Wanting some advice/help with restoring an abused Gameboy

So, a couple of years ago, I gave my nintendo 64 to a mentally handicapped person because I rarely used it, and he seemed to really enjoy playing it. As a thank you, he gave me his original Gameboy and a cart of Super Mario Land. The gameboy was not in the best of shape, so I put it away. Today, I decided that I should start restoring this gameboy. Does anyone have advice or links to parts? Also, I would appreciate it if anyone could tell me where I could get an easy to use backlight mod/kit.

Pictures (Sorry about the bad quality) (Right after cleaning it as well as I could):

Front


Screen (The black stuff is much more visible in person)


Back (I do not have a battery cover anywhere)

 

Are those marks on the screen permanent damage to the display?

 

I don't know if they're permenant, but they didn't come off when I wiped the GB down

 

Well, the screen cover isn't on it anymore, I'm worried that's a damaged screen. If it is, those seem to be as costly as a regular gameboy. If not... eh, ebay'll give you the battery cover and the screen cover part for less than 10 dollars.

 

Turn it on and try to see if those marks on the screen are damage or of they are merely scratches. Like gorkagirl I'm worried that it's damage.
Post up pictures of it turned on as well. Use different levels of contrast

 

I attempted to turn it on today to test out the SML cartridge....and it doesn't power on. At all. No LED and no screen. I used 4 AA Batteries, fresh out of the package. I probably should have tested the GB before posting this thread.

 

Well part of restoring is to make it work again even if the console does not power on.

 

Try using an outlet on it

 

As Tofu said, test it in an outlet to see if it's currently 'dead' or if it's just an issue with the battery portion of the device.

 

Are the battery contacts corroded? Its hard to tell from the pics.

 

Unfortunately, I do not have the cable needed ATM.

 

I find it kind of amusing that your pal gave you this as a thank you for your old console.
"Thanks for the free console, here's a brick!"

 

It was working when he gave it to me.

 

Well, if you are any handy with a soldering iron, you could cut the end of a power pack you dont need and connect it directly to the board. Using the correct voltages of course.

 

I have a soldering iron, but no solder and I know jack (no pun intended) about voltages and electricity

 

For some reason, seeing as the battery compartment isn't working, I'd love to see this thing modified to use a modern power cell instead.

Now, if this was working when he gave it to you - I assume on batteries - what condition has the gameboy been stored in, for how long? Sounds obvious, but you did remove the batteries after getting it, right?

 

Batteries were removed, and it was stored in a box which was sitting on a dresser.

 

Well, that certainly adds a layer of mystery. At first, I thought possibly if it had batteries left in, some sort of corrosion could be happening here.
If it worked before but isn't working now, there's only a few things that could've happened.

Could you clean up the contact points and insert your fresh batteries again?
From what I recall of my brick-size Gameboy, without the battery cover, you will need to try and push the batteries flat against the plastic and kind of hold them there. The compartment is fairly loose, this could be causing issues also.

If this doesn't work, you might need to open this up and take a look at the board.