Hello all. My name is Dan from Altoona PA. I bought the infamous "crack baby pac" aka "Gangsta Baby" from Biffbar this weekend in hopes to make a nice playing Baby Pac Man.
I love the game and remember it as a child, I was 4 when it came out. It'd been on my watch list for awhile.
The price was right on this one and it had good bones. Dave was up front about everything with this game so I knew exactly what I was in for.

Over the next several months I hope to document the progress of bringing this machine back to a more like new presentation although it's really cool now. Yes, I will probably upset people by doing things the wrong way or cutting corners but it's a learning process for me and hopefully a teaching tool for others. Please bare wirh me on this. Helpful hints along the way would be much appreciated as well. I apologize in advance, days or weeks may go by without updates due to my busy schedule.
Follow along and favorite the thread if you're interested. Here we go!

Saturday May 19th I made the drive up near Allentown to pic up crack Baby Pac. It was a rainy 3 hr trip but went very well. My 8yr old daughter accompanied me along the way.
For the record, a Baby Pac Man fits comfortably in a 2012 GMC Terrain.

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Getting it home and set up. Initial observations are as follows:
-the game plays 100%, no issues with video controls, pinball functions as it should. Coils all fire.
-volume is very low
-about 8 lights are out in the playfield
-playfield is worn in several areas
-pinball needs new rubber
-mpu had prior alkaline damage but was properly cleaned and repaired. No battery or back up is present on the board.
-Cabinet is covered in graffiti but very solid, just minor swelling.
-control panel overlay has seen better days.
-coin door will need taken apart, cleaned, painted, polished, etc.
Other miscellaneous things will need addressed.
Please note, this is by no means a dig at the seller, I knew what i was getting and the price was right. Simply just documentation.

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I did neglect to explain.
Back around 2000, this machine was said to have been rescued from a Philadelphia 'crack house.' Hence all the graffiti and tags all over it. Plastic logo bags were still in the machine which we assume was for the crack. Seller said to me it was one of those places where you can't wait to leave! Grab the machine and go!

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First thing I wanted to address was the low sound volume. I first used contact cleaner on the volume pot inside the coin door. It was very corroded. That yielded just a tiny but more sound. Time to move on. I remember watching a video from Arcade Jason and he mentioned a master volume pot on the 'Vidiot' board. Sure enough, after adjusting that, sound was deafening from the speakers! Success!
The pot is located on the lower right quadrant of the Vidiot board.

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The next issue I wanted to address was the missing mpu battery. Even though eventually the game will be unplayable for a time when I move to the playfield restoration, I'd like to start logging my high scores.
Anticipating the purchase, I ordered one of 'Franks battery boards" from TNT Amusements and @toddtuckey. I needed another one for a service call anyway.
I am aware of nvram, however, the battery boards provide a nice clean look, easy battery exchange, low likelihood of leakage, and a blocking diode built right in. They install in a matter of minutes! I had to add a small jumper due to the prior corrosion just to sure up the connection. Success! High scores now save!

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Yes, good call. I will try that. My intention is to get the marker off, bondo the gouges and deep scratches, sand and hopefully get away with touch up. New cabinet art of course.

I have ordered the Baby Pac Man art package from Phoenix arcades. It includes the side art, CPO, PFO, and pinball plastics. One if my goals is to successfully complete a new playfield overlay. With this small size, should be easier than a full sized machine.

Isopropyl alcohol and magic eraser seems to be the right combo. Theres a bit of marker residue left behind, but I'll hit it again.

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Looking at the playfield lights, I wanted to know if I had bad lamps or bad SCRs. Replacing the lamps and they all work. Some bad lamps, some loose sockets. Luckily this machine is equipped with the PCB matrix in the center rather than all those individual sockets. Experimenting wirh a couple LEDS underneath as you can see by the "P"s.

Any owners out there that can tell me if LEDs work well with Baby Pac? They usually flicker or strobe with older Bally games.

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No hard feelings. It's just like the LED debate, one could argue that til you're blue in the face, just preference. My Earthshaker has Lithium, however my WCS has NVRAM. I'm not biased.

Great! Good to know.

I wonder what some of this means. If anyone can recognize a tag. I almost feel bad removing the history.

Great tip, thanks! Just like the Gottlieb system 3 games. I have been shutting it off to dig around under the playfield; mainly because I'm not as familiar with that machine. I was quite surprised all the lamps do work.
Any tips on removing the old vinyl side art stickers? Those are on there pretty good!

Classic!!!

I have a question for baby pac owners. The "extra baby" feature is not working the way the game is set up now. The blue target registers hits but it doesn't award the exrra baby.
I've been looking at the dip switch settings in the manual and it's a bit confusing as to what controls that feature. Does it have to do with the max number of pac man per game? Need some help with this one.

Yes! Thank you. Since the game had no battery, high score setting reverted back to 00
Setting it to 03 fixed the extra baby issue.

I was able to remove most of the Sharpie marker from this side using a magic eraser and 91% isopropyl alcohol. Once the other side is cleaned, I'll attempt to remove the old artwork, bondo fill the gouges and then sand and prep for new paint.

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Very nice! Hope mine will look that nice someday.

My art package from Phoenix Arcades arrived today. Everything looks fantastic. I recieved new plastics, control panel overlay, playfield overlay and cabinet art. However, I'm nowhere near reday for any of it.
I need to call Steve at pinball resource and get a new set of drop targets ordered as well.

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Thank you. I just hit the 4th maze this evening but got outsmarted by that pesky red ghost.
hassellcastle may I ask what led scheme you used. I really like the brightness of the playfield and plastic art. Did you use actual yellow leds under the 'PACMAN' inserts?

I haven't dug into it deeply yet but it appears after unlocking the clips under the control panel, you need to unplug the wire harnesses from the boards and lift the playfield out. I plan to strip the topside completely, but leave most items in tact on the underside.

Right side of the cabinet is now graffiti free. Next I'll turn my attention to removing the old decals.

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Since I'll be working for the next 3 days, I thought it would be an opportune time to atempt to polish the coin dtop slots. I removed those and dropped them into the vibratory polisher for the next 3 days and we'll see how they turn out.

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I also ordered repro 25c inserts from eBay:
ebay.com link: Midway Arcade Coin Door Insert Pairs 25 cents

The coin door will eventually be removed and repainted.

After 48 hrs in the polisher, the coin slots look better but the corrosion is too deep. I think I am going to just sandblast them and then back into the polisher. I know it won't have the luxurious chrome look, but the rust has to go.

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Some more parts that I removed and sandblasted at work. Shot them with some coat to prevent further oxidation.

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