Nintendo VS Unisystem Restore (Dr Mario, Super Mario)
There seem to be quite a few of these lately. This is my first restoration, so it is not perfect by any stretch, but it looks great in my basement. I took a beat up SMB VS cab (was a Popeye #000514 at some point in its life) and spent 3+ weeks transforming it into a nice vibrant orange VS with Dr Mario art. I know it is a little blasphemous to change the original color of the cab, but it needed a paint job anyways and my wife was all about the orange. Also, orange looks awesome with VS side art. And as she said: "You already have a blue one." Once it was completely finished, she played a game in my arcade for the first time ever and played Dr Mario for the first time ever - it was completely worth it!
Definitely found a lot of great tips here and a few klovers helped me out with various parts and games (thank you!) - I've never been particularly handy, but I am an expert when it comes to research, and there are a ton of great threads on here that led me on the right path. I still learned a few things the hard way...
The Pickup:
For starters, the seller described this as "very good condition" and the ad was accompanied by, you guessed it, a small fuzzy photo. Of course at that point, I had scored a van, driven for over an hour, and emotionally committed (I'm sure many of you can sympathize). This quickly went from unbelievable deal to only a good deal. Still, the monitor looked okay, everything worked for the most part, and it was a plywood cab with practically no water damage.

The Issues:
- Missing Ground Plug (cause LOUD buzz and diagonal wavy lines on monitor)
- Sound was difficult to control (way too loud)
- Missing control panel buttons
- Smoke burns & scratches on CP
- 1st player jump button barely worked
- Major Cigarette Burns, gouges on side of cab
- Flickering marquee light (120V light was used)
- Exterior service switch installed (poorly)
- No Keys! (still only found 7 cents in the cab)
- Someone carved their initials (KS) and a pretty heart on the side

Uh, and this was after vacuuming...

With a few pot adjustments, the monitor actually looked nice (aside from the grounding issue)

The Interior:
- Removed, cleaned, and rebuilt monitor
- Installed Bob Roberts deluxe Sanyo cap kit (1st cap kit)
- Installed original Nintendo light fixture with new bulbs from Top Bulb
- Installed New Nintendo power cable (Bob Roberts)
- Vacuumed, cleaned, sanded, primed, painted (foam roller for the record)
- Added games!
- Added Matt Osborn's awesome SMB high score save kit. I love it - http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=176556
The Exterior
- Used wood hardener on a couple of problem areas (worked perfectly)
- Filled in large dents, chips, lock bar holes, etc)
- Sanded, primed, painted (3 coats of Behr Orange Kumquat)
- Repainted/repaired back doors on both my machines
- Sanded, sprayed, and re-shaped the coin door & other metal parts
- Rebuilt very beat up base
- Rebuilt/cleaned control panel & joysticks (used Nerdtendo's guide: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=226360)
- NEW repro buttons and a couple extra switches from Mike's Arcade
- NEW repro VS Side Art from Game On Grafix - ink jet but really nice
- NEW true flat t-molding from Chomping Quarters (awesome stuff)
- NEW smoked plexi for the bezel from eStreet Plastics
- NEW locks for coin door and back door
Here are a few after shots. The monitor is beautiful, the sound works great, and Donkey Kong finally has a friend:




I'm also slowly acquiring games. Once I pick up a VS switcher, this will be playing Dr Mario, SMB, Gradius, and perhaps Ice Climber, Castlevania, and Goonies - still looking for the last three (**Please PM me if you have any of those 3 for sale*) Woohoo - can't wait! http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=233200
There seem to be quite a few of these lately. This is my first restoration, so it is not perfect by any stretch, but it looks great in my basement. I took a beat up SMB VS cab (was a Popeye #000514 at some point in its life) and spent 3+ weeks transforming it into a nice vibrant orange VS with Dr Mario art. I know it is a little blasphemous to change the original color of the cab, but it needed a paint job anyways and my wife was all about the orange. Also, orange looks awesome with VS side art. And as she said: "You already have a blue one." Once it was completely finished, she played a game in my arcade for the first time ever and played Dr Mario for the first time ever - it was completely worth it!
Definitely found a lot of great tips here and a few klovers helped me out with various parts and games (thank you!) - I've never been particularly handy, but I am an expert when it comes to research, and there are a ton of great threads on here that led me on the right path. I still learned a few things the hard way...
The Pickup:
For starters, the seller described this as "very good condition" and the ad was accompanied by, you guessed it, a small fuzzy photo. Of course at that point, I had scored a van, driven for over an hour, and emotionally committed (I'm sure many of you can sympathize). This quickly went from unbelievable deal to only a good deal. Still, the monitor looked okay, everything worked for the most part, and it was a plywood cab with practically no water damage.

The Issues:
- Missing Ground Plug (cause LOUD buzz and diagonal wavy lines on monitor)
- Sound was difficult to control (way too loud)
- Missing control panel buttons
- Smoke burns & scratches on CP
- 1st player jump button barely worked
- Major Cigarette Burns, gouges on side of cab
- Flickering marquee light (120V light was used)
- Exterior service switch installed (poorly)
- No Keys! (still only found 7 cents in the cab)
- Someone carved their initials (KS) and a pretty heart on the side

Uh, and this was after vacuuming...

With a few pot adjustments, the monitor actually looked nice (aside from the grounding issue)

The Interior:
- Removed, cleaned, and rebuilt monitor
- Installed Bob Roberts deluxe Sanyo cap kit (1st cap kit)
- Installed original Nintendo light fixture with new bulbs from Top Bulb
- Installed New Nintendo power cable (Bob Roberts)
- Vacuumed, cleaned, sanded, primed, painted (foam roller for the record)
- Added games!
- Added Matt Osborn's awesome SMB high score save kit. I love it - http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=176556
The Exterior
- Used wood hardener on a couple of problem areas (worked perfectly)
- Filled in large dents, chips, lock bar holes, etc)
- Sanded, primed, painted (3 coats of Behr Orange Kumquat)
- Repainted/repaired back doors on both my machines
- Sanded, sprayed, and re-shaped the coin door & other metal parts
- Rebuilt very beat up base
- Rebuilt/cleaned control panel & joysticks (used Nerdtendo's guide: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=226360)
- NEW repro buttons and a couple extra switches from Mike's Arcade
- NEW repro VS Side Art from Game On Grafix - ink jet but really nice
- NEW true flat t-molding from Chomping Quarters (awesome stuff)
- NEW smoked plexi for the bezel from eStreet Plastics
- NEW locks for coin door and back door
Here are a few after shots. The monitor is beautiful, the sound works great, and Donkey Kong finally has a friend:




I'm also slowly acquiring games. Once I pick up a VS switcher, this will be playing Dr Mario, SMB, Gradius, and perhaps Ice Climber, Castlevania, and Goonies - still looking for the last three (**Please PM me if you have any of those 3 for sale*) Woohoo - can't wait! http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=233200
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