Restoring MKII machine

[megahurtz]

I bought a dedicated MKII machine a few weeks ago and have begun restoring it.



This started life as a dedicated MKII machine but was converted to UMK3 in 1995.  It has a Wolf Unit board in there right now with UMK3 1.0 roms installed on it.



Thankfully, the machine was left largely intact during the conversion; only the marquee was swapped and extra buttons were drilled into the control panel.





The cabinet itself is still in good shape.  Some of the t-molding is missing and parts of what is left are in bad shape, but I've got 25 feet waiting to replace all of it.





There are a couple of spots at the bottom where the mdf is damaged.  Mainly the front left corner of the base.  Bondo and sanding are good at fixing damaged wood, but I've never had to rebuild a corner of a piece.  Thinking about how I'll go about that.  I think there is enough left to just build up what has been knocked out but I need to take a closer look at it.



The cabinet art is generally in good condition.  There are a few small scrapes that were hard enough to dig into the surface of the mdf through the vinyl, but mostly it is just small surface scratches to the sideart.





It has very little signs of fading, which was one of my primary concerns when looking at various cabinets.  I'm still not sure what to do with the art.  I'm definately going to get a new marquee and try to get replacements for the control box (sides, cpo, front).  The side art is costly to replace though.  Doing that will run me about $200.

The interior of the cabinet is still very neat.  The wiring looks like it hasn't been touched since the factory installed it and everything follows the jamma+ standard.



The monitor is a 25" Hantarex.  It has minor burn in, but it is only noticable on very dark screens.  No other issues with it.  I'll leave it as is for now and keep my eye out for a good deal on another 25" monitor.  Don't really want to pay $350 for a new one at this point...





These photos were the state I got the game in.  The coin counter says it took in over 127,000 quarters so far!



It now looks a bit better since I cleaned up the exterior.  I already ordered all new sticks and buttons and will replace everything currently in there.  I'm fairly sure the sticks are still original and only the p1 block button seems to have been replaced.  I want to change the control panel layout to a 7 button configuration that is a mesh of the Capcom 3x2 layout and the Neo*Geo 4 button layout.  I need to take my overlay off and scan it though.  The dedicated MK ones come with the holes pre-drilled in them and all the buttons labeled.  I need to scan it and then photoshop out the labels and fill in the button holes to accomodate my new layout.  I'll probably just bondo the block button holes on the panel and then redrill 3 new holes to accomodate my new layout.  Going to keep the same red/white/blue/yellow color scheme.  Minor paint touch up where the hasp was mounted.  Haven't looked into what to fill the holes with yet, maybe just some wood plugs.

Then I'll go about cleaning up the interior, which shouldn't be too bad since all the factory wire routing and bundling is still in place.  Probably just use the shop vac to clean out any dust, cobwebs, or dead insects in there.

After that is done, I'll piece together a computer and hook it up with a j-pac and arcade vga card to run mame.  Haven't decided if I'm up to the task of adding coin mech support yet to actually give credits for quarters.  I already have all the computer parts except the j-pac and arcade vga.  I just need to shuffle parts around between systems.  I'm toying the the idea of cutting up a pc case and mounting it inside the cab, but I'll probably just leave the case intact and place it inside the rear access panel and then route the power button to a switch I can reach from inside the coin box door.

Its going to be a fun winter project!

[Wade]

How is this a "restoration" if you are converting it to Mame and giving the players 7 action buttons each?

Looks like a pretty nice example of an MKII.  I wouldn't even consider getting replacement artwork, since the reproduction artwork will be inkjet and likely wouldn't look much like the original.

Wade

[megahurtz]

Sorry to say that I've made very little progress on the cabinet

I ordered some more parts and got the agp version of the Arcade VGA and the usb version of the J-pac.  I also bought a new computer case with a power supply.  I have the cpu/mobo/ram ready, so all I'm still missing on that end is a decent sized hard drive.  I'll probably go a little overboard with that in case I want to explore some of the jukebox options once the machine is up and running.

What is really holding me up is the control panel.  I just can't seem to make much progress with it.  I've been trying to get some clean scans at 400dpi to piece together in photoshop, but my scanner just won't cooperate.  It kept losing about 1/8" in the height and width.  I tried to work around that by leaving some empty space around the edges of the overlay while on the scanner and it worked to a certain extent.  The issue with that was the scans didn't line up perfectly.  I dedided to crop the image to the lowest point of the scan.  I ended up with a 400dpi image of the overlay that is 26.528"x12.91".

The image I want to print is roughy 0.1"x0.25" too small.  With the difference that small, I'm hoping it won't even be noticable when applied over the original.  If it is...  well, I guess a *very* thin strip of colored tape along each edge of the plexi would hide it without detracting much from the original design.

I'm pretty happy with how the image looks right now and think its suitable to begin the PS work on changing the layout.

I do have a question for you guys though.  I've noticed people were looking for high res images of the MK2 overlay.  I now have a 400dpi one (although it was modified to have a run button) that I think other people might be interested in.  Its just under 6 megabytes in jpeg format.  Should I upload it somewhere?

[megahurtz]

Tiny, resized version of what I'm going to work with.

[MK3FAN]

Good Luck! You are doing what I am going to be doing soon. First of all I am NOT trying to hijack your board because as you read on, it might come off that way. Just wanted to make that clear. With that being said, I have a control panel that I have restored and wired up already (see pic...the "Run" button is there because I once had this panel installed on my Mame cab and needed the Run button) and a toal restoration game kit including the board itself and everything else. All I need is the cabinet. Also, I have a UMK3 version 1.0 PCB board that has a bad RAM SET CHIP on it. Would you be willing to part with your board since you are converting? Just curious. Thanks.

[megahurtz]

Very nice kit!  Did it come with the MKII art that goes on the front of the control panel?  I haven't been able to find that anywhere and don't know if it came in the kits or not.  That is the only thing missing from my machine that I haven't been able to find.

I might sell the board once I get the pc up and running in there...

[MK3FAN]

Very nice kit!  Did it come with the MKII art that goes on the front of the control panel?  I haven't been able to find that anywhere and don't know if it came in the kits or not.  That is the only thing missing from my machine that I haven't been able to find.

I might sell the board once I get the pc up and running in there...

Sadly, it did not. If you DO decide to sell the board, please let me know. Thanks.

[Malenko]

I can take a super hi res pic of mine; maybe mamemarqees can print it for you or something

[megahurtz]

A pic or scan would be fantastic!    Thanks so much for offering!

[Malenko]

no way for me to scan it (you near Newark,De?)  I do have a good digital cam. I'll snap a pic when I get home tonight. workin on saturdays suck bawls

[megahurtz]

I've gotten myself sidetracked again.  I did a little more work and I'm getting very close with this one.  Outside of being able to find a scanner large enough to get the whole overlay in one or two pieces, I think I'll be using this one and just trying my best to line it up on the original.  If the gap looks too noticable, I'll just cover it with some electrical tape or something.

After seeing what it would feel like to play with a 7 button setup using the run button, I didn't like it too much.  I needed to stretch my hand too far to have my fingers rest on the lower 4 buttons and I don't think I could play for more than a few minutes like that before the discomfort became too much to put up with.  So I dropped the 7 button layout and went with a SF style 6 button one.  If I play a lot of Neo games, I'll just use low punch as A and then the top row of buttons for B through D.

The last thing that I want to touch up on here is the lightning that is around where the block button originally was.  I'm happy with the way it looks after filling it in, but the way the lightning conforms to a perfect circle the exact same size as the rest of the buttons sticks out to me.  I think fixing that might be a little beyond my photoshop skills, so I'll be getting a friend to help with that.

[MK3FAN]

Lookin' Good!

[BrentRadio]

I think you will need more than 25 feet of t molding. When I did mine I came up short and had to order more.

Brent

[shardian]

That is just plain blasphemous to go thru all this effort and then put a SFII button layout on it. If I were you, I'd leave the current CP in tact for MK gaming goodness. You can still play 99% of all games on that layout. Just not Street fighter. That's not a big loss IMO.

[SithMaster]

That is just plain blasphemous to go thru all this effort and then put a SFII button layout on it. If I were you, I'd leave the current CP in tact for MK gaming goodness. You can still play 99% of all games on that layout. Just not Street fighter. That's not a big loss IMO.

I agree it does seem kinda odd to have the layout of their competition.  That is unless youre a street fighter fan

[MaximRecoil]

That is just plain blasphemous to go thru all this effort and then put a SFII button layout on it. If I were you, I'd leave the current CP in tact for MK gaming goodness. You can still play 99% of all games on that layout. Just not Street fighter. That's not a big loss IMO.

I could play SFII fine on an MK layout. I only use two of the buttons most of the time. I sometimes use the different levels of punch to vary the speed of a "Hadoken", but even then, that's only 4 buttons total.

[megahurtz]

This has been a lot of work to get the control panel sorted out, but I think a 6 button layout is much better suited as a universal/generic control scheme than MK's 5 button setup.  The 3x2 configuration easily gives you a perfect setup for anything that had 2 or 3 buttons aligned horizontally.  Adapting it to a 4 button Neo configuration is very intuitive as well, as you just use low punch and then the top row of buttons in a close approximation of a real Neo Geo button layout.  Then there are the numerous 6 button fighters that would be impossible to play correctly on a 5 button layout.  Even if I left the run button for 6 buttons total, its placed in such an akward position that it is hard to fluidly use in gameplay.  If the run button was difficult to use in MK3, a game designed around that button, then good luck stretching to reach it in the middle of a combo.

COULD I play one of the Capcom fighters with the button setup my machine came with?  Sure.  Are there better layouts than that?  I don't think you could really argue that.  By changing the buttons, I lose nothing on my machine other than a very minor bit of aesthetic value and gain a whole lot of more flexible gameplay options.

As for the T-molding, I did my best before ordering to measure how much I would need to cover the cabinet.  I don't have my notes with me, but I think by ordering the 25ft that I would end up with a very small bit left over, something like 2-4 inches.

I was hoping to complete the project over my winter vacation, but given where I am with the graphics right now and the time it would take to have them printed and shipped, I'm not sure if I'll get 100% of it done.  I think I'm going to transition to fixing up whatever physical damage I can after the controls are sorted out.  That and some paint and new T-molding should make the cabinet look much nicer in a fairly short time.

[gjm]

Looks good man. I just picked up a MK1 cab converted to a tekken II.
The wiring on this thing looks like its going to be the major hurdle in the project. I am looking forward to your progress.

[shardian]

This has been a lot of work to get the control panel sorted out, but I think a 6 button layout is much better suited as a universal/generic control scheme than MK's 5 button setup.  The 3x2 configuration easily gives you a perfect setup for anything that had 2 or 3 buttons aligned horizontally.  Adapting it to a 4 button Neo configuration is very intuitive as well, as you just use low punch and then the top row of buttons in a close approximation of a real Neo Geo button layout.  Then there are the numerous 6 button fighters that would be impossible to play correctly on a 5 button layout.  Even if I left the run button for 6 buttons total, its placed in such an akward position that it is hard to fluidly use in gameplay.  If the run button was difficult to use in MK3, a game designed around that button, then good luck stretching to reach it in the middle of a combo.

COULD I play one of the Capcom fighters with the button setup my machine came with?  Sure.  Are there better layouts than that?  I don't think you could really argue that.  By changing the buttons, I lose nothing on my machine other than a very minor bit of aesthetic value and gain a whole lot of more flexible gameplay options.

As for the T-molding, I did my best before ordering to measure how much I would need to cover the cabinet.  I don't have my notes with me, but I think by ordering the 25ft that I would end up with a very small bit left over, something like 2-4 inches.

I was hoping to complete the project over my winter vacation, but given where I am with the graphics right now and the time it would take to have them printed and shipped, I'm not sure if I'll get 100% of it done.  I think I'm going to transition to fixing up whatever physical damage I can after the controls are sorted out.  That and some paint and new T-molding should make the cabinet look much nicer in a fairly short time.

Whatever floats your boat - it is your cabinet after all.

You should change your title though to "MKII themed MAME cab." 

[megahurtz]

Surprise!  Look what I found under some black contact paper!  I can't understand why somebody would have covered it up in the first place...