Yet another Donkey Kong...

[DP Louie]

The title says it all - I know that everyone and there grandma has built/restored a DK cab (okay, not everyone  ), but I have fond memories of playing this game in a local pizza place back in the 80's, so I've always wanted one.  I recently bought a Mario Bros cab that was pretty rough, missing the pcb's and has really bad screen burn.  I've decided to give this cab the DK Mame treatment, inspired by Bucketheads excellant work:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=79183.0

Here's my plan:

Change marquee, bezel, side art to DK
Gotta be RED!
Vertical monitor
Custom control panel - 1 4/8 way stick with 3 buttons, 2.25" trackball, custom DK theme

As you can see in the pics, I've started to repair some of the damage to the corners of the cab.  This was originally a DK Jr - it still has the DK Jr instructions stapled to the back door.  One problem I've already discovered is that this cab has 5/8 particle board sides, and the t-molding slots are offset.  I did a search, and I guess my only option is to cut down some 3/4 t-molding.  I've got a 21" dell trinitron monitor that I am going to decase and install, and I'm working on a custom Mala layout.  I'll try to keep the updates coming, but sometimes I get so invovled with the work that I forget to stop and take pics!

Bondo is amazing stuff!

[DaOld Man]

Good luck on your conversion.
Keep us posted with a lot of pics..
I would like to refurb a donkey kong cabinet..
One of these days....

[DP Louie]

Got it sanded and primered - I bought a 5" orbital sander and all I can say is I wish I would have bought one long ago!  Great tool, it made short work of the old side art residue and the general dirt that was embedded in the sides.  I built a framework for the Dell monitor that I'm going to use.  The monitor frame is two pieces - a frame around the monitor itself, and supports inside the cab.  I wanted it plenty strong due to the weight of the monitor (around 70 lbs.).  I used plenty of Liquid Nails and drywall screws.  I filled in the original carriage bolt holes on the sides, I've always hated those and since this isn't a strict restoration...

I tried to position the monitor at the same angle as original, but due to the length I had to cheat a little.  The back door fits with about an eighth of an inch to spare!  With the two piece frame, I'm able to remove/install the decased monitor easily, I always try to plan ahead, even though I don't forsee any need to remove the monitor, you never know.  I almost have my cp art done, I'll post that when I'm done.  Did I mention that bondo is amazing stuff? 

[javeryh]

Wow looks great.  I'll definitely be watching this thread since I recently scored a DK that I plan to restore over the winter.  How did you paint?  Roller or spray?  I hope you say roller since it looks great and that's all I have access to.   

I'm with you on the carriage bolts - I'm going to try and restore mine cosmetically to look exactly like the original with only one modification - no carriage bolts through the side art!   

[BUCKETHEAD]

I've decided to give this cab the DK Mame treatment, inspired by Bucketheads excellant work:

Thank you so much.  For the Kind words!

I really like what you are doing with the Monitor.

And you are gonna get the Back Door on too!

I'm Gonna try this method with my Horizontal cab i'm working on right now.

Excellent work here.   

[DP Louie]

Thanks guys for the kind words.  I painted it with BIN primer using a roller, I think it was a 3/16 nap, it said it was for extra smooth surfaces on the package.  It turned out really well, especially after I sanded it with 220.  I picked up a quart of Rustoleum paint at Lowes called "apple orchard", it looks to be a nice bright red.  I'll be using a roller with this as well.  I wish I had access to a sprayer, but if I'm careful and patient the roller should be fine.  Buckethead - thanks!  As I stated earlier, your work inspired me on this project.  If mine turns out anywhere near yours I'll be happy.  I won an ebay auction for some silkscreened DK sideart for $40 plus shipping, so I should be receiving that soon.  The pic below is the final version of my cpo.  As you can see, I tried to keep it as much like the original as possible while adding a trackball and 2 extra buttons.  I really deliberated over adding the trackball, but in the end I decided that since this is going to be my vertical cab, I had to have it to play Centipede.    I also modified the logo by adding the "+" at the end.  I'm going with a black ball top joystick (Mag Stick Plus) and a black 2 1/4" Happ trackball.  Let me know what you think, I'll be having mamemarquees print this soon...

[BUCKETHEAD]

I like what u are doing alot!

Very Nice work.

By the way, I purchased my DK  T- Molding from www.twistedquarter.com

They are really fast with delivery!

[DP Louie]

I put a second coat of primer, sanded, and this is the first coat of red.  I used the same "ultra smooth" rollers, and maybe I should thin the paint, because it goes on fairly thick and instead of being smooth, it has a very fine texture to the paint.  It almost looks like red laminate, not paint.  Actually, the more I look at it, I'm starting to like it.  I'm going to lightly sand it and apply another coat.  I've got almost all my parts to complete this now, I just received the side art and I scored an original marquee from ebay for $12!
It's a little scratched, but nothing too bad, if I clean it really well it should be fine.  What's the best method or product to use to clean (and possibly remove scratches) a marquee?
Buckethead - I received my t-molding today from twistedquarter.com - thanks for the link.  You're right - they have very fast shipping.  As I stated before, I had to order the 3/4", and I'll have to trim it down due to the slot being offset from the factory.  I've used some scrap t-molding that I had to test out my trimming method, and it looks acceptable, but it's just one of those things that most people won't notice or care, but I'll know that it's not "perfect" and that bugs me.  I should have the red and the flat black trim done this weekend, as well as reconditioning the coin door.  My brother has a glass bead blasting cabinet that I'm going to throw the coin door in and it should come out looking new.  Back to work...

[BUCKETHEAD]

Looking Good!

Here is what u need for your marquee.

It is great for all plastics and such.

link

[javeryh]

Looks great - my coin door is in the exact same condition so I'm curious to see how yours turns out.  I'm going to have to restore it myself unless there is somewhere local I can take it to get stripped and powder coated.  I guess I'll look into it when the time comes...

[BUCKETHEAD]

The reason i suggested www.twistedquarter.com was?

You were talking about your machine below.

One problem I've already discovered is that this cab has 5/8 particle board sides, and the t-molding slots are offset.

And Twisted Quarter states this below about their T-Molding.

5/8" WHITE * USED ON DONKEY KONG 3
**THIS T-MOLDING IS MADE FOR THE NINTENDO PARTICAL BOARD CABINETS. IF YOUR NINTENDO CABINET IS MADE FROMSOLID PLY-WOOD  WOOD THE YOU NEED THE 9/16 " T-MOLDING

http://www.twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14&products_id=148

[DP Louie]

Well, I got a lot done in the last week.  I put on the final coat of red paint, refinished the coin door and installed the t-molding.  I bead-blasted the coin door and the aluminum coin mechs face pieces in a glass bead cabinet.  It really cleaned it up quite a bit, but there are still some noticeable gouges in the coin slot faces.  I painted the door itself with Rustoleum textured black spray paint, and it looks great.  I bought a cabinet lock at Lowes to finish off the door.  The t-molding slot in this cab is offset, so I purchased some 3/4" white t-molding and made a custom jig that consisted of a couple of 2' pieces of pine with a slot cut in the end that was the same distance from the edge as the Nintendo cab slot.  Then I would press the t-molding (2' at a time) into the jig and use my flush trim router bit to trim off the excess.  Once I had a strip done, I installed it on the cab.  I think it turned out great.  I also installed a logitech speaker system - two tiny satellites mounted on a custom plate over the original Nintendo grill, and a subwoofer mounted in the bottom of the cab.  This speaker set had a remote mounted volume control, and I finally decided to cut a hole in the ledge above the coin door and mount the volume very stealthily there - this turned out pretty cool, I think.  It's just a 2" disc that is recessed in the cab so that all you see is the top edge.  This weekend I should get the side art installed and start on my control panel - I just received the overlay from Scott at Mamemarquees and it is awesome - he does great work.  More pics to come...

[DP Louie]

Well, I finally had some time this week to wrap up most of the loose ends.  I got the side art on, finished the cp, and installed my Arcade Shop repo bezel.  I think it looks great.  I love the baby blue DK's, but I'm all about the "Radarscope Red"

I'm still adding some final touches to my Mala layout, then I'd like to post a vid of the cab in action.  I love playing all the vertical games on an actual vertical monitor.  I was intially concerned with the trackball being close to the bottom of the monitor bezel, but it works fine for centipede and the other few trackball games I've tried.  I was originally going to use a Mag stick plus, but with funds being short, I had to go with a ball top 8-way from Tornado Terrys.  It works fine, but I'm going to have to search for a recent thread that dealt with using an 8 way with 4-way games...