Newbie needs help restoring cab

[DjinniMan]

Hello all.  I am a newbie to the MAME cabinet thing, though I've been reading the site and boards regularly for about a year.  It's been a lot of fun reading and there is some great information for sure!

This past spring, I was lucky enough to get a Q*Bert cabinet, for free.  The cab had been totally gutted, even the control panel is gone.  It had also been in standing water at some point, and as a result the bottom 6 inches of the cab are severely swollen.  I'd say in the worst places, the 3/4 inch board has swollen to about 2 inches thick.

Now, here's the question.  What's the best way to fix it?  From what I can determine, here are my options.

1.  Cut it off above the water damage, and use plywood and some 2x4's to build a "shelf" to attach to the bottom to keep it the same height.  Then use wood putty to fill in and make it look nice.

2.  Use wood glue and some clamps to try to stick it together the best I can, and then use wood putty and a good putty knife to scrape it down to size.

3.  Any suggestions?

I'll try to post some pics of the damage when I get home this evening.  I should probably mention that I'm planning to keep the sideart intact and use the machine for MAME.  

Thanks in advance for your help!

DjinniMan

[hyiu]

I would say cut it off....
cos if it is swollen... its not strong enough anymore....

if your cab uses MDF.... you probably want to match it back with mdf and some supporting beams inside to make it stand the same height again....

exactly how to approach.... hmmm... I guses seeing a pic with give us more ideas....

[tmasman]

Here you go...
The best thing you could do is rebuild the botom (you said 6 inches bad... hmmm..) 12 inches of the cabinet...

Take a circular saw & chop off the bottom 12" of the bad wood.
Cut a new piece to the exact same size/shape needed to replace the now missing bottom.
Slap it in place, Put some supports behind it if neccesary, wood putty (or bondo), repaint (or laminate), and you're done!

It does take some time & will be a pain in the rear! (Most people will scrap a water damaged cab in a heartbeat... Hence why you got it free!)  But it can be a fun little project if you like doing that kind of stuff.  Just asess the condition of the cab & make sure all this work is going to be worth it!  You may just be better off building a new cabinet using this one as a template...

[DjinniMan]

Thanks for the help, guys.  I figured remaking the base would be the best solution.  I know it will be a hassle, but I have more time than money lately so the cheaper the solution, the better.

As far as building a new cabinet goes, I'm going to wait until I can afford a nice SlikStik or construct it myself.  The Q*Bert cab isn't wide enough to support a 2 player control panel with a spinner and trackball, which is my eventual goal.  So I'll just build a nicer cab from scratch at that time.

The fixed-up Q*Bert will have to suffice until I have the money to spend, though.  Right now it looks like my best bet.  I'm planning to buy a HotRod SE (I know, sad, but it's cheap and easy for those of us who fear wiring!), and even it will be a bit wide for the tiny little 20" wide Q*Bert cab.

By the way, is it possible to remove the purple color from a HotRod?  Or should I just paint over it?  I'd like for it to match the rest of the cab better, though purple (without the HotRod logo) does match somewhat.

DjinniMan

[DjinniMan]

Here are some pics of the cab and the water damage.

[DjinniMan]

Here are some pics of the cab and the water damage.

[paigeoliver]

You know it isn't really "restoration" if you are going to stick a freaking Hot Rod on there. That will look terrible, much worse than the water damage that the thing has now.

Also, realize that the cabinet repair you are talking about doing here is much more complex and difficult than wiring a control panel. If you know how to read then you can wire a control panel using an I-Pac, standard controls and quick disconnects.

I won't argue this point further in this thread. If you simply MUST use a Hot Rod for some mystery reason, then just buy it for the parts and transfer those parts over to a control panel that actually fits the cabinet.

[DjinniMan]

Well, I knew mentioning the HotRod might open a can or worms.  I'm sorry if I offended anyone with the HotRod idea.

There's several reasons I am considering using a HotRod.  First, the recent price drop makes a HotRod a real bargain.  Figuring the cost of the sticks, buttons, I-PAC, etc. adds up quickly, and a pre-built option for a similar price is very attractive.  Especially when I am a real wiring idiot.

Second, I don't think I can get 2 joysticks and 6 buttons per player, plus 1up, etc. in the cabinet as narrow as it is without mangling the cab anyway.  It's just over 19" wide.  I'm planning to play this with my 9 year old son a lot, so having only 1 set of controls is not an option.

Restoration was a poor choice of words, I will admit.  I am less concerned about restoring the game than I am getting a good MAME cabinet up and running fairly inexpensively.

By the way, I'm not sure this was originally a Q*Bert cab anyway.  There is a bright orange layer underneath the yellow on the sides, and the shape of the cabinet seems odd as well.  Does anyone have any ideas?

[paigeoliver]

It is likely a Reactor that was factory converted to a Q*Bert. There were no conversion kits for Q*Bert and that was certainly a Gottlieb cabinet.

Also, that is a standard sized cabinet. I have owned all sorts of standard sized cabinets. Yes you can get a standard Streetfighter layout on it. I do not have that specific cabinet myself, but have owned an Elevator Action and an Arabian that were both converted to Streetfighter 2, and I have seen a picture of a Q*Bert converted to one also. So the controls will fit just fine.

You are likely just getting the idea that the controls won't fit from the every large crowd of younger Mamers here who have never really even seen an actual 19" classic cabinet, much less played one. All they know are the showcase cabinets and Mortal Kombat 4 cabinets, which is why you see so many monsters like showcase Jungle Kings, and 4 foot wide control panels hacked onto Centipedes.

Also, measure that cabinet again. No was is it only 19" wide. I own a tiny sub-caberet Space Firebird, that looks like a Dwarf compared to even a standard mini cabinet, and that is 19" wide. You have a full sized (albeit short) cabinet. Maybe the panel is 19" wide, but the cabinet itelf has to be a bit wider than that (the industry standard was 23-24" for a long time).

I have at home a 19"x5" control panel that has on it 2 joysticks, one bank of 6 buttons, a trackball, 2 start buttons to the right of the trackball, and it still has an inch to spare on each side.

Also, if your son is only 9, consider maybe just going with a 4 button layout instead. Less cramped.

Just trying to keep you from making a mistake. My first Mame cabinet was a "monster" like the ones I fight against now. You know where it ended up? In the garbage. The minute you truly hack up a cabinet you have sealed its fate. It will eventually go in the dumpster.

[crsdawg]

  dj, i wanted to show you a cab i put together a few months ago. the game started life as a karate champ, although by the time it made it to my hands it was 2 or 3 conversions, a layer of shelf paper and several coats of black paint away from it's orginal set-up. this cab and the one you have are similar in width, although the cp on mine ended up with a steeper angle than yours will have. i was able to get 2 joys w/ 6 buttons each, and a 2 1/4 tb in it. i had plenty of space and 2 players could play comfortably together.
  trust me, if you make a custom cp you'll be much happier than if you bought a x-arcade panel. if you shop around you'll probably pay less and have better parts. i've used their buttons and they are ok, but from what i've heard the x-arcade joys are of questionable quality. you could use an original cp and drill it for you purposes or you could make a one with wood. both options have their benefits and can be done fairly easily with all the info found on this site.
  good luck with the cab. if your the type who likes projects, you'll find building it is just about as fun as playing the games. although i don't envy your water damage problem, but it sounds like you have a handle on it.

   

[Lilwolf]

If your going to cut anything..

Look at the side art... See if you can make a clean cut and save the graphics.    That is whats great about the cabinet.

It shouldn't be all that hard if you do it parts.   Stablity will probably be the issue thought.  You might want to put some 2x2 or 2x4s in each corner and take them from the top / bottom and attached well (at the top 1/2)

Anyway, not having a frame to build around might be a problem.  So building it up might help out.... You might even want' to doubleup the wood on the inside just make sure it's really secure enought.

[DjinniMan]

Wow, guys, thanks for all the responses.  After thinking about it for a bit, I am almost convinced to go ahead and make my own control panel.

Lilwolf:  I'll be sure to save that side art.  It really is nice looking and should clean up very well.  Also, I had already planned to take 2x4's and reinforce the frame for stability.  Thanks for the tip about doubling up the wood.

Crsdawg:  That control panel looks really nice!  Do you happen to have a template handy?  I'm not interested in a trackball, but I could use the space for a 4-way joystick rotated 45 degrees so I could actually play Q*Bert on the Q*Bert cab!  

Paigeoliver:  Thanks for the Reactor tip.  I looked it up on the Killer List of Videogames and that is definitely what it was.  I'll see what I can do about getting all those controls in there.  The control panel itself was 19 and 3/4 inch wide.  I guess I could overlap it and make it just over 21 inches wide.  I think I could fit all those controls in there.

Also, I am 29 and grew up on those tiny little cabinets myself.  I have vivid memories of going to Chuck E. Cheese and seeing row upon row of these classic cabinets.  I'd love to keep this cab looking more "classic".  I was just concerned about being able to run 2 player games, that's all.

Now my mind is racing, I'll keep you all updated!

DjinniMan

[paigeoliver]

Great, but don't overlap it. Keep the control panel the exact same size and position as the original. Overlapping it would gain you nothing and would ruin the look.