My intention is to run Donkey Kong Jr. in this cabinet.  Here’s the question…leave the cabinet original colors, etc. and just run Jr. in it, or completely convert it to a Jr. cabinet with orange paint, new side art, bezel, control panel and marquee?  Pictures later.

First up, my Christmas haul for this year.  Really, it wasn’t a haul, just the one item that I had asked for (other than a pinball machine which I did not get).  I managed to score a reproduction control panel for my Donkey Kong cabinet, along with a reproduction joystick.  These are available from Mike’s Aracade and I’m very pleased with the quality.  It is not installed on the game yet, more on that in post number 2.  Here are a few shots of the control panel and joystick that I snapped on my way out the door this morning.  I was in a rush, so the quality is not the best:

While the old control panel wasn’t in terrible shape, it had a few cigarette burn marks, the bolts were all rusted and the black laminate was peeling from the wood. I’ll clean the old one up, keep the joystick and buttons just in case and try to sell it to another collector.  Pictures of the entire Donkey Kong cabinet and old control panel are available in the photo gallery.  I can’t wait to get it on the machine but that may be a while.

If you look at the following picture, you’ll see the the position of the Donkey Kong board in the cabinet:

My Donkey Kong board is the 2-board version. The original Donkey Kong board was available in both 2-board and 4-board configurations, so there is already a spot in the cabinet to add an additional 2 boards. You can see the wood railings with the slot in the middle, to the right of the Donkey Kong board, which the Donkey Kong Jr. boards will slide right in to. I’ll need to rig something up to tie the new Jr. boards to the Donkey Kong boards to keep them from flopping around.

Once I got the Jr. boards into the cabinet (I’ll have pictures later), it was simply a matter of swapping the connectors from the Donkey Kong board to the Donkey Kong Jr. board. When I fired the game on, I was met with a screen that was scrolling wildly from left to right. Adjusting the hold on the monitor didn’t seem to make a whole lot of difference as I could get the scrolling to slow but never completely stop. After about a 1/2 hour of adjusting different monitor settings I finally discovered that one of the pots on the Donkey Kong Jr. board that adjusted the image centering was bad. I was able to temporarily repair it and finally got a centered, non-scrolling image on the screen.

I apologize for the bad pictures, I had to use my wife’s fancy camera which is way too advanced for me.

I’ve ordered new pots for the Donkey Kong Jr. board to permanently correct the scrolling issue. I also ordered them for my Donkey Kong board, just to head of any problems in the future. I figured while I’m at it I might as well cap the monitor, so a cap kit is on the way as well.

Some might wonder why I didn’t just opt for the modified Donkey Kong Jr. board that plays both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. This would eliminate the need to swap the connectors between the two boards. The first issue is cost…$160 plus shipping seems pretty costly to simply make modifications to a board I already own. If I didn’t already own a Donkey Kong board as well, I probably wouldn’t balk at the price. Secondly, there are some discrepancies with the Donkey Kong sounds which are noticeable enough to me to be an annoyance. I’ve seen others who have set up rotary switchers to switch between the games, but to be honest, I have no idea how they’ve accomplished it. Another collector is apparently working on a plug and play automatic switcher which I will definitely buy if it becomes available. Regardless, it’s nice to have another game in the collection. I realized after about 1/2 hour of play last night that I’m not very good at Donkey Kong Jr. I’m going to need lots of practice.

P.S. Bonus points to those who can name the band and album of the post title.

The Donkey Kong High Score Save kit was developed by Scott Brasington of Braze Technologies. The kit is fairly simple to install and permanently remembers the top 5 scores and initials. The kit also adds some extra features, such as deluxe free play, the ability to play game sounds while in attract mode, a self test on powerup and on-screen settings (no more dip switches!). Unfortunately, Scott has exited the arcade business but his kits are still available at Mikes Arcade and Arcade Shop. Mine arrived in the mail yesterday.

The kit is fairly simple to install. The first step is to locate the Z80 chip on the Donkey Kong board and remove it from it’s socket. The Z80 chip then gets plugged into the open socket on the high score save kit, making sure to properly align pin 1. Pin 1 is clearly marked on the High Score Save kit and my Z80 chip had an indented circle over pin 1. After installed the Z80 chip in the High Score Save kit you then plug the kit into the socket on the Donkey Kong board where you previously removed the Z80 chip. Again, it’s important to align pin 1. Below are few blurry pictures of my installation:

Upon powering up the Donkey Kong machine I am now greeted with a selftest. After the selftest, the game pauses for 5 seconds where I have the option of entering setup mode. If I don’t enter setup mode within the 5 seconds, the game starts normally. To enter setup mode, I simply hit the player 1 start button.

Once in setup mode, I can configure all of the games options on-screen. These settings previously had to be done via dip switch settings. I can configure the number of lives, when a bonus life is awarded, keep or clear high scores, the coin requirements and an whether game sounds play during attract mode. The high score options and attract mode sounds are new enhancements, previously not available via dip switch settings.

This kit was a great addition to an already great game. Friends will be warned that my scores are not to be beat. If I ever get the Missile Command working, I may look at Scott’s Multigame Missile Command kit, which allows you to play both Missile Command and Super Missile Attack. It also includes the on-screen settings and saving of high scores.

There are numerous areas on the cabinet that need to be filled with wood putty or Bondo and the entire cabinet will eventually be repainted. I’ll also be applying new side art, however the side art currently on the cabinet is in pretty good shape.

The coin door has been beat to hell and I may try to find a replacement in better shape. The coin box was intact, but the box surrounding it and holding it in place has been destroyed and will need to be rebuilt. The base of the cabinet is missing a board, I’ll probably rebuilt the entire base while I’m at it. Click on the images below for a larger version:

All of these pictures can also be found in the dedicated Donkey Kong photo gallery. The important thing to me at the moment is that the game is working 100%. I can overlook the cabinet imperfections for the time being, as long as I have the opportunity to play my favorite game. The first item up will be the control panel replacement, or at the very least a new joystick. I’ll also be adding a high score save kit to the machine so the high scores aren’t lost on power down.

Bonus points to anyone who can give me information about the writing on the bottom of the coin box. It says, “Potts Inn, 1986″ and what appears to be WDW.

The game, of course, is Donkey Kong, in my opinion the greatest arcade game of all time. It was released in 1981 by Nintendo and snatched up most of my quarters back in the day. You can read all about the game on the Killer List of Video Games.

The machine is in decent shape and 100% working. The picture to the left is not my machine, it is a stock KLOV image. It has a few dings and holes that will eventually need to be patched up. The joystick is not original and is very sloppy, so it will eventually be replaced. As a matter of fact, the entire control panel will eventually be replaced. This one is eventually getting a full, ground up restoration to include new paint; new side art; a new control panel, joystick and buttons; new t-molding and a coin door makeover.

With nice weather around the corner, a machine already torn to pieces in my work room and the Track & Field cabinet still untouched, this one, for the time being, is going to get plugged in for some playing time. As with all of my restorations, a dedicated page will be set up detailing the restoration process and photos will be added to the photo gallery . Hopefully I’ll get a batch of pictures tonight to show you the cabinet’s current condition so look for an update tomorrow or Friday.