DK Jr to Double DK+

[FrizzleFried]

Alright...I didn't take any progress photos of this project because (I could come up with a whole slew of BS,  but instead I will be honest)...well... I just didn't.   I did a little here and there until it was finished (well, almost finished,  I still have a little to do).

I purchased this DK Jr for $300 off craigslist...



It worked,  but the monitor had some major collapse on the left side,  the colors sucked pretty bad,  the sound hummed,  and it was dirty as all hell!



The cabinet itself was in OK condition... the T-Molding was a disaster... the side art was un-salvageable...but the CP was in decent enough condition (except for the jump button which was only semi-responsive)...the bezel was in good condition,  and the marquee was in decent condition.





The first thing I did was order a cap kit for the Sanyo 20EZ monitor & sound board the cabinet contained from Bob Roberts.  For this monitor a standard cap kit does NOT include 9 caps that historically haven't gone bad too often.  The deluxe kit can be had for $2.00 more but I was unaware of this option at the time.  Anyway, after re-capping the monitor it came up beautifully (here is where I don't have any photos) aside from one issue...there was a wave to the image.  It was a very small wave,  but a fast one...it would go away then come back...sometimes worse than others and no amount of adjusting seemed to fix it... After consulting with such minds as Ken Layton,  Bob Roberts,  and a couple more it was determined the issue was one of 2 things...the DK power supply (more likely),  or the B+ Filter Cap (less likely).  It was about this time that I started poking around pricing a Double Donkey Kong upgrade.  I then looked at the possibilities of making this cabinet a Multi-Kong (which includes DK3 as well).  The options were expensive to say the least.  It was about this time that I started investigating the infamous classic 48-in-1 JAMMA board.  I could spend,  literally $350+ for a Double Donkey Kong,  a DK3,  and the interface to hook them all up in this one cabinet,  or for $200 or so I could pick up a 48-in-1 JAMMA board that had all 3 + 45 other games....the choice seemed obvious.  I opted to get the 48-in-1.  While I ordered the board,  I decided to order the 9 additional caps for the Sanyo 20EZ as well as the B+ Filter Cap from Bob Roberts.  I also picked up a JAMMA harness at the same time.  I negotiated with the distributor of the 48-in-1 who wanted $250 for the board (but he is located here in the states as opposed to Hong Kong) to throw in the Double Donkey Kong marquee for the $250 price.  I also needed to pick up an inverter board for the Sanyo 20EZ monitor as it was wired for a Nintendo boardset which uses inverted color video.  One of the users here, FLASHDOG, was kind enough to mail me an inverter board AT NO COST...he even refused my offer to cover shipping costs (THANKS BRO!).

While waiting for things to arrive I cleaned up the cabinet by removing the side art (what a pain in the ass),  waxing the sides,  painting the black portions,  installing new white T-Molding,  fixing the base of the cabinet where the wood was breaking off the front.  I put a new jump button in (though I still need to order and install a new 2nd button (and at the same time I will install a different color button than the black one I used...it was all I had).  I also replaced the florescent light in the marquee.  It's expensive to replace the original bulb and starter,  not to mention it puts out a pretty crappy amount of light,  and it's hard to find the parts.  A trip to Home Depot for an 18" under the counter florescent light fixed that problem.  It plugs right in to the 100v outlet the Nintendo cabinets have in them and doesn't seem to mind running off 100v.

I then went through hours of hell to try to determine where to come up with 16VDC which the inverter board needed to run non-Nintendo games...I finally managed to locate where I needed to solder a lead to the main PCB,  added the 9 new caps & B+ filter cap,  hacked a couple of cables I had to use with the inverter board,  and re-installed the monitor in the cab.  I installed the 48-in-1 board (which is about 1/8 the size of just one of the original DK Jr boards!),  wired up the JAMMA harness to everything except for a switcher power supply as I didn't have one handy...off to craigslist where I obtained an AT-style PC power supply for $3.50.  I plugged it in using a molex connector and fired it up!

It worked!  After determining that I needed to jump the V-Center pins for the vertical positioning pot to work I adjusted and am pretty damn happy with the result.  The monitor looks fantastic.  No more wave...colors are vibrant...and the 48-in-1 works nicely.  There ARE some caveats to using a board like this.  (a) Only the TOP high score is saved,  and in a bonehead move,  the initials AREN'T saved!  (b) Some sounds are a bit different.  I noticed that the DK and DK Jr walking/climbing sound uses a single sound instead of the 2 or 3 that the original uses...The DK Jr "ARGH ARGH" the DK makes when you set him free is missing...some sounds are a little higher pitch,  but it's not bad... etc.   Because I am using the board with my DK 4-way control panel,  11 of the games which are 8-way are just about useless...so I have removed them from the list.  Of the remaining,  there are 6 that use 2 buttons...which will be OK once I drill another hole and add a 2nd button (which the DK Jr CP harness already had WIRED but just sitting under the CP! (there is even a hole in the middle of the CP (not where I want it) for another button under the stock CPO!).  There are 2 games that suppose to use a spinner/dial (Super Breakout and Arkanoid) which I will use the joysitck and 2 that is supposed to use a trackball (Centipede and Millipede) which are just about useless with a 4-way stick so they too are removed from my list of available games.  All games on the board use MONO sound aside from Gyruss which uses Stereo,  but no worries as it is an 8-way game that is removed. 

Here is what the cabinet looks like now:





TO DO LIST:  1 Donkey Kong side art,  1 Donkey Kong Jr Side Art,  new custom CPO which I have already designed but need printed.  Shardian attempted to print it for me but his printer wasn't calibrated correctly and the blue is just too off from the color of the bezel to be used (THANKS FOR TRYING THOUGH!). 

Here is my custom CPO...if you have a Double DK with a DK Jr bezel (or not) and would like the full size file to use this CPO,  PM me...



All in all this is the most expensive arcade project I have put together...that said,  about 2/3 of the project was paid for with Birthday money and the Nintendo cabinet is one of my favorite!   I am very happy with the result thus far!

[Hildy_42]

Nice work man.  You can really tell you put a lot of hard work and thought into your project. 

[javeryh]

 

Ack! PLEASE STOP!!!  These DK cabs are popping up like crazy and everyone is doing such an amazing job and I'm so jealous.  I want one soooo bad... 

I love what you have done with this project - you clearly know what you are doing and it shows.  The craftmanship and restoration you did is A+ quality and it's really cool that you set it up with the 48 in 1 board so you can play a variety of games.  I also really like the "Double DK" art/theme because it adds a bit of originality to it.  How did you apply the paint?  The orange looks especially even and crisp (I love that color!). 

Fantastic job.   

[FrizzleFried]

I cheated...that is the original paint.  I used a light rubbing compound that you would use to get marks and scratches out of car paint and a boatload of elbow grease.  At close inspection there ARE marks...and the side I photographed is the better side... but the majority of the marks/gouges are under where the sideart will be.  That said,  it's still not PERFECT (even after the sideart is applied),  but certainly not bad.   You can't see it in the photos either,  but if you closely inspect the side under GOOD LIGHT (of which my arcade room doesn't have (ob purpose)),  you can see an ever so slight transition from where the original sticker was and where it was not (from paint fade)...but the rubbing compound worked wonders.   I WAS going to split it down the midde,  paint one side orange and the other side DK blue...but the process involved in getting paint to stick to Formica and actually look nice and smooth is a daunting one....so I took the lazy mans route and just worked with what I have.   I DID paint the black areas adn I still need to paint the coin door (there is some slight rust spots in places....but the coin door is such a pain in the ass to get off (the bottom bolts) that again,  I took the lazy mans route and just cleaned it up as best as I could.

Thanks for the comments though...

...and this IS my favorite cabinet design for a number of reasons...

(A) It is about 2x to 3x lighter than any of the MDF cabinets I have.

(B) It is made out of ply-wood instead of MDF.

(C) It has built-in wheels on the back for easy mobility.

(D) I grew up playing more games on this type of cabinet than any other.

Now for the bad:

(A) Nintendo had their heads up their asses when the decided to put the power switch at the bottom left corner.

(B) 100v sucks...makes testing a monitor out of the cabinet a matter of using an extension cord to get to the cabinet.

(C) That Sanyo 20EZ chassis is one helluva ---smurfette--- to get out.

(D) It is just too short by about 2 inches causing my tall 6'4" ass to crouch a slight bit to play...didn' t remember this issue from the past...probably because I was a KID and not quite 6'4" yet.

[FrizzleFried]

By the way...here is a list of the 48-in-1 games available on the board broken down by controler type (2-way/4-way/8-way) and button count (0/1/2).  I figured someone may use this info to determine if they want to stick with their stock 4-way stick in a cabinet or upgrade to an 8-way.  Because I already have a cabinet that runs the 8-way games perfectly,  I stuck with the 4-way stick and damn does it make a difference in 4-way (and even 2-way) games!

By the way...here is a list of the 48-in-1 games available on the board broken down by controler type (2-way/4-way/8-way) and button count (0/1/2).  I figured someone may use this info to determine if they want to stick with their stock 4-way stick in a cabinet or upgrade to an 8-way.  Because I already have a cabinet that runs the 8-way games perfectly,  I stuck with the 4-way stick and damn does it make a difference in 4-way (and even 2-way) games!

Code: [Select]

48-in-1 Game Breakdown

C = Controller
B = Button

Name C/B
--------------------- ---
Millipede T/1
Centipede T/1
TRACK BALL (uses 8-way) = 2

1942 8/2
1943 8/2
Juno First 8/2
Scramble 8/2
Super Cobra 8/2
Xevious 8/2
Bomb Jack 8/1
Galaga 3 8/1
Gyruss 8/1
Time Pilot 8/1
Zaxxon 8/1
8-WAY STICK = 11

Hustler 4/2
Qix 4/2
Shao-Lin's Road 4/2
Space Panic 4/2
Dig Dug 2 4/2
Amidar 4/1
Burger Time 4/1
Dig Dug 4/1
Donkey Kong 4/1
Donkey Kong 3 4/1
Donkey Kong Junior 4/1
Mr. Do's Castle 4/1
Mr. Do 4/1
New Rally X 4/1
Pengo 4/1
Super Pacman 4/1
Tank Battalion 4/1
Van-Van Car 4/1
Pac Man 4/0
Crush Roller 4/0
Frogger 4/0
Jr Pacman 4/0
Ladybug 4/0
Ms Pacman 4/0
Pacman Plus 4/0
4-WAY STICK = 25

Phoenix 2/2
Pinball Action 2/1
Galaga 2/1
Galaxian 2/1
King & Balloon 2/1
Mappy 2/1
Moon Cresta 2/1
Space Invaders 2/1
2-WAY STICK = 8

Arkanoid D/1
Super Breakout D/1
DIAL/SPINNER (uses 2-way) = 2

TOTAL GAMES COMPATIBLE WITH 4-WAY STICK = 35
TOTAL GAMES THAT REQUIRE AN 8-WAY STICK = 13

[leapinlew]

very nice work frizzle.

[shardian]

(A) Nintendo had their heads up their asses when the decided to put the power switch at the bottom left corner.

Hehe, my dynamo cabinet has the switch on the lower left BACK corner. Explain to me how that is supposed to work on site?   

[FrizzleFried]

(A) Nintendo had their heads up their asses when the decided to put the power switch at the bottom left corner.

Hehe, my dynamo cabinet has the switch on the lower left BACK corner. Explain to me how that is supposed to work on site?   

Yah...same with thie Nintendo cabinet...back,  bottom left-hand side...if the cabinet was on location and there was no room between it and it's neighbor,  i have absolutely NO IDEA how you would access it.  (other than power strip).

[Kaytrim]

(A) Nintendo had their heads up their asses when the decided to put the power switch at the bottom left corner.

Hehe, my dynamo cabinet has the switch on the lower left BACK corner. Explain to me how that is supposed to work on site?   

Yah...same with thie Nintendo cabinet...back,  bottom left-hand side...if the cabinet was on location and there was no room between it and it's neighbor,  i have absolutely NO IDEA how you would access it.  (other than power strip).

Easy, short out the switch and turn on all the cabs from a circuit breaker.  That was how they did it in my local arcade back in the day. 

TTFN
Kaytrim

[RayB]

You don't want power switches located where a customer can discover it and flick it on /off.

[Chris G]

Great job, triple-F.  Looks like a great addition that will be a lot of fun.

 
Chris

[FrizzleFried]

I decided I wanted to spiff up the INSTRUCTION CARD part of my control panel overlay.  The Double DK instruction card won't due because it gives instructions on how to switch from DK to DK Jr which doesn't apply with the 48-in-1 that I am using in the cabinet...so I said to hell with it and decided to put together a Double Donkey Kong+ sheet that included all the marquees from the games that are running in the cabinet.  I managed to locate all marquees for the 33 games running minus 4.  The missing marquees are for: Pinball Action, Crush Roller (I could only find a Make Trax marquee), Video Hustler and Van-Van Car (the only one I could find absolutely NO artwork for).  Oh well...so this card represents 29 of the 33 games playable on the cabinet...

When I get my new Donkey Kong CPO and install the card I will take a picture and post it...until then here is what I put together.  If anyone else has done a 48-in-1 in a DK cabinet and wants this card,  shoot me a PM.

[javeryh]

Now that is slick!  Very cool.   

[FrizzleFried]

Alright...while I may have titled the following photos "finished",  I still have a couple things to do.  I have to get a Donkey Kong instruction card for below the bezel next to the Donkey Kong Jr Instruction card,  and I need the weather to get a little hotter so I can use my nifty Donkey Kong Jr Orange touch-up paint at a few spots around the cabinet.  Those two items aside,  I can call my Double Donkey Kong + cabinet DONE!

Since my last update I received the Donkey Kong CPO,  1 Donkey Kong piece of side art (for the right) and 1 Donkey Kong Jr piece of side art (for the left), a new orange button and a new (used) Nintendo microswitch holder.  Now the control panel is 100% Nintendo...none of those new Happ Microswitch buttons for me...

I also nixed the idea of cutting a new hole for the 2nd button,  so button 2 (for the few games that use it,  for example Qix and Phoenix) is wired to the player 2 button...it actually works out pretty decently too.

The "Multicade Instruction Card" thing I posted above turned out pretty damn spanky in the CPO...

I tweaked and optimized the image a bit...colors are a little more vibrant...

...and I added a volume knob to just inside of the coin door...no more fiddling with the 48-in-1 menu system to lower or increase volume.

Oh...and I downloaded and printed out the insert-coin sticker on to sticker paper and it came out pretty decent.  I couldn't see spending $10.00 on a tiny little sticker when I paid $25.00 for each side of side art.

Finally I touched up the black coin-door paint a bit...though it really COULD use a good stripping and new coat of paint...

Here she is...

[leapinlew]

Looks great Frizz -

Some good work

[javeryh]

I LOVE it.  Fantastic work!   

[More Cowbell]

Nice work! The Nintendo cabinet is one of my favorites out there and it's always nice to see another one restored.

[FrizzleFried]

Thanks guys!  Yes,  the Nintendo cabinet is one of my favorite if not my #1 favorite.  The added benefit of it being about 1/2 the weight as most other cabinets coupled with the fact that there are wheels on the back make this cabinet one of the easiest to move around.  Hell,  it's easier to mover around than my cocktail table.

I've learned, however,  that it's been a long while since I really played on one of these cabinets.  At 6'4"+ tall,  standing up the bezel cuts off a bit of the screen at the top so I have to crouch down a bit.  That said,  this is the PERFECT height to use my barstools with.

I have to admit that if I were to HAVE to sell my cabinets,  I would sell the Joust...I would sell the Cocktail Jukebox,  I would sell the horizontal MAME cabinet...hell,  I'd get rid of the vertical MAME cabinet...but THIS ONE will stay.

[MinerAl]

Make yourself an attractive 4-6 inch riser.  Paint it orange or baby blue, or cover it with carpet... No reason to let your height ruin your fun.

What happened to the custom CPO?

Beautiful work btw.

[leapinlew]

Yes,  the Nintendo cabinet is one of my favorite if not my #1 favorite. 

I think we both know what your #1 cabinet is....



I'm building one of these in a couple weeks.

[Jeff AMN]

The Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. cabinets are gorgeous. I'm going to try to pick up a Donkey Kong this weekend to restore and possibly turn into a Double DK as well. Good work!

[Havok]

Nice work - looks great!

But... is the joystick "broken" ?

 

[FrizzleFried]

Make yourself an attractive 4-6 inch riser.  Paint it orange or baby blue, or cover it with carpet... No reason to let your height ruin your fun.

What happened to the custom CPO?

Beautiful work btw.

I decided against using the custom CPO solely because the original cabinet comes with a silk-screened plexi CPO.  If there was a service that offered silk-screening the art on to a piece of plexi,  I may have done it.

[FrizzleFried]

Yes,  the Nintendo cabinet is one of my favorite if not my #1 favorite. 

I think we both know what your #1 cabinet is....



I'm building one of these in a couple weeks.

Actually,  I WOULD love to have a Galaga cabinet!   With a Galaga PCB in it!  ...and a Star Wars cabinet...and a Tempest cabinet...

...the list goes ON and ON and ON...

Here is a crappy photo of how my "arcade" is turning out....slowly but surely...slowly but surely...

[FrizzleFried]

Nice work - looks great!

But... is the joystick "broken" ?

 

Actually...the Nintendo Strongtanium #5 stick is working PERFECTLY!  Even after I beat the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of it with a hamm...errr...nevermind.

 

[bfauska]

I just finished reading a thread where somebody asked about building a frame to light their marquee collection and the suggestion was made to create a shared frame where multiple marquees are back lit with standard fluorescent lights. You sir have an excelent collection of marquees to test this out with and show off in a fancy new back lit way.  I think you could just take some 1x4 pine and run a dado in it about 1/4" from the edge, mount it to the wall with L brackets, put lights above it, put the marquees in and then run another piece on top of that, you may want to put openings at the ends with fans to keep it cool, but I think your marquees would look awesome that way.

Nice garage game-room by the way.

[leapinlew]

You sir have an excelent collection of marquees

"New Game" is my favorite. I love that thing. Funny as hell.

[FrizzleFried]

I actually took the 4 on the garage door down today...

...I think the New Game will either stay down or as a joke I will put it above the game anytime I get a new one.  I also lowered the cocktail table to sit down height because I found two cool little stools for it.

That backlit box idea would be a cool project.  I would have to find however many marquees I wanted to use (they would all have to be in good condition to be backlit and the would all have to be the same size)...hmm...something to think about.

[theCoder]

I wish I had the skills to troubleshoot arcade PCB's.  Very impressive restoration project.  And a Donkey Kong to boot.  Nice.

[bfauska]

You sir have an excelent collection of marquees

"New Game" is my favorite. I love that thing. Funny as hell.

Definitely one of my favorite games of all time.

*notice I used italic as to not imply yelling* 

[shorthair]

Too bad the 8-way games aren't usable. No Xevious is a shame. Maybe you could eventually create another cab with a feed split off that one...

[FrizzleFried]

You sir have an excelent collection of marquees

"New Game" is my favorite. I love that thing. Funny as hell.

Definitely one of my favorite games of all time.

*notice I used italic as to not imply yelling* 

Hahaha...d0h!
 

[FrizzleFried]

Too bad the 8-way games aren't usable. No Xevious is a shame. Maybe you could eventually create another cab with a feed split off that one...

I am actually looking in to possibly going with a J-Stick...which has a twistable plate to go from 4 to 8 way...

[shardian]

Too bad the 8-way games aren't usable. No Xevious is a shame. Maybe you could eventually create another cab with a feed split off that one...

Hey, I can whoop Bosconian on the pacman Jakks tv game with a 4-way restrictor. Although, no diagonals makes it pretty dang hard to hit the moving guys in xevious.

[Jeff AMN]

Hey FizzleFried,

I'm looking to possibly (fingers crossed) pick up a Donkey Kong cabinet today and I want to do something similar to what you've done. Hopefully you won't mind the sure-to-come barrage of questions. 

[FrizzleFried]

Questions are always welcome...

[leapinlew]

Questions are always welcome...

Did Han shoot first?

[FrizzleFried]

Questions are always welcome...

Did Han shoot first?

Nope...Gutvig did!

[Jeff AMN]

Woohoo! Here's my new baby! It had just over 39,000 plays on it, and it's still wired for coins.





INSTANT REFUND!



Sideart is a bit damaged on both sides - Needs to be replaced:



I'll make my own thread once I get to work and decide exactly what I want to do. First things first, I'm going to do a cap kit. It's my first time, so I'm a bit nervous abou it (never actually worked on a monitor before). But hey, you gotta learn somewhere, right?


EDIT: Any tips on how to replace those bolts on the sides so that I can have sideart that isn't mucked up by them? I know I've seen plenty of other monitor mounts that don't cause this.

[FrizzleFried]

The only monitor bolts that are necessary for that cabinet are the two back ones.  The other three can be removed (take a look inside...they are bolting on nothing).  They are there because the cabinet is set up to accept a horizontal frame as well as the vertical.  I removed the back two bolts,  put the side art on and then put the bolts back on,  it is more authentic that way...but I DID remove the other 3 from each side.

The cabinet looks to be in pretty decent shape.  The monitor is easy to cap but somewhat of a ---smurfette--- to get the chassis out of.  One thing I HIGHLY recommend is to get the LARGER cap kit from Bob Roberts.  He has two...get the one with the additional 9 caps (I assume you have a Sanyo 20EZ in the cabinet?).  You Since you will be pulling everything out anyway,  it would also behoove you to get the Sound Board cap kit (only a few more caps) for $5.00...

Note that if you are going to put a 48-in-1 in that cabinet you will have to purchase a JAMMA harness and wire your controls, monitor,  sound and coin door.  Also note that you WILL need to use an inverter for the monitor.  Do a search here and  you should find quite a bit about this inverter.  Some Sanyo's come with them,  some dont (mine didn't...I had to acquire one).  Also note that your monitor runs on 100v...DO NOT plug it directly in to any other outlet than the one inside the cabinet.