Nintendo Cab Needs Major Work

mgreen

Well-known member

Donor 2012
Joined
Feb 6, 2012
Messages
1,473
Reaction score
45
Location
Idaho
I need to perform some major surgery on a Nintendo cabinet and I wanted to get some feedback from the experts. The bottom 2 feet of the cabinet is water damaged and the Plywood is swelled from the very inside out. It is also chipped and flacking from being dragged around the floor with a missing base.

I want to cut off the offending wood and replace it with new but was concerned about some major issues:

1) How to reinforce the inside without getting too invasive and getting it back to as much factory original appearance as possible. I do not want the top and bottom pieces to seperate or crack the bondo filler if the cabinet is pushed or pulled to roughly. (My concern is that this game is toted around to conventions quite a bit and I need it to be able to handle being pushed and dragged several times a year by volunteers who are not as concerned about the cabinet as me.)

2) What are the paint codes for nintendo cabinets? I would like to get paint codes for the Black Punchout/Playchoice; Orange DK Jr/Vs; Baby Blue Popeye, and Red for Radar Scope.

3) I intend to use an enamel semi-gloss paint, what is the closest match to the factory original and how many coats are recommended?

Any help would be appreciated!!!!!!
 
I recently did a PC-10 and a DK jr restore

I just used a flat black for the pc-10
and the DK jr was the orange


Lowe's Velspar, Interior Oil Semi-Gloss
Base: B 4-47865
Quart
107: 7 shots
111: 1 oz, 26 shots
113: 30 shots
116: 32.5 shots

I used the above for the orange

For the bases i had rot on both. The closet I found to the size was actually 2x4's
I took bondo and shaped the corners rounds and painted

I tend to like flat paint but it does show more fingerprints.

Good luck in the resto process

also to note is the speaker grills on nintendo cabs. be really careful when sanding..they tend to break off and then you will have a time building the little bars out of bondo to make it look right
 
Thanks Kfuller. I agree I also use 2X4 for the base I think it gives it added stability, and strength over the small 1X4 boards from the factory.

My major concern is replacing the plywood on the sides of the cabinet since it is going to be about 2 feet of material replaced. I know people have done similar projects and I imagine some have re-inforced the joint between the new plywood and the original plywood. I would like to get some feedback and tips on how this should be done properly.

I would rather use an enamel paint because I think it will be a tougher finish and last longer than the oil based paints. Does anyone have the enamel paint codes for the cabinets above?
 
It would be less time and effort to seek out a different cab to transplant everything to. DK cabs are pretty common, you should be able to find something on CL pretty easily.
 
I know around me nintendo cabinets are not available....

I have used a strip from home depot that is like 2/16 thick ...and like 1" wide


i nail it to the back and the bondo..use a exacto nife and cut it as needed

sand it and then you cant see it. Gives you a strong back and takes care of the sides
 
Guess I should have been more clear. The surgery is for a Punchout dual monitor cabinet, but I also needed paint codes for repairing holes and other damage in the Nintendo standard cabinets. Is the dual monitor Nintendo cabinets more rare? What would an empty cabinet range from?
 
Hm, two feet of material is fairly large section to have to replace. I would likely consider cutting new sides if I had a cab that needed that much replaced, particularly if it had a dual monitor setup.

I had to perform surgery like this to replace the lower 6.5 inches on my Frogger cabinet; one thing the Frogger had going for it is that the design has reinforcements on the inside, so I was able to:

1. Cut out the bad section (chose to make both sides identical, for ease of making the patch panels
2. Install new wood to mimic the factory reinforcement
3. Use wood hardener in the section immediately before the location of the patch (the "good" wood still sucked up a bit of hardener)
4. Put about 10 dowels in each patch panel and make corresponding holes in the original side.
5. Put gorilla glue on the reinforcement, dowels, and the mating surface and slide together.
6. Add nails to further join the reinforcement with the repaired area.

In my case, it went from this:
IMGP0360.jpg


To this:
IMGP0396.jpg



While I haven't finished the resto of the unit, I have had to move it around in the house a fair amount since the repair and there aren't any signs of fatigue.

Since a Nintendo cab likely lacks the reinforcement, I'd probably refer to Jedidentist's Tron restore thread for an idea of how to strengthen the repair. It appears to be quite effective, though it would not have a factory appearance.

-Rob
 
Thanks Kfuller. I agree I also use 2X4 for the base I think it gives it added stability, and strength over the small 1X4 boards from the factory.

My major concern is replacing the plywood on the sides of the cabinet since it is going to be about 2 feet of material replaced. I know people have done similar projects and I imagine some have re-inforced the joint between the new plywood and the original plywood. I would like to get some feedback and tips on how this should be done properly.

I would rather use an enamel paint because I think it will be a tougher finish and last longer than the oil based paints. Does anyone have the enamel paint codes for the cabinets above?

I think it was Phet that did a restore on a PC-10 and documented how he restored the base. Im to lazy to look it up but Im sure you can find it.
 
Thanks guys for all of the replies. I will have to look into this and do some sould searching as well as discussing it with the cabinet owner, (doing the restore for a friend).

Of course dowels duh. I have a doweling jig and for some reason it never crossed my mind. Sometimes I have a tendency to over engineer things; probably the engineer in me. This will most likely be the path I move forward with unless I decide not to do it and instead to live witht he current state of the cab.

Thanks again to all for the help.
 
Back
Top Bottom