I’m curious how you guys got Sanwa buttons to fit into the Namco pcb. The holes on the pcb are to small for the Sanwa to fit in. I tried using the search function but I guess since the site got remodeled I can’t view any of the threads with information on this matter. Thanks in advance.
It should be up at http://srktt.com/namco. If nothing else you can use quick disconnects and solder a piece of wire through that hole. Also, what you are doing is a sin unless the buttons are chewed up or broken. : )
Thanks for the guide, it inspires me to put a JLF in my Namco. I wish it had a picture guide for the buttons though. I heard you can bend the prongs to fit in the holes. I guess I’m confused because theres no way they can fit…
You’ll have to bend the prongs and cut it down to fit it into the PCB then solder them. Originally I wanted to do that to my Namco stick but since I only have one I decided to keep it the way it is and not touch it. Maybe when I get my hands on another one then I’ll mod it.
Easy! Solder the wire to the prongs and to the board!
I haven’t owned a Namco joystick in almost 11 years now(!) but from what I remember the case has a very slender profile – just like the Hori Fight Stick series. It’s almost completely impractical to use Quick Disconnects in that Namco case; at any rate you DO have to bend the terminals to fit the Sanwa buttons and cut the prongs. You can’t simply cut into the existing PCB without taking a chance of destroying it. As for alternate PCBs, there’s not much else besides a Cthulu that might fit into that case but then you’d really be talking about removing the original PCB, too. People have done project box mods for these joysticks for these very reasons…
If you’re going to keep the Namco joystick for your own use, the mods are up to you… IF your aim is to eventually sell the joystick down the line – and for a variety of reasons it is a very popular retrostick – then by all means keep the joystick as close as possible to original stock condition. The worst things you can do are do permanent case modifications or attempt painting to fix the scratches and smears that might have accumulated over the years. Most of us ARE NOT professional restorers and our amateur attempts at restoration will only aggravate the situation(s). The only thing I would touch is the baseplate. If there’s rust on it and the original sticker is gone or half off already, take care of that. Steel wool to remove the corrosion/rust and a clear enamel spray for metal to inhibit rust would not be a bad idea for the baseplate.
Case mods and personalization are for commonplace joysticks like the HRAP 2/3 series and Tekken 5 joysticks that have awful parts and are not collectible for a variety of reasons.
LEAVE the top-line joysticks like the HRAP SA’s and (especially) HRAP SE’s alone if you know what’s good for you in the long run. I would say the same for the Mad Catz joysticks that had very limited (under 1,000 units) production runs, too. (That would include the San Diego Comic Con 2008 orange sticks and violet Femme Fatale TE’s.) Same goes for the Namco joystick.
I ended up cutting and bending the prongs. Thanks for the help guys.