Restoring a mouldy ZX Spectrum micro computer from the '80s

[@PedroG78]

It's deeply satisfying to watch how you restore these beautiful machines that meant so much in our childhood. I had a +2 like this and I love the way you talk about it. Also, I really liked the "it's part of the history of the machine" part, it was thoughtful. Thank you

[@BertGrink]

Applause for Mark and Neil! You guys have done a marvellous job cleaning this formerly sad-looking +2. It's almost hard to believe it's the same machine in the "after" footage.

[@alaggan]

My first computer, great to see one restored to full working order. I'm surprised the tape heads themselves are still up to the job!

[@MrJozza65]

I do enjoy these restorations with Neil and Mark. I was concerned about the lack of double-entendre, but at 16:01 my faith was restored 🙂

[@RMCRetro]

Happy that we were able to give you one

[@bazza5699]

love that mark pushes the innuendo boundary at every opportunity :)

[@TheCaffeineKid]

I thought it was just my dirty mind seeing things that were not there. LOL

[@ShishakliAus]

He really likes making it hard for Neil

[@NotFalco]

You don’t want anything stretched out too much

[@electronash]

Neil: "That smaller one looks a lot harder to pull off, Mark?" Mark: "When you finally manage to pull it off, it's really satisfying." Neil: "I could see it on your face when you managed that."

[@Nemesis-222]

Thought I was watching an episode of Rainbow at one point.

[@chriscrossan8034]

You guys are like the Tango & Cash of the retro computer scene on YT.

[@RMCRetro]

Haha I love that

[@acj1971]

More like Twins Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito

[@jcardboard]

At least they're not Turner and Hooch

[@cashox4]

a fitting 80's film reference to describe these capable retro individuals :)

[@colonelbarker]

I know I've said it before, but it's refreshing having a team of people on a channel like this. It gives a lot more flavour and actually feels more involving

[@Joliie]

I like that you chosen not to use a filler, these have battle scars and this is just part of its history :) Hopefully at some point in the future we are allowed to travel again, only seen the first Spectrum in action, Got a lampda 8300 hidden away somewhere that properly could use a restoration. First machine I got to play around with in the early 80s with friends of the family, had to type it all in for the race car to run :)

[@mkrleza]

I just love these Mark and Neil collaborations...

[@me0262]

12:38 I learned of this from John Riggs. There's a product called Brite Boy, and it works like Brasso but it doesn't have the oily residue that Brasso has. He uses it on game cartridges that he repairs.

[@RMCRetro]

I'll check that out thanks

[@Even-Steven]

When the 'murder gloves' come out, you know it's going to be a good ep! Neil & Mark make a great team.

[@horusfalcon]

Had a ZX-81 built from a kit. Never saw a TS2068 or a ZX Spectrum in the wild here in the U.S. You folks rock restorations - this was a well done job on such a computing rarity.

[@Soundwave1of9]

I admire the patience and the love for the restoration process. It would have been so much easier to buy a better condition unit for The Cave, but now another speccy has a new lease of life.

[@frankowalker4662]

What a fantastic job you did on that +2. Congratulations guys. BTW, I always find it easier to plug in the keyboard first, then the tape deck when I'm reassembling them.

[@WhatAboutZoidberg]

As someone from the US, I never heard of micro computers until a few years ago and I agree, the Speccy games have a charm to them and their color pallete. That and a near endless library of games and homebrew. Really nice episode, great chat and the cleaning montage was a nice progression from start to end.

[@1697djh]

The +2 is an Amstrad machine, it has a tape deck built in just like the CPC464. When Amstrad bought Sinclair, he discontinued all Sinclair machines including the QL. His engineers brought out the +2 then the +3, that was the end of the Spectrum line

[@digiowl9599]

Yep, i noticed that the board was a Amstrad branded while they worked on it.

[@Petertronic]

The tape player in the 464 was better. It had a tape counter (essential if you are programming, believe me). Tape player on the +2 was a piece of crap, with no tape counter, and no connection on the back for an external tape deck.

[@jonathancombe9991]

Yes it was sad but not entirely surprising. The Amstrad and Spectrum computers were essentially competitors. So to keep both going once in common ownership would be to essentially competing with yourself. Mind you I do think the QL could have been a success if it hadn't been killed off so quickly.

[@bonzobanana1]

Yes the original grey plus 2 is probably the Spectrum I spent most time with. It was Amstrad's very quick re-jig of the Spectrum before they went for a bigger re-design with the Plus 3 and Plus 2A. I loved my grey Spectrum Plus 2 back then and spent serious hours gaming on it. I just loved it. Incredible memories. The Spectrum game library was so utterly huge with many amazing games even if the graphics and sound were a bit sub par compared to other computers.

[@Zerbey]

Yep, the grey +2 is basically a 128K spectrum in a different case with a datacorder. The +2A/B and +3 are when they changed the I/O layout. The vast majority of games don't care, but there's a handful that don't work correctly.

[@mabit]

This was my first computer and oh the memories. Thanks for the nostalgia.

[@pi6706]

I’ve always admired this model for its built-in “Datacorder”. I thought it was a very neat design. I also like how the buttons on the cassette recorder match the keys on the keyboard too.

[@alistairwilkinson4055]

Except there was no tape counter 😠

[@pi6706]

@@alistairwilkinson4055 True. I had a C64 and some games such as Turbo Outrun and multi load compilation tapes the tape counter was a necessity which of course was a standard feature on the Commodore Datasette. As for the ZX Spectrum Datacorder how did their users manage without a counter?

[@alistairwilkinson4055]

@@pi6706 Badly. If you wanted to play the second (or third) game from a covertape, you had to load the others first.

[@pi6706]

@@alistairwilkinson4055 That is bad. What a struggle that must have been!

[@TheFusedplug]

The black +2 looked horrible + had the tape buttons blank with white paint above them rather than "on" them - the grey looked perfect to me .. it might have been compared to the Amstrad CPC464 but the 464 was just ugly in comparison much like it's brainless owners. 464 owners were always late to the Microcomputer party (it was their "first"

[@brookerobertson2951]

Yet another quality production... My favourite part was all the innuendo that professionalism brushed aside.. "edited out" 😉..

[@lBonaCl]

I recently bought one of those CompuCleaner Pros and I can't believe how well it works. I thought it would be an half-assed attempt at best, but no, it actually is a really good tool for blowing out the dust. I have gone though all of my PCs with it and have been searching through my cupboards for old junk to use it on. But next time I need to clean on dry a keyboard, I need to try the CompuCleaner on that as well.

[@BrennanYoung]

I really enjoy RMC, but I especially like the banter when Mark is on board. The two of you complement each other very well.

[@RMCRetro]

Thank you! I love working with Mark, he gets things done!!

[@naviamiga]

Lovely to see these old machines getting such love.

[@retrojb101]

Great video guys! Keep the coming. The +2 was my first ever computer. I remember being in Tandys facing the decision of getting either a spectrum +2 or a Commodore 64. Having no idea at the time I went with the +2 purely because it came with a light gun 😀. Still have it to this day. Great little machine.

[@Retrohertz]

You made a good choice. Although the C64 would have been a good choice too.

[@TheFusedplug]

@@Retrohertz C64 I co-owned alongside my +2 ..SID chip tunes are nice but the AY chip was still competitive ..driving games + certain others shone on the Spectrum imo

[@MrButtonpresser]

Bravo gentlemen.

[@ms-dosman7722]

Nice job on getting it fixed up and clean again. I actually like scrubbing dirt off old computers. It's really satisfying somehow.

[@FixerUK]

It's what kitchen sinks are for, isn't it? 😀

[@markusfritze]

Thanks a lot for these videos! For key caps there is a trivial method I have been using for a while: Corega Taps! Get a bowl, throw the dirty caps in, throw 5 or so tabs in and fill with warm water. Stir gently and let it sit while it bubbles along. After an hour or so all dirt and grime is gone. Now rinse and dry. Done. The blue color doesn't colorize the caps - nobody is running around with blue teeth because of these tabs either.

[@MichaelOglesby]

Beautiful restoration Neil and Mark! My childhood right there. The Grey +2 model did suffer from a wobbly power connector, especially from heavy use. Probably the reason why Amstrad changed the connector type in the +2A (best model ever). Can't wait to visit the cave!

[@terraspent]

even when i was a young argumentitive brat, in the first few years of having a c64 around 1990, i always did appreciate the speccies ability to create nice cartoony graphics. the colour it lacked it could more than make up with in the right hands, wonderfully drawn scenary and wicked smooth scrolling sprites despite the spectrums lack of hardware in general let alone graphics chips lol. the spectrum will always be one of the great 8-bit machines in my eyes.

[@TheFusedplug]

Spot on bro !

[@WDeranged]

I love the Speccy +2. It feels like the most mature, authentic Speccy before Amstrad started breaking stuff.

[@danhoppy5517]

I got one of these towards the tail end of the 80's. Monty Mole and Rockstar Ate My Hamster were some of the classics I played on my Speccy.

[@FixerUK]

School Daze was one of my favourites from way back when.

[@krashd]

Nae Dizzy games? I thought Treasure Island Dizzy was a right of passage for all of us. Dizzy, Jack the Nipper, Skool Daze/Bak 2 Skool, Where's Wally?, Monty Mole, Manic Miner, Horace Goes Skiing, Chase HQ, Head over Heels...

[@KarlHamilton]

Goddammit the new cave looks immense. Does anybody even watch TV any more now that we have such high quality content on KZbin?

[@BertGrink]

I don't; it's been more than 10 years since I last saw a TV broadcast.

[@scottishwildcat]

Many hours a day, versus about 20 minutes of KZbin.

[@B3tanTyronne]

What with youtube, netflix, prime and *ahem* other sources (yar me hearties etc) let alone gaming, I have not watched conventional telly for almost 3 years and last year I opted to stop paying my tv licence as it was not being used.

[@KarlHamilton]

@@B3tanTyronne I'm 37 and those bastards never got a penny off me :)

[@ThereIsOnly1ArcNinja]

What is TV? *JK*

[@eventhorizon2873]

This computer looks awesome, i realy want one.

[@ian_b]

I've got a +2 under my bed. It needs new drive belts. I should get around to that some time.

[@handlesarefeckinstupid]

You don't need the internal tape deck. You can wire an external.

[@StargliderGaming]

1:14 - Sinclair had been bought out before the +2 was released. That machine is pure Amstrad.

[@TheFusedplug]

Correct Sir. Might I also mention that I remember the news on the TV and that infamous picture in most of the Sinclair magazines when Sir Clive (RIP) and Sugar made the 5 million quid deal. I was delighted to get a brand spanking new grey +2 following the buy out Xmas 1986 (Thanks Mum and Dad). I still have that same computer to this date :)

[@StargliderGaming]

@@blackterminal As the information stated in the video was incorrect, it's best to point it out. The +2 was pure Amstrad, not the +3 that Mark stated at that point in the video. Picky? Maybe. Wrong to point it out? No.

[@StargliderGaming]

@@blackterminal You're quite an angry person, aren't you. Best get that checked out, you'll live longer. Have a great day!

[@paulb4uk]

I often use car scratch remover or tcut on clear plastic ,pays to take keyboard apart and clean dust off the membrane as it can stop your keyboard working completely great restore Neil and Mark top work.

[@TheCaffeineKid]

What a great job you did with this Speccy. It looks almost factory fresh. You do your machines proud.

[@syrus3k]

This was my favourite spectrum and the one I really properly learnt to code on.

[@GORF_EMPIRE]

Neil and Mark always makes for a great video! Well done gentlemen!

[@zeppomuty]

Crud is my favourite descriptor for dirt.

[@msolom9521]

SPECCY+2 was my first computer, not family one but mine ... sweet memories ...

[@damouze]

Great job on the Spectrum. I never owned one, but it is a fascinating machine. My childhood memories are of my neighbours BBC and later on C64 and my own MSX1. I am looking forward to a video about the SGI Indy. At one point I actually owned three of them and an SGI Indigo, but unfortunately they had to go at one point during an appartment cleanup. I just did not have the space! When the current crisis is over and travel is once again possible, I will have to come and visit to see the cave in person :-).

[@somerandomblokeybloke6033]

One mod that you may want to look into on the +2 is the sound levels mod to adjust the sound output of the ULA, AY and tape output to make them all the same level (usually the AY is noticably quieter).

[@TheFusedplug]

I got a SCART for mine it uses the sound port with a little separate lead so for me at least it improved the sound anyway for the AY

[@ctrlaltrees]

Oh I do love a good RMC cleaning montage!

[@JenniferinIllinois]

As an old American, I never knew much about the ZX Spectrum. I had a Commodore 64 like so many back in the day. Learning a lot from you though about the Spectrum.

[@yeogav]

Played my +2 so much, the play button on the datacorder snapped off. Great memories 👌

[@TheFusedplug]

Did you manage to get that key replaced

[@yeogav]

@@TheFusedplug I have no idea what happened to that speccy. I used a screw driver to lever the press play mechanism after the button snapped. Recently I picked up a mint 25 quid plus 2, to relive those memories

[@MetaVIRTUAL]

Nice one. Love it. Would love to see some Atari jaguar or CDI

[@CatWeazle21]

Love a bit of speccy restoration. These spots with you & Mark work really well, looking forwards to the next one!

[@JakeBirkett]

Love that pan of the restored +2. It made my day!

[@lukemarvin]

My compliments to the thumbnail editor.

[@RMCRetro]

*tips hat*

[@beneddu]

There's something very soothing about watching Neil cleaning stuff 😊

[@ZaPpaul]

I could sit and watch these refurb videos all day. Odd, because I've got a pile of old computers and consoles in need, but CBA :D

[@robwainfur2073]

You two bounce off each other really well.

[@tommylakindasorta3068]

I don't know why but I get intense pleasure from watching a broken thing get repaired for future use.

[@ladyjaye27]

Always fascinating to see mangy (inside and out) computers getting a new life with a good restoration and cleanup. It's really like day and night!

[@nathan_tasker]

I thoroughly enjoy watching your collaborations guys. Keep up the fantastic work.

[@weepingscorpion8739]

As a user of my parents' 48k original Spectrum, I've always longed for owning a +2 and a +3. Don't think I ever will but you can always dream. Anyway, great seeing this machine getting the T2T treatment. :)

[@Waremonger]

It came out looking great.

[@JustAGameShow]

I owned a Spectrum 48k+ and a 128+3 .. The floppy disc drive was awesome although.. It only ever got used for text files, Dos coding and saving game data.

[@dastroyer6070]

I'd like to see you do a video on modern solutions for playing games on Commodore 64 without need for floppies or cassettes. I tried researching, but its awfully confusing for a newbie as to what devices are right. I'm sure there are other like myself with a C64 that would like that, and you're great at covering these components. Great content either way!

[@bobbus_74]

Love these refurb videos. Right up my street. Great job guys.

[@retrogranie8235]

Another great video!!

[@sidey2k128]

loving the restore on the speccy!! even your resident spirit looks to approve!! some nice orbs going on in the vid!!

[@Theseanparker]

Yet another thoroughly enjoyable and informative video, thank you!

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks Sean!

[@saintuk70]

Moving through the spectrum of Spectrums

[@KieronWray]

another great vid- i think i'm getting used to the back and forth and sharing the limelight rather than just yourself. looking forward to seeing the next episode and really hope to come visit one day (post covid 22 or whatever we end up with)

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks Kieron! It's a learning process that's for sure but I think we're shaping a good format with each new episode we make together, and most importantly we're restoring lots of machines!

[@Brutalwhan]

Looks like you two had a blast. Looks amazing.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

As an older retro-computing enthusiastic, I can't accept any "Spectrum" that has proper keys. My dad, who's still with us, bought me a 16k Speccy in 1982, and whilst I didn't appreciate his cheapskate choice at the time, I had great fun with it.

[@andrewdunbar828]

I can. I somehow managed to find an imported 48K in the classifieds in 1982 months before they were sold in Australia, but I programmed and played on it so much I killed the keyboard membrane several times and bent the faceplate, which was glued on mine, while replacing the membrane. Finally I bought a proper keyboard to put the Speccy in, and that served me well until I was able to buy an Amiga 1000. But I never had any of these Speccy+ or Amstrad Speccies so I'm not familiar with the feel of those keyboards.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@andrewdunbar828 Spectrum to Amiga is a big upgrade, though, whatever third party keys it had. 👍

[@TheFusedplug]

@@andrewdunbar828 The +2 keyboard is a nice clacky sound mine has lasted the test of time although Amstrad made the grey +2 it's essentially Sinclair left over inventory inside the machine .. the black +2(a) and +3's had 5 pin power sockets with a bolder sized power brick and the expansion port was same but not compatible with older Speccy add ons yet the grey +2 WAS so be careful folks if you are unfamiliar with this fact

[@philreed1605]

Brilliant work! Would love to come and see the museum one day, though I would be tempted to try to see the backs of all the machines. Surely it’s not just me who likes to look at all the ports?

[@TheFusedplug]

"New" add ons are made to this date for the "old grey" including an SD card reader for which you can load Speccy software in an instant if u like and save wear and tear on "Datasettes" (I love to still use tapes I'm a purist)

[@mattw8332]

Ah, memories! I had a 128k +2 between 1988-91. The joystick ports on the side never worked (thank you Alan Sugar) so I resorted to using an interface from my secondhand 48k+.

[@TheFusedplug]

You should have got port adapters as the built in ones are non standard u can buy those for about £3 off ebay brand new from most retro shops

[@kattan2006]

I love it when you two work together. Would you please indicate the wiring for the scart cable used for the grey +2 as there are confilicting info about this? The LK2/ LK4 is clear, R9 replaced is new but the wiring is still a puzzle

[@TheFusedplug]

I bought a SCART for my grey +2 it is a different one to the black +2 sellers will ask u to choose specifically ..

[@stevemoon2136]

Excellent work, guys. Really like & appreciate the presentation direction of the channel is going.

[@interghost]

A thing of beauty!! Well done!!

[@FabienChampigny]

What a nice work !

[@leeg4116]

Another quality restoration guys! Shame about the case damage and screw hole but it now looks great. We'll done

[@turbo-timsotherworld9455]

In the motor trade we do the gag, clean those plastic headlamp glasses with toothpaste, cheep customers spend all weekend with the "blue minty gel" just to get old headlamp plastic lenses through the MOT beam image check, as a garage it takes us about 90 seconds each headlamp to buff the plastic with a spinning mop and wet Brasso, but some of customers know best ! love your videos and have just bought a spectrum 48k as I had a bit of space next to 2 old Window 10 pcs and 2 Macs in my Mcave x

[@Zerbey]

I have a +2B stored at my parents house, which was the last +2 edition and is basically the +2A without the sound defects. Once this whole pandemic is over I'm going to visit them and bring it back to Florida for restoration (will need to figure out power and some way to make the display output to a modern monitor, but that shouldn't be a huge deal). Hopefully it's still in good shape, it worked the last time I switched it on in 1999 but it's had 20 years for the belts to turn to mush.

[@Adhallphotography]

I had a 'black' +2. It's actually a +2A; essentially a late model which was a +3 with a tape deck instead of the disk drive. Had a few compatibility issues; I seem to remember 'Paperboy' specifically stated that it wasn't +2A compatible, seemed to work OK though!

[@BertGrink]

Some incompatible games were rereleased after being patched, so I would guess that you had the patched version.

[@TheFusedplug]

Paperboy on the spectrum was far more playable than ANY version including the arcade version it was simply just brilliant

[@fkthewhat]

The keyboard on this model speccy looks great! As does the picture after those mods and through that Sony monitor. We have a place locally full of old arcade machines, consoles and micros, and for the latter two - the TVs are very different to one another in size and look (as a side note it's quite amazing how much CRTs can create all sorts of flickering and patterns in your peripheral vision too!) But it will be great for the museum to have a uniform look so hopefully you can find more of the same model!

[@LeSmokinCola]

I did love the +2, I had the rubber keyed 48K and I lusted after the proper keyboard on the +2

[@mrt.7146]

"Murder gloves", "invite people and film them for you", "the exhibit", "mad mastermind" ... this script is so much fun 🥳

[@chrisrobson8540]

hope that tub was big enough to hold all the keycaps.....thought it was gonna be touch and go for a second🤣🤣🤣 Finished articled looked magnificent!

[@mrhick01]

"You don't want anything stretched out too much." Neil, you deftly left that one alone. You clever guys. I see you, heh. Nice restoration!

[@TheSudsy]

The Spectrum was a large part of the UK bedroom coder revolution. From which an awful lot of high end software would not be what it is now.

[@TrevorNewsome]

Wow fantastic restore, I really enjoyed the vid. I so wish I had kept mine.

[@VixTwenty]

Brilliant video

[@jinxterx]

Great job!

[@GouldFishOnGames]

Great video and good to see the mod to improve the video. Its something I've been meaning to do with my +2, as my TV will give a good picture IF I also provide the switch to RGB voltage. but the OSSC can never seem to lock on to it.

[@alistairwilkinson4055]

My brother and I had hours of fun with our +2. We got one of the launch packs with Oh Mummy!, Disco Dan, Crazy Golf, Treasure Island, Alien Destroyer and Punchy, none of which were anywhere close to being 128k (or even 48k) games. Alien Destroyer was addictive, though. I have fond memories of reading Your Sinclair, turning over a tape to see if it had a 128k version on the B side, and spending summer holidays mapping adventure games. It was a great machine. One thing I can't forgive Amstrad for, though, was omitting a tape counter. It probably saved a few pence per unit, but it was so annoying not to have one!

[@RomeoKGT]

The clear plastic on the datacorder was heavily scratched on my ebay purchase tried all methods. In the end I used clear perspex left over from the garden shed window. Just scored it and snap the perspex to size.

[@RMCRetro]

There's something just perfect about finding an old micro in a shed and then using the shed itself to restore it 😁

[@johnabbitt690]

Another great video guys! The +2 was my second spectrum after I told my dad the benefits of having a 128k machine. Goodbye 48k+, hello games loading all in one go and better music.

[@BertGrink]

Just out of curiosity, what benefits did you tell your dad that 128K would bring? 😄

[@johnabbitt690]

@@BertGrink As I said, the 128k had a better sound chip (I think). Also, many multiload games would load all in one go. No need to reload level 1 every time you needed to start a new game.

[@BertGrink]

@@johnabbitt690 Ahh, I see... I had thought you would use the "It will improve my homework for school" argument.

[@8bvg300]

So happy to see you doing this one. I have my pkus 2 on my shelf... about time i get it refurbed too. Man yours was mankey

[@Mrmayhembsc]

ZX Spectrum +2 128k is the one my dad owns. It been in the loft since the 90's due to failure of the graphics. Always wanted to restore it :)

[@doctorsocrates4413]

Posh speccy with built in datacorder.Nice to see vintage computers brought back to life..thanks.

[@cheaterman49]

Fantastic job, congrats to both of you :-)

[@PaulinesPastimes]

"The smaller they are, the harder they are to get hold of, but when you finally pull them off, it's really satisfying" Why Vicar, I don't know what you mean! 😄✨

[@mrwisefluffer]

Why would this video even have 1 downvote. The spectrum was my childhood I was so proud I had one not knowing that it was the bottom of the market lol. Was constantly in for repairs to the tape deck.

[@pfunkPT]

My father bought us one, I think it was a timex 2068k with cartridges, great memories learning to play it with my big brother I think he still has it, not sure if it is working. I remember going to the game store to buy lots of games just looking at the covers, it was a real gamble...

[@rozeeboy74]

Like a polished car - showroom fresh!!!

[@noodles4773]

another great job boys

[@Just_lift_anyone]

Wow! She looks brand new!