Area69
Active member
With all these DK jr. restorations going on, I was tempted not to post this at all. But because I do so few, and it was my first time using Bondo, here goes.
I traded a working Op Thunderbolt for this DK junior, which was almost working but in pretty bad shape. It would play for a few minutes then the screen would go screwy and there was little to no sound. A cap kit, and replaced pots on the PCB and it was working good. I then left it to sit and look shabby for a year and a half.
I'm not sure what prompted the cabinet work, maybe it was the annoying placement of a credit switch on the front panel. After I got started with the Bondo and realized how easy it was to work with, I knew I'd have to refinish and paint the cab.
That went pretty well, although the paint had a few lines in it, and some ugly areas, overall it looked 100% better. After installing new t-molding and cleaning up the coin door, I could tell I was on the right track.
I replaced the wavy and bent up lower maquee bracket and repainted the upper bracket. It was at this time that I ordered up the Braze Tech High Score Kit and purchased the instruction cards and coin sticker from Arcade Shop. A new control panel was made, sadly from MDF, it was all I could find in 5/8. The old one was trashed. It was de-laminating beyond repair.
I fashioned a new back door, this one was missing, and installed a proper cam lock to hold it on.
Lastly I cleaned the bezel and cpo with some Novus #3 and #2 and it doesn't look half bad.
I can't say enough good things about the High Score save kit. The addition of free play and attract sound to this upgrade puts it over the top. New buttons would be nice and I still need to find or make a coin box to keep the coins from falling into the base of the cab.
I traded a working Op Thunderbolt for this DK junior, which was almost working but in pretty bad shape. It would play for a few minutes then the screen would go screwy and there was little to no sound. A cap kit, and replaced pots on the PCB and it was working good. I then left it to sit and look shabby for a year and a half.
I'm not sure what prompted the cabinet work, maybe it was the annoying placement of a credit switch on the front panel. After I got started with the Bondo and realized how easy it was to work with, I knew I'd have to refinish and paint the cab.
That went pretty well, although the paint had a few lines in it, and some ugly areas, overall it looked 100% better. After installing new t-molding and cleaning up the coin door, I could tell I was on the right track.
I replaced the wavy and bent up lower maquee bracket and repainted the upper bracket. It was at this time that I ordered up the Braze Tech High Score Kit and purchased the instruction cards and coin sticker from Arcade Shop. A new control panel was made, sadly from MDF, it was all I could find in 5/8. The old one was trashed. It was de-laminating beyond repair.
I fashioned a new back door, this one was missing, and installed a proper cam lock to hold it on.
Lastly I cleaned the bezel and cpo with some Novus #3 and #2 and it doesn't look half bad.
I can't say enough good things about the High Score save kit. The addition of free play and attract sound to this upgrade puts it over the top. New buttons would be nice and I still need to find or make a coin box to keep the coins from falling into the base of the cab.
