Building Control Panel for 3 Koam Z Back

[davijc02]

I recently purchased a "Z" Back cabinet to turn into my mame machine. It did not come with a control panel and I really don't like the ones that were made for them. They seem to small for me. I ultimately would like a 2 player with 7 buttons per player, start buttons for each side, and a trackball. Also maybe some pinball buttons on the side. Where the old CP was positioned the sides are slightly angled downward preventing from simply placing a box on top. I'm nervous to just start hacking away material. Anyone have any suggestions or know of others whom have modified similar cabinet?

All help is appreciated.

[yotsuya]

I recently purchased a "Z" Back cabinet to turn into my mame machine. It did not come with a control panel and I really don't like the ones that were made for them. They seem to small for me. I ultimately would like a 2 player with 7 buttons per player, start buttons for each side, and a trackball. Also maybe some pinball buttons on the side. Where the old CP was positioned the sides are slightly angled downward preventing from simply placing a box on top. I'm nervous to just start hacking away material. Anyone have any suggestions or know of others whom have modified similar cabinet?

All help is appreciated.

Suggestion? Don't hack that Z-Back up to add a frankenpanel to it. See if you can trade someone for a Midway or Konami style 4 player cabinet so you can add a larger control box without hacking up the sides.

[Nephasth]

I recently purchased a "Z" Back cabinet to turn into my mame machine. It did not come with a control panel and I really don't like the ones that were made for them. They seem to small for me. I ultimately would like a 2 player with 7 buttons per player, start buttons for each side, and a trackball. Also maybe some pinball buttons on the side. Where the old CP was positioned the sides are slightly angled downward preventing from simply placing a box on top. I'm nervous to just start hacking away material. Anyone have any suggestions or know of others whom have modified similar cabinet?

All help is appreciated.

Suggestion? Don't hack that Z-Back up to add a frankenpanel to it. See if you can trade someone for a Midway or Konami style 4 player cabinet so you can add a larger control box without hacking up the sides.

Yeah, don't ---fudgesicle--- up that cab. Sell it to someone who wants it. There's plenty of golden tee cabs out there you can hack away on.

[davijc02]

I'd prefer not to cut away material either. However, I've got the cabinet here and currently in the process of replacing some of the water damaged wood at the bottom anyhow. Any ideas on modifying the cabinet without cutting away material. One I idea that I have it cutting a board the width of the slide out panel these had and screwing it into the supports for the original panel from the bottom side and having it extend outward towards the front more to give it more depth thus allowing more space for more items.

[yotsuya]

Here's what I would do...

1. Refurb it to a nice shape. Fix the wood, repaint if necessary.

2. Install games on it that work well with the existing panel. There should be plenty.

3. Play it until bored.

4. Scour CL, ebay, etc, for a Golden Tee. Offer to trade the Z-Back for it, or sell the Z-Back and use the money to keep the Golden Tee (or just keep the Z-Back and pick up the Golden Tee).

5. Rebuild the CP box on the Golden Tee to be whatever you wanted for the Z-Back.

That's what I would do. 

[Generic Eric]

Build a fighter with a Capcom layout; see if you can play Skullgirls on it.  When you tire of that, sell it to your friend that hates for you to get rid of it.  Buy or build what you want at that point.

[harveybirdman]

Dude I have one, you have 25 1/2 inches of space....

You're going to need at LEAST 32-36 inches to do all the controls you're thinking about, aesthetically its doomed.

How much do you have in the cab so far and where are you located?

[davijc02]

I paid $65 for the cabinet. I removed the front panel. It had some rot and was jacked up. Figured it easier to replace than try and salvage. I have the monitor. No clue if it works or not im guessing it doesn't. I live in NE Indiana. I figured I could get away with 32" and probably will continue on trying to build something for it. It was a struggle to convince my wife to let me get this one. Surely things won't go well if I say it won't do I need another.

Gotta be a way to make this work and still look decent.

[Nephasth]

There is a way. Stick to a 6 button layout and ---fudgesicle--- the trackball.

[harveybirdman]

I'm in OK I'd give you the 65 in a heartbeat for the monitor and the coin door alone, too bad I'm not closer.


What do you want this project to play the most? If the answer is trackball games make a one player three button and trackball panel.  If the answer is double dragon or turtles with your buddy then make the two player panel Nep suggests.  If you HAVE to do all the controls you mentioned then you should really consider selling the cab and doing a pedestal.  Or you can go down your current path and make the cab YOU want it is after all your project.   Just prepare yourself for critical feedback if you post pics here.

[davijc02]

I didn't really want to have to CP's. That thought crossed my mind. I wanted it all integrated. I was looking to have a panel that was as close to an all around as you could get with a trackball. I wanted to have the trackball due to the fact I was going to add the Golden Tee 2005 or newer PCB into the cabinet as well in the future.

I notice the cab was cheap and thought I could fashion something up to make it what I wanted. I'm not much of purist or doing a correct restoration on this thing. Mainly want it to look decent but be functional.

Good to hear that it sounds like I didn't get a bad deal on it though.

[Generic Eric]

I'm not a purist either.  You are less than likely to receive anyone's permission here to make that cab other than what it was intended to be.  Just say no to frankenpanels. Eventually, everyone will have made their best effort to discourage you.  If you continue, more than likely, you'll be presented with a "Go ahead; its your cab anyway."  Because it is.   

You can have your trackball in the cab, 'cause its yours.  Just don't carry on like its the only option. 

Golden Tee was one of the largest offenders to the Arcades.  That damn game was the newhotness in its day and killed any creativity in the market, until big buck hunter that is.  There is a fair amount of disdain for it.  Some of it unacknowledged. 

Have fun.  $65 is a nice dinner for two, with a few rounds of drinks.  Have fun with this. 

[yotsuya]

Yeah, Eric's right, ultimately, it's your cabinet, and you can do whatever you want to with it. But truth be told, with a little bit of effort, you could turn that back into something that you could use to trade up for something closer to what you really want.

It's not so much about being a purist, it's more about not having something janky in your living room.

[davijc02]

Im just not interested in building this to trade to build something else. More of a one and done for me. I'll come up with something that looks decent for the basement where i'm sure all of my friends who don't build arcade machines won't notice the fact that my control panel isn't correct to the cabinet.

Thanks for the replies

[mgb]

It sounds like you got the wrong cabinet for what you want.
Though I have seen zbacks done with slightly over sized control panels.

I would still advise you to ask yourself though, do you really need all those controls?

An arcade cabinet that plays every single game can turn into a real drag.

[davijc02]

This is my first build so I was excited to find a overall decent cabinet at a fair price. I thought the Z back was unique. I think I can agree to a 6 button layout as that will allow me to play pretty much all the games. I still would like the trackball.

I know that Knievel cut the "wings" down on a dynamo cab to make a control panel work. I've also seen a post another guy did with the same cabinet that I have in which he used a 4 player HS-5 stock panel he adapted to make a two player with track ball.

Any ideas on where I may find a 4 player dynamo panel?

[bfauska]

I have an HS-5 4 player panel but I'm about to use it to make a 2 player frankenpanel for my HS-5. I wonder if there are any measurements or pictures I could get use you to help in your project.

[davijc02]

Sounds like what I want to do. Pictures & measurements would be awesome if you get the chance.

Thanks