Bally Space Invaders - 42/29/17 Widebody Build

[Ark Malmeida]

Hi everyone,

I was able to acquire a for parts Space Invaders cabinet in August and have slowly been acquiring other parts here and there to the point where I've been able to start a cabinet build. I've learned a ton from reading through these forums - what a great resource - and figured it was high time that I started a build thread now that I've made some progress.

I'm hoping to make a modern build but keep some of the great details that I'm lucky to have with the Space Invaders cabinet as a base.

First the cabinet:

Here it is all cleaned out. I'm very happy with the condition that the artwork is in. Just need to clean it a bit more and maybe do a few touch ups in some of the scratched areas:

The cabinet came pretty complete with a lot of things that I'll be able to reuse in my build including legs (I've already sanded them down and repainted), lockbar and rails, playfield glass, plunger assembly, tilt bob, knocker, and coin door.

Here's a list of parts that I'll be using in the build:

PC

· Processor: Intel Core i5-3570K

· Motherboard: BIOSTAR TZ77A LGA 1155 Intel Z77

· Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600

· Video Cards:

o MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5

o ASUS GTX650TIB-DC2OC-2GD5 GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST 2GB 192-bit GDDR5

· Hard Drive: SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE120BW 2.5" 120GB SATA III SSD

· Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 TR-700 700W ATX

· Wireless Network Device: TP-LINK TL-WN722N Wireless N150 High Gain USB Adapter

· USB Ports: SYBA CL-PCI20114 18" 2-Port USB 3.0 Bracket

· Operating System – Windows 7 Home Premium 64 –bit

Displays

· Playfield: VIZIO 47" Class 1080p 60Hz LED TV (E470-A0)

· Backglass: VIZIO 29" 720p 60Hz Class Edge LED HDTV

· DMD: Dell E172fpi 17" monitor

Sound

· Lepai LP-168HA 2.1 2x40-Watt Amplifier and 1x68W Sub Output

· Playfield: VIZIO 47" Class 1080p 60Hz LED TV (E470-A0) Power Acoustik - Reaper Series 4" 2-Way Car Speakers

· Pyramid PW877 Power Series Subwoofer

Cooling

· Rosewill RFA-80-RL 80mm 4 Red LEDs LED Case Fan X 3

· BifFenix Spectre LED 230mm Case Fan

Controls and Force Feedback:

· U-HID Board

· LEDWiz

· *NEW* Virtual Output Kit from Zeb’s Boards

· RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-530SS 530W ATX 12V Power Supply

So far I've been able to assemble and test the computer:

I was able to get Visual Pinball VPinMame and PinballX up and running over the past few days and I'm starting to get some tables installed and running.

Can't wait to get everything put in the cabinet, get some buttons and more force feedback stuff ordered and get to all of the wiring. That's the part that will be tough for me as I'm VERY green when it comes to electrical work.

Thanks for reading!

[slaapzak]

looking good there is a topic with a document electrical 101 you can read alot about wiriring the table up. i learned alot of it. keep up the good work and upates

[Ark Malmeida]

Have gotten a bunch of tables (almost 40) loaded up and running over the holidays and with the help of my neighbor made some great progress into getting the playfield TV mounted and the cutouts done that will allow me to drop the DMD monitor partially into the cabinet.

I'm trying to work out where to place the U-HID and Zeb's ATX breakout, and SMT Booster Boards in relation to everything else. This is the layout I'm thinking I'd like to go with:

I've been reading through the Pinball Electrical 101 and the Addendum about interference so I want to make sure that I do everything right there. Does anyone have any comments about the layout and any tips about what I would need to do to make sure everything is grounded/bonded correctly?

Also, can those who have gone through this process give me some tips on where you got your buttons, and electrical components (wire, terminals, etc.)? I'm going to be ordering that stuff very soon and want to go with places that people have had good experiences with. I'm especially interested in where people get their flipper buttons/leaf switches and launch, start, and extra ball buttons. Most sites I've found either don't have all of them in stock at the moment or have them bundled with buttons I don't need.

[kizam33]

groovygamegear.com has a good selection

pinballlife.com has a lot of original buttons and parts

http://virtuapin.net. Is where I got my leaf-switches and they have the plunger you need too.

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[Ark Malmeida]

I've been working on the build pretty steadily, but it's been a while since I checked in with progress so I figured I'd share some pictures from about a month ago that show how I converted the backbox and from when I got all three screens and the computer in the cabinet and up and running:

My solution for the 47" playfield TV mounting:

Decided to go with a shelf to support the backglass monitor and a one piece frame for the DMD cutout and to hold it all together:

After some paint, mounting car speakers and attaching the Bally logo plate:

And after dropping the playfield in:

Then I finally got a chance to take some tables for a spin:

Since I took these pics I've actually had time to get the buttons in and mostly wired and get some force feedback stuff in as well. I'll get some pictures of the build as it currently stands soon.

[vampirolatino2]

Sick cabin artwork!!!! Love it

[connorsdad]

Very nice build

This makes me not want to restore lol.

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[Ark Malmeida]

The good thing about building a cabinet or finding a more standard cabinet though is that you get the expected dimensions. I love the cabinet I'm using because it's so wide (27 1/2 inches or so) that I didn't have to decase my 47' TV, but it seems shorter than more modern Bally/Williams wide bodies and the back box is set up a little differently which made for a few interesting challenges with how I placed everything inside.

[Ark Malmeida]

Wanted to give an update as I'm happy to report that I am finally done with the build. Put the glass on and ran it through its paces with some company last weekend and it came through like a champ!

Here's a final set of pictures:

Dark view of the inside:

Same shot with flash, showing off a good look at Zeb's shaker/gear combo:

A shot deeper in. Lots of wires! They're actually pretty organized compared the rats nest that was there before I started!:

And some outside shots showing the finished product:

I want to give a huge thanks to everyone that helped out and gave me tips along the way. Special thanks to Zeb - I definitely could not have gotten all the toys up and running without all of your gear and advice. Having force feedback definitely makes the cabinet. I'm currently running the following off the LEDWiz and an 8 port Sainsmart board:

- Lighted launch, start and extra ball buttons

- 10 contactors

- beacon

- fan

- Shaker and gear motor

- knocker

- 5 LED light bar

- LED undercab lighting

If anyone has any questions about the build fire away. I will say that if I can successfully get a build done, than anyone can!

[LSDguy]

Wow dude! I think that is just awesome. Once I get a bigger place.....muhahaha. How long did your project take you?

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[Ark Malmeida]

I picked up the cabinet last August, but didn't really gather enough components to seriously start working on it until early December. So right around 5-6 months, with some gaps here and there while I was waiting for parts to come in, etc.

[LSDguy]

I picked up the cabinet last August, but didn't really gather enough components to seriously start working on it until early December. So right around 5-6 months, with some gaps here and there while I was waiting for parts to come in, etc.

Nice project, it looks awesome brother! How many pinball games?

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[Ark Malmeida]

I'm always adding, but I've got it up around 140 tables right now - all Visual Pinball. They've made such great strides on the software lately and are still improving it - it's definitely a great time to have a cabinet.

[LSDguy]

Nice dude!

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[32assassin]

very nice, I built an XML with 518 tables. I'm going to trim the number down, I rather have quality over quantity.

It sucks because I spent allot of time making wheels and dB2S files and I'm not going to use them.

let me tell you, a Hyperspin account its worth its weight in gold 10XXXXX times over!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got my set up to the point where I'm only missing 1 backglass and 1 wheel image.

the time and trouble I had to go through makes me wish either VPU or VPF had a similar setup to witch you can sync your tables to their media.

[hughie]

Awesome build, you guys inspire me. Starting to collect parts.

[LSDguy]

very nice, I built an XML with 518 tables. I'm going to trim the number down, I rather have quality over quantity.

It sucks because I spent allot of time making wheels and dB2S files and I'm not going to use them.

let me tell you, a Hyperspin account its worth its weight in gold 10XXXXX times over!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got my set up to the point where I'm only missing 1 backglass and 1 wheel image.

the time and trouble I had to go through makes me wish either VPU or VPF had a similar setup to witch you can sync your tables to their media.

I love this community! Great forum with great people! You guys are making me want pinball.

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[MildAnti]

badass