Cleaning up my Donkey Kong

vicemikey

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Just thought I'd throw this up. I bought a heavily-routed Donkey Kong cabinet off of mjenks, going to clean it up and considering painting it red because I already have a blue cab and I'd like to mix it up. Someday have a Red Blue and Orange all next to each other.

The cabinet has a bunch of security screws on the side and extra bolt holes in the cab so I'm going to bondo all the holes shut, then do some touch-up paint or repaint it red. Might be easier just to do a list so here's my total to do on this:

- Dust the cabinet and parts
- Fill some holes and fill a chip in the back right side of the cab - smooth out any dings in the cab.
- New CP overlay and new buttons.
- T-molding
- Acquire a DK board - I may trade the DKjr. I got with the cab - on the fence on that as well.
- Front board on the base is missing. Going to rebuild the whole base. (What do you guys think about making the base taller? I think I'd like the machine like an inch or two higher, anyone ever do this?)
- Maybe some side-art (If I can find a good deal on some :) )
- Paint - not positive how to do this - I have access to a paint booth and spray guns etc, not sure if I want pull all the strings necessary Vs. just roll painting it or something at home.
- Cut a back door for the cabinet

Just brought it home.
IMAG0493.jpg


Disassembling the cabinet - I'm surprised how sturdy these are considering they're 1/2" (?) ply-wood. The inside of the cab is dusty but not a trace of any water damage or funny residues - VERY CLEAN!
IMAG0504.jpg


IMAG0506-1.jpg


Cracks in the CP from someone putting some non-nintendo leaf buttons on the CP...A little funky as well.
IMAG0507-1.jpg


Thanks for looking, I'll keep this updated as the project progresses.
 
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thats a WAY better machine than i started with for my dk. keep at it and it will be a thing of beauty soon.

Thanks, I'm going to try and make you guys proud, this is the first time I've ever started a restoration thread on anything...I figure it will be a good motivator.

Also, sorry about the pics so far, my Canon is hiding somewhere so I'm using my Droid to take pics.
 
Congrats on the DK.
It has always been my favorite game.
Make sure you get some "real" flat T-molding form audiomidiman.
It cost a little more but it is the most accurate molding out there.
 
If you just fill chips and the touchup make sure to post up your methods. I've got a cab that's in decent shape except for chipping (especially along the back edge) and I'd rather not repaint the whole thing because its red but if I could do some bondoing and touch up with decent (albiet not perfect) results I'd probably give it a go.
 
If you just fill chips and the touchup make sure to post up your methods. I've got a cab that's in decent shape except for chipping (especially along the back edge) and I'd rather not repaint the whole thing because its red but if I could do some bondoing and touch up with decent (albiet not perfect) results I'd probably give it a go.

Will do man - the chip on the back of the cab is probably = or > 1/4" into the plywood so it's not going to be like filling an entire corner, or pry-bar chunk missing from the cabinet - but I will document for you.

The security screws on this thing are crazy I'm going to try and find something to remove them tonight - they aren't torx or anything like that they are probably some old obsolete security head.
 
Those extra bolts suck!!!! Same person must have did mine Bolt happy people .

Tell me about it - I was worrying about these trident security screws thinking I was going to have to buy a tool to remove them.

dkboltA.jpg


I didn't want to drill them out or doing anything to them that would make me fill more spots on the cab. I couldn't get a grip on them with anything I had so I just went and grabbed the dremel, and thankfully it cut through them without much hesitation.

dkbolts.jpg


I'm not sure how to do this the best way - Should I just bondo the holes, or grab a dowel rod, glue some plugs into the holes and then bondo whatever is left? - I don't know what the best way to do this is for the life of the machine - I would hate to see some bondo cracks. I may be being too anal.

Anyways - the cab is basically empty now. I just have to pull the coin door area and some hardware.

DK2.jpg


I just bought bought a Radar Scope bezel and marquee - I'm thinking this cab is going to turn red.

Sorry about the pics again - I have to find my cam. If you can't tell my workspace is a piece of shit, shared space, but not to worry. I'm going to fix that. lol
 
I'm not sure how to do this the best way - Should I just bondo the holes, or grab a dowel rod, glue some plugs into the holes and then bondo whatever is left? - I don't know what the best way to do this is for the life of the machine - I would hate to see some bondo cracks. I may be being too anal.
Definitely glue dowels into the holes and tap them just below the surface.
Then when the glue dries lay bondo over the holes then sand flush.
 
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