From Nothing to Donkey Kong... sort of

[rainman154]

From Nothing to Donkey Kong Restoration... sort of

So here is my thread on my recreation of Donkey Kong. I decided that I wanted to make this machine look EXACTLY like an original DK, but play a 60 in 1. It just made more sense to me as I will never have the money to purchase all 60 of those games.
So here is the start. I will post more pics as I make progress.
The coolest part was that so many people on KLOV and in Minnesota have helped out with this project. I consider myself a novice, but these guys have really given me an education.
And now to the pics.
Here is what it looked like when I got it.

 

[rainman154]

The first thing I did was try to remove as much of the grease, grime and gunk off of the cab. Once I did that I was surprised to see how nice it looked! I then went to taking off the old Nintendo Vs Sticker. Each sticker probably took 45 min each to remove. What a pain.... At the end, my cab looked like it had been through a drive by shooting!

 

[rainman154]

Now to the marquee brackets... I had two old rusty ones from the original cab. So rather than buy new ones, I decided to strip them down to the metal and repaint. I bought a wire brush for my drill and went to town. It took a few hours but the rust came and paint came off. I then buffed the metal to be nice and smooth. I picked up a can of Semi-Gloss black spray paint and the results were amazing!! Looks brand new. Here is a before and after.

 

[rainman154]

I also went out to Home Depot and purchase a light bar for $10. Total install took about a min. LOL! Wish everything was as easy as this.
The bulb is 40 watts, and I kinda wish it was 60. I wonder what the original was in the machine?

 

[rainman154]

I purchased the original speaker, grill and wire for another $10. Here is another pic of the inside of the cab... nothing but the cord.

 

[rainman154]

I received the original coin door. I will get pics up of that this week. Looks great and I am debating on repainting it and buying new Mechs.... but with money tight, I want to make sure I get the game up and running first.

I also received the iCade 60 in 1 from NIXIS and a power supply and Multicade JAMMA Harness from Arcade Shop Amusements.
What I LOVE about the Multicade Harness is that EVERYTHING is labeled!! And that is a major help to me since I have no idea what plugs into what. Looks really nice.

 

[rainman154]

What to buy???
I still need a DK Control Panel, DK Stickers (Coin & Instruction) and White Nintendo T Molding.
I also am getting the wooden base of the cab redone. I am cutting new wood and painting it. Should be done in the next week.
More pics to come. My goal is to have this done by Thanksgiving!

 

[alejandromad]

Looking good. Keep it up. It's gonna be awesome fun for you and yours. Welcome to the affliction.

 

[rainman154]

Thanks man. A while ago someone gave me the idea that I could put the original DK board in my machine and switch back and forth between the MAME and origianal DK board. Not sure how I would do this, but I would be open to learning how.

 

[Crazy Climber]

I have a populated Donkey Kong Control panel, the problem is it was converted to a different game and has no evidence of being donkey kong anymore but I pulled it and it was from a former DK so it will fit, the price...FREE! Let me know if you want it, you have to pick it up from Minneapolis.

 

[BeagleBoy]

If he doesn't want your CP, I do! I'd gladly pick it up. (Actually, I'd have one of my brothers who live up there pick it up, before coming down to visit for Thanksgiving.)

I'm at about the same point in my VS to Donkey Kong resto.

-Jim

 

[rainman154]

PM sent on the CP.
Does anyone know what size the carriage bolts are for the coin door? Are they silver or black?

 

[GoodSideGame]

Great thread!

I'm actually thinking about converting my non-working Donkey Kong to a Multicade as well.

Can the original DK Power Supply be used for the Jamma Connectors/PCB/Monitor, or do you have to buy a Jamma one?

Also, Rainman, would you mind sharing what Power Supply/Harness you bought from Arcade Shop Amusements? I'm confused what exactly I need.

I'd really appreciate it!

 

[rainman154]

Great thread!

I'm actually thinking about converting my non-working Donkey Kong to a Multicade as well.

Can the original DK Power Supply be used for the Jamma Connectors/PCB/Monitor, or do you have to buy a Jamma one?

Also, Rainman, would you mind sharing what Power Supply/Harness you bought from Arcade Shop Amusements? I'm confused what exactly I need.

I'd really appreciate it!

I don't know if you can use the original DK power supply or not. What type of monitor do you have? If you have an original SANYO then it would work fine with the original. I don't know about the JAMMA board though. From what I was told the original DK or NINTENDO power supply is 100.

As far as the power supply I got, I actually don't know. LOL!!!! I got the one they said would plug right into their JAMMA harness (which is a great harness). It is a SUZO HAPP Power Pro 115V 230V. Model LT 200W.
I hope to get more pics up as I move forward with this.

 

[javeryh]

I love DK projects. Maybe mine will inspire you or at the very least provide some guidance. I did the exact same thing with my DK except I'm running MAME instead of the 60-in-1. I hid the admin buttons under the lip of the control panel. Mine even had the same side art as yours when I started! You can check out my entire build HERE with excruciating detail plus a movie of how the thing works.

Start to finish:

 

[rainman154]

I love DK projects. Maybe mine will inspire you or at the very least provide some guidance. I did the exact same thing with my DK except I'm running MAME instead of the 60-in-1. I hid the admin buttons under the lip of the control panel. Mine even had the same side art as yours when I started! You can check out my entire build HERE with excruciating detail plus a movie of how the thing works.

Start to finish:

Oh yeah, your job is world renowned as one of the go to places for info on restoring a DK to MAME. I have read yours many times!! It's great! I am actually doing exactly what you did for the base right now. Hopefully it will come out soon. More pics to come!

 

[javeryh]

Oh yeah, your job is world renowned as one of the go to places for info on restoring a DK to MAME. I have read yours many times!! It's great! I am actually doing exactly what you did for the base right now. Hopefully it will come out soon. More pics to come!

Thanks! Hopefully you saw THIS post before you started making your base. My measurements on the height were off by an inch so I had to remake the thing. I just edited the initial post on my blog just in case...

 

[rainman154]

Thanks! Hopefully you saw THIS post before you started making your base. My measurements on the height were off by an inch so I had to remake the thing. I just edited the initial post on my blog just in case...

Yeah, I was lucky because mine had 3 of the 4 base boards with it. Mine was missing the front. Because the wood was so crappy I decided to just recut everything brand new and reinforce it. I was able to just simply measure the old boards. I am not finished yet, but when I am, I will post pics.

 

[rainman154]

Well the base is finished and ready to be painted. I love the way it turned out and on Friday I plan on spray painting it black.

 

[rainman154]

Got the base painted black and it turned out great. Everything is level and without any wobbles!! Here are some pics of it installed.