Possible to modify existing cab?

[notroubleclubber]

Hi
I have mamed my existing arcade machine. I think its just a generic cab. Its the one in the pic:


I have changed the control panel to this:


however I want to change this to better make joysticks and buttons and install leds to run with mame. I also would like to add a trackball.

I currently have a 20-21" pc monitor in the cab at the moment which works fine but is now showing signs of wear so i may swap this out for my 22" lcd widescreen monitor( or i may buy a bigger lcd monitor). Because the lcd monitor is alot thinner im wondering if i can make the cabinet alot less shallower as i wont need the extra depth for the crt monitor.
Would it be a case of just cutting the back down like this (where i have marked):


I would just cut where i marked and then remount the back ,back on the cab. Would this work? (Im only suggest this as the wife has started to moan about the size of the thing!)

[orchidius]

I guess you could, if you consider issues with stability (it looks like it has a really small base, so it would probably fall over if you cut the whole back side off).

Another issue to consider is ofc the artwork and more importantly, the material the cab is made out of. If it's laminated particleboard that's 30 years old, it will chip off everywhere and you will get a nasty cut...

But not impossible of course if you take a couple things in consideration ^^

[garnerb350]

This is just my opinion, but i agree with Orchid... making it shallower might make it unstable... Keep the orginal design...plus also later down the road, you might decide to go a different route with the cab... in the end you would just be doing more work... You could just end up building one from stratch using a shallow design...

[notroubleclubber]

thanks for the replies.
i should have said ive taken off the artwork so its just plain original laminated now. i would love to build my own but cant find any "thin" designs. im useless with woodwork but if i could find something like lusids design where every panel size is marked up i think i could give it a go. I could then use parts from this cab to keep costs down.

Has anyone got any links?

[brock.sampson]

Koenigs Project Mame would be a good start and he has some detailed plans posted as well.

http://www.koenigs.dk/mame/eng/draw.htm

[severdhed]

i agree, cutting the back off could make it very unstable, it would suck for it to fall over and crush someone

[HaRuMaN]

the wife has started to moan about the size of the thing!

No mangle needed.

[DaOld Man]

the wife has started to moan about the size of the thing!

No mangle needed.

Well, I guess that's better than laughing about it.