Upgraded Arcade1Up Mortal Kombat II Deluxe Control Panel

MKII Deluxe Upgraded buttons and sticks

I got started on the Arcade hobby because I like to build things. However, the stock Arcade1Up MKII Deluxe cabinet is nearly perfect and also provides online game play (and there are many others to play on-line). This cabinet only needs a few things and will effectively remain "stock."

Buttons

The buttons are an easy swap. Suzo Happ buttons from T-molding.com with 75g Cherry switches fit into the existing holes exactly. And I already had Happ compatible 0.187in blade adapter wires from all of the usb controllers in the two earlier cabinet builds.

I also opted for labeled Player 1 and Player 2 button graphics (they are blank white buttons on the A1Up control panel).

Joysticks

The IL (Industrias Lorenzo) Eurostick sticks (Red) are the proper controls for Mortal Kombat (I, II, & III) and required a bit more effort to install.

First the existing joystick was removed. I was afraid this step might damage the control panel as the factory sticks are glued down and my Golden Axe Cabinet did not seem to want to come apart. But this time my putty knife knife slid easily underneath and it popped off without any trouble (just make sure you remove all of the screws first). 

Removal of factory stick with a putty knife 

Then I created a template and aligned it with the hole in the control panel.

Joystick template

I might eventually need through holes with machine screws and nuts to hold the stick on, but I pre-drilled guide holes and used some wood screws I had on hand and this seems very solid.

A tight fit!

Player 2 Joystick Wires

I decided to swap out player 2 first, in case there were any failures and it was a long time getting things hooked-up right.

The Player 2 spot is close enough to the encoder board that my existing 0.187 in wires (from the button mod) were long enough to service the joystick. The only complication is that the wires have 2-pin connectors as used on the encoder for buttons, but the joysick uses two 4-pin connectors to connect to the encoder.

I just removed the pins from the connectors (2 and 4 pin) and inserted the new wires into the connector (the pins are compatible!).

Using a micro screwdriver, just press on the exposed metal of the pin while pushing the wire in, then pull it out (all while pushing down). It may help to look this up and watch a few YouTube videos to understand (though my technique and these adapters is a bit different). If you need to push hard or pull hard, You did not quite get it and just try again (maybe practice on a different part you don't need first?).

With the connector swapped, the joystick was wired up and worked great.

Player 1 Joystick Wires

The Player 1 joystick was too far from the encoder and I opted to re-use the existing wires. They are soldered to the factory joystick, so I cut them and crimped on new blade adapters. The wires are small and blade adapters don't always crush and grab properly.  So I had to re-do this step a few times (maybe 2-8 failures?) 

Original wires with new blade adapters

Putting it Back Together

The control panel bottom cover (black plastic) no longer fits with the IL sticks. Player 1 is too far to the left and they might even be too deep.  However, this part is not necessary (and not visible) as long as you are careful when assembling or performing maintenance on the control panel.