First cabinet questions

[IllState]

I've been looking to build a MAME cabinet for a few years now but never really did anything about it until I ran across an old Donkey Kong cabinet. (at least I think it was DK due to some of the inside still having the blue paint) The cabinet itself was gutted. I'm looking for a monitor right now, but I have a few questions.

1. Is 8liners.com a decent site as far as orders go? I saw they got pretty decent monitor prices so I was wondering

2. Does anyone that maybe has done this before have some advice on how to make the control panel wider without cutting the cabinet? I saw a youtube video where a guy had a similar style cab. He had done this to it seemed but there was no info on that process in the video.

[Dazz]

Blue pain...  It's probably from a Popeye.  Donkey Kong cabinets were orange.  But they are the same Nintendo cabinet style which is a highly desirable cabinet.

I'll be the first, but not the last, to say this...  DON'T MAME IT!  Restore to a Donkey Kong machine and sell it, then use the money to purchase a different cabinet to MAME.

[PixelPaul]

Donkey Kong cabinets were blue, it was the Donkey Kong Jr. cabinets that were orange.

[IllState]

In a perfect world i would just restore it to DK and sell it. However, due to the fact the cabinet is completely gutted all the parts I need come to a total of about $950 due to the high cost of monitors. Plus I am not sure if the board in the cab is working. (It has a sticker on it that says it was last tested in 1993.) It would simply be a lot more affordable to put a new CP on this cab without damaging it so that the restore can be done in the future when the cash is less of a problem. I already have joysticks, buttons, trackball, and a pc. So just doing it my way would only cost me the price of wood for the CP, paint, monitor, bezel and marquee.

edit: Upon closer inspection I don't believe that it is even a DK board in there...the board says Konami on it so I have no idea what game it is.

[IllState]

Doing some more research on parts and everything for a restore I'm still thinking it will be too expensive...My Parts needed list would be as follows:

Cabinet hardware (from Mikesarcade.com)

Bezel Art retainer - 17.00
Nintendo Style Joystick - 24.00
Joystick adapter (says its needed because its not an exact original nintendo joystick) - 12.00
DK Board - 140
Monitor Brackets - 10.75
Lower monitor support - 15.00
Upper monitor support - 15.50
Color invertor and sound amp board - 25.00
Button holders - 12.00
Buttons - 10.00
T-molding - 11.00
Power supply - 32.00
6inch speaker - 14.00
Hardware total = $336.25 + shipping

Artwork (http://www.gameongrafix.com)

Marquee - 50
Sideart - 62.99
CPO - 32.99
Bezel - 39.95

Artwork total = 185.93

19 inch monitor - between $199 and $299

Total restore cost = $723.18 - $824.18 plus paint and shipping


MAME cabinet option (Cab will be painted and dings filled in but artwork to be added later)

Bezel Art retainer - 17.00
Monitor Brackets - 10.75
Lower monitor support - 15.00
Upper monitor support - 15.50
Monitor - 199-300
T-Molding - 11

Total = $268.25 - $369.25

Thats almost $450 less than a restore so unless someone knows where I can get parts cheaper the MAME cab option is still better sounding to me.

[severdhed]

i'd probably try to sell the cabinet to someone who wants to restore a DK...please don't bastardize that cabinet with a giant panel.

i'm not against maming it, it makes more sense to have a cabinet that plays more than one game, but perhaps go the route that Javeryh took...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=94351.0


restored the cabinet to make it look like a Donkey Kong, but it is running mame with about 30 games that are playable with those controls.  

[Turnarcades]

I think what everyone is saying is to just find a different shell - if you can't restore it then offer it to someone who can as A) it's better to allow classics to remain intact for restoration and B) if MAMEing is your intention, there are better cabs that would suit your needs, particularly as you want a bigger control panel.

Butchering a cabinet to fit a big control panel is tricky to accomplish and can look very ugly anyway, butchering a classic to do fit a big control panel is just sacrilige.

[severdhed]

i had a DK cabinet that i picked up pretty cheap, with the intention of eventually restoring it. i got it up and running with mame pretty quickly much like javery's setup only not pretty.  once i started looking into the costs of replacing the artwork and various things, i realized that it was going to cost alot of money to make it look nice.  and I know that i really didn't think I had it in me to do this cabinet justice...so i sold it.  i put it up for sale in the B/S/T forum and sold it for what i paid for it.  that way i wasnt out any money, and hopefully it will get the proper treatment that i never would have given it.  I like generic mame cabinets, but a DK is not a good base for such a cabinet.

it has been my experience that  empty generic cabinets are not hard to come by, so please don't destroy that cabinet.  at least try to sell it, i'm sure you can find someone who would give you something for it.  if you are set on keeping it and maming it, at least dont modify the structure of the cabinet, make a panel that fits within the cabinet and go with it.  set it up as a classics cabinet or something.  a big control panel on a DK cabinet is just not cool

[R1V3R5]

Where are you OP? Because I'm assuming you are in Illinois by your screen name. Because if you were any closer I'd totally buy it off you and restore it. But I'm way down in Alabama.

Whatever you do, I wouldn't cut it up. Either restore it or sell it. Or mame it with old school games that the cab was meant for.

[IllState]

In my experience I've been looking for a cab to mess around with for years and this is the first and only one I've come across.  I don't know anyone with arcade machines other than the guy who gave me this cab (It was used for parts on his Donkey Kong restore), Peoria's Craigslist is crap for arcade machines so if I give this one up I have a feeling I'll never have another one.

The problem is although I'm 31, I have no affinity towards 95 percent of the games Javeryh's cabinet plays and DK and Pac-Man would be fun for about 10 minutes before I was ready to move on. So I guess in short if anyone near Peoria, IL wants a DK cabinet I'll consider a trade for a different cab, but act fast, I was going to order a monitor and get this project kicked off here in a week or two.

Edit: B/S/T forum link http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=105733.0

[Turnarcades]

Fair play. At least if no-one bites, you've at least tried.

[IllState]

Fair play. At least if no-one bites, you've at least tried.

I'm trying but I think I'm going to run into the same problems I did getting this machine.....No one around this area giving a crap about arcade machines.

[nitz]

A DK cab would be one of my holy grails. I don't want to see a DK cab get destroyed. But if it's painted over and doesn't seem to have anything original other than the shell, and you fail in a reasonable effort to find someone who will take it and restore it then I would say mame it if that's what you want. If you're in an area where no one gives a crap about arcade cabs, then it's unlikely that this was ever gonna get restored anyway. And without anything original on it, it's essentially a chunk of 30 year old wood. It's seems kind of silly to give up the only cab you've been able to find if nobody wants it bad enough to go out to you and trade you for another.

Now if it was a complete or mostly complete DK, I'd feel differently. Then I'd say you really oughta keep that sucker nice until someone will trade you because I'm sure you'd find someone who will make a drive out to you to trade sooner or later. But I think it's silly to fret over losing what has essentially become just a chunk of wood. Where does the line get drawn? If someone had a half a DK cab, would we say, "Hey! don't wreck that, because someone might have the opposite half and would do a restore!" As far as I'm concerned, if all that's left is the wood, then that's all it is is wood. I've never understood the point of trying to save something that's really already gone.

[CapriRS302]

MAME it, MAME it, MAME it!!!

you can build a bigger control panel that bolts right onto the original control panel mounting holes.  Just build a panel as large as you want, and cut slots for the sides of the machine to fit into, then you can extend the panel 18 inches or so.

[DillonFoulds]

MAME it, MAME it, MAME it!!!

you can build a bigger control panel that bolts right onto the original control panel mounting holes.  Just build a panel as large as you want, and cut slots for the sides of the machine to fit into, then you can extend the panel 18 inches or so.

... Yeah... or DON'T!

I love mame as much as the next BYOAC'er, but have you considered just repainting to match as close to original as you can? For a control panel, measure the original dimensions, and mock up a layout that works for what you want in Photoshop (gimp, or what have you). Bring the original and a full size print of your proposed new panel into a local welding shop and have them scrap one up for ya. Shouldn't cost you more than 20$ or a case of beer for a nice new panel that's free of holes. You'll still have the original to toss inside your cabinet, for if you decide to restore some time down the road.

There's no need to go 4 player on a cabinet that size, and 2 players should fit around it, I'd imagine. You shouldn't have too much trouble to *tastefully* mame it.

[IllState]

A DK cab would be one of my holy grails. I don't want to see a DK cab get destroyed. But if it's painted over and doesn't seem to have anything original other than the shell, and you fail in a reasonable effort to find someone who will take it and restore it then I would say mame it if that's what you want. If you're in an area where no one gives a crap about arcade cabs, then it's unlikely that this was ever gonna get restored anyway. And without anything original on it, it's essentially a chunk of 30 year old wood. It's seems kind of silly to give up the only cab you've been able to find if nobody wants it bad enough to go out to you and trade you for another.

Now if it was a complete or mostly complete DK, I'd feel differently. Then I'd say you really oughta keep that sucker nice until someone will trade you because I'm sure you'd find someone who will make a drive out to you to trade sooner or later. But I think it's silly to fret over losing what has essentially become just a chunk of wood. Where does the line get drawn? If someone had a half a DK cab, would we say, "Hey! don't wreck that, because someone might have the opposite half and would do a restore!" As far as I'm concerned, if all that's left is the wood, then that's all it is is wood. I've never understood the point of trying to save something that's really already gone.

My thoughts exactly. Before people start thinking I'm some kinda sadist butcher trying to add wings to a Nintendo cab its literally nothing but the wood...the CP is covered in shelf paper and not the original...button layouts are different.  I only want the CP to be a little deeper and wider, not the giant monstrosity in the youtube video i posted

MAME it, MAME it, MAME it!!!

you can build a bigger control panel that bolts right onto the original control panel mounting holes.  Just build a panel as large as you want, and cut slots for the sides of the machine to fit into, then you can extend the panel 18 inches or so.

... Yeah... or DON'T!

I love mame as much as the next BYOAC'er, but have you considered just repainting to match as close to original as you can? For a control panel, measure the original dimensions, and mock up a layout that works for what you want in Photoshop (gimp, or what have you). Bring the original and a full size print of your proposed new panel into a local welding shop and have them scrap one up for ya. Shouldn't cost you more than 20$ or a case of beer for a nice new panel that's free of holes. You'll still have the original to toss inside your cabinet, for if you decide to restore some time down the road.

There's no need to go 4 player on a cabinet that size, and 2 players should fit around it, I'd imagine. You shouldn't have too much trouble to *tastefully* mame it.

Actually I'm thinking of kind of meeting you both in the middle if no one wants to trade for this cab and getting it looking stock except for the bigger CP which will be carefully done so as to not damage the cab should I want to complete the restore.  When it gets done people probably won't like that Ive made the panel bigger to accommodate 2 6 button layouts and a trackball, but I promise no harm will come to the cab, and you won't be able to nap on the CP. Like I said I'm thinking 30 inches across and 17 inches high max with slots cut out of the CP so as to not harm the machine.

[Skeptic73]

Yeah the only thing anyone in this area cares about is the poker machines. I know some people with a storage bin full of old arcades. I might be able to help you find something. They couldn't  care less about them. They are just not motivated to do anything with them.