Author Topic: Project 2: Dynamo Cab... (Read 7726 times)

Tailgunner · « **on:** October 14, 2003, 10:19:07 pm »

I've been doing some work on another of my cabs. This one is a standard 19" Dynamo cab, it's wired for JAMMA and was previously an Arlington Horse Racing game.

First thing I did (besides vacuuming out the dust) was to replace the marquee light. It came with a two incandescent bulb socket thingy. I picked up a 18" florescent fixture and gutted it for parts.

Here's the guts installed on the marquee back up board.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #1 on:** October 14, 2003, 10:33:28 pm »

Next up I'm attacking the water damage on the bottom of the cab. Is there some requirement that arcade games be stored in areas prone to flooding?

The side panels on this cab are particle board, and it swelled a good bit when it got wet. I took a DA sander and some 36 grit paper and ground the bottom and back edges flat.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #2 on:** October 14, 2003, 10:37:05 pm »

Both corners on this side are shredded, so I'm going to rebuild them with Bondo. I beveled the bottom edge with the DA so I can bondo it and grind it flush with the surface.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #3 on:** October 14, 2003, 10:39:08 pm »

Next I took a 7/16" butterfly bit and drilled two holes in the remaining corner material to "key" the bondo in place.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #4 on:** October 14, 2003, 10:40:13 pm »

Time for some bondo...

Tailgunner · « **Reply #5 on:** October 14, 2003, 10:42:28 pm »

After building both corners up I used masking tape give me an edge to work to.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #6 on:** October 14, 2003, 10:44:40 pm »

I then wipe the whole bottom edge with bondo.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #7 on:** October 14, 2003, 10:47:35 pm »

A few minutes with a surform and a quick pass with the DA and this side's ready for laminate.

More to come...

Justin · « **Reply #8 on:** October 19, 2003, 09:44:25 pm »

Nie job repairing the bottom... you're a Pro. Can't wait to see more progress on this one.

SirPoonga · « **Reply #9 on:** October 20, 2003, 02:12:27 am »

Do you have a source for replacement parts for dynamo cabinets? (from an interested Dynamo cabinet owner)

The old Dynamo cabinet I assume from the age of the wood? The style used for Double Dragon II?

The new dynamos are not quite the same, thought he parts I am looking for are probably the same.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #10 on:** October 20, 2003, 02:44:37 pm »

This one was an Ikari Warriors that had been converted to Arlington Horse Racing. I don't have a source per se, but Brady Distributing has a branch that's local to me and they're a Dynamo Distributor. What are ya looking for?

Tailgunner · « **Reply #11 on:** October 20, 2003, 02:53:15 pm »

I did some work on the control panel. When the cab was converted, the operator drilled another button hole in the center bottom row. Of course they drilled it 1/4" out of line with the rest, and then drilled small holes for the button tabs. (AHR uses rectangular buttons.) I ground a 1/4" fender washer down to size to fill the extra hole, and tacked it in place with a TIG welder. I also used a countersink to chamfer all the small holes (both sides) to lock bondo in place to fill them back up.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #12 on:** October 20, 2003, 02:55:43 pm »

I then taped the back side of the holes and wiped the panel with bondo.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #13 on:** October 20, 2003, 02:57:50 pm »

Time to surform it and sand smooth...

Tailgunner · « **Reply #14 on:** October 20, 2003, 03:02:55 pm »

Primed and ready to paint.

SirPoonga · « **Reply #15 on:** October 20, 2003, 03:50:01 pm »

I just need the marquee holder and cp latch.

I'd like to find ddragonII artwork. My CPO needs to be redone and one side need to be done.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #16 on:** October 20, 2003, 06:57:27 pm »

The marquee holder is just a bent piece of metal, I'd suggest trying Brady or Dynamo to see if they're still available. If not let me know, I could make a copy of mine in about 10 minutes. The control panel latches (there should be one on both sides of the control panel) are standard arcade control panel latches, most suppliers should have them.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #17 on:** November 03, 2003, 02:33:05 am »

I've finished up the bondo work, so I recovered the sides and coin door panel today. (actually yesterday at this point.)

Thought up a tool others might find useful, so I'll share. It's a simple clamp to make handling a sheet of laminate easier, especially when you don't have a helper available. All it consists of is a pair of 1"x 2" boards, some carriage bolts, and wingnuts. Once you've coated the sheet in contact cement, the clamp makes it easy to pick the sheet up, flip it and place it on the cab without it getting stuck out of position.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #18 on:** November 03, 2003, 02:39:31 am »

Another useful trick, use dowels placed across the cement covered cab. These let you shift the laminate around till you have it where you want it. Once you're there, pull them out starting at one end, sticking the laminate down as you go. I wish I'd had known this one a few years ago, I screwed up a very expensive painting when sticking it to it's backing.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #19 on:** November 03, 2003, 02:44:38 am »

Finally got to use my laminate trimmer for it's intended job, though it's handy for routing projects where a router is too big and a dremel can't hack it. It came with a carbide trimming bit, which ate through this stuff like it was meant for it.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #20 on:** November 03, 2003, 02:53:38 am »

I did textured vinyl on the coin panel, and ran the slot cutter around the back so I could completely cover the side panel edges in t-molding.
The cab's finally starting to shape up into something presentable.

Justin · « **Reply #21 on:** November 03, 2003, 07:33:13 am »

Awesome work! Very clean. The dynamo's are my favorite cabs.. gotaa love them control panels.

pathdoc2 · « **Reply #22 on:** November 03, 2003, 11:09:31 am »

Exceptionally fine work. Looks great.

SirPoonga · « **Reply #23 on:** November 03, 2003, 06:51:16 pm »

Very cool. I want to do that if I can find replacment ddragon2 art.

(you may have to copy and paste the link into a new browser)
http://free.hostdepartment.com/S/SirPoonga/images/dd_cpo.jpg
http://free.hostdepartment.com/S/SirPoonga/images/dd_speakers.jpg
http://free.hostdepartment.com/S/SirPoonga/images/dd_power.jpg

BTW, if anyone reading this knows where to get the artwork, especially the white cpo, let me know. Also if you know for a fact that the buttons are leafs or micros. I have to find a manual. My manual was horrible and I threw it away. The joys i have are definately the riginal balltops, they were leafs. But the buttons were obviously not originals. There were a couple of vertical and horizontal switches.

As you see it needs some cleaning up too

I just picked up a marquee for $1 off ebay.

How was redoing your control panel? It took alot of elbow grease to get my joysticks off my panel. I don't know if they were lightly glued on or what. After i got the nuts off the joystick would still not come off. I had to gently take a crowbar to it.

SirPoonga · « **Reply #24 on:** November 03, 2003, 06:53:22 pm »

Quote from: Tailgunner on October 14, 2003, 10:33:28 pm

Next up I'm attacking the water damage on the bottom of the cab. Is there some requirement that arcade games be stored in areas prone to flooding?

I think so. My ddragon2 back left corner has water damage. It was stored in a clean warehouse when I picked it up, so my guess is whatever bar it was in caused the damage

Tailgunner · « **Reply #25 on:** November 03, 2003, 08:37:10 pm »

Quote from: SirPoonga on November 03, 2003, 06:51:16 pm

How was redoing your control panel? It took alot of elbow grease to get my joysticks off my panel. I don't know if they were lightly glued on or what. After i got the nuts off the joystick would still not come off. I had to gently take a crowbar to it.

My panel was stripped when I got the cab. There was a fair amount of rust on the inside bottom, likely from stuff being spilled on it. The same thing could have been what glued your joysticks in place.

As to the button question, it would seem if the cab came with leaf sticks then it likely came with leaf buttons as well. From your picture, I'd say there's room for leafholders using the button arrangement the DD2 control panel used.

SirPoonga · « **Reply #26 on:** November 03, 2003, 09:56:04 pm »

That is my guest too.

SirPeale · « **Reply #27 on:** November 03, 2003, 10:32:50 pm »

Can we get some shots of the finished CP? I've got a Dynamo as well, and I'm curious as to how you did yours. Is it painted? Overlay? It looks solid black.

Tailgunner · « **Reply #28 on:** November 04, 2003, 12:28:49 am »

The CP isn't really finished, I just stuck it on the cab for the picture.

It is currently solid black, I've got 5 coats of lacquer on it at present. I was originally going to use textured vinyl on it, and ended up using that on the coin door panel instead. I'll probably end up doing some form of artwork on it, but nothing too flashy.

RetroJames · « **Reply #29 on:** November 04, 2003, 08:56:08 pm »

Wow, nice work on the cab refinishing. I am staring at an old gutted Super-Off Road cab that I intend to convert for MAME. It too has quite a bit of water damage and you have really helped me envision how this can still work.

I am happy to see that it is actually possible to sand this particle board. I was afraid it would just tear apart.

How did you deal with the swollen edges and the tmolding? I have that to deal with as pictured below

Tailgunner · « **Reply #30 on:** November 04, 2003, 10:32:22 pm »

Thanks, I was hoping someone would get some use out of all of this.

Go ahead and pull out the old T-molding, you can replace it with new for just a few dollars. To fix the swollen edges you just need to sand them back down till they're flat again. I used an air powered sander, but a belt sander will do it as well. If you're on a budget you could do it by wrapping a sheet of fairly course sandpaper around a 12" long piece of 2x4 lumber and using elbow grease.

If you plan on painting the cab, you should wipe the rough sanded edges with bondo to smooth them back out. If you're recovering with vinyl or laminate, you can skip the bondo as both will hide the roughness. You would still need to bondo any missing chunks, busted off corners, ect.

RetroJames · « **Reply #31 on:** November 04, 2003, 10:46:58 pm »

Awesome. I am really excited now! I can't wait to get cracking on this thing. Your work really has me jazzed up as I was really sweating the restoration of the old cab and was really considering building from scratch. I have the skills and most of the tools, but not the space nor the extra cash. (I just happen to have bondo and sandpaper laying around en masse as I am renovating our 1916 craftsman.) Nothing needed now but alot of sweat equity. (On the house and the cab)

Thanks again, it really did help seeing how you restored that old particle cab.

Justin · « **Reply #32 on:** November 04, 2003, 10:58:19 pm »

A quick warning. if you plan on painting the border after sanding (you likely will do this) make sure you don't overdo it. I made this mistake... I spray painted 3-4 layers of paint on my cab, and it was too much moisture/wetness for the wood, so it ended up swelling a little bit on the edges.

I spray painted only 2 layers on the other side, and it did not swell.

Easy does it.

RetroJames · « **Reply #33 on:** November 04, 2003, 11:05:21 pm »

Ahh...good tip. Maybe that's why all these things have too much water damage...too much paint!

Donger · « **Reply #34 on:** November 13, 2003, 01:44:29 am »

Those are some awesome restoration tips! Ever write a faq/guide to it? Would be very helpful to newbies such as me.

Thanks.


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