Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Restoration/upgrades/fixes/fabrication of pins and vids
shovelhed
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Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Picked up a Donkey Kong on Thursday from upper New York state. is in reasonable shape considering it has sat so long. Lots of mouse life in evidence, so that means a lot of cleaning for me. I wrapped up the basic decontaminating and starting cleaning some parts up Friday, today I stripped cabinet.
On the way home
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Hogan's Alley set up. CP looks pretty good.
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Not so sure about this monitor chassis. It'll get cleaned this week and we shall see. A local fella has kindly donated another 19" Sanyo, the 20-Z2AW, apparently it will be fine for Donkey Kong
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Washed all the parts and dried them out, sadly the mice nibbled the caps, almost all of them!
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Inside the bottom of the cabinet is not clean! removing everything to sort that out. Spraying everything with Simple green 3 to kill any nastiness and then I think I will seal it with some type of clearcoat.
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Almost done stripping parts out and also removing sideart.
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Done for the day. Lots done already. Now I need to sell off the bits I've removed and order everything I need from Mike.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by Dave W. »

Good job!
I've dealt with mouse "nastiness" as well. I ended up just removing the bottom panel of the game and replacing it with a piece of plywood.

And I've never seen mice chew off the ends of capacitors... That's a first for me. :o

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by The Evener »

Great to hear that a classic will be saved and people will be able to play and hear the sounds of DK just like when that cab was brought into the arcade for the first time back in the day! It will well be worth it.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by pinballfan87 »

If you want to do a complete restore, i think i have a NOS CPO assembly for that.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

pinballfan87 wrote:If you want to do a complete restore, i think i have a NOS CPO assembly for that.
Definitely interested. Have a control panel coming with one but would love e new replacement.

Yeah, this was part one, I will make it new. So many parts are on the way. I need this done because I have lots of other to get done this season.

PLan on adding a DK JR board and the ability to switch between them as well as DOnkey Kong Remix and DOnkey Kong Jr Remix. I'll have four games piled in there with high scare saving.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by pinballfan87 »

The black Buttons are missing, rest is complete.
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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

pinballfan87 wrote:The black Buttons are missing, rest is complete.
Ahh! I have one of those guys, it's for the Nintendo Vs system. Same thing, different holes and so on.

Thanks a bunch, though.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Sanded the exterior Sunday. Tomorrow after work I'll start with bondo.

My youngest joined to take the coin door apart. My son worked on the power supply, it was completely stripped down and washed.

A back edge was a bt soft so I used wood hardener to firm it up. I'll need to cut a door since I don't have one. Anyone have measurements? Wood thickness?

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Power spply all sorted out and looking clean and new. I didn't cap it or mess with it because I haven't tested anything yet. I'll do that once I reassemble, and if It needs it I will rebuild it.

The top plate was all corroded and looked bad so i cleaned it up and painted. The top of the transformer, too.

The power supply frame got a light sanding after cleaning and a few coats of clear coat. It's now sealed up. The entire cab will get the same treatment inside.

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Top after getting repainted.

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Also replaced the plastic wire clips all around. I found the power distribution block's clear plastic window wedged at the top. No clue how it got up there.

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All done, just waiting on the cabinet to be finished.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Just for fun, I thought i'd throw what I was buying for the game as far as parts are concerned so I can keep track of how much I've overspent. This isn't the most affordable way to do a restore, obviously BUT I relised that with the scarcity of DK cabs, I'd just go all in. Prices are all USD.

Cab purchase $150

List from Mike's Arcade -- $216.50 + shipping
Nintendo 10P CLK cable
Nintendo 9P CPU cable
Nintendo 17P Junction Control Harness
Nintendo Upright Control Panel Harnes
Nintendo Coin Door Harness (existing is a hacked mess)
Nintendo Lower Bezel Bracket
Asahi Seiko 740 front plate - US 25¢ X2
Nintendo Monitor "L" bracket set (original gone because was converted to horizontal)
Nintendo Monitor upper support bar
TKGU Black Monitor Bezel Set
Nintendo Blind Plate (missing in CP I bought here)

List from Arcadeshop - $166.25 + shipping
Donkey Kong Monitor Bezel
Donkey Kong Bezel Instruction Card
Donkey Kong CPO Instruction Card
Donkey Kong Side Art Set
Nintendo Coin Instruction Card
Donkey Kong Marquee

Populated control Panel from member here $200

Side laminate X2 sheets $135

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by rdangela »

this is a great thread, I joined to post on it, the part/price break down is a big help

How did you find the Cabinet? I am from Niagara Falls, I have been looking for a while and I can't seem to find anything around Ontario.

I am looking at maybe building a cab and ordering the parts basically now looking for a harness, monitor and the pcb to get started anyways, I am surprised how hard these are to find.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Heya,

I found it via a Facebook group I am a part of. You're right, they're becoming harder to find AND many are watching for them. I know a fella who would build one if you want one. Mike's arcade has most parts for sure. I have updates to post, I'll do that soon.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Lots more done. I've just been doing a bad job at posting updates.

Today was lots of work. I am done and drinking :)

Sorted out the control panel; took it apart, cleaned everything, polished the plexi on the CP with Novus 2. Took the joystick apart and cleaned all the the sticky crap oil up. Will lubricate with white lithium grease once it's back together.

Used 2000 grit paper while on the drill to clean the joystick shaft AND the ball. Ball was then polished with Novus to regain its shine. It looks WAAAAY better now.

Found some clear 5/16 inner diameter tubing at Lowe's (sale, $0.33 per foot) to replaced the yellowed garbage that was on the Joystick.


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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Took the marquee light apart and washed it all. Stripped out the wire and replaced it with some new lamp cord and a new plug.

Painted the light housing. I have no frigging clue where to find this starter. Anyone?

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BURGER BREAK!!!!
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Painted CP is ready to be reassembled.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

I missed a couple pics in a previous update so I added them here. I've started on cleaning up the metal parts in the game and the coin door. Should get that out of the way in the next couple days. Weather continues to be crap so I can't get the sides done.

after stripping the control panel, i gave it a sanding and then bondoed the leading edge because it was a bit chewed.

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Once a couple coats were on, I sanded it smooth and hit it with some grey primer.

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Finished it with Satin black

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With that out of the way, I started to reassemble the CP.

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Pretty much done the CP now.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

I've been stressing about how I am going to cut out the laminate on the speaker panel on this game. I don't own a bit small enough to get in between those slats at just 5/16"

Found this last night and think it'll do the trick:
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https://www.toolstoday.com/p-5047.aspx? ... rds=MR0103

It's just 3/16"! Talk about a tiny bit.
Last edited by shovelhed on Wed Aug 23, 2017 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Bunch of little tasks got done recently. I started stripping the door and other metal bits for painting. I knocked the filthy old base off and cut and readied a new one. I did this by hand because I don't have space for a chop saw until a little later this summer once my garage is sorted and some games are gone.

Here's the door, mostly stripped. I'm gonna bang it stright, I hope. The edge hear the lock shows signs of someone trying to get in. DK Doors are pretty tough, I'd say

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Here's the base, I wanted to replace it all because the front was completely missing. I'm following CHance's method but will probably use pocket screws to help hold it together. SHall see how nice it is assembled. Mitre box cuts aren't perfect.

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This has nothing to do with DK or my restore, but it's a pretty splendid image.

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My DK boardset arrived courtesy of another KLOVer. THANK YOU!
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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Worked more on metal parts, finished stripping and sanding and then primed, two coats finish and two coats satin clear for the door and all the trim.

Door primed
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After some paint
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Sanded, painted then wrapped the wooden bezel support, it looked like complete garbage.
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Made a base for the game and painted it. I used a mitre box which wasn't nearly as accurate as a chop saw would have been. Will pop some vinyl slides on when I bring it in.
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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Got to laminating the various blue parts. The laminate is spot on as a colour. Amazing. Looks really great.

Here are the speaker panel and it support

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Realised that because I couldn't take the front off, I couldn't as easily laminate the kickplate. Cutting the laminate perfectly square and smooth is a tough thing when you don't have a table saw with a good blade for laminate cutting. Blades and scoring tools are good but will never give you a super clean edge. Then it occurred to me that if I sandwich the laminate between pieces of wood and clamp it, I could just use my router and flush trim bit. That's what I did and the laminate was razor sharp. A perfect cut.

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Finally getting to laminating the big sides. Lots of help at home :)

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

With the laminating out of the way, I painted the black surfaces again with a couple coats of 2X cover Satin black followed by a couple coats of satin clear. Then I cleared all of the remaining wood surfaces to seal it up. Final de-barnifying process.

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Today is raining, again. It's now sitting in my garage, I'll get it inside this evening or tomorrow to begin reassembling it all. Almost there!!!

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by OTTOgd »

Wow. Awesome resto thread, thanks!

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

An update to stuff I've bought for the game. I left out the router bit because I will use that again.
Prices are all USD.

Cab purchase $150

List from Mike's Arcade -- $216.50 + shipping
Nintendo 10P CLK cable
Nintendo 9P CPU cable
Nintendo 17P Junction Control Harness
Nintendo Upright Control Panel Harnes
Nintendo Coin Door Harness (existing is a hacked mess)
Nintendo Lower Bezel Bracket
Asahi Seiko 740 front plate - US 25¢ X2
Nintendo Monitor "L" bracket set (original gone because was converted to horizontal)
Nintendo Monitor upper support bar
TKGU Black Monitor Bezel Set
Nintendo Blind Plate (missing in CP I bought here)

List from Arcadeshop - $166.25 + shipping
Donkey Kong Monitor Bezel
Donkey Kong Bezel Instruction Card
Donkey Kong CPO Instruction Card
Donkey Kong Side Art Set
Nintendo Coin Instruction Card
Donkey Kong Marquee

Populated control Panel from member on KLOV $200

Side laminate X2 sheets $135

Working Donkey Kong Boardset $225

More from Mike's Arcade -- $64.40 + shipping
Reject button, spring, and retainer clip. (740) X2
Nintendo coin selector bolt set X2
Asahi Seiko 740 coin return catch (1.5 inch tall) - Large X2
Nintendo Joystick guard
Chrome coindoor bolt set
Monitor mount bolt sets X4 (I want the factory config with ALL holes bolted)

Lowe's Paint and Clears -- $30
Canyon black 3 cans
Clear 3 cans

Running Total $1187.15 :) :( :)
Stuff I sold from original cab made me roughly $350

I also sold everything out of the game, I'll add that up and post it against this total.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Wow, ready for the wrap up posts. Finally finished this game and moving on to the next. Was really fun to see returned from a wreck, though, it needed so much stuff I seemed to alway be waiting on parts. Perhaps I'll find a better way to manage all the purchasing in the future. Mike's Arcade are an amazing bunch. Arcadeshop, too. So pleased they are around.

Finally got the game in the house and started finishing wiring. Once inside I realised that the Power Switch area looked shit (I missed it somehow) so I took it all apart and painted it gold. Then I replaced the power cord.

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Rewired the coindoor, couldn't find good images of the harness and how it goes together. Hopefully these will help someone.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

With the coindoor done, I got to the art so I could get the monitor in.

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The art i put about 3.5 inches down form the top using a square. I centred it mostly by eye. It alight with the marquee centre very nicely.

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Re: Barn find Donkey Kong restore

Post by shovelhed »

Monitor went in, wiring was attached and everything is bolted down. I went with the full set of side bolts. The games came this way, I wanted it to look right.

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I was missing the fluoro tube and starter and when I went to order Arcadeshop was out. In the interim I made a light with an aluminum base and the right cool white LEDs and a diffuser that makes it look very very good. It looks so good, I may not bother changing it. I wired it into the unused 7B header on the power supply stealing the 12v required.

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Last edited by shovelhed on Mon Jun 19, 2017 12:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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