crash41301
Member
I never got around to posting this on here. Since someone requested some pictures of the internal wiring of my TMNT and I didnt have anywhere good to host them I figured I would make a thread to show off my TMNT restoration 
I picked the cabinet up from a fellow in Ohio about 2 years ago. The control panel was painted a nasty black with a paint brush. They hadn't removed the buttons and joysticks when painting it with the brush, nor had they bothered to remove all of the original CPO artwork, only parts of it. It was really ugly looking. I'll try to find some pictures of "before" to post.
Anyway, I ran across someone selling NOS artwork on ebay about a year back. I snagged some of that in sniper form at the last minute. I then purchased a reproduction CPO cover and t-molding.
My (at the time 3yr old) son was upset when the turtle arcade was rolled out to the garage that summer. He was no longer able to play it. Once in the garage I removed the very faded side art and went to town with an electric sander. I sanded until I got bare, smooth wood.
It was at this time that I noticed that the bottom edge was a bit messed up. I used wood filler to add back in spots and then sanded on it until it was the right shape. The bottom now looks great.
I also removed the coin doors and sanded on the front until it was nice and smooth. Next I grabbed some black spray paint and painted the front nice and black. I taped off the coin doors and painted them black too. Once that dried, I applied the NOS artwork to the sides.
The control panel I sanded the crap out of with my electric sander as well. Afterwards I installed the repro artwork and new T-molding. Because someone had originally used a brush to paint the CPO I had to remove paint from the buttons (or buy new... but I really wanted the original colors). I grabbed a rag and paint thinner and sat and rubbed until the paint came off.
The original Wico joysticks were beyond worn out. I REALLY didn't want micro-switch joysticks, and I also wanted the original look of TMNT that I remembered from my childhood. I searched a bit and I found someone on ebay selling NOS wico centering rubber grommets. I also ran across someone on here selling NOS Wico dust covers. After installing both and adjusting the leaf switches the Wico's feel brand new!
So that's about it for the outside. Without further delay here are the pics of it.
I picked the cabinet up from a fellow in Ohio about 2 years ago. The control panel was painted a nasty black with a paint brush. They hadn't removed the buttons and joysticks when painting it with the brush, nor had they bothered to remove all of the original CPO artwork, only parts of it. It was really ugly looking. I'll try to find some pictures of "before" to post.
Anyway, I ran across someone selling NOS artwork on ebay about a year back. I snagged some of that in sniper form at the last minute. I then purchased a reproduction CPO cover and t-molding.
My (at the time 3yr old) son was upset when the turtle arcade was rolled out to the garage that summer. He was no longer able to play it. Once in the garage I removed the very faded side art and went to town with an electric sander. I sanded until I got bare, smooth wood.
It was at this time that I noticed that the bottom edge was a bit messed up. I used wood filler to add back in spots and then sanded on it until it was the right shape. The bottom now looks great.
I also removed the coin doors and sanded on the front until it was nice and smooth. Next I grabbed some black spray paint and painted the front nice and black. I taped off the coin doors and painted them black too. Once that dried, I applied the NOS artwork to the sides.
The control panel I sanded the crap out of with my electric sander as well. Afterwards I installed the repro artwork and new T-molding. Because someone had originally used a brush to paint the CPO I had to remove paint from the buttons (or buy new... but I really wanted the original colors). I grabbed a rag and paint thinner and sat and rubbed until the paint came off.
The original Wico joysticks were beyond worn out. I REALLY didn't want micro-switch joysticks, and I also wanted the original look of TMNT that I remembered from my childhood. I searched a bit and I found someone on ebay selling NOS wico centering rubber grommets. I also ran across someone on here selling NOS Wico dust covers. After installing both and adjusting the leaf switches the Wico's feel brand new!
So that's about it for the outside. Without further delay here are the pics of it.

