I will be using this page to do and live update of my Australian Upright OutRun restoration. I’ve been looking for a machine for several years in Australia so when the chance came I picked on up. The machine was AU$500 not working.
This will be me first arcade machine restoration so I’m sure their will be mistakes along the way but hopefully people looking to do the same will get something from this. 
The machine had two PCBs and neither worked. The machine also had a larger screen in it and the screen inner and outer bezel are unfortunately missing as a result of this :(.
The control panel surround was butchered and probably not repairable and the steering wheel was a midway wheel not SEGA. It’s going to be a long road ahead.
Operational inspection found the Accelerator pedal sticks and the steering wheel isn’t central or giving a smooth operation left to right.
I spent the first few weeks just messing around with the PCBs – switching parts around between the two, cleaning the ICs but I still couldn’t get it up and running. One board showed nothing, the other I could get into test mode. I sent the boards off for repair and will give an update when I get them back.
The monitor took two of us to remove as it was larger than the original and a real squeeze to get it out. It wasn’t even central in the machine. To fit this monitor holes had been drilled into the cabinet sides to add fixing brackets. These will need filling at some point.
I’ve been stripping down the cabinet over the last month or so bit by bit.
The control panel took some time to remove as I bagged up the parts and photographed everything along the way. It was time to see why the steering wheel didn’t feel right.
As you can see from the picture above this machine has not been cleaned or maintained for a very long time.
The controls were removed and their were several issues found. It looks like this machine has had a lot of hard use and due to poor maintenance several parts have also bent.
All of the steering gears are either split or cracked. This is one of the common issues with an OutRun machine so I wasn’t surprised by this.
I ordered a full set of gears from a guy on eBay for under AU$100. They also came with replacement springs and grease which was a nice bonus.
Before fitting the gears I wanted to give the whole control mechanism a good clean up so I removed the electronics and shaker motor first and blasted the hell out of it. Doing this got rid of a fair bit of gunk but it was nowhere near grease free. I started to strip it down further and came across more issues.
The bumper plate that stops the steering wheel travel had two broken welds.
The arm plates are bent and should be straight. These could be straightened out easily enough but the pins that the steering springs sit on are seriously worn through and need replacing (see below)
After removing these and the B gear I found the shaft that they go on was also worn down and no longer level/straight.
Realising that the shaft and worn pins were beyond repair I placed an order with ArcadeFixIt.
I picked up the gear shaft, both steering arms/pins, gear shift plate (this was split on mine), resin steering stopper and OutRun steering wheel cap. These are all original NOS parts.
I also picked up the below from eBay and the service was very good on both accounts.
The gears above are a full set. They came with Allen keys, steering springs and grease for AU$100 which is a good price compared to other sources.
I’m currently in the process of cleaning metalwork. Here’s a before and after of the main steering housing. I used a scouring pad and soap then buffed it with metal polish.
I’ve started to rebuild the steering mech with the parts that I cleaned or purchase recently. It’s starting to take shape and is so much better than it was when I picked it up.
02/16
Tonight I’ve managed to hit a milestone and complete the restore of the steering mechanics of my Australian OutRun machine.
On and off its taken 3 months from start to finish, jet washing, cleaning, polishing, researching, ordering parts, more polishing and greasing.
Looking back to what it was originally like is quite an eye opener now, the effort, moskito bites and sweat has paid off.
Yesterday I received a parcel of more parts from the U.K this time. A fellow OutRun restorer and amazing OutRun buddy (I won’t mention his name so he doesn’t get hounded by people) was very kind to send me this awesome parcel below.
It contained various decals, SEGA security screws, wire harness clip, complete gear shifter and a custom chrome plated accelerator pedal. (And the OutRun mug minus the tea) which was a nice surprise ๐
A huge thank you mate (you know who you are) this will be a big help in making the OutRun dream come true!
5/3/16
Today I continued where I left off at Christmas with trying to remove the old rusty accelerator pedal. I picked up a steel drill bit a few months back after snapping two over Christmas. Using the drill, a chisel and a metal mallet its finally come away. Crack the Champaign!
The two threaded bolts are still in place though and pliers won’t budge them. I think I’m going to have to remove the checker plate and then have another go at a later date.
27/3/2016
I removed the checker plate by hamming and chilsing the rivets holding it in place.
This allowed me to hammer out the old accelerator bolts. Result!
27/3/16
The remaining wire harness was removed from the machine and the other checker plate. At this stage I will have a go at cleaning the checker plate but I may end up replacing it.
The cabinet is finally empty!
I’ve also received from a graphic designer redrawn side art. As it was for just for personal use and not for business he did the work for free, so thank you Alfonso, top man.
Originally I was given totally redrawn side art from an OutRun buddy called David in the UK. He had paid to have it painstakingly recreated after not being happy with the poor mirrored side art you can pick up online.
The Australian machine has a curved section at the rear of the cab whereas the uk version goes straight down. I took photos and measurements of the curve and had the artwork modified. (Above you can see a curved area now at the rear just above the road)
The Australian machine also has the manufacturers logo on the side art so I had this added too like the original. You can see this below in the photo (Just below the seagul)
I plan to get the artwork printed out in April.
Please note- as this artwork was gift and had been expensively recreated and paid for by a friend in the UK plus modifications have been carried out in good will not to sell it I have been asked not to share it or have it reprinted. I respect this request so please do not contact me to get a copy, request a print or request to pay me for a set as I wont do this or answer requests on the subject.
3/4/16
Woodwork – Over the last week I’ve had the hairdryer out….no not for my hair, to make easy work of removing what was left of the side art and front oval stickers. I then started to use putty to fill major wood damage. This was mainly around the front and rear access doors where previous owners had forced the rear door open and a operator had fitted a security padlock.
Serious damage around the lock (Above)
Wood Putty has cured and has been sanded. Looking much better (Above)
Primer added and imperfections stand out.
9/4/16
Refilled with fine filler some of the outstanding pressure marks and general rough edges to the cab. Also wood putty in some of the holes that had been previously drilled in the cab sides to hold the oversized monitor/brackets in place. May get to sand these tomorrow .
Other news, I spent some time at the printers yesterday and watched the side art get printed.
Here it comes!! 
Really happy with the colour match. You can see the original art of the ‘O’ in OutRun on the left and the printed on one the right
Here’s the finished product including the added Australian LAI logo and rear curve. It took twenty minutes to print one side and a couple of minutes to kiss cut the shape.
Hopefully the cabinet repair work and painting will be completed in the next few months.
SEGA OUTRUN 86 Blog 