Picking up an old cab, best things to inspect/look for?

[Blux]

As the topic states, I will be picking up a used cab.

I'm heading down to Duff Amusements tomorrow to get one.  The owner knows my mom and said he would be happy to give me a free arcade cabinet.  He said he has several to choose from (all gutted of course).  What should I be looking for? 

[Well Fed Games]

As the topic states, I will be picking up a used cab.

I'm heading down to Duff Amusements tomorrow to get one.  The owner knows my mom and said he would be happy to give me a free arcade cabinet.  He said he has several to choose from (all gutted of course).  What should I be looking for? 

Bring a flashlight and a measuring tape, for sure.

1. Water damage- expect the bottoms of the cabinets for swelling or mold, discoloration.

2. Size- will it fit where you need it to fit, does it have wheels? Monitor size ? A 19" tv is easier to find as a drop-in replacement than a 25", etc.

3. What "parts" are still on it? Little things like coin door bezels and marquee retainers add up if you have to buy them. If you can find one with glass/bezel in good shape, that can be a huge savings. If he has more than one machine where parts are interchangable, he might let you cherry pick a few things from other cabs to make one more complete. Bring some quarters to send through the coin mechs.

4. How is the control panel currently populated? That will affect how much work you have to put in to play what you want. If you like fighters, go with a SF or MK, etc. If you want classics, a pac type cab, etc.

5. I have found that even "gutted" cabs that are going to be mamed may have some unneeded original parts you can sell off- don't throw anything away!

Best of luck, if nothing else you are saving some $$ and getting a head start on a project!

[dfmaverick]

Water Damage would be one thing to look for on a gutted cab.

Don't want to spend most of your time repairing water damage or replacing large areas due to water damage.


I suppose the main thing to look for is how well the idea you have in your mind's eye will work on a certain style of cabinet.

[leapinlew]

You should have an idea what monitor size you want. 19" or >25" and 2 player vs 4 player

[Jack Burton]

On the off chance one of them is a rare cabinet you might want to look up these on
http://www.arcade-museum.com/

Star Wars arcade
Tron
Discs of Tron
Tempest
Red Donkey Kong

These are sought after cabinets and if you can pick one up for a less than $50 I'm sure you can make your money back on them. 

[nitz]

A question you should ask yourself when looking at a cab is: How much work will I have to put into this to make it the way I want it? Are you going to have to sand and repaint? Do you have the space and desire to do that? Do you like the control panel it has, or are you going to want to tear it out and replace it? More work and money.

So if I were you, I would try to pick one that's in decent shape cosmetically and has a CP you can use. Almost 2 years ago I jumped on a cab in my area because they're scarce around here, especially if you don't want to pay a lot. The paint was just fugly and the CP was crap. I was living in an apartment at the time and did not want to sand/paint indoors, so I covered it with contact paper (I know I know ). I replaced the CP. I started to hate the contact paper, and the CP was flimsy and uncomfortable. I got some vinyl to cover it with instead, but the contact paper left so much residue that I couldn't seem to get off, that the vinyl looks sort of crappy over top of it. And I've built and scrapped another CP since then too. So it's 2 years later and I have a cab I'm not too happy with. I have some workspace now, so I'm debating whether I should keep trying to fix this one up, or just do a scratch build. I'm leaning toward scratch build.

So bottom line: Don't do what I did. Get a cab that is more or less what you want and doesn't need a lot of work (unless of course you actually have the space, resources, time, and desire to do the work). I look forward to seeing what you end up with.

[compute]

Next time around I will be WAY more discriminating about water damage.  I picked up an Outrun UR cab stripped out.  It has about 8" of water damage on the bottom, and I am cutting new wood for it right now.  Hopefully it will turn out ok.  Also have to build a CP for it, since it won't be a driving game any longer.  It will be less work than building from scratch, but probably more work than I wanted to do first time around.

Check the feet.  I had to cut some wood for my P-47 cabinet due to the slightest amount of water damage on the front side.  It swelled the wood on the bottom and the leveler plates broke through the bottom and got all mangled.  If the levelers break off, that increases the likelihood that will be damage to the corners.

Also I second the "left" parts comment.  My Outrun had the whole power supply board left in it as well as a non-functioning monitor.  The monitor is some ---smurfy--- offbrand that I may try to fix in the future, but in the mean time I have a mount in great condition.  I was able to sell off the power supply parts and wiring harnesses to people who needed them.

If you're a nut about coin doors and the doors have been yanked out, look for a cabinet that uses a coin door which is easy to find, like an "over / under" coin door.  I picked up one of these doors complete with mechs in great shape for $25 local.

Good luck!  I hope you have better luck than I seem to