Help Please - VS Excitebike to Donkey Kong Conversion

[wmba]

Hi all. My name is Bill and I am new here.  I have gotten into collecting and restoring arcade games over the last couple of years, and I am currently taking on my first "big" project. Was hoping to get some advice from the experts here.

I recently bought a blue Nintendo cabinet that was originally a Donkey Kong, but had been converted to Excitebike.  I am trying to restore it back to Donkey Kong.

The monitor is currently horizontal for Excitebike, and I will be putting it back to verticle.  The original DK control panel is there (artwork was removed.. but I have replaced with new DK art). The buttons are wired as follows:  Original DK jump button is wired as Player 1 Start.   What would have been the Player One and Player Two start buttons for DK are now operating as the "A" and "B" buttons for Excitebike (accelerate and turbo).

My question is this:  When I get my hands on an original DK boardset, will I need to replace the entire wiring harness for the control panel, power, and monitor.. or will the current harness work?  I don't know much about this stuff and am trying to learn.. so any tips would be great.

Thanks!!
Bill

[Kevin Mullins]

One way I like to start off a project like that is to read through the installation manual of that VS kit and see what all they changed while installing it. This will help to reverse engineer the process and show you what all was added or modified. I know there are some wiring harness add-ons for those kits, but i couldn't tell ya right off exactly what else was changed without going through it myself.

Take a look here:
VS Installation Manual

[pcb]

If your going back completely stock, you may want to find a DK harness.  Some kits had little adapters that changed the wiring from DK to VS, but most of the VS games I've been inside totally replaced the harness and removed the DK wiring.  Making it difficult to use what's there.  I've converted the harnesses back, but had to change connectors on the card-edge and CP to do it.

Best,

 - Mike -

[wmba]

Guys... this is exactly the kind of help I was looking for!  Thanks for the tips...  and if anyone else has additional tips.. please keep them coming!

Thanks for a nice welcome to these boards!

Bill

[Kevin Mullins]

Glad to be of help....

Does your machine still have a metal tag on the back with a model number like TKG3-UP-US ?

[dirt]

the vs and dk harness are completely different. you need to swap out the vs and get a dk harness. the monitor just needs to be turned to vertical and you should be playable.

[wmba]

Kevin...   yes.. the cabinet still has the metal tag on the back with a model number. I am at work now so I can't look at it.. but it was something like TK4-UP...  (something like that with more numbers and letters). I matched that up to some list of codes I found online and it was a Donkey Kong serial number.  Also.. the back door/panel of the cabinet still has the paper instructions attached that talk about the dipswitches and other adjustments.. and it mentions "jumpman"... so I know it was a Donkey Kong.

[wmba]

Dirt... thanks for the tip.  I kind of figured that would be the case.   

So now I am on the hunt for a working DK boardset and a harness!

[Kevin Mullins]

Kevin...   yes.. the cabinet still has the metal tag on the back with a model number. I am at work now so I can't look at it.. but it was something like TK4-UP...  (something like that with more numbers and letters).

Cool.... then this might be of some help as well if you don't already have a manual.
Donkey_Kong_Operation_Manual_(TKG-4-UP)

I'm thinking the biggest difference in wiring harness on the DK's was that there were two different types of board sets.
The older sets had four boards.
The more common sets has two boards. (recommended)

The four board sets had different harness connections and such from the two board sets.
Your cabinet should have had the two board set in it originally.

[dirt]

Dirt... thanks for the tip.  I kind of figured that would be the case.   

So now I am on the hunt for a working DK boardset and a harness!

i think i might have a dk harness. if you need one. i'll know for sure by next week.

[wmba]

Thanks Dirt.  Please let me know if you do.. and what you will want for it.  Right now my budget is a little tight, as my wife and I just had our first baby.  So this project is going to slow down a little bit for a little while.   But I am interested... so please let me know if you find the harness.

Got the side art, marquee and control panel on the cabinet.. so at least it now looks like Donkey Kong!!

Thanks again for the tips everyone!