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Commodore 64C Restoration - Part 5
June 16, 2026
This barn-stored Commodore 64C restoration has been a journey ! We've cleaned the dirt, replaced the MOS8701, replaced the RF modulator, replaced a failed CIA and now it's time for some finishing touches.
It doesn't seem like I can call this a 'Restoration' if we don't at least talk about recapping. This can be a hot topic with people on both sides of the argument passionate about their position. My approach changes depending upon the individual equipment being restored, the quality of the existing capacitors and the difficulty of the job. In the case of the 64C there is only a short list of electrolytic capacitors on the board, they are easy to get to and since there are difficult to find or expensive ICs on the board I'd much prefer to give the board the best chance at survival that I can.
With that in mind I put together a list of the capacitors needed for the 250469 shortboard and placed a Digikey order, choosing to stick with Panasonic branded capacitors where I could. The main deviation from the original capacitors on the board was the switch from axial to radial for C63. Radial capacitors are easier to source and generally more cost effective. Many of the Commodore boards have alternate solder points for capacitors to provide some flexibility in sizes and formats and I was able to find suitable alternate points for C63.
Original capacitors, including axial C63.
Replaced capacitors, including radial C63.
With the capacitors taken care of, the next steps were to address some of the changes needed because of the removal of the RF shielding. You may recall from Part 1 of this series that the original shielding was very rusted and I elected to scrap it. One function that the shielding was providing was acting like a big heatsink for some of the ICs on the board. In the spirit of giving these costly or difficult to source chips the best chance, I installed aluminum heatsinks on the CPU, VIC-II, SID and newly replaced CIA1. The SuperPLA runs cooler than the original PLA ICs so I decided to skip this one. Some will argue that heatsinks are of little value since without active cooling they all warm up to the same temperature. This may be true, but I would like to think that spreading the heat dissapation should help reduce thermal shocks. Your mileage may vary, but for a few bucks it seems worth it to me.
The next issue removing the RF shield presents is that on the 250469 board the keyboard is actually mounted to some brackets that come as part of the RF shield assembly. Removing the shield means that we need to find an alternate way to mount the keyboard. Once again the amazing Commodore community to the rescue!
flowerking has posted a design on Thingiverse, the C64 II Keyboard mounts which are an easy print to produce.
The keyboard mounted using the 3D printed brackets. Fits like a glove!
Almost there... the last step was to run some extended diagnostics over a period of time to ensure that the system stayed stable and to check the thermals. I'm happy to report that after a 12 hour run everything was working exactly as it should, and the ICs were staying pretty cool!
So that's it, this Commodore 64C is ready for a new home. It's been a journey, but rewarding to see this decades old technology live on.
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