Shopping List & General Advice

[PhyerFly]

Hi, I'm new to these forums and the DIY arcade hobby in general, but I'm a classic console gaming collector and have always wanted to own my own arcade. I started looking into it and almost bought a pre-cut kit from mameroom.com before I looked at the shipping cost to San Diego.

I started scouring craigslist in my area and after a surprise promotion and bonus at work freed up $350 I am now the proud owner of two upright arcade cabinets that are in various states of disrepair. I've read through most of the FAQ and picked up an ebook of Project Arcade that I've been virtually thumbing through, but while I'm doing that I'd like to try and solicit some advice from the community on how to clean these cabinets up and potentially convert one to MAME powered cabinet with the spare computer / TV I have laying around.

Here's some details about each:

The first cab is a 4 player Konami cabinet with an old beat-em-up called Vendetta in it.




The game, control panel and monitor are all working decently enough to play (although the monitor seems to be losing its vibrance) but as you can see from the pics above the cabinet itself has wood gouges, some very rough, flaking edges on the bottom and the metal feet on the bottom are loose causing the cabinet to rock back and forth. I've also noticed that one of the speakers above the monitor is broken and the bulb behind the marquee seems to be out.

The second cab is a 2 player Z Back with a Street Fighter II control panel




This cabinet got "thrown in" when I purchased the Konami cab and I have no idea what works on it because my seller didn't include a PCB with it. The sides of the cabinet and the control panel are pretty scratched up and the glass covering the monitor has bunch of people's names etched into it. Other than that it seems to be mostly intact.

So, enough intro.

I'm thinking of making the Konami cab my MAME cab just because it's roomy on the inside and it seems like it would be easy to replace the top of the control panel and wire up new buttons and joysticks. I have a last generation gaming computer, ATI All-In-Wonder and a 27" Toshiba TV with S-video in that I think would fit well. My arcade experience doesn't go back as far as some (think my first arcade game was Gauntlet), so I'll probably be playing mostly fighters, beat-em-ups and old console emulators.

I honestly have no idea what to do with the Z back, but I'm open for suggestions. Maybe just repaint the exterior, buy SFII PCB and Marquee and leave it a dedicated?

My Questions:
1. Are those rough edges and gouges on the bottom of the Konami cab water damage (see pix)? Are bondo and a fresh coat of paint enough to fix those?
2. Are the fluorescent bulbs that light up the marquee a standard size that I can find at a hardware store?
3. Can I sand and spray paint the Z back cabinet (I think its MDF?). The red looks like some kind of wallpaper-like layer over wood.
4. Do I need to wire up separate buttons for coin AND start for each player?
5. Frontend-wise I saw some videos of something called Hyperspin that looked cool, but couldn't find anything about that here. Does anyone use/recommend it?
6. Everyone seems to use a router in their project posts, which is something I don't own. Do I need one if I'm not building from scratch?

I'm also trying to get together a shopping list for the MAME conversion. This is purely based off of what I've read here so far, so please fill me in if I'm missing something obvious.
1.) Keyboard encoder: IPac USB?
2.) New glass to cover each monitor bezel (is that fiberglass?)
3.) New speakers for the Konami cab
4.) 4 Joysticks: I don't play much retro, so thinking 8 ways all around
5.) 25 pushbuttons: 1 button for Back/Esc, 4 buttons for P1-4 start, 6 buttons each for P1 + P2 (fighters), 4 buttons each for P3 + P4 (neo-geo)
6.) 2 Light Guns for shooters
7.) Wire and disconnects
8.) Custom designed marquee & cp overlay artwork for the MAME cab
9.) Locking casters for both cabs for mobility

Thanks for reading, I appreciate any comments or suggestions

[orchidius]

My Questions:
1. Are those rough edges and gouges on the bottom of the Konami cab water damage (see pix)? Are bondo and a fresh coat of paint enough to fix those
--> Could be partially water damage, but the gauges are too deep to be "just" waterdamage it seems (hard to see). Either way, it's fixable! If the board looks like its falling apart (the glue in the board is comming loose), drown it in woodglue for a couple of hours and sandwich/clamp it between 2 straight planks. The gauges can be filled/sanded with bondo (maybe you can saw a bit of scrap wood to the right size and put it in before applying bondo for the biggest gouges?)
2. Are the fluorescent bulbs that light up the marquee a standard size that I can find at a hardware store?
--> No, they were custom made in Krypton, JUST for your cab... You should be able to find some arround . Ifnot, just buy a new socket/bulb, shouldn't cost you more then 15-20$.
3. Can I sand and spray paint the Z back cabinet (I think its MDF?). The red looks like some kind of wallpaper-like layer over wood.
--> Go ahead, give it a good sanding, the "wallpaper-like" layer will sand right off and leave you with a nice cheat of paintable wood
4. Do I need to wire up separate buttons for coin AND start for each player?
--> That's a possibility ofcourse, OR you could wire up those coinmechs. Don't have any experience with coinmechs...
5. Frontend-wise I saw some videos of something called Hyperspin that looked cool, but couldn't find anything about that here. Does anyone use/recommend it?
--> You couldn't find it? Have you ever heard of google? :p It's quite handy you know, you should try it http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/. Hyperspin is awesome in my opinion: it's super customizeable, looks great, has a big community behind it for support,... It does however require some time to get used to (setting up that is) and isn't the easiest to set up... BUT there's a very detailed and great guide section on the site (docs) that helps ànd there's a huge community that will gladly help you out if you encounter problems. I wouldn't pick it just because I happen to like it though... a frontend is very subjective to individual taste. My advice is to shop arround, do your homework and look into all of the big players out there. See what suits your needs/desires best. Check the wiki for a list.
6. Everyone seems to use a router in their project posts, which is something I don't own. Do I need one if I'm not building from scratch?
-->Anything can be built with a router (most things at least). Just look at Rome, it wasn't built in a day, but they got there! Even without a router. Wtf is the crazy man trying to say with that expression? Well, the Romans might've been able to get it done a whole lot quicker if they had any routers . It just makes a lot of things much easier/faster. But not to worry, you'll get there without one! Certainly a restoration project should be able to get away with it .

I'm also trying to get together a shopping list for the MAME conversion. This is purely based off of what I've read here so far, so please fill me in if I'm missing something obvious.
1.) Keyboard encoder: IPac USB? --> or its popular counterpart from GGG, the keywiz
2.) New glass to cover each monitor bezel (is that fiberglass?) --> Cheapest to use is plexiglass, you can get it at every DIY store, or real glass
3.) New speakers for the Konami cab
4.) 4 Joysticks: I don't play much retro, so thinking 8 ways all around
5.) 25 pushbuttons: 1 button for Back/Esc, 4 buttons for P1-4 start, 6 buttons each for P1 + P2 (fighters), 4 buttons each for P3 + P4 (neo-geo)
6.) 2 Light Guns for shooters
7.) Wire and disconnects
8.) Custom designed marquee & cp overlay artwork for the MAME cab
9.) Locking casters for both cabs for mobility
--------> Don't forget paint/laminate!
--------> You'll need to do a VGA/SCART cable mod if you want to use a tv (has to be SCART), if you can't get your hands on a SCART tv, you'll have to go for LCD/Arcade monitor/computer CRT

Thanks for reading, I appreciate any comments or suggestions

[DashRendar]

My Questions:
1. Are those rough edges and gouges on the bottom of the Konami cab water damage (see pix)? Are bondo and a fresh coat of paint enough to fix those?

Looks more like rough-handling than water damage.  Either way, yes- bondo and a coat of paint will make it good as new.

2. Are the fluorescent bulbs that light up the marquee a standard size that I can find at a hardware store?

Yes, these can be picked up at any Home Depot or Lowes.

3. Can I sand and spray paint the Z back cabinet (I think its MDF?). The red looks like some kind of wallpaper-like layer over wood.

You can definitely sand MDF, but be sure you have goggles and a respirator mask, especially if it's covered with paint or epoxies.

4. Do I need to wire up separate buttons for coin AND start for each player?

For MAME, this is a good idea when playing multiplayer games.  But it can be configured to use the same button (keystrokes) for all 4 if you wish.

5. Frontend-wise I saw some videos of something called Hyperspin that looked cool, but couldn't find anything about that here. Does anyone use/recommend it?

Hyperspin is one of the best front ends out there!  As someone who has used different ones, it's also one of the hardest to set up.  But it's worth it in the end if you like eye candy (and who doesn't?). 

6. Everyone seems to use a router in their project posts, which is something I don't own. Do I need one if I'm not building from scratch?

I don't own a router either, and had to make due without one.  You can use things like a power drill with a ring of duct tape on the bit to emulate what a router does, but it won't be as clean and neat.  In my case, I had some sloppy routes done this way, but it was covered with a CPO so you couldn't see it anyway. 

I'm also trying to get together a shopping list for the MAME conversion. This is purely based off of what I've read here so far, so please fill me in if I'm missing something obvious.
1.) Keyboard encoder: IPac USB?

IPACs are great.  Contact Divemaster, who sells them in the US.

2.) New glass to cover each monitor bezel (is that fiberglass?)

Something to consider here is getting your glass tinted.  Do a search of the forums on this- the tinting can really make the display look amazing.

3.) New speakers for the Konami cab

People usually use a set of cheap PC speakers for this.  I have a set of 4.1 speakers (front left, back left, front right, back right, and an amp) positioned around the inside of the cabinet.  Arcade games don't usually use surround sound, but my cab doubles as a jukebox.

4.) 4 Joysticks: I don't play much retro, so thinking 8 ways all around

This depends if you want to play a handful of games (sounds like you'll play mostly fighters, which the 8-ways are good for) or have the ability to play ALL the games.  If you want to play everything, and you have the extra cash, you should look at Ultimarc 360 sticks.  They can run as 2-way, 4-way, 4-way diagonal, 8-way, analog, etc.

Having U360s can also avoid the need for using an IPAC.

5.) 25 pushbuttons: 1 button for Back/Esc, 4 buttons for P1-4 start, 6 buttons each for P1 + P2 (fighters), 4 buttons each for P3 + P4 (neo-geo)

There's a ton of threads on here for this.  Regarding admin buttons, what I have is 1 for Escape, 1 for Enter, 1 for Tab, and 1 for Pause.

6.) 2 Light Guns for shooters

I would add these later, otherwise your cost starts getting high.  Ultimarc will be releasing their new light guns in the next year sometime, which should beat anything else on the market.

7.) Wire and disconnects

You'll want .25 female quick disconnects, which will fit everything (in an arcade, everything is either .187 or .25).

[DashRendar]

One last thing- trackballs work great in MAME cabs.

Use them as a mouse in the Windows interface.  They can also be used (to a degree) as a spinner in spinner games.

[PhyerFly]

Thanks for help guys.

5. Frontend-wise I saw some videos of something called Hyperspin that looked cool, but couldn't find anything about that here. Does anyone use/recommend it?
--> You couldn't find it? Have you ever heard of google? :p It's quite handy you know, you should try it  http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/. Hyperspin is awesome in my opinion: it's super customizeable, looks great, has a big community behind it for support

You're right, I had no trouble finding the frontend itself and I've been messing with it for a few days on my PC. I was referring to the fact that a search for the term Hyperspin produced zero results on this board (well it did until I brought it up ). I've seen lots about Mala here so I was confused as to why I didn't see anything about Hyperspin.

3. Can I sand and spray paint the Z back cabinet (I think its MDF?). The red looks like some kind of wallpaper-like layer over wood.
--> Go ahead, give it a good sanding, the "wallpaper-like" layer will sand right off and leave you with a nice cheat of paintable wood

Would it be best to sand it to the point all the red comes off or just till its a smooth even surface? If so, I may need to borrow a belt sander to make that happen.

--> You'll need to do a VGA/SCART cable mod if you want to use a tv (has to be SCART), if you can't get your hands on a SCART tv, you'll have to go for LCD/Arcade monitor/computer CRT

I've got an ATI All-In-Wonder card that has a decent S-Video out signal (TV has S-Video in also). I've got that computer/tv setup running right now as a media center and it seems to work fine for my frontend and different video resolutions. I know the arcade monitor will produce more authentic results, but I assume the monitors that are in my cabinets only work with the original resolutions of the games they came with so I was going to swap the 25" in the Konami cab with the 27" TV I have.

Thanks again for the help, this and the Project Arcade book are definitely enough to get me started

[92greenyj]

My Questions:
1. Are those rough edges and gouges on the bottom of the Konami cab water damage (see pix)? Are bondo and a fresh coat of paint enough to fix those?

Bondo will work wonders. When we got our Smokin Token unit in at my work arcade (The Gamers Garage at The Corvette Diner here in San Diego, I'm the manager of the arcade) the front bottom left corner had been pretty bashed in from the freight company. So we went to Ace and got some bondo and white spray paint. Filled it, patched it, sanded it, and painted it. And now a year later, even looking right at the patch you would never know its there.

2. Are the fluorescent bulbs that light up the marquee a standard size that I can find at a hardware store?

Definitely. I go to Ace hardware for stuff for the work arcade all the time. On my home Pac-MAME project, the original marquee light was out, and the whole assembly is pretty ancient, so I just went to Home Depot and got a whole new 18" flourescent under counter light fixture for like 8 bucks.

3. Can I sand and spray paint the Z back cabinet (I think its MDF?). The red looks like some kind of wallpaper-like layer over wood.

Go for it

5. Frontend-wise I saw some videos of something called Hyperspin that looked cool, but couldn't find anything about that here. Does anyone use/recommend it?

Check the software forum. I would have liked to use it on my project, but it ran like poo on my computer. So I am using Atomic FE instead. So far I am loving it though I am still working on getting it all set up the way I want it.




2.) New glass to cover each monitor bezel (is that fiberglass?)

That would be plexi glass. And actually, with a little work you could probably remove the graffiti from the glass you have. I had to do that at work on our new Operation game just 2 weeks ago. Some jerk scratched his name HUGE in the glass on the top of this brand new game. I went to Auto Zone and got some various rubbing compounds, various fine grit sand papers, etc. With some elbow grease and a bit of time I managed to buff out most of the scratching.

[PhyerFly]

I've been staring at both of these cabs in my garage for a few weeks now and I'm feeling a bit stuck as to where to start, but here's an update:

• I replaced the marquee lights in both the Vendetta Cab and my empty dynamo cab and am pleased that they are both still working great now that I've replaced the bulbs with shiny new ones from Lowes - thx 92greenyj
• While messing with the control panel on my Vendetta machine (trying to understand the wiring) I noticed a little crack in the marble textured plastic that sits on top of the wood on the CP. When I lifted it just a little I found that the original Vendetta control panel overlay artwork was still underneath. I assume the original protective layer (lexan I think?) was transparent so the artwork showed through, but it must have been replaced by the previous owner.

After some serious dust-removal I was also able to get some model/serial numbers that I think may help me identify the monitors.

Dynamo Cab:
Zenith R-A63ADG25X
WG846995

Vendetta Cab:
Zenith R-A63ADG25X
Y49K7191-000
054A7191-007

So, some questions:

1.) Anyone have any idea if these are decent monitors or not? The monitor in the Vendetta cab is the only one that I can confirm is working, but the colors / vibrancy are not that great even after tweaking. I read that replacing the capacitors on the board might fix that, so if I can do that (I solder a little) I might just keep the original monitor in the cabinet and pick up an ArcadeVGA card.

2.) The coin bucket doors on both of the cabs are locked shut and I don't have keys. The coin mech doors themselves open so I can see the buckets well enough, but can't find a way to get that open. Any suggestions?

[DashRendar]

Not sure about Zenith monitors, but regarding the lock-

Most folks around here just drill into the lock (where the key hole is) to open them up.

That's assuming you don't have the key, and probably never will find the key. 

Replacement cam locks are around $7-$10.  Pretty cheap to replace.

[Dr Zero]

2.) The coin bucket doors on both of the cabs are locked shut and I don't have keys. The coin mech doors themselves open so I can see the buckets well enough, but can't find a way to get that open. Any suggestions?

Drill them out carefully and then you can replace them pretty cheap from twisted quarter
http://www.twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3

He has some other goodies you might like also between groovygamegear.com http://therealbobroberts.net/www.lizardlick.com/ www.twistedquarter.com/ you can find just about everything   

[PhyerFly]

So it's been a while since I've updated this thread, but I've finally found the time and the desire to continue working on my cabinet(s). Of course that brought me right back with questions - so I appreciate any help anyone has to offer.

I've decided to start simple and just convert my red dynamo z-back cabinet into a dedicated fighter cabinet since it already has a CP setup for street fighter. I have a Vampire Savior 2 CPS2 B board (and an A board) on their way to me right now, so now I just need to get the cab ready.

Control Panel:

The cabinet has one of those fold down control panels with and a removable drawer that holds the PCB that slides out with it, so I decided to unplug everything, slide it out and see what the condition was.





From what I can tell, I've already got the JAMMA harness for the CP but I'll be needing a whole bunch of replacement switches, some new disconnects, and I'd like to get some new artwork (or at least something better than the ripped SF2 layout). The control panel itself is metal and it looks like the existing artwork is on stuck on there like a huge sticker.

Question: Any suggestions on how to get the existing artwork off? Should I just sand it?
Question: Are there vendors that sell adhesive CP artwork in the shape of my CP that I can just replace it with?

The next thing I noticed was the wood of the kick panel / coin door area of the cabinet is split at the top and probably should be replaced. I removed the coin door and took some pictures:






I have 0 woodworking experience, but replacing this one panel seems reasonably easy

Question: If I was to replace this, how can I get this one piece out without damaging the rest of the cabinet? Should I cut it out with a saw?
Question: What kind of wood should I get to replace this panel with?

Thanks for the help