Multiple Nintendo VS. reconfiguration/refurbish

Mike29

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I am about to embark on, what would be for me, an ambitious reconfiguration and restoration of some of my Nintendo cabinets. One of the first cabinets I ever purchased was an average condition Nintendo VS Dualsystem upright cabinet at a SuperAuctions. It was a pretty good deal where I was the only bidder; the only real problem was that the wooden base had been removed. It came with Excitebike and SMB, but for the last few years I have been running Balloon Fight on both sides. I sold Excitebike and moved SMB into a different VS. Goonies Unisystem cabinet; then sold Goonies.

I also have a very nice Duck Hunt Unisystem cabinet which was originally installed in a Donkey Kong in the mid-80's. Just recently I was able to pick up another Dualsystem upright on the local Craigslist. This was in far worse cosmetic shape than my current Dualsystem, but the monitors, speakers, and PCB were all operable. The controls were shot. This Dualsystem came with Hogan's Alley and Mach Rider.

Now that I have a dynamo Mame cabinet that runs most of the VS. games I enjoy, such as Goonies, I felt I needed to shake-up my VS. setup. So here is what I plan to do:

1) Dualsystem upright - Dual Balloon Fight w/ non-matching marquees of Excitebike and SMB, everything is operable. Thanks to the talents of fellow KLOV'ers I have a really nice digital image of an inspired Balloon Fight Marquee for this cabinet. I need to repaint cabinet and metal, capkit one of the monitors, get the marquee image on two offset replica glass marquees, replace smoked monitor bezel (not necessary, but might as well get rid of minor scratches), full application of new black t-molding, and rebuild base to cabinet.

2) New Dualsystem upright - Remove Mach Rider, keep Hogan's Alley, move Duck Hunt into this. Clean control panels and replace with all new controls, replace smoked monitor bezel, obtain polygon glass Duck Hunt Marquee. Repaint cabinet and metal, capkit both monitors, move duck hunt gun over. Full application of new black t-molding. Replace Hogan's Alley gun.

3) Restore Unisystem Duck Hunt back into Donkey Kong. Sell unpopulated VS. PCB, Duck Hunt Marquee, VS. Control Panel, VS. harness. Install Donkey Kong PCB, PS, harness. Rotate monitor. Full application of new flat white t-molding. Obtain Donkey Kong Marquee, control panel, bezel, side-art, stickers

I think this will end up benefiting my collection. I will have a dedicated Donkey Kong, will be able to paint and restore two Dualsystem cabinets at the same time, and have the VS. cabinets in my collection used for games that I couldn't truly replicate in Mame (well other than SMB). Any original cabinet I have will have the game it was meant for. Something neat, for me at least, to have dual Balloon Fight and then opposite (back-to-back) have a Hogan's Alley/Duck Hunt setup.

Any help or advice is warmly welcomed, I will update this thread with my progress. I'm still a month away from where I can start the sanding/painting process. While I feel I have strengths in wiring/electronics, I don't have much experience painting cabinets so this will be a learning experience for me and I am sure I will have questions that will come up. Obviously, I will attempt to purchase on KLOV:

1) Duck Hunt glass marquee for Dualsystem upright
2) Donkey Kong marquee
3) Donkey Kong sideart
4) Donkey Kong bezel
5) Donkey Kong control panel, populated or unpopulated
6) Donkey Kong PCB, PS and harness

So if anyone has any leads on these items, even right now, I am all-ears. I already really appreciate the insights and tips shared here on the forums and I thank you guys in advance for the advice I hope to solicit in the next couple of months!

-Mike
 

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Oh for crying out loud. This is why you should never throw out anything arcade-related, I just tossed out 4 or 5 NOS Dualsystem glasses (no marquees applied) not a month ago. I figured noone would ever want them, and the Dualsystem is so uncommon, any owners would have what they need. Doh!

I have one left if you're interested. It's a NOS, blank, angled glass for a Dualsystem marquee.
 
Ohh man! Sometimes I have the worst timing.

I would be very interested. Let me know how you want to handle it via PM. Thanks for bringing it up!
 
Advice on DK CP

About to load up on pics of the first step in this process. Finishing getting parts together and had a question on the DK control panel.

I am removing a VS. unisystem CP so I need to buy a DK CP from scratch. Any guidance on the complete one for sale at Mike's Arcade? (I would upgrade the joystick)

What is the CPO quality/material? How off are the buttons, instruction card?

I like the convenience of just purchasing it from him, but I don't want to buy something I won't be happy with especially for the price.
 
I have the panel from
Mikes. It's really nice. Mine is laminated wood. Routed for the joystick underneath the CPO, the latches and joystick and mounted with the sink in mounts (idk what they are called) the CPO is on thick plexi and the instruction card is on thick glossy paper. Very nice panel I do not think you would be dissappointed.
 
When you're talking about spending $100-150 on a control panel, I would rather assemble a true original for likely much less.

Some people (myself included) despise the reproduction buttons and opt for originals. So there's waste. You have to pay the extra $55 for the correct joystick or replace it yourself (for much cheaper). More waste. They also come unwired and use non-Nintendo button holders, so you'd have to source buttons, holders and harness if you went button-original.

It's a nice enough panel, and the artwork is spot-on, but that's really all you're getting : a piece of laminated wood and the correct artwork - everything else is garbage. Sadly, I think the Mike's panel is best suited for 60-in-1 cancer, or MAME AIDS. You should be able to source all the correct pieces of a DK panel for considerably less (even if you bought new art), and I think you'll be more satisfied with the end result. It's no contest for me.
 
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Thanks for that feedback, I seriously consider it.

Well, I guess I will try to piece together one on my own. I am worried about finding an overlay in good enough shape.
 
When you're talking about spending $100-150 on a control panel, I would rather assemble a true original for likely much less.

Some people (myself included) despise the reproduction buttons and opt for originals. So there's waste. You have to pay the extra $55 for the correct joystick or replace it yourself (for much cheaper). More waste. They also come unwired and use non-Nintendo button holders, so you'd have to source buttons, holders and harness if you went button-original.

It's a nice enough panel, and the artwork is spot-on, but that's really all you're getting : a piece of laminated wood and the correct artwork - everything else is garbage. Sadly, I think the Mike's panel is best suited for 60-in-1 cancer, or MAME AIDS. You should be able to source all the correct pieces of a DK panel for considerably less (even if you bought new art), and I think you'll be more satisfied with the end result. It's no contest for me.

Ha. Solid post!
 
Maybe I'm crazy but you know what would look AWESOME!

If you took one of those dual systems and made one side a DK and the other side a DKjr.
Sure, you'd have to get some custom stuff done but hey, it would look pretty sweet IMO.
 
It begins

Well I started tearing apart the first of two cabinets today. It is completely stripped down and will do the second one tomorrow as to get to work on both cabinets at the same time. This first cabinet was something I basically picked up for free and was never in my house. I am just learning about its condition as I go. I am trying to reuse as much as possible and have sold roms, marquees that I did not need. The one thing I learned was that there appears to be MOLD on the inside walls. There is no sign of water damage anywhere on the cabinet so I am not sure if it is MOLD or just a buildup of something else. Anyone care to guide me on this? I figured to clean it with water and vinegar, any advice?

This is the first time I have ever attempted to sand, paint, bondo a cabinet so I thought these cabinets would be excellent first choices for me before I try to restore my DK, Popeye, Qbert...

Monitors have little to no burn. Bezel has no scratches. For this cabinet plan to:

Clean both monitors and re-cap
New CPOs for this cabinet with dual light guns taken into consideration. Might not even install all the buttons since it will be a Duck Hunt/Hogans Alley
New Lightguns for both sides (Blue for DH, Orange for Hogan's)
Powdercoat all metal, coin doors
Clean cabinet, power block, harnesses
Install near mint Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley Marquees
Install AudioMMan's New Black Offset TMolding

The Hogan's Alley serial is mounted inside the machine by monitor where the Duck Hunt serial is mounted on marquee, not sure how to reconfigure and make it uniform. The backdoor already has the original instruction sheets for both games.

Could use advice on how far you guys think I should take the repair/painting process for the cabinet and if I should stick with the grey or try for black. Maybe even go a little darker on the grey as not to match the NES.

Here are some pics:

IMG_20110430_105828.jpg

IMG_20110430_105839.jpg

IMG_20110430_105854.jpg

IMG_20110430_110054.jpg

IMG_20110430_110111.jpg
 
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Day 2

Well,

Great progress today. Broke down the second cabinet. Scrubed down both the inside and outside of each of the cabinets, the first cabinet had been in the garage for a while and was the one with the mold. So the first cabinet had extra attention and between Mean Green and Water/Alcohol I was able to get them back to health.

Not a lot of water damage to the first cabinet at all (the one with mold). One water stain on the inside floor of cabinet but the wood has held up well. Cabinet 2 is not so fortunate, the floor base had water damage and I ripped it off prior to it coming into the gameroom. The bottom edges of the main cabinet also have been flaking off. They will require a lot of my attention. I plan to put new plywood bases on both cabinets.

This cabinet will remain a dual Balloon Fight cabinet with the custom marquee art that OldTymeToys generously put together.

On this one, Monitors have burn. Bezel has scratches. So I need to replace both. For this cabinet plan to:

Get new smoked glass bezels made and replace both monitors
Fix small gaps on CPO (Not sure if Paint will work)
Powdercoat all metal, coin doors
Clean cabinet, power block, harnesses
Install new Balloon Fight Marquees
Install AudioMMan's New Black Offset TMolding

Here is the second cabinet (what I had running Balloon Fight in my gameroom), prior to breakdown:

IMG_20110501_085226.jpg

IMG_20110501_085235.jpg

After the breakdown:

IMG_20110501_122848.jpg

IMG_20110501_122954.jpg

Here are the parts from cabinet 1 that I kept, cabinet 2 has a similar set:

IMG_20110501_122905.jpg
 
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Here is the current sides to cabinet 2, showing current damage:

IMG_20110501_122839.jpg

IMG_20110501_122922.jpg

Once both cabinets were cleaned, I started using wood hardner on a lot of the damaged areas. Especially at the base of cabinet 2. I applied multiple doses one after another and then I let it sit for four hours. Here is the base of cabinet two after the wood hardner:

IMG_20110501_165420.jpg

IMG_20110501_165427.jpg

I then started the sanding/bondo process for the rear vertical edges of the first cabinet. One big gouge in the middle of the left side, touch-up on both sides. I remembered to take this pic in the middle of my bondo cycles. It looks better now, but still has to get hit one more time:

IMG_20110501_165409.jpg

Next, I have to hit 3 of the 4 lower corners of the first cabinet. I really am lost on how to hit the front corner with the T molding slot while keeping the integrity of the slot. Any suggestions???
 
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Oh for crying out loud. This is why you should never throw out anything arcade-related, I just tossed out 4 or 5 NOS Dualsystem glasses (no marquees applied) not a month ago. I figured noone would ever want them, and the Dualsystem is so uncommon, any owners would have what they need. Doh!

I have one left if you're interested. It's a NOS, blank, angled glass for a Dualsystem marquee.

No joke... I moved my Nintendo cab and forgot that I had a Duelsystem glass (angled) on top. It shattered into a million pieces. IF you still want it, I can mail you the pieces.
LOL!
 
Thanks, I was able to get some more from Bally. I actually have three now, so if I don't screw up applying the Balloon Fight artwork I might have an extra blank for someone..
 
Help with paint choice

Well,

After a new baby, I am finally back to work on these cabinets. Hopefully, I can get these back in the game room in the next couple months.

Here is a shot of one of the two new bases I cut up to assemble as a new base. I used BongoBen's measurements from a past thread. I bought new casters from Lowe's 2.5", not sure if I want to use them or try to clean the ragged original casters. Wanted to purchase new 3.0" but they would require a taller base. Any thoughts?

2012-04-15_14-24-46_280.jpg

2012-04-15_14-25-26_312.jpg

What I need to decide this weekend so that I can start painting is what shade of grey to use. Use the dark grey found on the NES, or use the original lighter gray on the dualsystem?

Does anyone have any paint codes for a Nintendo grey that they were happy with??
 
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As I said on a paint question thread I posted, I ended up picking a great satin oil from Sherwin Williams for the Nintendo gray. Used a latex black for the new bases and back of cabinet. The gray matches perfectly with the Control Panel gray.

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=232515

Used a nice dense foam roller. So far after the first coat I can't be more pleased with how it is going. I assume I should sand lightly between each coat of oil paint with 220 grit? I did not prime, based on my searching of past threads.

While two people have asked me why I am treating this like a classic cab, here is my reply... 1) I love Balloon Fight and Duck Hunt, so I need two separate cabs. 2) I have never done anything like this in my life. I am okay with electronics, but have never worked with wood/paint. So to me, these cabinets are the perfect project to learn and not be too worried about screwing up. If I had money into a classic cabinet, I would be a little more hesitant to try. I already feel better about bondo, sanding, painting with oil, etc. Hopefully will be able to try a Donkey Kong after this.

Here are some pics:

2012-04-22_09-44-00_261.jpg

Have to glue sides back together. Very loose.

2012-04-22_09-44-11_311.jpg

Big separation. One cabinet is solid, the other one has taken a beating.

2012-04-22_09-44-25_897.jpg

More bondo work. I had to keep rebuilding corners, since this mdf gets real temperamental.

2012-04-22_09-44-33_694.jpg

Using cement board to build new bases. I don't have a plane, so this was the only way to get the width that the old plywood bases had. A little bit more messy, but ended up rock solid.

2012-04-22_10-52-46_146.jpg

Started painting bases.
 
Great job. I should really restore my dual system..

I have lots of dual glass,pre cut marquees, CP sticker and im sure some other stuff.
PM me if your interested.
 
2012-04-22_10-52-52_497.jpg

Best of the two old bases. Still needed to go.

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Painted back doors

2012-04-29_09-38-00_68.jpg

First coat applied

2012-04-29_09-38-14_965.jpg

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