CRT and music instruments.

 

[Chebby]

I did some work in the garage yesterday.

Control panel plastic side Pieces
Pretty beat up, a lot of bumps and scratches but only 2 or 3 deep marks

I wanted to use sandpaper, but in the end there are very few deep scratches.
I used 4 polishing sponges of different hardness and a polishing compound

Pretty satisfied After 2h of work

 

[rewrite]

Those came out stellar!