Prepping to restore my Mario Bros

Mattroid

Thread Manager, Moderator: Console Section

Donor 3 years: 2011, 2013-2014
Joined
Feb 25, 2004
Messages
17,111
Reaction score
161
Location
Austin, Texas
I'm preparing to finally fix up my Mario Bros that I picked up earlier in 2012. I plan to take a few days off work to get this done (or at least mostly done) once I manage to track down all the needed items.

For now this is sort of acting like a checklist of things to do and buy to make sure this gets done. Any input on suggestions, tips, or sources of materials is appreciated. The plan is to 'restore' this to look like the widebody, so orange sides and black front. I've read several GREAT restoration threads from over the years, and I can only hope that mine will end up half as nice as those.

So here's what I'm thinking for now. Let me know if I'm missing anything.

To Do Now:
  • Send monitor chassis off for repair - repaired by KLOVer buffett
  • Buy paint or vinyl. Leaning towards paint right now since if damage is done during a move or something, it'll be easier to fix down the road.
  • Buy T-molding - Bought the 'true-flat' stuff from chompingquarters.com
  • Order side art for application later - bought the screenprinted side art from phoenixarcade.com
  • Find a source for the conversion CPO (all I can seem to find is the widebody one)
  • Look at possibly trying to buff out the scratches on the bezel, or buy a nice one if I come across one.
  • Repair PSU
A quick pic to show you what I'm up against (for more, see the thread linked above). Sticks and buttons are in a bag someplace, I've no idea if they are complete or even work.

2012-06-23+13_08_14.jpg
 
Last edited:
I got mine CPO from arcadeoverlays.com. They sell both the wide body and narrow.
Mine was the DK blue cabinet also. I change the colors to make it look more like the original Mario bros wide body. Instead of paint I did ABS Orange Laminate from Reliablehardware.com. I think it is the most durable and plus u dont have to worry about sanding everything smooth. I also got rid of the carriage bolts on the outside and went with t-nuts and bolts on the inside.
I used Novus polish to buff the scratches out of the bezel. Otherwise you can get tinted safety glass and get a stick on bezel from www.gameongrafix.com
I got my t-molding and coin acceptors from twistedquater.com
I got my push buttons and High score save chip from mikesarcasde.com
 

Attachments

  • Mario Bros restore 04-2011 (13).jpg
    Mario Bros restore 04-2011 (13).jpg
    98.5 KB · Views: 497
Last edited:
More pics of my restore
 

Attachments

  • Mario Bros restore finished 04-2011.jpg
    Mario Bros restore finished 04-2011.jpg
    96.2 KB · Views: 155
Side few of Maro with ABS Laminate sides
 

Attachments

  • Mario Bros restore finished 04-2011 (2) - Copy.JPG
    Mario Bros restore finished 04-2011 (2) - Copy.JPG
    40.5 KB · Views: 192
Thanks, guys!

Get the T-Molding from chomping quarters.
It is the best out there and completely flat.
Bill has either mid and offset molding. http://www.chompingquarters.com/store.php/categories/t-molding
If by chance you need the offset I have 20' here that bill sent by mistake I will sell cheap.
Thanks. I was trying to remember that site as it was the first place I found it a long time ago. I don't think this cab needs offset, but I'll double check.

I got mine CRO from arcadeoverlays.com. They sell both the wide body and narrow.
I forgot about Arcade Overlays. Both them and Game On Grafix have the CPO, it seems. I found at least one review and close up of the one from GoG and it seems pretty nice. Can you speak to the one from AO?

I got my t-molding and coin acceptors from twistedquater.com
I got my push buttons and High score save chip from mikesarcasde.com
I plan on getting one of Mike's save kits down the line. I haven't gotten as far as to check the coin acceptors or anything, but thanks for the link. I'll check it out if I need to.
 
Side art purchased from Phoenix Arcade! I'll admit that the price was daunting, but I know this is best stuff out there, and it really shows!

MBSideArt1.jpg


MBSideArt2.jpg
 
That sideart looks unreal:eek:

Agreed, that shit look amazing. Definitely looking forward to seein this one all fixed up, all these Mario Bros I've been seeing have been making me wanna pick one up myself
 
That sideart looks unreal:eek:
Agreed, that shit look amazing. Definitely looking forward to seein this one all fixed up, all these Mario Bros I've been seeing have been making me wanna pick one up myself
Yes! I'd say this side art looks better than the original in certain aspects. The line work is much cleaner.

Finally settled on a CPO from ArcadeOverlays.com. Not really excited about it, but it's the best I think I can do for now :p One step closer...
 
I just the bought the CPO from Quarterarcade. Its spendy at $60 but I am impressed with the overall quality!

~Chris
 

Attachments

  • MB CPO.jpg
    MB CPO.jpg
    93 KB · Views: 53
I would love to get one of QA's overlays, as I'm sure they're much nicer and more accurate than what I can find elsewhere. Hell, after shipping, the one from AO is $40+ so I'd rather spend a bit extra for a nicer one. Unfortunately, QA only has the wide body one so I can't use it :(


On another note, since my monitor problems could very well be power support/transformer related, what do you all think would be the better way to go: use the original or get a switching power supply and get the converter board to be able to use one? If I know the original works 100%, then I'd lean towards that since that's less money to spend...but at the same time, who's to say that when I get my chassis back, I don't blow the damn thing again? :p

I guess I'll wait until I hear from buffet as to what the issue with my chassis was and see if he has any input as to what may have caused it. But on a general level, do you all prefer original stuff over 'upgrades'?
 
I got mine CPO from arcadeoverlays.com.
Got my CPO from Arcade Overlays today...while I'm happy with the turn around time and even the texture of the material it's printed on, I'm not too keen on some of the colors. Full disclosure, I'm a god damn perfectionist and it bugs the hell out of me when things are done exactly how I would have done them :p

Here's what I received:

attachment.php


Now, of course it's better than what I have (see original post :p) but compare the reds at the top (crab, bricks, and MB logo) to those in ultra7350's (posted again below for a better point of reference). It seems like the red used is the same across the board while ultra7350's is clearly a bit different, helping the logo and crab to stand out a bit. Also, ultra7350's green seems a bit closer to the original than mine does, though fading is always an with the originals, so who really knows at this point.

attachment.php


I won't bother to go into all the little differences that I noticed even prior to buying. Then I'd really just be nit picking :) If nothing else, I guess this goes to show the inconsistency with these ink jet reproductions. Chances are that mine was printed on a different printer or something, which likely accounts for the color shift, but it's still annoying, especially when you're paying $40+ for something like this.

I haven't decided if I'm going to email AO or not. Probably not. As I said, it's way better than what I have, and most people won't know the difference. Hell, overall I'd say it looks pretty good, I just wish the reds didn't blend so much. I'm hoping if I use white primer on the CP, that'll help it 'pop' a little more. The 3M backing is brown, so there's a chance that a white background will make a pretty decent difference.

If the wife is okay with it, then I'll probably stick with it. This is as much her restoration as it is mine. If QA or someone else ever silkscreens one of these for the conversion cabs, then I may upgrade at that point.

If anyone wants better close ups of this thing, let me know. The info box in the middle is where it gets a little 'muddy.'
 

Attachments

  • MarioBrosAOCPO.jpg
    MarioBrosAOCPO.jpg
    69.2 KB · Views: 411
Got word from buffett today that my monitor chassis is repaired and soon to be headed home! That's the biggest hurtle so I'm really looking forward to checking it out when it gets in!
 
I got the PA sideart too after reading all the complaints about the inkjet repros falling off. I'm glad I spent the money.

Hang in there on the CPO. I found a really nice original control panel on e-Bay a while back. It was unpopulated but I got the parts elsewere. The effing CP bolts were harder to find than the original nintendo buttons!
picture.php


As for your power supply, I tend to stick to originals with Nintendos. This is mainly because DK is known to act up with non-original power supplies. I figure it's better to keep it real if you can. The PS can be rebuilt if need be.
 
Hang in there on the CPO. I found a really nice original control panel on e-Bay a while back. The effing CP bolts were harder to find than the original nintendo buttons!
Yeah, I've been watching here and there but everyone I've found so far has had a pretty torn up CPO :( I need to dig through the bag with all the controls and stuff and make sure all the parts I need are actually in there...

As for your power supply, I tend to stick to originals with Nintendos. This is mainly because DK is known to act up with non-original power supplies. I figure it's better to keep it real if you can. The PS can be rebuilt if need be.
That's what a few people are telling me so I suppose I'll stick with it. My wanted me to go with something newer just because she's always worried about older electronics burning the house down or some shit :p

Regardless, I'm a little worried that the PS might have to do with what blew out the monitor, but I can't be sure. All I know is that the guy I bought this cab from said he had just had the PS repaired, but had never hooked it up after he got it back.

...

I call bullshit on that...My hope is that this guy plugged the monitor into a normal outlet while the PS was off for repair, blew the thing, and knew he effed up and didn't want to admit it. That way, the PS might actually be good and now I have a repaired chassis :) Regardless, I just need to figure out how to very the PS at this point I guess.
 
Update on the CPO. I talked to Todd from Arcade Overlays and he said that he didn't have an original to color match to, which explains the difference there. I'm returning the CPO I got from him for a refund and sending him whatever I can salvage from my original in hopes that he can use that to get the colors a little closer. I really like his product quality, but the colors on this one are just too far off to be acceptable to me.

Overall, I'd recommend AO for your repro needs, though there's never anyway to know how things will look until you get the product.

After I talked to Todd, I ordered one from Game on Grafix. I knew the colors would be closer because I've seen pics of this one in a few places online. I received it a while back and it looked damn good. The colors were nice and faithful to the original. The text in the middle was obviously retyped and clear to read, unlike the one from AO, which was blurry and looked like either a live trace in Illustrator or just a bad scan. Also, the corners of the info box are better done than those on the one from AO.

Overall, I was pretty happy.

Unfortunately, I soon noticed a misspelling in the lower right. I talked to Scott via live chat and he was surprised as me that no one had ever noticed this before. He fixed the spelling issue along with a couple other things I noticed and printed me a new one right away.

I received the new one just yesterday and now have a good comparison of both AO's and GoG's Mario Bros overlays for your viewing pleasure:

attachment.php


The GoG one clearly reflects more light, but it's not bad unless you're trying to take a pic like this :p The texture of the one from GoG is closer to the original, though I like the thickness of the one from AO better and AO seems to use superior adhesive (3M). I actually like the texture of the AO, but the color imperfections and the blurry text/art in the info box were too much of a let down. Both companies have excellent customer service from my experiences so far, and I'd highly recommend either of them.

All that said, I'm not sure where ultra7350's posted earlier in this thread came from. It looks more like GoG's but does not have the spelling error in it that my first one did. This spelling error goes back at least to 2010, based on another pic I found oline indicates. Regardless, wherever that came from also looks like a good place to get them.

Here are a couple close ups of each to show some of the difference in texture and detail:

Arcade Overlays:

attachment.php


Game on Grafix:

attachment.php


Now that I have a good one from GoG, I'm happy. I have yet to apply it, so I guess we'll see how that goes, but as long as it stays where I want it, I don't see being unhappy at this point. And hopefully what I send back to AO will help make that one better in the future.
 

Attachments

  • GoG-AO-MB-CPOs.jpg
    GoG-AO-MB-CPOs.jpg
    95.2 KB · Views: 240
  • AO-MB-CPO.jpg
    AO-MB-CPO.jpg
    84.1 KB · Views: 242
  • GoG-MB-CPO.jpg
    GoG-MB-CPO.jpg
    68.2 KB · Views: 242
Last edited:
Looks like I also need to do some repairs to the Power supply...C10 looks bad and there's some loose connections that need to be fixed.

Seems it's just one thing after another :p
 

Attachments

  • PP-7B_01.jpg
    PP-7B_01.jpg
    78.3 KB · Views: 37
  • PP-7B_02.jpg
    PP-7B_02.jpg
    50.5 KB · Views: 33
Back
Top Bottom