Mario Bros Restoration

Hothman

Active member

Donor 2012
Joined
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Location
Coastal, Georgia
My first restoration.

Disclaimer: This restoration actually started a year ago. I would do several things differently now, but I thought I would share my learning experience with others. Unfortunately, I don't have much time for this hobby, so the restorations are slow as are the posts.

Anyway, here we go:
This was a CL pickup and my first game. This Mario Bros was a DK conversion. I remember when I use to ride my bike down to the local "food, beer, ice" and play Donkey Kong. Now that I think about it, it was odd to have an arcade game sitting in the entrance to a convenience store. But the arcade at the mall was too far for the bike. One day I showed up to play my favorite Donkey Kong and found a Mario Bros there instead. I played it a few times, but left sad to see my old friend gone. Little did I know back then that it was actually my Donkey Kong, with a new brain and clothes. I never got into Mario Bros. It was probably a game of the next generation. One that my little brother liked. But now I find myself as the proud owner of a 30 year old game that once was the DK I loved. So the question is, do I revert it back to its original state or renovate it to its prior Mario Bros glory days? (I know some are screaming DK, DK, DK) But I chose to go with leaving it as a Mario Bros.

The bezel and marquee look good. The controls are ok but will need some work. Everything was working. I brought the game home, played it for about 15 minutes and walked away. When I came back, it was dead. The marquee light was on, but that was it.

So here is what I have to work with:

The cab is in pretty good shape. Some deep scratches and dings. The side art is trashed. T-molding needs replaced.
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Controls look ok, but there is substantial wear on the cp. Cig burns on the buttons.
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Side art. Yeah that will need replacing.
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The bezel is good. No deep scratches, just needs to be cleaned. Slight burn on the monitor.
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Marquee is in good shape.
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Coin door is ok, but will need some work.
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I like the fact that the left the original DK tag on the machine and added the Mario Bros.
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I'm probably going to want to replace this.
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Hmmmm. That does not look original.
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It looked good for the few minutes it worked. More on this later, but it is still under repair.
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My first discharge. Monitor discharge.
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Nothing epic or gross to see here. Just a dirty power supply.
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This is kind of disturbing the first time you do it. You wonder if you will be able to get it back together and how many parts you will have left over when you think you are finished.
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The restoration is underway. More to come....


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I started by disassembling everything. Monitors are the most intimidating for the first time.
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I used this tool for the monitor discharge. It is simply lamp cord attached with electrical tape to a large screwdriver with rubber handle. An alligator clip is attached to the other end.
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The game worked for about 15 minutes after I got it home then the monitor failed. the DC fuse was blown. Replaced it. Still not working. Being new to the game, I sent the chasis off for a cap kit and flyback hoping that would solve the problem. Got the board back with a picture showing that it tested good. I don't believe this, because it is still a blank screen. Looking at Dokert's flow chart, it looks like it may be the HOT. It's got new caps and a flyback, so I got what I paid for, but I would have appreciated an email saying that it was tested, needed a new HOT which was replaced for $x. I have since learned to do my own caps and other monitor repairs. I've still got to fix this one, but I swapped the monitor out with one from another machine.
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Next up is the body work.

I started by taking off the sideart which was in bad shape. Elbow grease and Goof Off did the job.
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The cab is in pretty good shape, but it did have some deep scratches and dings. A little bondo and sanding. This is the part where I start to realize that I have the wrong tools for the job. I used what is more or less a large finishing sander or sanding by hand. I have since picked up a couple of sanders, including an orbital sander and a detail sander.
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Most of the Nintendo cab restos I've seen here have the laminate completely removed and either replaced or painted. I did not choose either of those methods, but I would like to hear from those who have as to the benefits of removing the laminate. Once the cab was prepped, I put on a primer from rattle cans that was rated to cover plastic.
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Looking good! Nice Progress! I'll be following this thread to model my own Mario bros resto project after.
 
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