The 360 Hori EX2 Quick Mod Guide (Plenty of Pictures)

[Xombie]

Well I had just finished and posted a few pictures up in the "The Custom Stick" Thread and a few people had asked questions on how I mounted the artwork, switched the buttons out, ect. ect.

A few things to know about this guide before I start.
1.) I did nothing with the stick what so ever, except replace the ball top. If you're looking for how to switch out the Hori to a Sanwa, I suggest looking for a different FAQ.
2.) This was my first mod, hell, this is the first stick I've ever owned, if I sound kinda noobish anywhere in the guide, just ignore me or ask me what I might have ment, I got some crazy terms that I use.

And with that said lets get down to business.

This isn't that difficult of a mod to do, simply replacing the buttons and the artwork. I'd say it's about a difficulty of 2 out of 5.

Tools
Philips head screwdriver
Flat head screwdriver
Soldering Iron
Solder Sucker (You can get one from Radio Shack)
Solder (Dur)
Cresent Moon File (Half Circle File)
Exacto-Knife
3M Contact Glue (Comes in a spray can)

Part One : Removing the Buttons
Alright, first you're going to remove the six screws on the back plate of the stick. Slide the plate off and you'll see two boards and a crap ton of wires.

Start on the "U" shaped board, heating up the solder then sucking it away. Carefully pull the board away from the button connectors and go to work on the bigger board, your target is the two larger dots of solder between the large black squares, then a bit above it are two more, those are the last two buttons.
With all that removed, you can pull the boards away from the buttons a bit, to give yourself room to take them out. Using the flat head screw driver, press the tabs on both sides of the buttons and push them out, the ones that were attached to the main board are somewhat of a bitch to get at, press the tab that's harder to get at first and shimmy the button out, works alot easier then trying to press both down at the same time.


Part Two : Removing the Artwork, Preping for New Parts
With the buttons removed, you can now remove that ugly sticker. First I would suggest removing the balltop on the stick to make it easier to pull the sticker off.
Using our exacto-knife, peel up one of the corners and get a good grip on it, and just start to pull it off. It should come off in one piece, streched slightly but you really don't need it from here on out so throw it away.

This is where you should take off the metal plate and grind down those little tabs with the Cresent File, also go around a few times with it to open up the holes for the buttons that you've chosen. I used 30mm Sanwa and you have to take just a bit more out of each hole. So grind away, fit the button, grind some more until you can fit the button in without a problem.

Part Three : Replacing the Artwork
Alright, when you got your artwork printed out and laminated, you should take off the metal plate on the stick and make yourself a template. I used a minilla folder, something that would be sturdy and worthy durring all of my cutting.

You don't really need to cut out the holes in the template since when when you glue the artwork down, I just cut it out on the metal plate.
So using the template, you can get the exact shape that the metal plate needs, also I suggest cutting out the hole for the stick otherwise, you won't be able to test fit it before gluing.
Now, in a well ventilated area (The glue smells like sh*t, honestly even outside it was bad) spray a nice even coat over the back of the laminated work, carefully fitting it and pressing it down onto the attached metal plate. As Akuma001 told me "I used a full can of coke to roll out the bubbles", this technique worked out great.

Let this dry for a good half an hour or so, it does only take about 5 minutes to set but rushing isn't the best way to do things. Now very carefully, poke a hole in each button slot and cutting along the edge of the metal plate, make the spots for the buttons. I found out with my first error it's better to cut in then out, this means cutting with the artwork facing you and going into the accual base of the stick itself. Even if you mess up, the buttons will cover up minor mistakes if you over or undercut.


Part Four : Replacing the Buttons, Finishing Up
With the holes cut out, you can now add in your Sanwa/Semisetsu (Spelling?) buttons, but first you need to change the connectors inside of the buttons. Using our flat head screwdriver, press in the smaller tabs on the original buttons removing the accual button itself. Inside is a small back box with a white tab, this is what we want to remove from the new and the old buttons.

Replace the larger ones (Sanwa) with the smaller ones (Hori) so that the Sanwa have the smaller ones inside, seal up the all of the buttons then you can place them into their place. Line up the connectors with the boards in the case so it makes soldering much easier, you can even test fit if you really want.
Finish soldering all the connectors and buttons into place, put your balltop on and get out there and play with your new modded stick.


If you got any questions about methods or how I did something in more detail, feel free to post here, or even PM me if you can't get a hold of me.

[FallingEdge]

Oh shit, so you are using the Hori connectors with Sanwa buttons? I see, that way, you can just "slide" it back into the original holes in the PCB. Solder it up and be good to go.

Damn, that's a great idea. Only concern I have is if the Hori connectors are just as good as the Sanwa ones. Does it even make a difference?

And I take it that you just used the stock stick?

One more question, what was the "spray on adhesive" you used?

Awesome job man.

EDIT: NM. The adhesive was in your description. My bad.

[albert_c]

It's spelled Seimitsu, and did you replace the stick or just the buttons and art?

[Xombie]

It's spelled Seimitsu, and did you replace the stick or just the buttons and art?

Ah, thank you, I can never remember how to spell that. Yes, I just replaced the art and the buttons, the stick worked quite well for all my Roms and Melty Blood, as well as on the 360.

Falling Edge : Yeah, when I first got the buttons I was like "OH SHIT! These won't fit!" Then I thought about replacing the connectors and it seemed to work fine.
Yeah, the stock stick is accually pretty good, worked great for all the KOF Roms that I have, even Melty Blood was really responsive.

[EvilSamurai]

Would it be possible to just rip off the u-shaped PCB and wire the buttons to to the main PCB so you can use quick disconnects?

[Xombie]

Evil Samurai : It might, I didn't try it cause it being my first stick and all, I didn't wanna screw it up.
I'm sure you could though, that board is ugly and really gets in the way of everything.

[akuma001]

Would it be possible to just rip off the u-shaped PCB and wire the buttons to to the main PCB so you can use quick disconnects?

the main pcb goes over the first 2 buttons so even if you take off the other pcb and put qd's on those ones, you can't put them on the first 2 unless you relocate the main pcb. the main pcb is too big to put anywhere else comfortably and you would have to extend the wiring of the top pcb and communicator port. it is seriously more hassle than its worth when you could just solder it.

also, sanwa button microswitch housing and metal prongs are longer than the hori ones. if you add disconnects to them you will have to bend the prongs down for the bottom metal plate to screw back on.

if you have an ex2, just take off the bottom plate and look at it in relation to case and how much clearance you have. also if you can take a hori button and a sanwa button look at how much bigger the bottom of the obsf protrudes out compared to the hori. you will understand more clearly what i'm talking about.

[EvilSamurai]

the main pcb goes over the first 2 buttons so even if you take off the other pcb and put qd's on those ones, you can't put them on the first 2 unless you relocate the main pcb. the main pcb is too big to put anywhere else comfortably and you would have to extend the wiring of the top pcb and communicator port. it is seriously more hassle than its worth when you could just solder it.

also, sanwa button microswitch housing and metal prongs are longer than the hori ones. if you add disconnects to them you will have to bend the prongs down for the bottom metal plate to screw back on.

if you have an ex2, just take off the bottom plate and look at it in relation to case and how much clearance you have. also if you can take a hori button and a sanwa button look at how much bigger the bottom of the obsf protrudes out compared to the hori. you will understand more clearly what i'm talking about.

Thanks for the explanation. I think it would just be easier for me to buy a custom stick...

[Stier]

nice Mod tutorial Xombie i plan to mod my EX2 too

on Part one can you show where to desolder at on the big PCB board like circle where it is?

[Xombie]

Here you go, this should be what you need.

[Stier]

Here you go, this should be what you need.

thanks now to get to work on my EX2

[FallingEdge]

I don't know about you, but the hardest part of this project for me was desoldering the buttons. It was a fucking pain in the ass

Also, I'm not going to be switching the button connectors cause I tried that and the Sanwa button just didn't feel like a Sanwa. It felt more spongy and just felt weird. Didn't like it at all. So I'm gonna have to solder each button to the PCB via a wire. No big deal though. Really simple and easy to do.

[Xombie]

Falling Edge : It took a bit to get them out, I will admit, but I guess taking Electronics courses in high school helped out a bit.

It's not a hard mod to add wires to the PCB for the full Sanwa effect, I just didn't see a difference. Guess I'm too new to Sanwa to notice it between anything else.

[alwc37]

I was told by a friend of mine that doing this would mess up the buttons that it came with.....I don't see why it would but since I have never done anything like this before I figured I would ask. If I just wanted to change out the art work and not worry about the buttons or stick for right now, could I just do this and then put the buttons back in, or do they really get messed up when you pop them out? Sorry for the noob question

[R-Jive]

I have Seimitsu PS-14K buttons, and if I wanted to just solder wires to the pcb could you show me where I have to do that ?

Yea I know , I'm new to this so forgive me ;p

[CrashPrime]

It appears this is simply a visual mod? The joystick seems to be entirely Hori short of the recolored balltop, and the buttons are only really only button tops? (the actual switches are still Hori?). Not even the gate was swapped to Sanwa?

Sort of seems like sticking Type-R stickers on a Civic EX to me. A lot of work for no usability improvements. Then again, whatever makes you happy.

[angelslayer13]

Then again whatever makes you happy.

yeah thats the idea now GTFO

[exarchezekiel]

yeah thats the idea now GTFO

OWNED!

[aznchristmas]

It's mainly an aesthetic thing.

Also, would this be the same mod as the DOA4 stick?

[Ramon]

This is the mod I did for a SRK member, Mansize Rooster.

The stick consists of:

1.Sanwa stick mod installation.
2. 6 Sanwa buttons.

The way I mounted the buttons was far different from the description above. I kept the same PCB.

[Arxinal]

Anyway to get a bat top on these things?

[angelslayer13]

This is the mod I did for a SRK member, Mansize Rooster.

The stick consists of:

1.Sanwa stick mod installation.
2. 6 Sanwa buttons.

The way I mounted the buttons was far different from the description above. I kept the same PCB.

wow really good color combination but would you mind showing us how you mounted the buttons?

[Ramon]

Sure, I forgot to take pictures of the button steps themselves. So redrew them with MS-Paint step by step.



1. Here is a standard Snap-In button, from a frontal view.

2. Bend the prongs similar to that of a Namco mod. http://arcadestickmonk.com/asm-namco-sanwa-mod.html. A needle nose plier should be fine; to use for bending.

3. Here is the side view of it, this is what it should look like after a nice clean bending of the prong.

4. I used a slim wire cutter, and split the prong in half. So that it ends up with this image. It will not effect the connection of the button. It should work just fine. Despite the fact it looks like it wouldn't.

With the finished buttons cut, I did it to all six of them. I installed them, neatly aligned straight. So that each button is mounted exactly the same. After removing the old buttons, the new ones should fit perfectly into the stock PCB. Just remember to remove the metal tabs that will prevent them fitting properly into the openings. I just used a dremmel and grinded them away.

Previously on the Namco mod, (from arcadestickmonk) they suggest you widen the PCB holes. To mount Sanwa buttons.

But, with this Hori EX2, widening the button holes will and could cause problems. Since everything so compact and close together. So I had to figure out a way to install the Sanwa buttons without having to widen the button holes and risking damage to the PCB itself.

After the buttons are installed, you should easily be able to install the buttons into the PCB. It should just slide right into space, it fits perfectly.

And thats how it went.

I hope this explains it.

[Mansize Rooster]

This is the mod I did for a SRK member, Mansize Rooster.

The stick consists of:

1.Sanwa stick mod installation.
2. 6 Sanwa buttons.

The way I mounted the buttons was far different from the description above. I kept the same PCB.

And I must say he modded it like he had the best sex ever on it! Works like a dream.
lol!!!
BOLA!

[EvilSamurai]

How did you fix the actuator and shaft height problems, Ramon?