I Restored a Donkey Kong Arcade Cabinet! [VIDEO Inside!]

Javery

Javery

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I finally finished (well, about 95% finished) my latest project:

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This thing was ready for the scrap heap when I got my hands on it and now it looks better than factory fresh. It's brand-freaking-new. Lots of bondo and sanding and painting and sanding and sanding some more but the results were worth it. The coin mechs work and so does the marquee light. It took about 4 months, a lot of patience and a few hundred dollars to get to this point and I'm pleased with the results. My 10-year-old self would never believe that we have an actual DK cabinet in the house! Now if only I was any good at it...
 
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thats pretty damn cool. i always wanted one of those cocktail cabinets i think they called them ( the ones you look down on ) i always liked the way those look.
 
Nice one, javery! How many cabinets have you built now?

You gonna leave it in the middle of the dining room floor like that?
 
Thanks guys! I'm really happy with this one.

[quote name='fart_bubble']pretty sweet. I want to be married to a girl like the one you got hitched to[/QUOTE]

She is a saint, believe me.

[quote name='bardockkun']That's so badass....

What's the last 5% of work?[/QUOTE]

Mostly computer configuration - I've got about 30 classics in there but I want to completely hide XP on boot up. It boots straight to DK right now but I need to remove the splash screen and the pointer and the start bar, etc. I'm also missing a small decal (on the black bar between the control panel and bezel).

[quote name='lokizz']thats pretty damn cool. i always wanted one of those cocktail cabinets i think they called them ( the ones you look down on ) i always liked the way those look.[/QUOTE]

I cannibalized my cocktail cabinet to finish this! I took the computer and monitor because I didn't want to spend the money on it right now. It also gives me a good excuse to redo some bits of the cocktail!

[quote name='shieryda']Nice one, javery! How many cabinets have you built now?

You gonna leave it in the middle of the dining room floor like that?[/QUOTE]

This makes #4. It is in the back corner of the dining room but I don't think the wife will allow me to keep it there forever (and it's actually not the greatest place for it). I honestly don't know where to put it. We don't really have room for one cab let alone 4 of them but I like building stuff so I just worry about it after the fact.
 
Any chance you could list a pic of each of the others?

You could probably make some nice scratch off these, should you decide to part with them.
 
I've had offers from people but I don't think I'd want to worry if something goes wrong or whatever. Here are the others:

EDIT: [quote name='fart_bubble']they're in his sig[/QUOTE]

Oh yeah! I forgot...
 
Very, very, very cool Javeryh! Did you just touch up the artwork or is that all new? (I ask because you did such an amazing job on it -- looks totally new!)
 
[quote name='coltyhuxx']Very, very, very cool Javeryh! Did you just touch up the artwork or is that all new? (I ask because you did such an amazing job on it -- looks totally new!)[/QUOTE]

Thanks! It's basically all new everything. It was beat to hell when I started. Here are some "before" pics:

DK+091308+010.jpg
Donkey+Kong+032109+010.jpeg


The second pic kind of shows what I was dealing with - there were holes everywhere and some chunks of plywood missing along the edges. It was beat to hell. The artwork is all brand new (repro), the coin door was sandblasted and powder coated, t-molding is new, I built a new base, etc. Nothing went untouched.

DK+091308+016.jpg
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I sanded it all the way down, primed and painted it again. I built the control panel from scratch:

Control+Panel+-+Overlay+02.JPG
Control+Panel+-+Joystick+05.JPG


I probably would have had an easier time building from scratch but I'm glad I got to "save" a classic and I'm very happy with the end result.
 
Hey Javeryh,

I have two stand ups (Twin Cobra and Space Gun (awesome cabinet design, by the way!).

Question for you -- or anyone else out there in CAG land. My monitor in Twin Cobra went out many years ago and I'm trying to figure out how and what to replace it with. I haven't really looked in the back of the cabinet yet. I'm wondering if a standard CRT Tv or old computer monitor might be able to be used.

Is there a site out there might be noob-friendly that you could recommend?
 
[quote name='Richlough']Can you slide the glass up and get free credits ?[/QUOTE]

There is a coin button I recessed in the small lip underneath the control panel right above the coin door. There are three buttons there - one on the far left to exit out of whatever game you are playing back to the gamelist and two on the far right - one for coin and the other for pause. They are completely hidden and you wouldn't know they were there unless I pointed it out.

[quote name='neocisco']Billy Mitchell challenges YOU![/QUOTE]

I love that guy. He's such a douche.

[quote name='mis0']That is awesome![/QUOTE]

Thanks!

[quote name='coltyhuxx']Hey Javeryh,

I have two stand ups (Twin Cobra and Space Gun (awesome cabinet design, by the way!).

Question for you -- or anyone else out there in CAG land. My monitor in Twin Cobra went out many years ago and I'm trying to figure out how and what to replace it with. I haven't really looked in the back of the cabinet yet. I'm wondering if a standard CRT Tv or old computer monitor might be able to be used.

Is there a site out there might be noob-friendly that you could recommend?[/QUOTE]

Try BYOAC. It is noob friendly but geared towards MAME and not so much restorations. Try VAPS for arcade repair and collecting. You could probably throw a computer monitor in there or TV as long as you convert the signal properly.
 
[quote name='javeryh']There is a coin button I recessed in the small lip underneath the control panel right above the coin door. There are three buttons there - one on the far left to exit out of whatever game you are playing back to the gamelist and two on the far right - one for coin and the other for pause. They are completely hidden and you wouldn't know they were there unless I pointed it out.[/quote]

There was a DK machine at the donut shop down the street .
I remember the big kids [16] would palm the glass and slide it up, tip in in toward the monitor and reach their hand in to get free credits .

I don't know if that was an early cabinet or what but, it seemed awesome to get free credits.

And I forgot to mention what an awesome job you did, keep it up .
 
[quote name='Richlough']There was a DK machine at the donut shop down the street .
I remember the big kids [16] would palm the glass and slide it up, tip in in toward the monitor and reach their hand in to get free credits .

I don't know if that was an early cabinet or what but, it seemed awesome to get free credits.

And I forgot to mention what an awesome job you did, keep it up .[/QUOTE]

Thanks man! I actually enjoy building as much as playing so it is a great hobby for me.

The way the DKs were made if you could lift out the plastic bezel and get your hand in there you could find the switch the coins pass through and get some free games. There is a lock for it near the top which must have been missing on that machine - pretty smart! The coin door on mine is fully functional - one of my friends came over a few weeks ago and we had him putting quarters in. He even ran out to his car to look for more before we told him about the coin button! It was pretty funny...
 
Thanks guys! I've been playing a lot and I finally cracked 80,000 points (which is terrible but good for me). My goal is 100,000 and I'm slowly getting there - my score has steadily improved since I got this thing working!
 
*drool*

I really need to get off my ass and switch my videogame collecting hobby to an arcade restoration hobby. I'm dying to get one of those old Neo Geo cabinets.
 
[quote name='Halo05']*drool*

I really need to get off my ass and switch my videogame collecting hobby to an arcade restoration hobby. I'm dying to get one of those old Neo Geo cabinets.[/QUOTE]

Do it! It is such a rewarding hobby. When you are finished you not only have something fun to play but it looks great in the house too (well, maybe not the dining room, but still). :D

[quote name='Ikohn4ever']If you got some spare time, I'd like a Ms. Pacman, my first and only true love[/QUOTE]

I love Ms. Pac-man. Probably in my Top 3 as far as arcade games go. In fact, I based the mini pink cab I built off of a Ms. Pac-man. It is the exact shape built to 80% scale. I'm leaning towards building some Ms. Pac-man cabinets next but in cocktail form. I might do 2 at once for my brothers-in-law.
 
Machine looks great. Hidden buttons + fully working coindoor are baller. I can see how the startup windows xp can get a bit annoying. Once its booted into mame that gui to switch between games looks very slick and yet still retro. Awesome work.
 
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