LAI Mortal Kombat 1 restore

[Jason_roberts13]

So I picked up this dedicated LAI MK1 cabinet recently on ebay. Some of you may remember the listing.

It’s missing pretty much everything except the jamma harness and power supply.

I’m currently sourcing all the parts and still need to get the following;

 

1. Lower support bracket for marquee

2. Speaker grill

3. NRI coin mech faceplate

 

Any ideas on where I can get these? I might need to fabricate the support bracket if I can’t get one, and was hoping to get the full size speaker grill rather than the small square/round ones that only cover the speaker hole.

 

Thanks in advance and watch this space for further updates!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Mick80]

You could try Kev's family entertainment in Kingswood for those fiddly bits, he might be able to help?

[Jason_roberts13]

LAI Mortal Kombat 1 restore

 

Thanks Mick80 i did speak to Kev about those parts, ended up getting his working MK1 pcb as well.

 

So far i have done the following;

 

Rewire 240vac supply cable to disty box as this was missing

Replace fluro ballast

Check switching power supply - tested OK all voltages from the harness

Cut front door to size

source 25" bezel

order tempered glass to size

order new CPO overlay from @MamePatrol as the original had bad coin scratches straight throught the middle of it

printout new CPO sideart

cut CP side panel to size

touch up side art work

 

the side art wasnt in that bad condition so i figured i could salvage it.

 

Cant wait to stick on the artwork, but first things first. @MamePatrol did a great job with the CPO, came up a treat even with the LAI badge in the middle

 

Still lots of work to be done

Edited July 21, 2018 by Jason_roberts13

[Mick80]

Great to see another one coming back to life.

[Jason_roberts13]

I bought an aluminium angle from bunnings for the marquee lower support bracket, and an aluminium sheet for the speaker grille.

Cut them both to size and painted the grille black and bracket red.

 

This is how it looks at the moment

 

Next i will drill some holes through the grille for the speaker, picked up a 15W 4ohm speaker from the local wreckers. Think i pulled it out of a Camry from memory

 

Mounted the CPO side panel as well with t-moulding

[Arcade King]

Those LAI MK cabs are well built sexy beasts.

[Jason_roberts13]

OK so the speaker grille and marquee are now mounted

 

The control panel is in pretty rough condition

 

The underside of the CP is rusted to the shithouse

 

So i will soak it overnight in white vinegar, lets see if this gets rid of that rust

 

How the hell does the underneath of the CP get that rusted anyways? Spilt drinks?

[Mick80]

They seemed to be uncoated mild steel- even just being in a humid environment would have caused rust to start quite fast.

[Jason_roberts13]

Yeh sounds about right, I’ve seen some rusty control panels but this one takes the cake! Should scrub off nicely hopefully once the vinegar works it’s magic

 

 

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[Mick80]

Looking forward to seeing it in action

[Jason_roberts13]

LAI Mortal Kombat 1 restore

 

Well the white vinegar got rid of all that rust under the control panel surprisingly, this is how it looked the next day after a bit of a scrub

 

I got out the ole heat gun and started removing the damaged control panel overlay

 

and stuck on the new overlay matching up the button holes as best i could

 

Then wired up the control panel again with new buttons and switches

if your wondering what those labels are, i always label the wires when wiring a control panel as it makes it a lot easier when putting back together again

 

This is how it looks now with new CP sideart and front CP artwork

 

Next up, the monitor! A 26" LCD should do the trick ;)

haha just kidding, i got a few stock 25" TVs waiting for a restore like this.

Stay tuned for next update

Edited August 12, 2018 by Jason_roberts13

[sbdesign]

Looking good!

[Roger Xplosion]

Phworrrr sexy!

[tevo]

Enjoying the rebuild!

Got the monitor in?

 

I have a MK1 that is missing the Midway stickers on the control panel at the front and sides.

Do you know if they came on the LAI Mortal Kombat's too?

Nobody reproduces the LAI side art? One of mine is equally torn.

[Mick80]

Well the white vinegar got rid of all that rust under the control panel surprisingly, this is how it looked the next day after a bit of a scrub

 

I got out the ole heat gun and started removing the damaged control panel overlay

 

and stuck on the new overlay matching up the button holes as best i could

 

Then wired up the control panel again with new buttons and switches

if your wondering what those labels are, i always label the wires when wiring a control panel as it makes it a lot easier when putting back together again

 

This is how it looks now with new CP sideart and front CP artwork

 

Next up, the monitor! A 26" LCD should do the trick ;)

haha just kidding, i got a few stock 25" TVs waiting for a restore like this.

Stay tuned for next update

 

I nearly died of horror until you said 'Just kidding'!

 

Man I love that carpet!

[Jason_roberts13]

LAI Mortal Kombat 1 restore

 

Enjoying the rebuild!

Got the monitor in?

 

I have a MK1 that is missing the Midway stickers on the control panel at the front and sides.

Do you know if they came on the LAI Mortal Kombat's too?

Nobody reproduces the LAI side art? One of mine is equally torn.

 

Cheers i have been a bit busy the last few weeks but will get stuck into the monitor hopefully tomorrow.

I don’t think I ever saw any LAI MK1’s with the front and side CP art on site back in the day.

I’m pretty sure mamepatrol can reproduce the LAI side art

 

I nearly died of horror until you said 'Just kidding'!

 

Man I love that carpet!

 

Haha thought it would get a few laughs. The UV carpet is awesome, was fortunate enough to get some when John’sArcade imported a roll from the states a few years ago. Cost me a small fortune but well worth it

 

 

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[Jason_roberts13]

finally got some time to look at this today. I pulled out my last 25" tv from stock, its an NEC ChromaVision, nice picture on these tubes

Was lucky enough to pick this up from local kerbside some time last year

 

The cord was cut so i havnt tested it before, powered it up today and we have a picture, sweet

 

decased the tv and mounted it in place, perfect fit for a 25" tube

 

I thought i would try one of these RGB converters with the original tv chassis, just to see what the picture would look like

 

However i didnt get very far as i found the AV wasnt working on this TV, may have been why it was chucked out.

The chassis also died after being on for about an hour, now it wont even switch on.

So i will have to get a universal chassis, probably better off option in the long run anyway

 

Already had a 25" bezel and the glass cut to size couple months ago from local glazier

Its coming together but will have to wait for the universal chassis now

 

[namastepat]

I have an NEC tube paired with a Jomac chassis and it's a thing of beauty. Mine is 26 inch, rather than 25, but NEC tubes are all known for their quality. Perfect convergence and amazing picture. Probably the best tube I have.

[Jason_roberts13]

I have an NEC tube paired with a Jomac chassis and it's a thing of beauty. Mine is 26 inch, rather than 25, but NEC tubes are all known for their quality. Perfect convergence and amazing picture. Probably the best tube I have.

 

Yeh I think that’s the way to go, although last time I heard Joey had run out of stock for universal chassis. That was a while ago though so hopefully will have more now

 

 

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[Mick80]

Yeh I think that’s the way to go, although last time I heard Joey had run out of stock for universal chassis. That was a while ago though so hopefully will have more now

 

 

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I believe the whole supply of sharp image universal chassis was sold. Jomac advised me to put out a wanted ad as he was under the impression that AA members had purchased a lot of them for future spares.

 

Add: The company no longer exists either. He might have a Wei-Ya to suit though.

[Jason_roberts13]

LAI Mortal Kombat 1 restore

 

I believe the whole supply of sharp image universal chassis was sold. Jomac advised me to put out a wanted ad as he was under the impression that AA members had purchased a lot of them for future spares.

 

Add: The company no longer exists either. He might have a Wei-Ya to suit though.

 

Yeh I was worried that might be the case. I found a universal chassis on eBay which might be a Wei-Ya, but it says it’s not compatible with MK? I wonder what would be so different about MK that makes them incompatible with these chassis

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F120966957215

 

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[namastepat]

Last I checked, which was last week, Joey still had some Wei-Yas for large tubes. You'd be better off paying a bit more and getting one from him, as he will properly set it up based on your tube ohms readings. Ordering one from ebay is a crapshoot at the best of times.

 

You're right about the Sharp Image chassis though, they are no more, which sucks :( I have three of them in my cabs and one stashed away with a working tube for a rainy day.

[Jason_roberts13]

Last I checked, which was last week, Joey still had some Wei-Yas for large tubes. You'd be better off paying a bit more and getting one from him, as he will properly set it up based on your tube ohms readings. Ordering one from ebay is a crapshoot at the best of times.

 

You're right about the Sharp Image chassis though, they are no more, which sucks :( I have three of them in my cabs and one stashed away with a working tube for a rainy day.

 

Cheers, yeh was only gonna go the eBay one as a last resort if joey didn’t have any left. Sounds like I’m in luck so will hit him up soon for one of the Wei Yas

 

 

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[Jason_roberts13]

meanwhile this is the MK1 board i picked up few weeks ago.

i plugged it in and didnt get any sound. checked the -5v from the board and im getting -4.79v so that checks out OK.

Plugged it into one of my other cabs and also no sound, hmm

 

after a bit of investigating i found i was missing the volume adjustment connector on the sound board, circled below

 

There are only two pins used on the connector so i plugged in a 5k ohm pot and bingo! we now have sound

 

Seems the volume knob was faulty in the cabinet as well so i replaced that pot with the new one

 

the game now loads with sound, now just waiting for the monitor to get sorted.

 

I also managed to track down a microcoin face plate and cut the hole in the door to fit

 

gave it another coat of black paint and its looking good. forgot to drill a hole for the lock but will sort that later

 

almost there now!

[Jason_roberts13]

finally purchased a wei-ya chassis from Jomac to suit the 25" tube

 

In it went. had to rewire the degause coil, yoke plug, ground for neck board and AC input since the connectors were different

 

After adjusting the monitor its all done! Was suprised the picture on the wei-ya chassis is quite good!

Or maybe its the NEC tube which made the difference. Really happy with the result

 

 

This will sit next to my Ultimate MK3 cab, which is a MAME cab with all versions of MK including MK Trilogy, and the fan made MK Project & MK Chaotic!

 

 

Thanks for reading. FINISH HIM!