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Author Topic: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations  (Read 8071 times)

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Kent

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Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« on: December 10, 2020, 11:19:50 pm »
Hello!

I picked up two project cabinets this week. I hope to restore them in good order. I hope the community can help me along the way  :)

Cabinet 1:






Picked this up at a laundromat. This poor thing has suffered. The guy who sold it to me said his MK4 "melted" and he converted the panel to a neo geo. I understand a game not up and running is lost money but this is sacrilege! It also did not have leg levelers so it was being dragged around on the bare wood! It sadly will need to be stripped of ol Quan Chi and given the Bondo and paint / new artwork treatment. The monitor is a Neotec 2515c. It will be getting a recap and flyback but as is doesn't look that bad.

Cabinet 2:







This one is a real beauty! Was garage kept by this guy's father for 10+ years as a Golden Tee 98. The body is in EXCELLENT condition! This is the same body as the MK1 with the rounded front and PCB door. I don't think it will require much if at all bondo treatment. I was hoping there was MK1 artwork underneath that black paint but sadly it's just some generic artwork on the bottom. I am using Citristrip to break down the paint and will be removing the black vinyl with a heat gun. Then it will be spot checked and re-primed and painted and receive the MK1 artwork treatment. I haven't been able to lift the monitor out so have no clue what it is. It works but you can tell it needs a recap.


Originally I was hoping to source a single MK cabinet with a run button panel and put all 4 games into it with a JAMMA switcher. However landing a MK1 style cabinet and the preservationist inside me screams to take it all the way. I could make the Quan Chi a KI/KI2 cabinet and follow through on my idea. It would be the ultimate space saver route. Or I could hunt all the cabinets and worry about the logistics of how they fit in my home later  ;D What do you all think?


What I need help with right now:


  • Finding MK control panels. I researched the topic and see that it requires a wood piece with t nuts and bored out spots for the stick, etc. Then a galvanized metal plate sits on top of that. The artwork is attached to the metal plate. Finally a Lexan plexiglass covers everything. Seems costly! Probably more than what I paid for these cabinets. Any help?
  • Recommended source for quality artwork. I have never installed vinyl siding before. The 3M air egress kind seems friendly for noobs like me.
  • Any other tips or things I should be aware of and look out for!  :)

« Last Edit: December 10, 2020, 11:23:34 pm by Kent »

Mike A

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2020, 04:52:33 am »
You are going to want to look at this if you want to do multiple Mortal Kombat PCBs in one cab.

https://riddledtv.com/arcade/kits.html#MK_Kit

Arroyo

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2020, 09:06:39 am »
Very cool.  I have plans for the same thing and have a MK2 here at my place.  If you need help on dimensions or the like let me know.  I could build the CP in SketchUp if that would help as well.

For artwork I plan on using Szabo’s arcades.  His work is very high quality.  He has full art kits for MK2-3, and elements for MK1 & MK4.

I’ll be following this thread.

Kent

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2021, 10:07:16 pm »
So it's been slow going through the holidays with this restore. I am gonna be ramping up restoration from here on. Not that I haven't been doing anything. Below are some pictures of me pulling the monitor out of the cabinet. I will be at this point in time making a MK1 cabinet but with a run button that will house all the mk boards using a JAMMA switcher as recommended above.

First I pulled the monitor. It was a Wells Gardner 25k7191. It needed a recap as the colors were greenish. Looks like it still had all original caps. First things first, I had to wash the monitor. I hate working on dirty monitors. I was gonna make a video about my procedure but I'm pressed for time so for now I will upload some photos.

Pulled. Filthy. Discharged.


Removed chassis and taken outside. Sprayed down with simple green. Used hose and finished with couple gallons of distilled water.


Infinite canned air. I dry the monitor immediately.


Sadly, I noticed a chip in the monitor glass. Anyone know anything about tube swaps? Any candidates I should look for? Any way to remove this? Didn't notice this when monitor was on. Hoping it doesn't show.


Nice and fresh.


Filthy chassis. Same as monitor, I will use simple green distilled water to clean this immediately followed by my canned air.


Nice and clean, now for recap.


Bought a cap kit (I'm working on two monitors and this bag contains both kits, didn't feel like putting together a 40x2 list of caps on digikey). My monitor was a "rare variant" according to the seller so it was missing a couple caps I needed. Specifically I had a C80 that was a 100uf 25v and a riser board that had a bi-polar cap. I had a fresh nichicon in my caps parts drawers for the C80 but I don't carry bi-polar caps. Next digikey order I make I will have to pick it up. I guess I will also recap the power supplies in these cabinets, might as well!


All recapped!



I am still needing a MK control panel. I've reached out to xlarcade on ebay several times and he's only answered once. Apparently the spacing and size of MK3 and MK4 panels is different and I would want the MK3 version. Sadly he's out of the metal galvanized steel pieces and said he would have some in "soon". That was a month or so ago. I put up wanted ads but no one has bitten. I have considered making my own as a last resort. @Arroyo if you have the exact dimensions of the steel plate and wood piece (length width and height) that would be great as a backup. Even the CP in sketchup would be swell tho not sure where I would find a CNC router place near me. Maybe lookup metal workers near me for the plate? I don't know how to make rivets for the screw posts.

I have contacted Szabo's arcade and he replied after some time. He seems awfully backed up with orders by 4-6 weeks. I requested him design a MK1 panel with a run button. Hopefully he will consider it. He has a design for the arcade1up version but the run button doesn't blend well imo. I am in love with the design at https://retrolabs.com/control-panels/mortal-kombat-control-panel-with-run-button .

Need to get some time to take a heat gun to the cabinet and pull up the old vinyl and get it ready for primer and paint.

Howard_Casto

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2021, 10:19:07 am »
You don't really need the plate.  It's only function is to have something to put over top of the dust washers, so any old piece of metal big enough to go over the joystick area can be drilled, routed and installed.  Most people don't even bother when they make a new control panel, they just put the dust washers on top (or omit them) and call it a day. 

Kent

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2021, 06:34:59 pm »
Well some time has passed.. but it's time to put this thread to pasture. After waiting 3/4 a year for the art work to come in from Szabos Arcade, it finally arrived this past weekend.  :) I put in the interest request in December. He was so busy and backed up I wasn't issued a invoice until MAY! I paid in full for the side art, marquee, control panel housing art, and finally a custom reverse printed lexan control panel with a custom run button addition. Finally it was time to continue.

This thing has been sitting in my garage taking up all sorts of room since December. I almost forgot what assortment of screws even went to it!

Installed MK1 in the side panel. MK2-4 will go on the other walls. Wanting to build some kind of cleaner solution for storing the boards in here but for now this will do. Eventually gonna get the riddledtv jamma switcher but have mk3 wired for now.


Szabos work is worth the wait. Amazing work! Mostly painless install except I did the first side myself and that was a huge mistake. Was able to recover with only a slightly off artwork towards the bottom. Some light trimming and painting with red paint pen took care of it. The t molding covers it nicely. The other side I had help but somehow that was more trouble than doing it alone!?




Reverse printed artwork on lexan, this stuff is stronger than it looks. Thankfully because I swear it should be cracked after a couple times I manhandled it. New buttons and sticks, but I have so many micro switches laying around I just used those and they seem fine. He did a great job with the run button, looks like it should be stock!



Finally added the t molding.... after more than 3/4 a year from pickup, it has come together today!







Monitor looks good after recap and small adjustment. There is a faint throb in the screen, might have to adjust the flyback, hopefully it's nothing serious. You don't notice it unless you look for it. The degauss function isnt catching the entire screen, so I'll need to buy a degauss wand I guess.



Last bits to work out is one of the coin door lights is out, and the jamma switcher.

Loving this thing, looks so good I stop to admire her every time I walk past it. My GF seems to be getting annoyed I'm calling this thing "beautiful" more than I do her  :lol
« Last Edit: September 07, 2021, 06:38:57 pm by Kent »

opt2not

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2021, 06:43:19 pm »
Fantastic restore!  Great job. I'm sure your wife is beautiful too, but this is also BEAUTIFUL!  :cheers:

Mike A

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2021, 07:06:16 pm »
The original Mortal Kombat movie theme song just keeps repeating in my head.

thehammer12

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #8 on: October 24, 2021, 10:10:58 am »
Wow great job, looks awesome.

javeryh

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2021, 11:45:04 am »
Wow what a nice restoration.  I forgot about Run - was that originally a double tap in the direction you wanted to go?  Your CP looks great with that extra button. 

I used to love fighting games back in the day but haven't really played in ages but this brings me back...  I was on a date with my now wife and we were at the movies and they had a MKII machine so we played for a while - the game was really popular so there were a few people around us watching.  Anyway, my wife just mashed the buttons with Mileena and beat me as I was trying to pull off actual moves but that's not even the worst part - she actually did a Fatality on me in front of the crowd because if I remember correctly all you have to do is tap one of the punch buttons 3x while standing a few feet away form the opponent.  She did it randomly without knowing anything.  The place went nuts and 25+ years later I still haven't lived it down.   :cheers:

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #10 on: October 25, 2021, 04:19:57 pm »
I forgot about Run - was that originally a double tap in the direction you wanted to go?

No, added in MK3 can only run with the button, not double tapping.
If you're replying to a troll you are part of the problem.
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javeryh

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Re: Mortal Kombat cabinet restorations
« Reply #11 on: October 25, 2021, 06:01:20 pm »
I forgot about Run - was that originally a double tap in the direction you wanted to go?

No, added in MK3 can only run with the button, not double tapping.

It's been a looooong time.   :cheers: