Post your hacked Cabinets!! Built or Bought??

[chrisinauz]

Out of curiousity who else here has made a MAME machine out of an original cabinet of some form? Just a show of hands!

My MAME Machine was made out of a Super Punch Out! Machine! And in my opinion that game sucked but im sure i'll get tore down for stating that! So did most of you build your cabs from scratch? Or just modify originals!??

[Ghoward]

I built my own cab, I wouldn't want to trash a real arcade machine for MAME, also the look I wanted could not be got from a real arcade machine.

Gary

[CthulhuLuke]

I'm currently working over an original, but I'm pretty much restoring it and keeping it almost the exact same that it was.   I bought it as a working TKO Boxing Cabinet, the monitor was a non-sanyo so it had inverted colors which made the game pretty crappy, even though that game is very crappy in the first place *get the NES hack of the playchoice one if you don't believe me*  It came w/ the Nintendo blue colors, LOTS of exterior damage *big JIMMY carved into the side* there were big gashes, the white t-molding was a pale-clay ish color with spider webs and gross things all over it, the coin door was kicked in, etc.
   I don't have any pictures of it as its still in the works, but I just finished painting it nintendo orange and I'm going to be making a new control panel for it soon *I didn't want to modify the original to fit happs parts.*  I think as long as the cabinet is done classy and there are no major modifications and overhangs I'm fine with it.  Just don't take a Centipede, add 15 buttons, 3 joysticks, 2 spinners, and have 2 feet of overhang on each side and it's fine.

[AlanS17]

My first MAME machine was originally a Bad Dudes that had been converted to a Batman. I liked the curviness of the machine. It's not like other blocky old-school cabinets.

[daeven]

I've got a Pac Man and a Centipede that I'm restoring to look like the originals.  Since they don't have the PCBs, I'll put a PC in each (for now) and set the up with all the games that work with their controls.  Some time down the road I may acquire PCBs and turn them in to the real thing.

I have hacked CPs for each of them, but I'm planning on filling in the extra holes and buying overlays for them.

[TheGatesofBill]

Out of curiousity who else here has made a MAME machine out of an original cabinet of some form? Just a show of hands!

Mine was apparently a Frogger or Mr.Do!. I picked up the cabinet completely gutted, but in decent condition (for free). Anyways, I posted it here, and it was common, so I decided to MAME it. It was just a generic wood cabinet really. Just because the cabinet is original doesn't mean it is actually worth something. That thing you had probably should have been saved and sold to someone who cared about it. Heck you could have bought another cabinet to MAME with part of the money. *shrugs* Apparently you have something against making a profit though. Thats all I have to say on the topic.

[southpaw13]

Hacked is a harsh word.  I fully restored a Frogger, Robotron, Capcom Bowling, and a Space Ace.  All of them play Mame, the original boards are still in the machines (but not hooked up) and Space Ace also plays Daphne.  This is not a crime, it is the best alternative to keeping these 20 year old games alive.

Southpaw

[paigeoliver]

In chronlogical order (some machines were sold, some unmamed later, some converted back to pcbs later, one went in the dumpser and many were traded).

Pac-Man converted to Capcom Bowling. Then painted Pac-Man yellow. Eventually dumpstered. (This was a POS anyway).

Defender converted to Double Dragon. cabinet sanded down, painted gloss red, ran a frankenpanel for awhile, eventually sold the empty cabinet.

Carnival cocktail. Mame for a while, traded empty cabinet later, was not modified in any way, recieved it empty traded it empty.

Galaxian that was painted brown and converted to Clutch Hitter. Received Pac-Man panel, bezel, NOS Pac-Man Plus marquee. artwork kit later sold and cabinet redone with a Top Gunner kit, then sold.

King & Balloon - dedicated ATW bootleg mini. Boardset was missing, no one has working bootleg pinout King & Balloon boards. It is now labeled Galaga and sitting in my living room in working order.

Amazing Maze. Was dedicated, complete and dead, dead, dead. When I got it. The original game sucks. Would have cost $130 to fix the boardset, no one (myself included) would have paid $130 for the dang thing in working condition. Parted it internally for closer to $200. It got a fighter panel and VGA monitor. Was later robbed of its PC and I-Pac for another project, and is currently sitting in my basement. I still have the original panel.

"The Shadow" Video poker, purchased fully working for $50, parted it, then mamed it, gave it as a gift.

Space Firebird mini - Was dedicated and complete when I got it, also had a problem that no one knew how to fix, parted the internals, swapped the stick with an 8-way, kept it MAME for a year, then sold it at superauctions.

Dynamo Tournament Solitaire. added red wico joysticks and buttons to the machine which already had VGA monitor and serial trackball. Replaced factory PC (which was horked), with a p2 400, traded it for a pinball machine.

Gorf cocktail - Unchanged externally, still in my living room.

"Darwin 4078" formerly a Frogger type cab, but not a Frogger. Got TRON layout + 4-way and an NOS Road Fighter artwork kit. Was built to order for a customer.

Defender- empty, dedicated. Mamed, control panel is Defender layout with Defender overlay, only runs 3 games. Still in my living room today.

Probably forgetting a couple.

Originals I have that MIGHT still get Mamed.

A Stargate cabinet (empty cabinet with sideart, original panel in bad shape, and "Capcom fighter" panel in excellent shape.

Sega Turbo (unsure if it is complete, all the parts are in boxes, monitor and boardset both have problems).

Atari Basketball (Complete)

Sprint 2  (I have two of these).

Battlezone (made a double decker panel for it, hated the look and dismantled it). Just an empty cabinet, missing most everything but step and coin door.

Some Universal cocktail, can't recall the name. No monitor, no PCB.

Millipede - Empty cabinet, had been converted to Time Soldiers. I stripped off most of the paint to get the sideart back. This has no Millipede parts other than the power sled, and the only Time Soldiers part is has is an unpopulated panel.

A Gorf upright, nothing inside, and the control panel is unpopulated.

I probably have other stuff I am forgetting, I can never quite remember how many machines I actually have at any given time.

[Tailgunner]

All of my MAME cabinets are originals that'd been converted or gutted. All of them are still in restorable condition, so I can still go that route if I want to.

[RayB]

Well let's see, I got working Gallaga by some Midday company, and I didn't like it cuz, the backgrounds don't even scroll or nuthing, how lame! So I put MAME in it, and the stupid joystick only moved side to side, so I ripped it out and put in a Happ 8 way, and had to punch quite a few new holes to add a second joystick, and 7 buttons for each player. I'm still debating whether to add a new extended and wide panel so I can cram more controls in there.

~Ray B!!!

[RayB]

THAT WAS A JOKE FOLKS.

Seriously, I own a Galaga, which has been converted to JAMMA with a switching PS and in it I run Galaga 88 and a bootleg of Galaga with the original roms, plus a 2 bank highscore mod and switchable rapid fire mod. I've been VERY slow to restore this machine (got it in '98). So far I've only put on a new control panel overlay, buttons and put back the original joystick.

But for hacks, I have one of those cabs that looks EXACTLY like Frogger, but isn't Frogger, so I'm MAMEing that right now.

I also own a Missile Command cocktail, which doesn't work, and might need just about everything in it repaired. I've had no luck with just plugging in boards bought off Ebay. I discovered this AFTER I went and restored both trackballs. Frankly, these Atari cocktail tables are so generic looking I'm very tempted to go against my own opinion on classics, and to just MAME the damn thing.  


In the past (gosh, 10 years ago?) I owned:

Working Punch-Out! Upright. Loved that game. Also had the Super Punch-Out board which I could just swap in, and I had a MINT condition control panel. I ended up selling it for $75 to a friend when I had to move.

At that time too I had a Dynamo cut-corner upright with generic blue CP and a marque that said "Super Select System". I used this cab to play a few JAMMA boards I owned at the time. I didn't care about restoring cabs back then. I was happy to own some and just play the games.

Also at that time, I had a generic white little cab that used to be some gold game. I covered up the marquee with stickers, and painted the CP a nice red with black speckles. I had a Super Nintendo running running in this one, using a hacked SCART cable. The joys and buttons I hacked by soldering them directly to SNES pad circuit boards.

I also briefly had a non-working Star Trek pinball machine, which I didn't know how to fix and ended up selling.

[danny_galaga]

made mine from scratch. i considered buying an old machine and mameing it but my town isnt large. the only one i knew of for sale was in pretty sad shape. a second hand furniture guy had it (i think theyre as dodgy as second hand car dealers). reckoned he might consider  selling at $600. i happily told him ill build one which works (his was a hacked 1942 on some other machine. switched on but strange and obvious board probs).

if i lived somewhere with more variety i think id like to restore a cab. be like restoring a car   i think the conundrum is this. if the cab is in good condition it would be a pity not to restore it. if its a piece of poo (like the pic) then its going to be heaps of trouble fixing up for mame anyway.

but whatever you do dont feel bad about it. unless its something really rare...

[jub3i]

I just got my cab a couple of days ago.  It's a Captain America and the Avengers cab and it's in okay shape.  I don't know if it's original or not, but it looks like it is.  It has a nice marquee and bezel.  The side art is a little scratched.  (Is the side art supposed to go all the way down?  It goes from the top to about knee height and I can't tell if it's original or not).  The coin door is smashed, the corners are scuffed up and the paint is scratched in a few areas and it looks like there was some water damage.  The CP looks horrible.  There is no CPO, it's obviously been painted black.  Not very well either, there is some paint on the sides of buttons and the screws have been painted over.  And the joystick and buttons are just all over the place.  There is 4 joysticks and 2 buttons each.  From the looks of the intructions on the bezel, that is the correct.  (The bezel shows start and attack as being the same button).  But the problem is it was redone really sloppy.  Nothing is lined up well.  The middle two players are at different vertical positions (if that makes sense).  And on all of the players the distance between the buttons and the joystick vary wildly.  I'll post some pics when I take a couple.

I just need to save up some money now, and buy the rest of the parts I need to get it working.

EDIT:  Well it's working the way it is right now.  I mean I need to buy the rest of the parts I need to MAME it.  Which reminds me, if anyone wants/needs the PCB or some other part in there that I don't need, PM me to arrange a way to get it.  I'm not really looking to sell it, so I'll give it to you for free.  So if someone wants to pick up the parts or arrange shipping that works.

[Stingray]

Started life as a B/M Blueprint cab. When I got it , it was mostly gutted and probably dumpster bound.

-S

[Witchboard]

Still see you haven't got the side art on it yet.  

[Lutus]

My machine was originally a 1978 Space Invaders cabinet.  I got this cabinet for free because it was going to be tossed. Thankfully I got my hands on it.  I removed the original CP (kept it of course), removed the boards and the busted black and white monitor (kept both) and made my own CP.  The only destructive act on this machine was drilling the four holes for the PLAYER and COIN buttons.  I love playing it and love watching others playing it even more.  Tell me what you think, of course it is always a work in progress.

[darktemp]

Very nice Lutus, excellent find.  I think it would look nice with a little more color on the cp but the black is slick too.

[brained]

I own a dynamo project cab, that i bought four days ago, It's not in mint condition but it's ok, needs vinyl, paint job, maybe replace a couple of sheets of wood, but hey .

So it's not either hacked or built, It's more like an X-arcade thing. Now I have to figure out how i'm gonna fix that metal panel thing, it has an MKIII layout, and I want a seven button SF neogeo layout.  

[Chris]

Mine was originally a Super Contra, but had been converted to a Tekken II, no original art or control panel. It was completely gutted when I got it; the only modifications I've made to the cabinet are the holes for the flipper buttons, a fan hole at the back, and a small hole at the bottom for a subwoofer. (See link in sig.)

--Chris

[Lutus]

thanks darktemp, might eventually go with the orange and yellow to match the "space invaders" logo... excellent idea.  I went all black because it was easy and i wanted to make sure that was the layout i wanted and to make sure it would actually work.  (Thanks to Andy at Ultimarc) for the easy setup through the Ipac

[jaysz2893]

Quote :
This is not a crime, it is the best alternative to keeping these 20 year old games alive.

Southpaw

I agree 100%.  Mine was a Asteroids Deluxe that was being tossed by the local Nation Gaurd Base.  It worked for a while, then it all crapped out.  It is now a "dedicated" MAME machine.  There are pics on my page.  Sorry about the quality, i need to get a better digi cam.

http://camaroz28.cardomain.com/memberpage/211368/10

[Knoxximus]

I also have a Dynamo Showcase cab that I got form a buddy of mine who owns an arcade for $1000 (with P360's built in   )

Then I got a Sega STV Radiant Silvergun (!!) cab for FREE (!!!!) from a new store owner who was gonna throw it out.  Gotta get the monitor fixed on that one....

[MrArcade]

Here are some of the cabs I have built.  They will be pretty much in the order they were made.  The first was made before the ipac etc...kb hack and all...

cabaret


before and after - rotating monitor


cocktail


started with this

almost completed (never got a pic of it after it was done)


bally cab


xenophobe cab


nintendo wide body (mario bros)


25" vert cab


MK2 cab


was cadash


bionic commando


very black cabinet


was a converted gauntlet - had to split it in half to fit it down a basement


started with hacked cab

final result


another cocktail


Dig Dug with working light up volcano buttons


another 25" vert cab


converted gorf


KI2


Blitz w/27" vision pro monitor not quite done


Firefox


Blitz conv including daphne, pinmame, etc, not quite finished in pic


Taito cab


DDragon cab


Millipede cab


Midway cab


NBA Jam starting art save

Done


poker mini cab


Dynamo cab


There were more...just did not take pics of all of them

[danny_galaga]

Here are some of the cabs I have built.  They will be pretty much in the order they were made.  The first was made before the ipac etc...kb hack and all...
There were more...just did not take pics of all of them

geez, you're a busy lad!! im interested in how your rotating monitor works. mine is electric with microswitches to stop it in the right place.

[hunky_artist]

ooh MrArcade!

So good to finally meet you. When I first started looking round for pictures and research for the cab i always wanted to build, never thought I would though (starting it this year!) .. seems like years ago, that blue pacman one of yours was the one that made me decide to do it and that it could look GOOD!

I dont suppose you have any other pictures of it do you? construction pics, or maybe close ups of the CP etc?

if you dont , its ok.... was just a pleasure to meet the guy who got me into this mess, lol

[Knoxximus]

Mr. Arcade, where DO you find the time?  

[TOK]

I built a MAME cab on a Bally/Midway just like the one Mr. Arcade did.
Mine has the orange stripes instead of the green his had.

My machine has the original Power Drive marquee and bezel. The control panel was rough when I got it, but I have all the parts to restore it to a dedicated Power Drive if I choose to. Next step is to do a second control panel with a trackball and spinner.

[Jakobud]

I built a MAME cab on a Bally/Midway just like the one Mr. Arcade did.
Mine has the orange stripes instead of the green his had.

Actually, the original "Rampage" came with those green stripes.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9261

[Chris]

Mine was originally a Super Contra, but had been converted to a Tekken II, no original art or control panel.

Here's the pics.  Before:


After:

[MrArcade]

Here is one dark pic, I will see if I have any more pics around anymore.



Thanks for the kind words.  Glad to hear I actually inspired someone.  It seems that most folks don't like my conversions.  I am not sure why...I just get way more criticism than compliments.

ooh MrArcade!

So good to finally meet you. When I first started looking round for pictures and research for the cab i always wanted to build, never thought I would though (starting it this year!) .. seems like years ago, that blue pacman one of yours was the one that made me decide to do it and that it could look GOOD!

I dont suppose you have any other pictures of it do you? construction pics, or maybe close ups of the CP etc?

if you dont , its ok.... was just a pleasure to meet the guy who got me into this mess, lol

[spara]

My first MAME machine was originally a Bad Dudes that had been converted to a Batman. I liked the curviness of the machine. It's not like other blocky old-school cabinets.

First  post here and just getting ready to mame an existing cab. I have access to a Bad Dudes machine gutted but in great shape. I also love the curved marquee on it. Do you have any info or pics on what you did to convert your cab?

BTW: I am getting if for free so the price is right, I'm just debating on wether its a good cab to mame on a first attempt. Its a bit narrow, and I am hoping to cram a 25" monitor into the 24" wide space.  

Thanks in advance,

Craig

[Arcadiac]

Check this out:
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=17788

I did my best to document most of the process, but there were just too many places where life got in the way!
I like the unique shape of the cab, but it was totally converted to something other than Food Fight and the artwork was not restorable, too bad because the original sideart was very colorful.

I figure its not too shabby for a first effort.

Right now I have 3 partially empty cabs, a Scramble cocktail that needs restoring and two mostly working Nintendo VS Dual System cocktails.  So much to do, so little time!  ARCADIAC!

[mred84]

Here's mine. A general "Mini Games" cabinet made by Leith leisuire which was a Sega company. At least, thats what the sticker in the cabinet said.
Its a jamma cab which had "Kninghts of the Round" in it by Capcom. Don't have a clue what the Sega game was that was first in it. Gutted most stuff. Kept the arcade monitor (am using an ArcadeVGA card). Added 3 buttons per player on CP which i had to laminate again because it was damaged too much. Did a lot of damage fixing on the thing and this is how it turned out:

[danny_galaga]

Here's mine. A general "Mini Games" cabinet made by Leith leisuire which was a Sega company. At least, thats what the sticker in the cabinet said.
Its a jamma cab which had "Kninghts of the Round" in it by Capcom. Don't have a clue what the Sega game was that was first in it. Gutted most stuff. Kept the arcade monitor (am using an ArcadeVGA card). Added 3 buttons per player on CP which i had to laminate again because it was damaged too much. Did a lot of damage fixing on the thing and this is how it turned out:

thats a nice looking cab. its giving me ideas  

[RayB]

Nice unique cab MRed. Can we see the side view?

[tshizzle.com]

Heres my cabinet im working on , an old Nintendo Mario Bros cab

[hunky_artist]

thanks MrArcade  

[mred84]

RayB, Here you go