mame a pole position cabinet

[MoonDog]

So after much looking around and good advise from people on this board suggesting I not pay $100 for a crappy NEO GEO cabinet, I am now the proud owner of a Pole Position cabinet.  I basically ended up getting it for free after agreeing to leave the switching power supplies behind.  No monitor and no motherboard either but everything else is there (wiring, marquee, glass, controls, audio boards, transformer, coin door and mechs, etc.).  I got this specifically for MAME so certain modifications will be necessary (control panel mainly).  

It seems that the general concensus on this board is to restore classics when possible.  I enjoyed playing Pole Position ocassionally growing up and it's a classic in my mind, but I don't have the desire or funds to make it complete again.  I would much rather have a MAME machine.  My question is this... How guilty should I feel in mameing this cabinet?  I'd LIKE to keep it as original as possible so if I ever decide to convert it back it would be possible, but that will involve extra care and detail.

[Jakobud]

Just don't go drilling holes in the original control panel.  Just replace it with some mockup that looks the same and drill and add buttons all you want.  Just keep the original around so you can put it back on if you ever wanted to.

[cdbrown]

Or.. you could just make this a mame driving cab and try to keep everything the way it is, and then try and get another free cab to mame properly.  Well done on getting a nice cab like that for free, wish I could get my hands on some free cabs but everyone wants money.  As Jakobud said - remove the original panel and make your own panel to fit in there.  You wouldn't even need to remove the pedal if you didn't want.

[RayB]

Yeah don't worry about it too much, as long as you're not hacking the original visible parts. You might end up disconnecting all wiring, but at least you can keep it in there for future use.

The art on the sides and marquee look to be in good shape, so hopefully you can be happy with that without modifying anything (other than replacing Marquee maybe?)

The problem with Pole Positions is I hear the boards are notorious for breaking down, so let's say you restored this thing, you might be in for alot of problems all the time. I dunno, maybe Paige Oliver has an opinion on that.

~Ray B

[MoonDog]

Or.. you could just make this a mame driving cab and try to keep everything the way it is, and then try and get another free cab to mame properly.  Well done on getting a nice cab like that for free, wish I could get my hands on some free cabs but everyone wants money.  As Jakobud said - remove the original panel and make your own panel to fit in there.  You wouldn't even need to remove the pedal if you didn't want.

I thought about going with a MAME driving cabinet and that would be cool!  He also had a defender cab for sale in pretty good shape and I wanted to come home with both.    Unfortunately I have a very small house and even one cab is pushing it in terms of space.  I am so lucky to have an understanding wife!  The cabinet was originally $50 but since he wanted to keep the power supplies he offered it up for free if I would leave them behind.  I ended up giving him $20 anyway for his trouble.

I already have the control panel removed and stored for safe keeping.  I would like to remove the CP support wood to make for a cleaner install of the new CP.  That's where the dilema comes in.  If I work with the existing structure it will be more difficult and may not look as good.  But if I take the wood out I risk damaging it and it will be much harder to put back together.

I'll figure something out.  

[Crazy Cooter]

... just make this a mame driving cab and try to keep everything the way it is, and then try and get another free cab to mame properly...

My thoughts exactly.  I'd restore it visually and run just driving games.

[MoonDog]

The art on the sides and marquee look to be in good shape, so hopefully you can be happy with that without modifying anything (other than replacing Marquee maybe?)

The art on the other side is actually even much better.  I think I'll leave the original marquee and glass.  They are in excellent shape and they already match the side art.

Well, off to do some measuring.

[DarkKobold]

Another point of mention is that this will probably never be a pile position cabinet again. There are 5 cabs for every 1 working board set, and that ratio is increasing daily. Pole position is one of the flakiest games ever made. Mame away.

[Gunstar Hero]

Hey, I've had this same conversation with myself before.

I got a gutted PolePos cab from a friend and "rebuilt" it. Got the PolePos CP, glass and marquee cheap on ebay (more than you paid tho!) A little mousehack here and wire wire there and I had a 360 wheel MAME driving machine.

It was fun. For a couple weeks. =\

The games never felt quite right, no matter how much I tweaked the settings. And there just aren't that many really really cool 360 wheel games. So, I played my fill of PolePos2, Off Road and Super Sprint and decided to make a fighter CP.

After much hesitation I removed the wood support when I MAME'd my PolePos cab. I tried to save it, but it just looked goofy, so I ripped it out (it won't come out easy.) After that, a couple L-brackets later and some MDF later the deed was done.

Honestly, it looks awesome, almost like a thick Asteroids cab. I kept the glass and marquee intact, and plan to someday to make a PolePos themed CPO. =)

I also kept the pedal wired up. =) Hey, why not? Someday I do plan to build a Happs wheel I got off of a PolePos that was converted into a World Rally I salvaged from a trash pile (the cab was a loss tho.)

I'm way happier with it now.

[MoonDog]

I appreciate all the input.  It will certainly help me make decisions on how I proceed from here.  Thanks!

[cw]

I picked up  a pole2 cab a little over  a year ago and mamed it.   The cab was  a shell and like you I didnt want
to spend the cash on the boards and what not.  It was very easy and cheap to do ( as of yet my cheapest cab)
and  we play it all the time.  

[paigeoliver]

Mame that sucker all you want. Paint it pink, put a frankenpanel on it!

You can do anything to a Pole Position cabinet because no one wants them! Zillions of dead ones everywhere. No working boards to be found. Even when they do work they don't sell for jack.

[ChadTower]

Mame that sucker all you want. Paint it pink, put a frankenpanel on it!

You can do anything to a Pole Position cabinet because no one wants them! Zillions of dead ones everywhere. No working boards to be found. Even when they do work they don't sell for jack.

I would love a Pole Position cabinet.  I would prefer not to see that cabinet MAMEd.  If he were within driving distance of MA I have a great Dynamo cab I'd gladly swap for it.  My advice is to hold onto that thing until you can find a local trade for a more suitable MAME cab.

[Minwah]

I would love a Pole Position cabinet.  I would prefer not to see that cabinet MAMEd.  If he were within driving distance of MA I have a great Dynamo cab I'd gladly swap for it.  My advice is to hold onto that thing until you can find a local trade for a more suitable MAME cab.

Me too, it's a classic...there will always be someone who wants a cab like that for restoration purposes.

[ChadTower]

Moondog, where are you located?  As I said, if you're within reasonable distance of MA, I'll swap you a very good Dynamo cab you can MAME all to hell without guilt.

[mozzer]

Seems to be in great condition and a good start for someone looking for a PP cab.

[MoonDog]

Moondog, where are you located?  As I said, if you're within reasonable distance of MA, I'll swap you a very good Dynamo cab you can MAME all to hell without guilt.

I'm in Seattle so that's a bit far.  I have too many hours into it at this point to want to switch cabinets anyway.  If you are really interested in getting a PP cabinet and paigeoliver is correct about there being plenty (which I have complete faith that he is) you shouldn't have too much trouble finding one near by.

I've pulled the original parts out and put them aside.  At this point I'm designing the control panel to fit over the existing cp structure.  See image for my prototype panel.  This will hopefully allow me to be able to swap the original panel back in for driving games.  So I haven't had to make any un-reversible modifications.

My other empty cabinet option was a Defender in good shape with side art intact.  I think that might have ruffled a few feathers if it was mamed.

[paigeoliver]

I will once again stress the fact that there are THOUSANDS of dead complete Pole Positions out there with fried boardsets. None of the repair guys will touch the boards either. The game was a bad hardware design, it barely worked when it was new.

It is just insane how many there are. If the boardset is missing or nonworking then it is essentially non-restorable.

If miracle of all miracles you have a WORKING Pole Position then you NEED to run a buttload more +5 wires before it is too late. Connect more +5 wires from the +5 test points on the AR 2 boards to the +5 test points on the Pole Position board.

If you do want to restore a Pole Position then do yourself a favor and install a computer and arcadeVGA instead of the boardset. If the super-anal laserdisc guys have started using daphne due to reliability then we can use mame in restorations.

[NoOne=NBA=]

In cases like this I would agree that MAME is the preferable restoration.
Even if you DO get a PP restored, the chances of it STAYING restored are minimal.
I would much rather see them restored via MAME than head to the dumpster because this, that and the other keep breaking.

Many of the vector cabs are getting to the point now that MAME may be their best hope to avoid being MAIMED, as well.
Given the choice of seeing a well done MAME restoration, or a complete MAIM job, on a Space Duel or Star Trek cab, I'd vote for MAME on those too.

Good condition vector cabs are pretty easy to find because the collectors and ops are scavenging the parts from the GOOD ones to fix the BEST ones.

[ChadTower]

If you do want to restore a Pole Position then do yourself a favor and install a computer and arcadeVGA instead of the boardset. If the super-anal laserdisc guys have started using daphne due to reliability then we can use mame in restorations.

That is what I would do anyway... and I haven't come across a PP yet.

[paigeoliver]

Oh and don't even get me started on vector games. Bad monitors AND bad boardsets.

I have spent about $200 repairing my Star Wars so far and it still doesn't work.

[DarkKobold]

Paige: Is it just your board?
Alex Yeckley does a bangup job, so I've heard.

[paigeoliver]

Well I bought it completely dead.

Rebuilt the AR II.
Replaced the big blue cap.
Installed an LV 2000
Installed all the important bits out of the WG 6100 rebuild and extra parts kit.

At this point the game turns on, the spot killer and the lights on the LV 2000 come on, the game will coin up and say "The force will be with you" the nextr credit adds the word "always". It doesn't actually start a game though. Nothing is displayed on the screen and the game plays the normal attract sounds.

[SOAPboy]

im late to the party, but yeah, mame it.. almost every bowling ally, arcade, ect has a pole position cab, and oddly enough ive seen SO MANY dead and being thrown out i wouldnt think twice to mame it..

[vintagegamer]

Well I bought it completely dead.

Rebuilt the AR II.
Replaced the big blue cap.
Installed an LV 2000
Installed all the important bits out of the WG 6100 rebuild and extra parts kit.

At this point the game turns on, the spot killer and the lights on the LV 2000 come on, the game will coin up and say "The force will be with you" the nextr credit adds the word "always". It doesn't actually start a game though. Nothing is displayed on the screen and the game plays the normal attract sounds.

I know this is an ancient post, but do you still have this game?  Are you able to put it in test mode?  That's where you'll find your answer!

[leapinlew]

Well I bought it completely dead.

Rebuilt the AR II.
Replaced the big blue cap.
Installed an LV 2000
Installed all the important bits out of the WG 6100 rebuild and extra parts kit.

At this point the game turns on, the spot killer and the lights on the LV 2000 come on, the game will coin up and say "The force will be with you" the nextr credit adds the word "always". It doesn't actually start a game though. Nothing is displayed on the screen and the game plays the normal attract sounds.

I know this is an ancient post, but do you still have this game?  Are you able to put it in test mode?  That's where you'll find your answer!

Nice job Necro. Perhaps a private message which sends him an email would've been more appropriate?

[VanillaGorilla]

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