Complete Detailed & Intricate Restoration of a 1989 Konami TMNT Arcade

[Bakushan]

Complete Detailed & Intricate Restoration of a 1989 Konami TMNT Arcade

Today began phase 2 of the 1989 TMNT Konami Restoration. TMNT is my personal #1 all time favorite arcade game. All of my life I have wanted one. I searched and searched, and finally came to the conclusion that to get the very best possible specimen I would have to build one myself.

Josh Vejatabul is building the Control Panel for the machine (not pictured here yet).

We started off with a real, 1989 Konami TMNT. This cabinet was last played in 1996, where it was later parted partially out and put into a state of disrepair. I bought this unit as a project a few months ago.

Our mission with this cab is to get it in as nice of shape as possible to prepare for wiring and CRT (Monitor) install.

I will NOT be converting to a LCD screen or a MAME (multiple games) version. This TMNT will use an original 1989 Konami Jamma Board, as was originally installed in the original arcade.

Step one was to remove the water damaged portion from the bottom of the cabinet. My brother in law Ryan Slater stepped up to help me here, he works with wood very often.

We cut a new section of wood out of 3/4" MDF and cut out the damaged section from the original cab. We then cut in the gouges to the wood (Rabbets and Dado's). With the wood replaced, we used wood putty to fill in the small gap, and twice sanded and filled the gap.

We removed the original art work and lightly sanded the side.

We removed the coin-door assembly to be sent to Rhonda Lea McCartney and EPowderCoating, LLC for refinish.

This who process was about 5 hours of work. We stopped for the day and will pick up when I get more time.

The end result will be a mint, beautiful, 1989 TMNT 4 Player Arcade. And when it's done, there shall be celebration. That is all for now.

 

[Bakushan]

Day 2.

Side 1 is done. Corner us rounded cut.

Nice rounded corner.

Side 2. Man, someone really hated April.

Peeling the original graphics off.

The Porter Cable. This thing is bad!

 

[Bakushan]

Using the tool to make precision notches in the wood replacement.

Securing the new piece with a nail gun. Its not going anywhere.

Filling in the gaps with wood putty and then sanding. 3 times. This was round 1.

My new coin-doors and locks. Going to send these off for paint.

 

[Bakushan]

Today I visited ePowder Coating LLC in Mesquite. The owner Rhonda has always been great to deal with for any of my odd projects.

Here are the coin doors. The top doors with the actual coin mechanism in it I had to buy used. Here at the powder coating shop, I disassembled the doors to just the metal.

One really interesting thing to look at here, the coin counter. Lets assume for a moment that its accurate and has been going since 1989. If its true, and its reflecting each 25c quarter... well... the machine had made over $40,000 in its lifetime. Thats a very, very profitable old machine.

Everything out but the locks.

Locks removed. Nothing left now but metal and the coin boxes.

Detail shot of BEFORE on the coin door for my records.

Here is a shot of the coin boxes. I asked to have those coated as well in grey. Sure, no-one will ever see them... but I know they are there... and I want this machine to be truly special.

Stay tuned for the "after" shots from the powdercoating shop.

 

[Bakushan]

New arcade cabinet feet from the guys at Coin Tech in Arlington.

Here is the cab stood up on the feet for the first time. The wood repairs are completed. All the black paint shown here is still the original from 1989.

Sanded down the back with light paper. The paint is cheap, old, and comes totally off in many areas. We also sanded down the top of the game. You will not see this part once its put together and in my garage, but I know it's there. Every area that was to be painted was sanded down.

The front of the cab after sanding.

Sanded.

The front of the cab after sanding.

After rubbing down the entire cab with Tack Cloth to remove dust and particles, we laid down plastic and got out the paint. The plan is to put 3 layers of quality paint on the cabinet, this time to last much more than 24 years of use. I choose a Glidden DUO Paint / Primer Semi Gloss in Onyx Black.

Coat 1 of 3. We put on with a 3" roller, and come back with a brush for the edges. Ryan Slater shown here putting on the first strokes.

 

[Bakushan]

Coat 1 of 3 complete. Drying.

Coat 1 of 3 on the back. Even with just the base layer down, the cab now suddenly looks much more serious...

My garage. This is where TMNT will live when done.

Stay tuned...

 

[Bakushan]

Rhonda Lea McCartney of EPowderCoating, LLC sent me this image just now. Her staff is sand blasting down the coin doors and coin boxes to prep them for powdercoating. The boxes even when they were new never had a powdercoat on them... so this is more than a "restoration" at this level its actually a substantial upgrade over what original would have been.

In 24 years, the coin doors will look exactly the same.

I love the photo here, obviously this is not kiddie games... I insist on every detail of this machine being absolutely perfect. The turtles deserve that respect!!!

 

[Bakushan]

Painting on the cabinet continues.

Here are all the tools laid out for the 2nd stage of 3 coats. The plan is to sand lightly, wipe down with the tack cloth, and apply another layer of the paint to the top, front and back.

Here is the cabs 1st coat after light sanding.

Some imperfections in my strokes from coat 1 are revealed by the sander. We will fix those here with the 2nd coat.

Pooled paint from coat 1.

Fine scratches showing through coat one after light sanding.

2nd coat applied! Now time to watch paint dry and get ready for coat 3.

 

[Triple3Fast]

Love the details with the pictures! Looks good so far

 

[Philly_Jump_Man]

Truly inspirational.

 

[Bakushan]

Coin boxes getting shot with powder.


http://youtu.be/8Awu7QBgS_k

 

[Bakushan]

Got my stuff back from powdercoating.

Here is the coin boxes.

The coin doors.

Put back together.

100% detailed inside and out, top and bottom.

Absolute perfection.

No-one will ever see the coin-boxes of course, except for me and you here with these photos... but I know they are there.

 

[oldfandude]

Really enjoying this restoration perfection!

 

[Bakushan]

Really enjoying this restoration perfection!

Well thank you! This is my first ever resto... hoping to do it the right way. TMNT means a LOT to me... so of any game, this is the one that I insist on being 100% perfect.

 

[Bakushan]

So now we are on coat 3 of the paint, switching now from a roller to a brush. This will make the final layers much more smooth. After these photos were taken, a 4th and 5th coat was added to the front...

This part taking much longer with a brush.

My brother in law Ryan, the wood-smith. He is really getting into this too.

3rd coat now dry. Lets check out the back.

Nice. This is as good as could be expected in my opinion. Sad thing you wont see it when it's set up, but hey, we all know its there.

 

[Bakushan]

The coin door parts.

Repainted.

Coin returns before cleaning...

After cleaning.

 

[Bakushan]

By this time, its 1am, and im getting a little crazy. Here I am with the assembled coin door. Proud of my evil TMNT... lol

Assembled coin doors. Such a dramatic difference. Here is what they were...

And now.

Stay tuned.

 

[Bakushan]

Big day of updates and work today.

Starting off, here is the cab with all the black paint dry and ready. 3 coats on the back, 5 coats on the front.

Laying the machine on its back.

Special slot bit. This is so we can cut the t-molding slot into the new wood we added into the bottom.

Cutting begins. This tool makes it VERY easy.

You can see the section we are about to cut here.

With the sides light sanded one last time and wiped down, we begin to install the side graphics. These are VERY high quality and I am extremely happy with them.

Side art all on.

 

[Bakushan]

Trimming the excess with a exacto knife.

Done.

Other side installed and done.

Stood the game up with the graphics. Looks so good!! The paint on the back came out super nice as well.

Green T-Molding I got from Twisted Quarter. Guys there were super easy to deal with, and this stuff was cheap. Originally TMNT had black molding, but thats lame, and I wanted something a little custom to be able to set mine apart. I think you will agree that this looks better than stock...

Molding installed. See how it pops?

Coin Doors installed. They look great!

Monitor installed and secured.

 

[Bakushan]

Monitor Bezel and Glass installed.

Marquee semi-installed. Gotta build the top retainer piece.

So, at this point, just have to finish up the control panel, install all the wiring, and hook up the board. It should be done any day. Look for the final pics to come.