Curbside snag to be restored to raise funds for ACAM

Waterborn

Active member
Joined
May 3, 2009
Messages
1,303
Reaction score
23
Location
North Myrtle Beach, Florida
Curbside snag to be restored to raise funds for ACAM

While on the way to work today, I received a call from one of my coworkers who lives on the South Shore. He said that he saw an arcade cab on the side of the road with a "FREE" sign on it. Knowing that I collect coin-ops he figured that I might like to check it out. He said it was "some basketball game" which didn't sound too promising. However, since I was on my way to work in Hingham anyway, I figured I would check it out.

Well much to my surprise 1) the cab was still on the curb when I got to the house and 2) It was a converted (to Super Basketball) DK Jr. cab. The wood was in fairly rough shape, but the important things like monitor, PS and boards looked pretty good. So I loaded it up in my baja and went to work where the cab sat in the parking lot all day.

I get home tonight and manhandle the thing inside by myself. I checked the connections and decided to fire it up. On the first try nothing happened, but I heard a very nice hum from the monitor and thought I saw a bit of a glow to the neck. So I turned the power off and checked the connections on the very odd conversion card sitting on top of the main boards (this is a two-board DK Jr. setup) and noticed a few unused connectors, so I attached those where it seemed logical and turned it back on.

The monitor fired up but was all white, no pic. So then I noticed that the conversion board was not actually connected to the two main boards. Popped it in place, hit the power and voila!

PA120012.jpg


Here are some more pics of the cab.

PA120010.jpg


PA120009.jpg


PA120008.jpg


PA120011.jpg


So my plans are to restore this cab to a DK or DK Jr. then use it to raise funds for the American Classic Arcade Museum (ACAM) during PAXEast in conjunction with 2old2play and our presence there. I was thinking of having an open tournament where people would make a pre-determined donation to ACAM for the opportunity to play the game for X number of times. After those attempts, if they wanted to try again, they could pay for another "ticket". The idea is a bit like an active raffle. Top score at the end of PAXEast gets to take the cab home with them. We did a similar, single elimination Street Fighter II CE tournament at our Gamers Gone Wild event last year at PAXEast and it was a hit. I still need to connect with Gary over at ACAM to confirm that this is something he is interested in, but I am hoping he will like the idea.

So now I am going to need some help to make this happen. This cab needs a good bit of bondo and woodwork, which is something that I have ZERO experience with. I will also need to source out a CP, marquee, bezel, side art and confirm that I can restore the original board set. So if anyone out there is interested in supporting this effort, either with a part(s) donation or labor support with the bondo, let me know.

Also, I was wondering if I should keep the cab a DK jr. or try to go the DK route, figuring that a dedicated Donkey Kong cab would garner more attention and thus more funds for ACAM. Let me know what you think.
 
Major jealousy here :( I live in Massachusetts too!) Rough? Maybe, but still a remarkable thing for somebody to just stick on the side of the road with "free" on it, especially since it was so close to functioning!

Nice score hope it restores well! I've got some experience with Bondo, pretty easy stuff to work with, and I think I've got a Nintendo power suppy around somewhere.

Still got the Turtles? PM me if you want to talk shop.
 
Last edited:
Thanks! The power supply seems fine. I have never worked with bondo, so I am a bit nervous. Any idea how difficult it is to restore this cab to a DK Jr. or a straight DK? Can't wait to start working on it.
 
Thanks! The power supply seems fine. I have never worked with bondo, so I am a bit nervous. Any idea how difficult it is to restore this cab to a DK Jr. or a straight DK? Can't wait to start working on it.

What does it have that's original? It's all a matter of making up a list and keeping your eyes peeled, it's not such a rare game that you'll have trouble finding everything you need, there's lots of sources for new artwork and there's enough used spare parts floating around that they're not too expensive.

Keep in mind Bondo is pretty forgiving stuff, so if you screw up a part badly you just put more and sand again, and making it blend in is FAR easier than you'd think. Trick is to not go too crazy with the hardener or it'll have trouble sticking to the wood and chip off easily, I found that out the hard way but was able to correct it. Check out my thread on my Turbo cabaret restoring under the restoration showcase thread, I did tons of work on that thing and it's looking pretty cool these days:

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=121316&highlight=turbo+cabaret
 
Last edited:
I was thinking of having an open tournament where people would make a pre-determined donation to ACAM for the opportunity to play the game for X number of times. After those attempts, if they wanted to try again, they could pay for another "ticket". The idea is a bit like an active raffle. Top score at the end of PAXEast gets to take the cab home with them.

When would the event take place?
 
I kinda like Super Basketball. I spent one summer week as a child playing it in a hotel.
 
Well,it was originally a DK Jr,so I'd probably restore it back to one.But if you wanted to go the DK route that'd be cool too although probably a bit more work to do so.And what's up with all the games with no back doors?
 
PA120011.jpg


I wonder why the c.p.o. has a Bally logo on it, and what game that overlay was originally from?

Cool snag, BTW, I've always liked Super Basketball.

Kyle :cool:
 
PA120011.jpg


I wonder why the c.p.o. has a Bally logo on it, and what game that overlay was originally from?

Cool snag, BTW, I've always liked Super Basketball.

Kyle :cool:


That was the CPO for the Nintendo -> SB conversion kits...
I've de-converted at least 3-4 of them. It was actually a pretty clean conversion, and came with an interface board with video inverters so SB (or any other 18-pin konami for that matter) could plug right into a 22-pin or "little connector" nintendo harness. The ops didn't need to hack anything so converting back is just a matter of getting the right art. and pcbs.
 
Hey folks, sorry for the slow responses. Been insanely busy this week.

PAXEast is going to be March 11-13 in Boston. Google "PAXEast" to find the official web page and more info. If you have never been to PAX you should definitely check it out.

I am working on the details of the fundraiser, but hope to have one or more restored games either on the floor at PAXEast or at our Gamers Gone Wild event on Saturday, March 12. I will post more details when they have been confirmed.

The photo regarding the "odd" side panel shows my girlfriends keyboard in front of the cab. Weird illusion, but the side panels are standard Nintendo fair.
 
Back
Top Bottom