Help needed adding buttons to my control panel

[spman]

I'm new to this whole thing, having just gotten my first cabinet a little over a month ago. Currently I have a 4 Player Konami Sunset Riders cabinet which is wired for 4 joysticks with 2 buttons each. What I am looking to do is modify the control panel to add a start button, and an additional action button for each player. Can someone give me some help on what the best way to go about doing this is?

Currently the Jamma harness isn't wired for additional buttons, so would it be easier for me to start with buying a new harness, or can I just wire the one I currently have? Can someone give me a step by step of the parts I will need, wires, microswitches, connectors, buttons, molex connectors, etc that I will need? What is the best way to drill the nescessary holds into the Contol Panel for the buttons? Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

[severdhed]

well, what are your intentions with this cabinet?  im assuming that since you are adding buttons, you are planning on installing a mame pc.  is this currently a working cabinet?  do you have a functional monitor in it?  we realy need mroe info.

[bkenobi]

Pictures wouldn't hurt either.

[spman]

No, it currently functions with no problems, I play Sunset Riders and TMNT on it with no problem by switching the PCBs. I would like to play some other games on it however such as X-Men, NBA Jam, WWF Wrestlefest, Double Dragon, etc. which all require either a start button and / or a third action button which my cabinet currently doesn't have, so I want to wire some additional buttons onto the cabinet for this purpose.

I'll post pictures when I get home later

Thanks

[severdhed]

oh, so no mame at all?  just swapping PCBs?  then i cannot help you.

[Dr Zero]

Sounds like you might have some of what you will need there already since its a 4 player cab so here are some links that explain the harness in more detail

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick_harness
The kick harness, also known as the extra harness or plus harness, is a set of additional connectors that allow arcade PCBs to have extra inputs beyond what the JAMMA wiring standard allows. A typical JAMMA PCB supports only 1 joystick and 3 buttons each for 2 players. JAMMA boards that require this extra harness are referred to as JAMMA+ or JAMMA Plus boards.

http://www.arcaderepairtips.com/2010/03/24/getting-familiar-with-the-jamma-standard/

http://www.jamma-nation-x.com/jammax/multikickharness.html