{"id":1227,"date":"2026-05-03T21:32:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T11:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/electricadventures.net\/?p=1227"},"modified":"2026-05-03T21:32:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T11:32:38","slug":"leisure-allied-original-lowboy-aero-fighters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/electricadventures.net\/?p=1227","title":{"rendered":"Leisure & Allied Original Lowboy Aero Fighters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of my local friends came across a Leisure & Allied Original Lowboy cabinet, with a Snow Bros marquee, and pictures of it sitting in the back of a shed. The condition was unknown, and the owner just wanted it gone, so after getting some extra pictures to make sure it wasn’t rotted at the bottom, my friend decided to grab it (for $100) and try doing a restoration project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He got it back to his workshop and did an initial clean (the one before picture I have is below). I came around, and we did some electrical tests, and determined the power board power switch was fused (luckily on), and we were getting no sign of life from the screen. We did get startup music from the game PCB, which was clearly labelled as an original Aero Fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grabbed the chassis and the power board and took them back to my place to repair\/rebuild both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My friend did a really good job of cleaning the cabinet up and repainting some metal areas, making it a nice, neat cabinet. I brought back the power board and the chassis, but unfortunately, still nothing out of the chassis and tube (I haven’t written off the tube or chassis as yet, more on that later).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leisure & Allied “Lowboy” History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Advertised as “The Operator’s Little Friend”, Leisure and Allied introduced the original lowboy in the late 1980’s and continued to be used well into the 1990’s. It had easy-access doors on both the front and back of the cabinet, and the 20″ monitor could be easily rotated. Even though it had a small form factor, it had dual player controls and a full-size marquee. They do come up quite regularly, but often the tube has expired. The tubes that were used in these suffer from rubber chocks between the tube and the neck breaking down and then causing first corrosion and then a short of the neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Joining the lineup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My friend then wasn’t sure whether he was going to keep it, and as the actual body and construction of the unit were so well done, I decided that it would suit my lineup, so I paid him for what he had spent so far (he had also ordered a marquee and LED light), and he nicely transported it to my place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since I wanted this in a more long-term line-up, I decided to use a known good Tube\/Chassis combination, actually a new old stock screen from a poker machine (only about 20 years old). I got that setup and did some tests on it and the PCB in the unit. There appeared to be some issues with the cabinet wiring, but I worked my way through and got it working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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