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I have an empty DK... so what do I do now?
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orion:

--- Quote from: javeryh on March 25, 2009, 10:36:23 am ---
--- Quote from: orion on March 25, 2009, 09:33:57 am ---As much as I prefer restoring games to original, I have to say that a cab in a totally gutted condition tends to be ridiculously expensive to restore.... and I mean ridiculously expensive. It seems like working boards for any popular games all seem to go for over $150 and the Vision pros go for over $200. So your over $350.00 in just those alone. Whereas a PC/Mame solution is often free. The 48 in 1 would be the easiest solution to set up and get running, and you could get all the parts you need for that easily well below $200 if you go with a 19 inch VGA monitor.

--- End quote ---

yeah... I'm in for almost $100 already and all I ordered so far are CP parts and the top marquee retainer.  The cab came with no CP at all.  The side art, bezel, marquee and instruction cards are going to run me another $150 and I still need to get the electronics (board/power supply) and monitor.  I'm figuring this is a $500 project easy.  Maybe I'll start with MAME since I have old computers lying around and then convert it down the road.  I don't know... I really wanted a true DK...

--- End quote ---

Well let me just say that keeping things around $500. 00 ain't going to be easy. My Pac Man cost me over $1000.00 to totally restore. It's easier to list the things that were good on it than all the things I had to replace.  Keep in mind that even the little things add up in a hurry... T molding, leg levelers ect. Now when I think about how much I spent it seems rather insane to me. However I had the cash from being in a car wreck (not at fault) and I wanted to do something that I would enjoy with that pain and suffering money.  I don't love the cab, and I'm not a huge Pac Man fan to be honest, but what I did enjoy immensely was the process of rebuilding the thing and that was what was what was worth it to me. So my advise to you is to keep in mind what you hope to get out of it. Being that you just want a working Donkey Kong I would advise either find another in better condition to restore or just Mame or 48 in 1 the thing and slowly acquire the parts over time. You won't notice spending some pocket change on it here and there, but if you go at this full speed ahead your wallets definitely going to feel it. Be prepared to go way over budget in a hurry.
javeryh:

--- Quote from: orion on March 25, 2009, 04:58:53 pm ---
--- Quote from: javeryh on March 25, 2009, 10:36:23 am ---
--- Quote from: orion on March 25, 2009, 09:33:57 am ---As much as I prefer restoring games to original, I have to say that a cab in a totally gutted condition tends to be ridiculously expensive to restore.... and I mean ridiculously expensive. It seems like working boards for any popular games all seem to go for over $150 and the Vision pros go for over $200. So your over $350.00 in just those alone. Whereas a PC/Mame solution is often free. The 48 in 1 would be the easiest solution to set up and get running, and you could get all the parts you need for that easily well below $200 if you go with a 19 inch VGA monitor.

--- End quote ---

yeah... I'm in for almost $100 already and all I ordered so far are CP parts and the top marquee retainer.  The cab came with no CP at all.  The side art, bezel, marquee and instruction cards are going to run me another $150 and I still need to get the electronics (board/power supply) and monitor.  I'm figuring this is a $500 project easy.  Maybe I'll start with MAME since I have old computers lying around and then convert it down the road.  I don't know... I really wanted a true DK...

--- End quote ---

Well let me just say that keeping things around $500. 00 ain't going to be easy. My Pac Man cost me over $1000.00 to totally restore. It's easier to list the things that were good on it than all the things I had to replace.  Keep in mind that even the little things add up in a hurry... T molding, leg levelers ect. Now when I think about how much I spent it seems rather insane to me. However I had the cash from being in a car wreck (not at fault) and I wanted to do something that I would enjoy with that pain and suffering money.  I don't love the cab, and I'm not a huge Pac Man fan to be honest, but what I did enjoy immensely was the process of rebuilding the thing and that was what was what was worth it to me. So my advise to you is to keep in mind what you hope to get out of it. Being that you just want a working Donkey Kong I would advise either find another in better condition to restore or just Mame or 48 in 1 the thing and slowly acquire the parts over time. You won't notice spending some pocket change on it here and there, but if you go at this full speed ahead your wallets definitely going to feel it. Be prepared to go way over budget in a hurry.
--- End quote ---

I enjoy building and restoring these things as much as playing them.  There's nothing better than spending some free time in the driveway working on a cab with the sun out and the radio on.  I won't be rushing to finish and I won't be ordering everything at once but I'd still like to keep the costs reasonable.  Right now my biggest expense is going to be the monitor...  I'll know more when I start placing the big orders I guess but next up is filling some bolt holes and dents with bondo, sanding, priming, sanding and painting.  Relatively inexpensive stuff!
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