Donkey Kong Restoration

[Racetech]

Do you know which product? I have typically used Bondo but I was thinking of going with Evercoat's Rage Gold instead, I've heard its easier to work with. I know everyone has their own favorite filler.

I just talked to John--he said don't use the cheap stuff from the discount auto parts stores. He used USC "duraglas" fiberglass filled filler for the main hole filling. After sanding, he used Evercoat "rage xtreme" lightweight filler. Badd a$$ but pricey stuff he said.

 

[TheSilby]

Read the part here: http://pac-maniac.com/donkeykongrestoration_page3.html

I countersunk the cabinet from the outside just enough with a 3/4" spade bit so that the heads of the T-nuts would be just below the surface. I applied some of my favorite glue (3M 8061 Plastic & Emblem adhesive) and pulled them down tight from the inside with 1/2" long bolts. That's the key--the thickness of the monitor bracket keeps 1/2" long bolts from poking through. I cut small round pieces of masking tape so that the body filler wouldn't get into the threads. So the mounting is totally reversed; the bolts go from the inside out. Hope that made sense!

Ok, I am an idiot..... Don't know how I missed that. Thanks! That is a pretty cool way of working the mount. Way better then what the factory did.

 

[Racetech]

I went to an Ace Hardware and got the thinnest automotive 7mm wrench I could find and that just barely fit in there. I used some plyers with electrical tape ove them to hold the bolt head and that seemed to work (I acutally scraped up one of my bolt heads before figuring out the electrical tape thing). The thin 7mm wrench is key. They're tough to find!

I'm a former auto mechanic and I didn't even have a 7mm wrench. Fortuantely, there's a business right next door to me that reconditions industrial printers. They had one (it was still a virgin when I got it I'm pretty sure).

I've attached a photo of the way I removed those coin door bolts--I was really careful with those long-nose vise grips to avoid squashing the edges. I probably have more time in that %$#!! door than in the rest of the machine combined! I feel your pain.

Back to the blue gel coat--the raw plywood edge on the underside of that front panel shows you that they coated the plywood first rather than paint the game later. I doubt it's baked on... some boat guy will probably know what the real finish is but it did smell like fiberglass when ground.

 

[metahugh]

I just talked to John--he said don't use the cheap stuff from the discount auto parts stores. He used USC "duraglas" fiberglass filled filler for the main hole filling. After sanding, he used Evercoat "rage xtreme" lightweight filler. Badd a$$ but pricey stuff he said.

Sweet!! Thanks a bunch

 

[JamBurglar]

I'm a former auto mechanic and I didn't even have a 7mm wrench. Fortuantely, there's a business right next door to me that reconditions industrial printers. They had one (it was still a virgin when I got it I'm pretty sure).

I've attached a photo of the way I removed those coin door bolts--I was really careful with those long-nose vise grips to avoid squashing the edges. I probably have more time in that %$#!! door than in the rest of the machine combined! I feel your pain.

Back to the blue gel coat--the raw plywood edge on the underside of that front panel shows you that they coated the plywood first rather than paint the game later. I doubt it's baked on... some boat guy will probably know what the real finish is but it did smell like fiberglass when ground.

That's exactly what I did, but I only had to do it on the two bolts near the coin-box shelf. Luckily my other bolts were not torqued in too tight (I'm pretty sure the door had never been removed before) and I got all but the two difficult ones off using a 7mm socket wrench. Sometimes I had to use some pressure on the bolt head with my hand to keep it from spinning.

That fiberglass smell has to be key. I just have to find someone who paints boats for a living!