The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Arcade Collecting => Restorations & repair => Topic started by: ZORK2 on August 19, 2009, 08:34:52 pm
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Hello all,
I hesitate to start another project before I finish my last one(SuperOffroad) But I picked up a beat, DK 3 cab last week for $100 bucks. And after alot of debate, I decided to convert it to a regular Donkey Kong. Partially because I looked and LOOKED for a new Bezel, and it was nearly impossble to find. I plan on donating my old one to Scott over at Mamemarquee.com so that someone in the future won't have this issue. AND THE REAL REASON, DONKEY KONG IS A MUCH BETTER GAME!!!
The game fired up and seemed to work, however the monitor was scrambled. Here are a few shots of it after I dropped it into my garage.
I'll be posted pics of the process as time allows!! Enjoy....
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Doesn't look THAT bad from the front at a distance....
But from the side, YIKES, SHE IS UGLY!!!!
The poor bezel has seen better days!!! The artwork on it is in GREAT shape! Such a shame! I'm hoping Scott over at mamemarquee.com can scan it and offer it in the future on his website!!
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After a little tinkering I figured out that the actual game was working just fine, I could put a couple credits on it, hit the start button and I could hear the game working, I also noticed that the monitor did come on, however the picture was completely scrambled. If you look close at these 2 pics, you can see that the monitor is in fact on. I ordered a cap kit for a Sanyo 20EZV. I'm hoping that'll fix my problems
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Next I stripped down the cabinate, pulled the beat up coin door, coin box, pulled the power block, and got it ready to remove the monitor.
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The only major damage to speak of to the cabinate was beneith the CP, above the coin door. At one point someone had taken a hammer to the coin door and hit it about 20 times. The coin door took a heck of a beating, I'm hoping I will be able to restore it later on in this project. They hit it so hard, it cracked the wood and pulled the screws out!!
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Next I got out my trusty DeWalt palm sander, 100 grit sandpaper and WENT TO TOWN!!! The one side wasn't THAT bad once the paint was removed. The other side was a mess. I'm guessing all those battle scars were probably the reason someone decided to paint the whole thing black? Also there were a couple bondo areas, it looked like someone attemped to fix a couple bad spots before painting it??
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A quick mix of bondo, sanding got me here....
Alot of battle scars to go, BUT, at least the sweet sight of Donkey Kong Blue is back!!
Note the hammered coin door on the bottom left!!
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MORE BONDO!!
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Next more sanding.......
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One more round of sanding, bondo, and sanding, and she'll be ready for primer!! I got that part in the front of the cabinate fixed that was cracked. I put a bead of wood glue along the edge where the two pieces touched, and then ran in a couple extra screws in. I finished it off with a nice blob of bondo over the crack, one it is sanded and primered, I'm guessing no one will ever know it was even there!!
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Nice cab! I started out doing the same project (DK3 to DK), but somehow ended up enjoying DK3 enough to hold off of doing the actual conversion. While I didn't have to deal like you have had to, I had quite a bit of bondo work to do. Could you do me a favor and tell me a few things?
What is the height of the black wooden base?
How long is the base from front to back?
Also, did yours come with the DK3 serial plate? IIRC, it should start with DKC...
Thanks!
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Hey thanks! She's coming along now! I'll get those measurments for you tomorrow when I am working on it again. I'll try and post em tomorrow night. Got a few quick shots of my progress today.....
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The last bondo/sanding session......
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All filled, sanded, and wiped down!! Ready for Zinssers BIN primer!!
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Coat one is on! It went smooth. Tomorrow will be sanding with 400 grit, and coat two!
Boy that primer is some sticky stuff! Don't get it on anything that it doesn't belong on!! Or else good luck getting it off!! :)
Oh, BTW, got my cap kit in the mail yesterday, I'll be putting that on sometime this week as time permits. Also picked up a Donkey Kong Board for $85, should be in this week, and a really nice looking original Bezel for $45, should be in this week as well.
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Looking really nice with that coat of primer on there. You can't even tell that it was all beat up. I really want to see you restore that coin door - it doesn't look possible! :cheers:
What is the height of the black wooden base?
How long is the base from front to back?
The dimensions of the base on mine is 22" x 24-7/8" x 3-1/2" (I replaced the plywood one using some maple). A 1" x 4" x 8' piece is the perfect amount.
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THANKS!!
I was REALLY hoping to find a NICE USED one somewhere?!! I found one on ebay but they wanted $75 for it, plus $20 to ship! Call me crazy or cheap, but I think $95 bucks for that thing is a bit steep!! Excpecially since I paid $100 for the entire CAB!!
With bondo, sanding and time, ANYTHING is possible! ;D
I'm hoping I can fill the dents, sand it all smooth, put a coat or two of BIN on it. Then my plan is to paint it with a can of rustoleum's epoxy aplicance paint. I'm thinking that'll hide 99% of any imperfections?!!?! We shall see....
My biggest concern right now is the control panel. The buttons are in a slight different location than a stock DK CP, which means I'm going to have to relocate them? This would be fairly easy if this was a wood CP, but it is a metal one? Ah well I'll cross that bridge when I get to it......
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I went a little nuts on my coin door... I got mine with my cab ($36 total!) and it was in great shape (no dents) but it was rusty so I had a local shop sandblast and powdercoat it. Then I bought new coin mechs from Asahi Seiko. It was EXPENSIVE but totally worth it now that the money is spent and the coin door looks like it was fabricated yesterday.
As for the CP, I'd just remake the entire thing. It should be 5/8" plywood anyway. A new overlay should only be about $20. :cheers:
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I second on remaking the CP.
I was wondering...Where can a guy get the measurements for an original CP at? They would have to be pretty accurate especially if you wanted to put a new overlay on it and have everything line up, right?!?!
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Hmmm, interesting thought, Yeah I suppose I could do that? I may some pics, and some help with the dimentions, but I don't see why I couldn't do it?? Does any one know what joystick the original DK used? The one on my metal DK3 CP bolts through the CP, if I decide to make a CP, I assuming I'd have to use a router for where it mounts on the backside? Hmm, that may be a little advanced for my "routing" abilities? Also I'd hate to have to buy and entire sheet of 5/8" plywood for one 6" x 12" piece of wood?!?!
So what's the deal, did the "DK3 conversion package" come with an entire new metal CP to replace the reuglar old wooden DK CP?? I would have thought it would have just come with a new CPO??
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Does any one know what joystick the original DK used?
This one. (http://mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TKG-23-50) I'm sure you can find one used for much cheaper. The one on your DK3 is much shorter than the one used on DK as the DK joystick mounted to the full thickness of the wood, IIRC. All you have to buy is this shaft that they don't seem to have (http://mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TKGU-JS-ASSEMBLY) and new bolts to convert your DK3 joystick to a DK joystick.
Or at least thats what I had planned when I was going to restore mine to DK. ;D
So what's the deal, did the "DK3 conversion package" come with an entire new metal CP to replace the reuglar old wooden DK CP??
Exactly. Why they did this I don't know. Maybe they figured the original DK CP would be beat up after the couple years it had been in service. It might have been a way to get operators to put a fresh joystick and buttons as I would figure the original DK joy and buttons would be getting worn out by the time the kit came out and they knew that a new game would DEFINITELY not take off if all of the cabinets had worn out controls. The panels probably came pre-assembled for the ease of the operator. We've seen in the past how many ops will take short cuts. If you give an op a big bag of nuts, bolts, and joystick parts to replace "good" (only good because its already assembled) joys there is a lower chance that they will replace all of that stuff than if they were given a panel that they just have to plug in and clamp down.
Of course I just came up with all that crap as I typed it. Could be completely wrong.
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Yeah that makes sence I suppose. Ok, so now I'm going to need help from you guys replicating a DK CP!! :) You say that longer stick was made specifically to go all the way through the full thickness of 5/8 inch plywood? How does it mount then with out the top of the bolts being visible on top of the CP?? Are they counter sunk and then cover by the CPO??
Were you also saying that the longer stick is no longer in stock anywhere?
Boy I'd hate to have to pay $70 some bucks for a new stick?!?! Are there any other options? Where on earth would I ever find a used one?!? I have a feeling one on ebay would be a tough find?
Also what buttons and button set-ups would have to be fitted to this new wooded CP!?
Well here is the info you requested from my cab, I tryed to be as excact as I could with the measurements....
21 15/16 wide by
24 7/8 long
My cab has TWO plates on it,
the first says
Model No TPP2-UP-US
Serial No 06881
The second says
Model No DCK1-UP-US
Serial No 80037PAK
Who knows what that means!??!?! I saw a thread here the other day explaining it, but didn't have time to read it yet!!
I'll post a pic from tonights work after dinner! OH OH OH, My DK bezel and PCB came today!! ;D
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To be honest, I can't be sure about the CP joystick attachment. If I were building one, I would countersink bolts underneath the overlay. However, I don't know if that is how they were built in the factory. The joysticks actually come up on eBay on occasion and don't sell for too much. I would shoot MikesArcade an email if you are interested in that shaft. They run an excellent business. I use them for most of my arcade parts and have never had an issue.
My cab has TWO plates on it,
the first says
Model No TPP2-UP-US
Serial No 06881
The second says
Model No DCK1-UP-US
Serial No 80037PAK
Who knows what that means!??!?! I saw a thread here the other day explaining it, but didn't have time to read it yet!!
I'll post a pic from tonights work after dinner! OH OH OH, My DK bezel and PCB came today!! ;D
You may not like this, but your cabinet seems to have left the factory as a Popeye as denoted by the TPP2. If it were originally a DK it would be TKG. The DKC plate is from the Donkey Kong 3 conversion kit.
That being said, if it has been running DK3, you will have no problem whatsoever running Donkey Kong in that cabinet. Its essentially (if not exactly) the same cabinet as an original Donkey Kong.
IF you plan on removing that DKC plate and you can do it without destroying it, please send me a PM as I would like to have one for my cab.
Oh and thanks for the measurements guys :applaud:
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Huh, very interesting! A popeye huh? Well judging by the slight burn in on the monitor, it spent the better part of its life as DK3!! I will have to weigh all my options as far as a CP. I would DEFINATLEY like a wooden one. May just be easier to find a decent used one around somewhere, and restore THAT one?!?! I don't have any 5/8" plywood laying around, I bet I'm looking at $25 for the sheet, and then I still have the pain of making it!??! If I could pick up a used one for around that same price? THAT may be the way to go?
Funny side note, I found tucked away inside the cabinte, the original "How to convert your Nintendo PAK game to a DK3" book!! HA!! It has a few different things that you have to do, for all the different games that came in that cabinate, Popeye, DK, DK Jr, and I believe Mario Bro??
At any rate, she'll probably live out her days as a good ol Donkey Kong! ;D
I'm with you Mauzy, there is a BIG part of me that would have like to just KEEP it DK3!! I had visions of it painted that DK RED color, all fixed up as BK3. I have it on my Multi Jamma and I really DO enjoy playing it. BUT, that being said, I doubt my buddies, or anyone else that comes over to play, would gravitate toward it like they would a classic Donkey kong!! The deciding factor being the fact that the Bezel and Marquee looked like they were going to be a major pain to find!! It was enough to push me over the edge, as DK parts are a dime a dozen. It's the car equvilent of restoring a 65 mustang vs, resotring a 66 murcury comet!! ;D
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One last pic, the first coat of bin is sanded, the second coat is on, now for the second sanding!!!!
I just had to place the DK bezel on it to try it out! ;D :applaud:
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Oh and Mauzy,
Help me locate the stuff to put cheepo CP together with, and my DK3 plate is all yours!! I'd like to see it go to someone who will enjoy it, and give it a good home! :cheers:
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Exactly. Why they did this I don't know. Maybe they figured the original DK CP would be beat up after the couple years it had been in service. It might have been a way to get operators to put a fresh joystick and buttons as I would figure the original DK joy and buttons would be getting worn out by the time the kit came out and they knew that a new game would DEFINITELY not take off if all of the cabinets had worn out controls. The panels probably came pre-assembled for the ease of the operator. We've seen in the past how many ops will take short cuts. If you give an op a big bag of nuts, bolts, and joystick parts to replace "good" (only good because its already assembled) joys there is a lower chance that they will replace all of that stuff than if they were given a panel that they just have to plug in and clamp down.
Of course I just came up with all that crap as I typed it. Could be completely wrong.
This is very true, I used to work at an arcade in the late 90s, and most owners/employees could care less how the game looked. They only cared if the game would play enough to keep people from complaining. For example the SFII had only 4 working buttons for the 2P side, but since at this time, the game was not as popular since Tekken 2/3 were all the rage, nobody complained, so it never got fixed. The closest thing to care that was given to the place where I worked was that we would clean the control panels and plexi glass every night, to keep it sanitary and easier to see. So mostly if they game was capable of "playing" and taking quarters, they were perfectly happy. . .
Funny thing is that when I worked there, I could care less about the cabinets and inner workings of the games, and now I am obsessed with them. Meh, go figure. . .
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BUT, that being said, I doubt my buddies, or anyone else that comes over to play, would gravitate toward it like they would a classic Donkey kong!!
Oh I hear that. Thats the only reason I'm still a little on the fence about leaving mine a DK3. Anybody in my family who would be interested in arcade games always thinks its original DK until I tell them otherwise. They promptly move one game to the right to play Galaga. I may rig up some sort of two board switch to have both in one on original hardware.
As for helping you locate some CP stuff, give me a couple days to research and I can point you in the correct direction!
This is very true, I used to work at an arcade in the late 90s, and most owners/employees could care less how the game looked. They only cared if the game would play enough to keep people from complaining. For example the SFII had only 4 working buttons for the 2P side, but since at this time, the game was not as popular since Tekken 2/3 were all the rage, nobody complained, so it never got fixed. The closest thing to care that was given to the place where I worked was that we would clean the control panels and plexi glass every night, to keep it sanitary and easier to see. So mostly if they game was capable of "playing" and taking quarters, they were perfectly happy. . .
Funny thing is that when I worked there, I could care less about the cabinets and inner workings of the games, and now I am obsessed with them. Meh, go figure. . .
Same story at the local arcade here. If it has a picture on the monitor, no matter how distorted, they don't touch it.
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Yep, it always comes down to the almighty dollar!!
Welp scratch that CP, I just bought one on Mikesarcade.com. A wooden Donkey Kong CP, new stick, the buttons, CPO and the card for under the plexi window, 85$. I started doing the math, adding up all the individual parts, and the price of the sheet of 5/8" plywood, and the amount of time it was going to take me to actually fab one, seemed pretty reasonable to me!?!?! Call me crazy...... I bet I'd have about that in making one?!?! $30 for the stick, $12 for the mounting plate, $10 for the buttons, $25 for the CPO, $5 for the CPO card, That gets me close to 80$, and that doesn't include a sheet of 5/8"?!?!
Done DEAL, CP problem SOLVED!!!!
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Hey that works too! I don't know how authentic you want to be with this cab, but nothing would stop you from upgrading that joystick to an authentic Nintendo either. Nothing beats the feel of a DK game with the original joystick!
Looking at the components involved that would prolly be the cheapest solution for new parts. I would have suggested that for someone looking to not break the bank.
Oh and if you haven't already you should check out my DK3 restore thread ;D
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=92466.0
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Yeah I may upgrade to that someday? To be honest, I don't know if I'd even be able to tell as it has been YEARS since I've played a real one? I'm doubting that any of the knuckle heads I have over will know the difference either? It doesn't have to be 100% authentic. I mean lets face it, this thing was a POPEYE and a DK3 it's whole life. I'm sure a true nintendo cab nut could find a 1000 flaws in what I'm doing. Besides, it would be as close as anything I could fabricate myself. In the mean time Mauzy keep an eye open for a real deal stick for a reasonable price for me. I just didn't think the 46$ extra was worth it for the upgrade?!?!!? I would think given a little time and shopping around I should be able to beat THAT price?!? :cheers:
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WOW nice restore on that thing! Amazing amount of bondo work!! Good job man. Hey, I may have found one way to tell that mine was originally a Popeye cab, it looks like the T-molding on my cabinate is a LOT thinner than the stuff on yours? I'm curious as to weather the T-molding was a different width on Popeye?
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I just didn't think the 46$ extra was worth it for the upgrade?!?!!? I would think given a little time and shopping around I should be able to beat THAT price?!? :cheers:
Oh yeah. For a nice used stick you can probably do better than that. Don't get me wrong either, I'm not one of those must-use-26-year-old-screws kind of authenticity guys. I just get as close as possible on my tight budget. To each his own, I've always said.
Thanks! The T-Molding size depends on the material type. If you have a particle board cabinet (what I have) it will be 5/8". A plywood cab will have 9/16". All I have to do is build the base and It'll be as good as I want it.
Another thing that points to Popeye can be seen in picture 23. Those three holes on either side of the inside of the monitor area are left over from when the monitor was horizontally mounted to play Popeye which was a horizontal game.
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If you are thinking about running more than one game you might be interested in my thread HERE (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=94351.0;all). I restored a DK cosmetically but I am running MAME on the inside with a list of about 30 games that use 1 button and a 4-way stick. There are no external modifications to the cabinet other than the 3 admin buttons underneath the CP which are countersunk and not visible at all. In fact, some of my friends came over last weekend and we had one of my buddies putting quarters in the thing for an hour before we told him about the coin button and that there were other games on the cab besides DK. He actually ran out to his car to dig around for change!! :laugh2:
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Just for future reference, on the 5/8" CP ply you were looking for, any of the stores I frequent usually have a scrap bin that you can get smaller sized lumber on the cheap if not free of charge. Lowes, Home Depot or Menards all have this stuff. Just ask for it if you can't find it.
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That is good to know. Never had to look for a small odd-ball sized small piece like that before.
Thanks for the mame idea, but I think I'm going to keep it a dedicated Donkey Kong. Not sure WHY excactly I'd want to play only one game when I could be playing THOUSANDS??!?! Can't explain it I suppose. I'm not opposed to making a mame some day though?!?
Not a ton of progress today, I had a dentist appointment after work which killed a couple hours. I did manage to get the cabinate sanded one more time, and another coat of bin on it.
HEY, here is a problem I have been noticing when sanding the BIN primer. After a bit, my sand paper gets "clogged" the dust all sticks together or something, and it ends up depositing a little flake of melted dust on the cab? And it is STUCK good! Almost like it gets fused to the primer that is on there. And I'm talking this happens after about 10 sec of sanding, I'm not pressing hard with the sander, and I'm not concentrating on one spot the whole time. It is really odd. Then the only way to get that "flake" off, it to change out the paper and resand the spot.
I tryed WET SANDING it, it seemed to help alot, I just get the paper pretty moist, and kept wiping the cabinate with a wet rag as I sanded stuff. Has anyone else had this problem with the BIN primer? Or am I putting it on too thick or something?? I'll just keep doing the wet sanding method, it seems to be working the best.
No pics tonight, I figure everyone has seen enough, sanding/reprimering pics from me in this post!! I'm hoping the get it sanded and reprimered, and sanded again tomorrow night??? I'll see how it looks from there? May do one more after that?? We shall see.
Hoping to get that monitor recapped maybe by the weekend.
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For how long are you letting the paint dry? Sounds like it still may be a little wet under the surface. Is it really humid where you are painting?
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Just about 24 hours between coats?!!? Na, not really that humid? Heck that stuff says it drys in 45 minutes on the can? I'm not sure what gives? I'll just keep wet sanding it. Seems to do the trick, just wondered if anyone else has had an issue with it doing this? Ah well couple more coats and I'll be done with it anyway.......
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Hmm. The paint being damp isn't the problem then. Maybe the sander is creating enough friction to melt the paint?
Whatever it is, if wet sanding works, keep at it.
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Are you using a power sander? Once I have paint on the cab, I switch to a sanding block and do it by hand.
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Yeah, I'm using a palm sander.... :-\
You are probably right, I think hand sanding is probably the better way to go at this point. I've come this far, I don't want to rush things now. I've just never had a material melt together like before? I'll report on round 3 of sanding.....HAND SANDING.....tonight
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Alright, got the last coat of Bin on last night. Tonight, I got it sanded down as smooth as a babies behind! I ended up using 220 grit with a sanding block, it didn't seem to clump as bad, but bad enough I wet sanded it. After the 220, I went 400 grit, then some 000 steel wool for the final sand. It turned out pretty good I think. Here is it the cab after the final sand....
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After a quick wipe down and some taping, it was ready for DONKEY KONG BLUE!! I ended up using the recipe someone posted on here, for the Sherwin Williams Semi Gloss Latex. I must say it went on VERY NICE!! You could definatley tell it was a high quality paint. I figured it would be worth the couple extra bucks to have a good quality paint on it. Anyway these two pics were taken about two hours ago! She is sitting in my garage drying as I type! Man it was nice to see that thing look that good again!! ;D I think I'm going to go back out to the garage and sit and stare at it for a while!!
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QUICK QUESTION FOR SOMEONE!!
While I was "staring at it" I noticed something.....
What color is supposed to be on the INSIDE of the speaker holes? Looks like they were black?? Is that right? Or are they supposed to be blue? Anyone know????
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Looks like they were black?? Is that right?
Yup!
Looks good!
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Mine is actually bare wood - I just assumed this is how they were originally until someone painted it or something. I just left the wood but now I'm thinking I might need to get some black paint in there...
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Hey guys, got a quick question for ANYONE out there.......
It was a rainy night here so I wasn't able to get any work on the cabinate done. I kept the cab in the garage tonight and decided I'd swap out the boards. Doesn't seem TOO hard, but I have a question as to how the wiring is.
First off I'm not sure what they call the set up on this style board. Both the old DK3 and the new DK are both the 2 board configuration.
I'm not 100% what they call the set up of the way it is wired, but I believe it is the "PAK" style. Ie, the main "jamma type" harness is being used.
On DK 3 the 2 boards were connected in the back by 2 harness' P1 & P2
On the front they were connected by P4 and P12
Then simply the main "jamma type" harness just plugged in!!
End of story.
My new DK board came with NO WIRING, except, P1 and P2 harness' in the back.
So I robbed the P4 and P12 harness and connected the DK board the same excact way!
Then simply plugged in the main Jamma type haness!!!
IS THAT IT!??! Am I missing any wiring? Do the boards connect in any other way? Should I have connected P4 and P12??
Can someone PLEASE check their machine! I want to make sure 100% that this is correct before I fire it up!!
A freinds game uses all the other plugs and could confirm that this was correct!
THANKS!!!
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Anyone know the answer to my last post about the board question??
Just got done capping the monitor! I'm hoping that'll fix the monitor issue it was having!!
The weather has cleared up nicely out, so I'm hoping to get round 2 of my painting done. I got the inside of the cabinate painted a nice flat black last night too, it looks really good.
With a little bit of luck I may actually get to fire it up tonight?!?!
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To me, your wiring within the boards sounds fine. If I were you, I would check the wiring with a PDF file of the original manual which can be found here:
http://www.basementarcade.com/arcade/library/manuals/d/dktkg4up.pdf
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Yeah I gotta figure my wiring is fine? I don't think it can go any other way? The manual looks like the standard set up, not the "Nintendo PAK" configuration.
I'm going to try and run down today's accomplishments........
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The first big thing today was the cap kit!!
The Cap kit came with a total of 16 new caps. I think my total time was about three hours? About a half hour pulling the board out of the monitor, a good HOUR cleaning the stupid thing, and an hour to re-cap it, and about 10 minutes to put it back in. I must say, it was pretty easy, just a little labor intensive. And that monitor was SUPER DIRTY!! That was just about the toughest thing, CLEANING IT!! I did notice one of the caps was in bad shape, when I pulled it out, one of the legs was rusted and just fell off!! The bottom of the cap looked very corroded too? Anyway here are some pics of the process......
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As you can see in these shots, this thing was FILTHY!!!
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A couple hours later, all cleaned up and ready to go!! I just PRAY that the cap kit kit fixed my problems!! If not I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!
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About the joystick; the one that comes with Mike's replacement control panel is based on a Happ Super I believe, and has no physical 4-way restrictor. If you want to keep that joystick, you might want to at least get a 4-way restrictor for it from GroovyGameGear.com for $5 (link (http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=310&zenid=562287fc9d64333796cd29a4ec26b909)).
The Happ Super is marketed as having a 4-way mode, but it is not a physically restricted 4-way mode like a real Donkey Kong or Pac-Man or other original 4-way joysticks had; but rather, it just has a smaller actuator which prevents it from tripping two switches at once in the diagonals. The restrictor from GGG solves that problem.
An even better option in my opinion is to simply buy a new shaft from Mike's Arcade for your existing Nintendo joystick for $16 (link (http://mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=TKGU-JS-ASSEMBLY)). The joystick that you currently have as shown in the earlier pictures of your cabinet is a a short Nintendo joystick (for metal control panels) and it should have a 4-way restrictor if the stick is the original and the restrictor isn't missing (this is the same as a Punch-Out joystick BTW; add an 8-way restrictor and it is the same as a VS. or PC-10 joystick).
In any event, all you need to convert it to a proper Donkey Kong joystick is that replacement shaft which will turn it into a tall Nintendo joystick for wood CP mounting.
If you go that route, when you take your existing Nintendo joystick apart to swap the shaft, make sure to clean it thoroughly, paying particular attention to the steel ball and socket in the base that the shaft pivots on. Do whatever you can to get that ball and socket as clean as possible. I usually spray some degreaser in there and let it soak for a while, then get down into the socket with a toothbrush and pipe cleaner. It will take a while if your stick is like most of them; having about 25 years worth of grease and crud in there.
Once you get it as clean as possible, lubricate the ball and socket with something light (I use silicone spray). Heavier lubrication like grease makes the stick feel sluggish when returning to center in my experience. After that it should feel about like a new joystick.
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Another major project I got done today was taking the wire wheel to all the metal parts! One of my least favorite things to do when restoring a game! Loud, messy, and depending on where the little pieces of the wire wheel fly when they break off, painful!! Anyway for thos wanting to see what I can do with the coin door, this is a start.....
It was rough, and took a little pounding and bending to get it back square......
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Ok for 5$ you convinced me to get one of those restrictor plates! ;)
Hope if gives it a close to authentic feel.
Anyway, a big part of the day was spend TAPING off stuff! I wanted to different black colors on the game. The back, stand, and entire interior of the cab I wanted a flat black. Mostly because I didn't want any glare from the monitor reflection off the walls inside the cabinate. I ended up using a Sherwin Williams latexm it is called "black magic". It turned out really nice. For the black around the CP and down the sides, I wanted something a bit shineyer, and also I wanted to spray it on so it would look more even. I ended up using Valspar Black Satin......
Here are the shots from the paint booth
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I think the 2 different black colors can be seen in these?!?
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And one more coat of DK blue! It's really starting to come together!
Just put the bondo on the coin door for the night. It took quite a bit to fill all the dings, but I think it is going to work!
This is it for the night.....enjoy.....
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If you want an easier time with the wire wheel, see my thread on electrolysis in Arcade Misc.
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I had a fairly productive day today, I got a late start on account of picking up a really nice looking Cenipede for $60!! (MORE ON THIS ONE LATER!!)
So it was after 1:00pm by the time I got going today.
First off, I sanded down the bondo on the coin door. I think it is going to work nicely. I put a second batch of bondo on it after the second pic was taken in order to build it up a bit better. It still had come low spots, here is the progress.
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After that, I did a little touch up work on the front where the blue and black meet, I had a bit of an issue with the colors bleeding though the tape, despite my best efforts to prevent it from happening. Fixed it with touch up paint and a little brush, it looked turned out nice.
After that I put the coinbox back in, it took a bit of engineering to get it back in. The holes it screwed into were completley wallowed out. I ended up screwing 2 pieces of wood to the bottom of the box that acted as a lift to get it where it needed to be, then I wood glued the heck out of it. It won't be going anywhere soon.
The I put the power block back in, got all the wires run, and got everything plugged back in!! Even got the speaker grill and screen painted black and put back on!
Next I plugged the monitor back in, turned the game on and........
ARRRRRGGGG!!! STILL HAS A MONITOR PROBLEM!!!
I started a thread on the monitor page, detailing what is going on with it, if anyone thinks they can help!!
But I DID GET TO HEAR THE SWEET SOUND OF DONKEY KONG!! The board seems to be working like a charm!!
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This suck is so clean inside you could EAT OUT OF IT! :)
Maybe not, but sure does look nice in there huh!?!
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It's hard to tell in that picture, but that doesn't look like a monitor issue. Looks like a PCB issue. I'd have to see a better picture to be 100%.
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Never say never, but the board was sold as tested and working?
I guess before I do a whole heck of a lot more to the monitor I can try to throw DK3 back in and see what happens?
It was REALLY hard trying to get a pic of what was going on with the monitor. It was like you could adjust it, ALMOST, but then it was wavey and jumpy, picture wasn't overly bright either??
Pretty sure that it is the monitor, not the board??!?!
I'm hoping the folks over on the monitor link can help!!!
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I guess before I do a whole heck of a lot more to the monitor I can try to throw DK3 back in and see what happens?
If you've got a different board you can use to test, go ahead and do that. You might as well determine if it is a board or monitor problem before you get too far into working on the monitor.
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UHG! I just put the DK3 board in, WORKS LIKE A CHARM!!! There is a slight "wave" to the picture that I could not adjust out of it. Also the picture doesn't look overly crisp, and isn't as bright as it should be? Thoughts on that?
So my Donkey Kong board looks like its messed up!!! GREAT! I'm sure the dude will say it was damaged in shipping, his packing job wasn't the best.
UHG, so where do I begin with THAT thing?! Anyone have any thoughts as to what would cause a bad picture on one of those boards?? Does anyone sell a board repar kit of any kind? I don't recall seeing one anywhere.
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Sigh :'( I guess this answers the question if its the board or the monitor.
Here are a couple pics. I'm really hoping that someone out there has seen a DK PCB do this before and can point me in the right direction. The picture on the monitor is NOT as blurry as these pictures make it seem. That is my crappy camera. The main thing is the left side of the picture trails off the bottom of the screen? Also the picture is generally jittery. Anyone know where to start? I gave the boards a quick visual inspection, that revealed nothing.
On to the monitor, with DK3 in there, the picture has a slight "wave" to it. Also when the sound pot is turned up, the screen kind of "pulses" to the beat of the sounds, when it get loud. Any thoughts as to what that could be? A sound board kit?
Well here are pics, again, they are not as blurry as these make it seem, but you can see how the picture trails off on the left side....
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No help on the monitor/board but the sound thing, maybe the speaker is un-shielded? Try slipping a sheet of metal in between the speaker and monitor to see if that if that makes a difference :dunno
Also I was wondering if you could take a picture of the inside of your cab for me. Try it from the standing position, right in front looking down into it. I just got me one of these cabs myself and I think it's missing some wood mounting pieces inside of it for the monitor. Pretty please ;D.
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Have you tried adjusting the horizontal or vertical syncs yet?
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IG-88,
There are a few pics of the inside of the cab on this thread, any of those shots work for you? I think my last post from yesterday has just that shot? If not, let me know, I'll get you anything you need.
You think the speaker being unsheilded is messing with the monitor? Hmmm, I'll give that a try....
SirPeale,
I adjusted EVERY pot, in every possible combination. Are you talking to fix the waves? Or to try and get DK to come in?
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That last pic from yesterday is from the backside right? Can you do one from about that distance but from the front too? Also get one from the marquee retaining area/top half of the cab. I think mine is pieces missing from that area too now that I think of it....
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Yep, I'll try to post them tonight......
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SirPeale,
I adjusted EVERY pot, in every possible combination. Are you talking to fix the waves? Or to try and get DK to come in?
Just to make sure, in messing with every pot, did you try the pots on the DK board itself?
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Yep, I sure did. I found one website that said a screen roll could be a sign that one of those pots either being bad?
At any rate if I can't figure it out, the dude I bought it from said he would fix it free of charge, I just have to send it back......
IG-88, I had house hold stuff I had to do tonight, I wasn't able to get any thing done on the games, I will tomorrow.....
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Pics for IG 88.
Worked some more on a few components on the monitor, trying to get rid of that wave..... No luck.....
I ordered the delux cap kit from Bob Roberts, that has a bunch more cap that didn't come in the regular version.
I'll have to see if that does the trick.....
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Your the bomb man, thank you very much!
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Can someone with a DK do me a favor?
I need the measurements for the location to place the .25$ sticker just below the control panel??
I also need the location of the instuctional decal that goes on the wood just below the bezel. I know it goes on the left hand side somewhere?? Just not sure how far over.....
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ARG!! The stupid monitor has been KILLING ME!! I about took a sledge hammer to the whole thing! :) I scoured the thing again and again, after about the 10th time, I noticed the biggest chip on the board had a very slight crack in it. But have gotten damaged in my caping process!?!
:dunno
I THOUGHT I was very gently with it. Just looking at the board that IC 401 seems to sit just about where the flex point is? So any way after a LOT of looking I finally asked Bob Roberts if he had a spare on and old board. TG HE DID!! So, one is on the way!! FYI anyone looking for IC 401 on a Sanyo EZV LA1464, check with Bob.....
Here is the coin door, DONE!! It was the second most labor insensive thing on the entire game!! I think it turned out GREAT! After about 6 bondo/sanding sessions, I was satisfied, primered it, then painted it with a hammered finish, then topped it off with a satin finish.....
To all those who thought it not possible!!!! Here ya go......
;D
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That coin door looks fantastic! That was the worst job that had to be done on mine. I painted and then restripped my coin door three or four times before I was satisfied. The cabinet was finished and put in the row for two or three weeks before the coin door was finished.
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THANKS! ;D
I got in a bit of a hurry today on part of it. Had to do some resanding. I think it turned out nice though. Heck, someone took a hammer to it! The whole middle was caved in, you can see it in my earlier pics. It took a lot of bondo and a lot of time, but it turned out nice. I spent a couple hours today throwing Quarters through the mechanisms getting them to work right. I was happy, one worked, then I tried to get the other one to match, it took a lot of tweeking, but I finally got it.
Mauzy sorry, I've been busy last week w the holiday, I'll get that DK3 plate out to you this week. It has a nasty scar on it, but I think it gives it character! I have a couple other gems I'll send with it too...... :cheers:
a tag on my coin door that says DK6887
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Mauzy sorry, I've been busy last week w the holiday, I'll get that DK3 plate out to you this week. It has a nasty scar on it, but I think it gives it character! I have a couple other gems I'll send with it too...... :cheers:
a tag on my coin door that says DK6887
Hey no worries. I agree with the scar adding character. I usually leave one or two small things on my machines untouched just to show it had a long commercial life for character. On my cab, the entry chutes on the coin door are scratched up from people missing when trying to insert a quarter. I think it looks neat.
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Look familiar?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/tarzanthellama/SDC11179.jpg)
Just got it this morning. I'm also printing a new FCC tag as we speak. Thanks again, man!
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;D :cheers:
AWESOME BRO!! Looks great! I'd recognize that scar anywhere! You'll have to post a pic of the FCC label once you place it too!
Still trying to get my monitor working, but the cab is looking GREAT!! Just need the side art and the marquee! I'm waiting till they show up and I get them on before I post any more pics of things......
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Mauzy, you ever get that FCC tag printed off?
Quick update, FINALLY got my monitor issue fixed. It ended up being a bad solder joint that had pulled away from PS601, the guys over at KLOV helped me zero in on it. Also fixed the problem with my DK board syncing up. THAT, ended up being a bad pot on the main DK board, VR1 I believe. I ended up finding that the pot was bad by measuring the resistance across the pot. It was 12Mohms! So I robbed the same pot off my DK3 board, WORKED LIKE A CHARM!! I will replace it the next time I place an order with Bob Roberrts and get my DK3 board working again.
I got the monitor placed back in the cab last night, and got braket that runs across top of the monitor fabbed up. Later that night I bought the side art from QuarterArcade.com, and the marquee from MikesArcade.com. I really liked MikesArcade.com's marquee, it was a bit more pricey, but was the only one that I could find that was reversed silk screen on plexi.
Tonight I got the black cardboard skirt that goes around the monitor made and installed, and the lock mechanism installed on the back door of the cab.
So once the Side art and marquee are placed, the only thing left is finding a replacement for the marquee light AND THIS PROJECT IS DONE!! I'm hoping to have some pics of the finished product once this thing is wrapped up here in a few days!
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That's easy; unless you want a 100% replacement, the undercounter fixture from Wal-Mart for ~$8.00 works very well.
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Mauzy, you ever get that FCC tag printed off?
Quick update, FINALLY got my monitor issue fixed. It ended up being a bad solder joint that had pulled away from PS601, the guys over at KLOV helped me zero in on it. Also fixed the problem with my DK board syncing up. THAT, ended up being a bad pot on the main DK board, VR1 I believe. I ended up finding that the pot was bad by measuring the resistance across the pot. It was 12Mohms! So I robbed the same pot off my DK3 board, WORKED LIKE A CHARM!! I will replace it the next time I place an order with Bob Roberrts and get my DK3 board working again.
I got the monitor placed back in the cab last night, and got braket that runs across top of the monitor fabbed up. Later that night I bought the side art from QuarterArcade.com, and the marquee from MikesArcade.com. I really liked MikesArcade.com's marquee, it was a bit more pricey, but was the only one that I could find that was reversed silk screen on plexi.
Tonight I got the black cardboard skirt that goes around the monitor made and installed, and the lock mechanism installed on the back door of the cab.
So once the Side art and marquee are placed, the only thing left is finding a replacement for the marquee light AND THIS PROJECT IS DONE!! I'm hoping to have some pics of the finished product once this thing is wrapped up here in a few days!
Yeah, in all honesty I forgot to get pics! I'll get on that in the next couple days.
Glad to hear you got your monitor and DK board fixed! Luckily you had little fixes like that.
The cheap fluorescent fixture is the easiest way to go. Finding bulbs for the original fixture has proved to be tricky for me. All you need to do if you buy a new fixture is make sure to wire it into the 110v AC coming into the cabinet. The little outlet in the bottom only puts out 100v AC which won't yield the desired result.
EDIT: In case you need a new FCC label, heres where I got mine: http://www.mikesarcade.com/arcade/artwork/fcc-nintendo.pdf
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The cheap fluorescent fixture is the easiest way to go. Finding bulbs for the original fixture has proved to be tricky for me. All you need to do if you buy a new fixture is make sure to wire it into the 110v AC coming into the cabinet. The little outlet in the bottom only puts out 100v AC which won't yield the desired result.
1) even with the 100V, I haven't heard of anyone having a problem plugging in a standard fixture into it.
2) the bulbs and starters are available from Top Bulb (http://www.topbulb.com/). The bulbs are darn cheap, like three bucks, but the starters are nearly double that! Add in shipping, and those cheap bulbs suddenly become pretty darn expensive.
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Thanks Mauzy.
Yeah that chassis proved to be a MAJOR pain!! The good news is that I learned a TON about how those EZV's work, and feel fairly comfortable working with one now. Honestly it makes all the frustration totally WORTH IT! MULTIPLE problems at the same time are just a major pain! Hard to tell where to start, or what is REALLY causing the problem. Glad everyone helped me through it!
Na, it doesn't have to be 100% original, just 100% functional, I'm going to swing by Wal-mart tonight after work and see what I can find. I'll just try the 100V plug at first, mine is actually reading 109v the last time I checked, if that dosn't work I'll go from there.
I'm guessing my Side Art will be waiting for me when I get home today, I'm thinking the Maruee might be in tomorrow or Friday!
Then I'll be 100% DONE!!
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THIS SUCKER IS DONE!! I am heading out of town in the morning for the weekend and need to pack tonight, so unfortunatley PICS will have to wait till Monday. It turned out absolutly FLAWLESS! The only things that I suppose are not 100% is the joystick(which which does have the 4 way limter on it) and technically according to the name plate originaly the cab left the factory as a popeye, oh and the marquee light is a 10$ replacment from walmart. Other than those detail, Looks like it left the factory YESTERDAY!
Pics on Monday......
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THIS SUCKER IS DONE!! I am heading out of town in the morning for the weekend and need to pack tonight, so unfortunatley PICS will have to wait till Monday. It turned out absolutly FLAWLESS! The only things that I suppose are not 100% is the joystick(which which does have the 4 way limter on it) and technically according to the name plate originaly the cab left the factory as a popeye, oh and the marquee light is a 10$ replacment from walmart. Other than those detail, Looks like it left the factory YESTERDAY!
Pics on Monday......
You big tease! Congrats though!
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1) even with the 100V, I haven't heard of anyone having a problem plugging in a standard fixture into it.
Yeah, that's what I'm doing in my Super Punch-Out machine, and it works fine in the 100V outlet.
In the case of a Punch-Out or Super Punch-Out machine, there is a good chance the cord that comes with those under-cabinet lights won't be long enough. For mine, I bought a white extension cord at the dollar store, cut one end off it, took the light fixture apart, and used it to replace the original cord.
I also used some flush cutters to trim down the wider blade on the plug so they were both the same width, and a file to smooth it out (it came out good, you have to look closely to even see it was modified), because the outlet in Nintendo cabinets is a non-polarized design, and a polarized plug won't fit in it. It was easy to trim down because the blade was only flared out at the tip to make it wider, rather than the whole blade being wider.
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I just cut the cord on the Nintendo cord, soldered it to the one I bought from Walmart, put some heat shrink on it, it was good as new!
Well I put the finishing touches on it tonight and moved it into its temporary home.... MY FORMAL DINING ROOM! LOL!
Well here are a couple last pics, I cut a new skirt for around the monitor using the old one as a pattern. I used some black poster board I got a the Hobby Lobby. Here is a shot of that...
I ended up cutting it in 1/2 to get it to fit just perfect.....
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Side art going on....
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HOME SWEET HOME!! ;D
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2 AFTER SHOTS and 1 before, just as a reminder as to how far this ugly thing has come!
Thanks to all that helped along the way! :cheers: She is an absolute show piece!
On to my next project!!!
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That turned out verrry nice :cheers: I am totally stoked to get started on mine. Just for inspiration I made one of your finished pics my desktop!!
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This totally deserves a RESTOREY !
Congratulations and looking forward to more !
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Well I put the finishing touches on it tonight and moved it into its temporary home.... MY FORMAL DINING ROOM! LOL!
LOL! That's where my DK ended up!
I'm just seeing the end results of your project now - amazing job on the restoration. The coin door is especially SICK. :cheers: