Trying to bring it back from the dead....

[Escarioth]

Found an old Mortal Kombat II cabinet (was turned into a KI2)  in a company that recycle old CRT/PC...it was waiting there to be destroyed.
i managed to talk with the boss and went home with it for no less then 30$. But as he said.. he could not garantee if it worked well

....what a mess...

from the start.
-The hantarex polo 25",screen is 1"each sides wider then usual...will have to test transistors. 
-Marquee was sliced in 2 
-Missing Bezel
-Missing the lock
-Missing arcade front glass
-Missing fluorescent, *got a new one but no lights....weird ?* 
-No Pcb 
-Control panel was replaced
-Control were made reverse....yeah joystick are to be played with right hand...
-Some of the buttons/joysticks have deep slices...
-EVERY button/joystick cables were soldered to the microswitchs 
-F*** YOU carved with a knife on left side.
-Power cable missing the ground pin
-Missing a wheel
-Some t-molding missing...or not the same color.
-1 microswitch not working at all.
-Got a new Power Suply
-Only 3 buttons for each players works.
-Got a new tweeter speaker

Ill probably talk and update on this thread. if you have infos, help or tips, i'd be happy to hear them
i've been watching lot of Faqs, noob help, DIY intructions.... pew...that's a lot to get everything straight when you dont know much.

[Escarioth]

whut.. how come my topic was created in the misc. arcade section 

can it be moved to the Restorations forums ?

[yotsuya]

whut.. how come my topic was created in the misc. arcade section 

can it be moved to the Restorations forums ?

Only if you're going to restore it back to a Mortal Kombat II. Otherwise, it should be in Project Announcements.

[Escarioth]

Only if you're going to restore it back to a Mortal Kombat II. Otherwise, it should be in Project Announcements.

Ah ! ok Thanks 
seems like i would have posted in the wrong forum in the end. sorry everyone.

[Malenko]

Advice:

Strip the sides, might have some nice art under the black paint.
Unhinge the control panel, spin it 180* , plug the old start buttons, drill new start buttons BAM! Joysticks to the left of the buttons.
Replace the power supply, they are ~$20 not worth ---smurfing--- something up over such a small amount.
If you arent comfortable fixing the monitor , either get a replacement chassis or send it out for repair. There are a bunch of guys over at KLOV that specialize in it.
I'd just order new sticks and buttons (they usually come with cherry style switches), I'd suggest TornadoTerry he sells Killer Instinct kits.
Front glass is an easy fix, go to home depot or lowes and have them cut you a piece of plexi, you can get some barrel locks for the coin door while youre there; and get an extension cord, cut the female end off and replace your power cord so you have a ground pin again

Also, I reported your post saying you wanted the thread moved, so hopefully it'll get moved over to project announcement.

[Escarioth]

Advice:

Strip the sides, might have some nice art under the black paint.
Unhinge the control panel, spin it 180* , plug the old start buttons, drill new start buttons BAM! Joysticks to the left of the buttons.
Replace the power supply, they are ~$20 not worth ---smurfing--- something up over such a small amount.
If you arent comfortable fixing the monitor , either get a replacement chassis or send it out for repair. There are a bunch of guys over at KLOV that specialize in it.
I'd just order new sticks and buttons (they usually come with cherry style switches), I'd suggest TornadoTerry he sells Killer Instinct kits.
Front glass is an easy fix, go to home depot or lowes and have them cut you a piece of plexi, you can get some barrel locks for the coin door while youre there; and get an extension cord, cut the female end off and replace your power cord so you have a ground pin again

Also, I reported your post saying you wanted the thread moved, so hopefully it'll get moved over to project announcement.

-Sides : Mortal Kombat II on the sides can still be seen.. but i dont think i can get rif of the black paint...this cab is heavier then i thought and getting out of my basement will VERY painfull....i didnt know i could get rid of that paint...if i had known before i would have put it in my outdoor garage first ill probably just put huge home made stickers.
-Control panel : Hmm...turning it 180 degres might leave the start button hole still in sight..i might make a new one that looks better.
-Power supply : Ordered one from website "Competitive Products" along with a new 4" speaker
-Monitor : I'll push my luck at trying to fix the 2 transistors. I'm pretty sure it will get rid of my problem...just have to wait for the parts.
-Front Glass : Noticed this morning we have Lexan Sheets that i could use. So one trouble less to think about
-Joystick/Buttons/Microswitches : I will change them all.. i just wonder if i can turn it into a 4 players arcade.... i'm still undecided. Playing king of dragon, D&D or TMNT with 3-4 friends would be nice indeed...but i hear so much mixed opinions about 4 players arcade...some says their too big or look silly.
-Power Cord : Oh i might just do that

and thanks for reporting to move it. i also asked to delete it if necessary

[harveybirdman]

It's easy to get four players on that machine if you don't have ridiculous game support requirements, see Malenko's Broad Street Bullies cab http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,140777.0.html

[Escarioth]

It's easy to get four players on that machine if you don't have ridiculous game support requirements, see Malenko's Broad Street Bullies cab http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,140777.0.html

OOoooh  i didnt saw that one.
very interesting to be able to see how Malenko did 

i want to make a TMNT looking custom cab with multi arcade games only.
But i heard that those xxxx-in-1 are ok...but far from the quality of the original PCBs.
unless you use frontends with a pc. sadly heard of a great arcade box named Crossbox...but sadly the guy stopped making them some month ago

[Malenko]

thanks for the plug harvey :p

You can still strip the paint, latex paint remover in a spray bottle is low VOC and doesnt stink up the place. If you use Citrustrip it'll destroy the white parts of the art underneath.
some of my paint strippin threads: (also seen in the thread HBM linked to)
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,88688.msg930944.html
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,139884.msg1447194.html
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,145236.msg1510193.html

CP:
plug the hole with a dowel, smooth over with bondo, sand and paint. Or cut a new one, whatever is easier for you.

4 players:
Make 2 CPs. The one you have now for 2 players, and find a used NBA Jam CP box. The NBA Jam CP will bolt right onto the MK cab and you'll have a great 4 player panel.

[Escarioth]

hey Malenko, If possible, i'm aiming at doing the same 4P-control panel you did from the link shared by Harveybirdman
but i'm wondering.. you say to make 2 control panel ? surely there's a reason  

also is there a special trick to remove those Killer instinct 2 stickers to the sides ?
they're quite well glued to the wood   
or do i just pull them right off ?

[Aceldamor]

thanks for the plug harvey :p

You can still strip the paint, latex paint remover in a spray bottle is low VOC and doesnt stink up the place. If you use Citrustrip it'll destroy the white parts of the art underneath.
some of my paint strippin threads: (also seen in the thread HBM linked to)
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,88688.msg930944.html
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,139884.msg1447194.html
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,145236.msg1510193.html

CP:
plug the hole with a dowel, smooth over with bondo, sand and paint. Or cut a new one, whatever is easier for you.

4 players:
Make 2 CPs. The one you have now for 2 players, and find a used NBA Jam CP box. The NBA Jam CP will bolt right onto the MK cab and you'll have a great 4 player panel.

Did you get that Spray Paint remover from HD? I've got about 5 cabs that I'd like to strip paint off of to see where they are at before stripping/stenciling and or stickers

[Malenko]

you say to make 2 control panel ? surely there's a reason  

As much as I loved my 4 player panel it never got much use after the initial wave, so a 2 player panel replaced it. You can make your panel swappable for the times you have 4 players over, and with a dedicated 4 player panel the middle 2 players have fewer buttons in the way (less confusing for guests)

Did you get that Spray Paint remover from HD? I've got about 5 cabs that I'd like to strip paint off of to see where they are at before stripping/stenciling and or stickers

Yesh, but Ive bought a similar product at Lowes that worked just as well.
Spray it down
put paper towels on top
spray the paper towels
let it sit for like 15 to 20 minutes
scrape.
repeat as needed

[Escarioth]

Another thing i was wondering.
i'm still undecided  if i'm going to get a xxxx-in-1 or just go with PC mame.
PC mame front ends seems nice but hyperspin looks like a lot of work...

if i want to go forward with a 4 players control panel on a pc mame, (and maybe a trackball if i can)
i guess i should look for these parts , right ?
-J-pac
-I-pac2
-ArcadeVGA

if i understood correctly. 

[Malenko]

XXXXin1 is MAME (and other emulators) running on a hacked  windows 2000 PC with a JAMMA edge connector. I had a ton of problems with the 2Kin1 I used, and personally wouldn't buy another one.

There are many more front ends than just hyperspin. There's MaLa, AttractMode , and more

You'll need the JPAC if you plan to keep the cab wired for JAMMA
You'll need the IPAC2 if you plan to make it 4 players (the JPAC is an encoder with enough inputs for 2 players)
ArcadeVGA is a hardware solution for pushing arcade resolutions to your monitor, depending on your video card and operating system you could also use something like Soft15 or CRT EMUDriver

[Escarioth]

Oh that's what i thought.. xxxx-in-1 is an easy way to get things up and running fast.
but i saw so much mixed reviews....and lots of people with problems...
at some point i might get one for my cocktail cab for old games only.
i'm going to focus on PC mame for the Cab i'm working on. 

i'll have to hunt for an extra PC on free time.
MaLa seemed nice ill check this later tonight.
i'm guessing the faster the PC , the better 

[Escarioth]

Update 

got mail today !

but tryed to make the fluorescent work....and it didnt even light up..
damn, one new problem to add up to the list above

[Escarioth]

aah ! finally got a Bezel
it starting to look a bit better now