Nintendo Cabinet Restoration

Berzerk

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Donor 2013
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Location
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I picked this Nintendo cab up back in January with another Nintendo cab. I have since built one Donkey Kong out of the two and traded it. Now its time to get this off the garage floor. It is a really solid cab with only one problem. The guy before me decided to peel the laminate off the the cab leaving a missing 2/16 on the outside and 1/16 on the inside of the left side of the cab. The right side was peeled in spots on the outside and the inside black at the front of the cab was peeled entirely off. It was also in parts when I picked it up.
 

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More Pics

Some more pics of the mess of parts, screws etc. The bezel, marquee and control panel went to the other cab rebuild that was traded.
 

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When dealing with Japanese Nintendo stuff, remember that just about everything is in metric (millimeters). Keeping this in mind may make your restoration go much easier!
 
When dealing with Japanese Nintendo stuff, remember that just about everything is in metric (millimeters). Keeping this in mind may make your restoration go much easier!

Thanks I will remember that. I measured the thickness of a good side panel and its 9/16 or 19/32. Went to Home Depot and took a piece and butted it up against the 19/32 plywood and it is perfect. You can see from the pics the damage to the inside panel that needs to be replaced. Also, the opposite side that can be repaired along with inside of that panel. I have already got a lot of work on the cabinet done.
 

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Im restoring mine to & went with the same plywood you did. I wish you luck. should be a fun project for sure.
 
Side Panel & Cabinet

The cut side is done. Prime and painted on the inside. The cabinet itself is done with prep. A 1/16 skim of bondo on the inside and painted satin black. Cabinet was cleaned and sanded on the inside bringing the new look back out. The side panel is ready to go on.
 

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did you get those cabs off a craigslist ad in NC? If so I almost went and bought them but it was a bit farther then I wanted to drive that day. :) Glad they went to someone who is fixing them.
 
did you get those cabs off a craigslist ad in NC? If so I almost went and bought them but it was a bit farther then I wanted to drive that day. :) Glad they went to someone who is fixing them.

Yes, those are the same cabs. All the parts are there except the artwork. I traded the other as a working DK using that artwork. It does have a DKJR bezel but I am not going that route. I also have some DK side art. It also has the original harness cut to jamma (TMNT). I will be selling this one and I am not sure what it should be, suggestions and ideas are welcome from everyone.
 
The cab side is on and fit like a glove. Been working on the imperfections so I can get a nice smooth finish on the entire cab. The smoothing is a ton of work because of the damage the previous owner did by peeling the laminate.
 

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Wow that previous guy did a good job at almost murdering that cabinet.

Yes, yes he did, lol. There is not a lot of bondo but when your trying to just make up 1/16 its a pain in the ass. I would have rather filled chunks or holes.
 
Got the t-molding slot cut. Whiteside Slotting Cutter 0.080" 3-Wing and the Whiteside Slotting Cutter Arbor 1/4" Shank, 2-3/8"OL from T-Molding.com. Did some more touch up bonding and another two coats of oil based primer from Kilz. Cabinet sides are near perfect and ready for color paint. Lightly sanded inside cab again and repainted all the black.

Worked on the clean up of the power supply and transformer and it came out great. 120 grit sanding on the wood and simple green the rest. Yes that's a hornets nest on the upper wood part behind the power supply.

Also, received the new artwork from Arcade Shop this week.
 

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The after pics and the new artwork.
 

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Looking good, my DK project is underway to. lots of sanding etc. to fix previous guys bad mistakes. good luck. keep the pics coming
 
Okay, very close to starting full assembly. The only hold up is waiting for painted parts to dry fully but I have gotten a lot done. Cleaned up and sanded marquee brackets and the coin door. Light sanding with 120 grit to keep the original hammered finish. Then primed and painted with satin black. The coin door was bent up and also the weld on the hinge was undone. I repaired this with Gorilla metal glue at first and it was fine and would have held for years if I had not dropped it right on the corner, it came apart. I still think this repair is fine but I went ahead and put rivets in the already existing holes. All the hardware bolts and screws were rusty. I put the control panel wood screws to the wire wheel as they were rusted badly. They came out great. The coin door carriage and monitor bolts got a Brasso polishing and look new.
 

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Pics of marquee brackets, speaker cover, coin door carriage bolts and control panel wood screws before and after.
 

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Marquee brackets, bezel lock bar and speaker cover after. The cabinet also received its first couple coats of DK blue, Sherwin Williams.
 

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