Cab dismantling?

[notbillcosby]

I found a gutted cabinet that started its life as a Scramble game for $40! It seems like a wonderful starting point for the MAME cab I want to build. The dimensions of the cab are definitely just a little too big to fit into my basement stairwell, which means I'll need to put the thing in my garage and tear it down and move it inside piece by piece. How difficult is this going to be to take apart? Are cabinets from 1980 generally glued together, or is it just screws? I know any number of things could've been done to it over the past 30 years... but still. Will I need a saw to get this apart?

[CheffoJeffo]

The only classic cabs that I know of that come apart well are Nintendo cabs. Otherwise I expect to see glue and staples.

Having said that, check out DPTWiz's thread about copying cabs for reproduction as he shows how he takes cabs apart to reproduce them:

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=224230

[mrclean]

I had a stern cabinet that has the same / similar dimensions to scramble and my stair well is not that easy. The top piece hit my ceiling of the stairwell in order to overcome this ; I would suggest removing the backdoor, the monitor, the glass bezel, the control panel. That should significantly reduce the weight. Than pull it to the edge of the steps tilt it back and shimmy it and literally slide it down on it's side / back on the steps. That's really the only way I can safely move cabinets into my basement by my self. Generally I'll have someone help me even if the cabinets empty saves my back and my walls. Even if I had an electric stair climbing hand truck such as the Escalera ( http://www.escalera.com/ ) I still wouldn't be able to use it with my basement stairwell configuration. I suppose you could always cut the cabinet as a last resort but I would think that would jeopardize the integrity / strength of the cab. You can always use bondo / hinge it back together but personally I wouldn't do this unless it's a last resort. Especially on a "classic" cabinet I wouldn't destroy it. Perhaps a scratch build ? 

[notbillcosby]

I definitely have no plans to DESTROY this cab, I just want to make it something usable again! It's pretty gutted out right now so I don't feel like I'd be screwing up a piece of history. It's $40 for the cab, getting the lumber would cost easily three times that, plus this is already cut and assembled... Obviously I'm goign to have to undo and redo part of that, but still, it's cheap and it's cut.

The size problem is the width. I live in a house that was built in the 1920s and the doorway in the back looks like it's gonna be too skinny, and if I go in the front there's a corner I won't be able to make it around to get into the basement. Teardown and rebuild is the only thing I can do, I *think*. Looks like it won't be super easy to get apart and will need some smart rebuilding, i figure I'd just use some angle iron along the longest/most important joints, and just use some smartly sized wood screws to hold it together. What material is this cab? MDF? Plywood? I haven't gotten to see it in person yet, and when i arrive tonight, this may be my only chance to pick it up so I won't have a ton of research time or anything. It can live in my garage while i take it apart, if that's gonna be doable. I'm going to need to rebuild parts of things anyway to account for swappable CP's and a horizontal monitor, so maaaybe this is a good thing (?) I don't know.

[paigeoliver]

Scramble should be plywood, and I think you are overthinking the difficulty. Can you walk in the door without turning sideways? Do you have a washer or a dryer down there? If so then you can get the machine down there with ease because both are normally about 6" wider than a Scramble cabinet.

Scramble is going to be 24" wide and about 30" deep. You might have to take a door or two off the hinges but it should definitely go. Standard American exterior doors are 36" wide and interior ones are usually 32" wide. Even old houses still have doors quite a bit wider than 24" (narrowest I have ever seen that wasn't a linen closet was 28").

I have never encountered a basement that it was impossible to get a classic cabinet into. If you can't get a classic cabinet down there then almost all other furniture is equally impossible. It is very common for people to overthink the size of arcade cabinets. they really aren't that big. People get mentally thrown off by the height of the things.

If you do have to take it apart (which you won't), you will not need a saw, it will be glue and staples mostly.

Measure your doorways and report back. If you don't have a ruler or a tape measure than use paper. Normal paper is 8.5" x 11".

Swapping the monitor to horizontal will be easy. Variations on that cabinet had them both ways.

[notbillcosby]

The dude who sold it to me fat fingered the dimensions; he typed 34 when he meant 24. It's in!

[paigeoliver]

Nice, I love those cabinets, one of my favorite styles for sure.

The dude who sold it to me fat fingered the dimensions; he typed 34 when he meant 24. It's in!