What have I done...

[JThw8]

Hi folks, long time lurker, first time poster.  I have really enjoyed learning alot from this site and its members.

Today I went to a local arcade auction to see if maybe I could find something derelect to use for my cabinet (I have too many projects and too few woodworking skills)

Pretty light auction, about 100 machines total and mostly high dollar stuff, but at the last minute they rolled in a stripped cabinet.  An X-Men dual screen six player, what a monster.  Someone had converted it to a 2 in one machine with a vertical on one side and horizontal on the other.  The cabinet was pretty solid but ugly.  It did have 3 good leaf joysticks and about 12 buttons and 2 good 3 slot coin mechs (did I mention this thing is huge?)

Well I really wasnt going to bid on it because I didnt need anything that big, but the huge CP did have alot of potential so I kept an eye on it.

Well it seems noone wanted it and the auction started at $20, rapidly dropping to $10 and then $5....for $5 I had to toss in a bid figuring someone else would bump it a little once it got going...No dice, its all mine for $5

I have a 27in TV I was going to use for this project so thats going in, but I also have a spare 17in monitor so Im toying with the idea of the dual vertical horizontal setup.  I would have to build another computer so they could both be played simultaneously.   Then again with all the spare room in the cabinet I could just mount one monitor and turn the rest into a kegerator....arcade with beer on tap...sounds like a great plan to me

Sooo....Im looking for everyones creative input...what would you do with a cabinet this big?  its 49 in wide, standard height with a detachable control panel thats about 49x28  (someone suggested I just turn the CP into a roll around bar, lol)

[AmericanDemon]

Thats a steal!  What size monitors are in it already?  You could just use two arcadevgas with the custom cable.  Use as is. 

[Trimoor]

It makes me wish x-men 6 player worked in MAME....

[JThw8]

Thats a steal!  What size monitors are in it already?  You could just use two arcadevgas with the custom cable.  Use as is. 

No monitors, it was a completely gutted cab other than the coin doors, joystics and buttons....if it had monitors Id really be doing a happy dance right now.

[AmericanDemon]

Ah.  Man I wish, for that machines sake, that there were a front end designed for two monitors.

[quarterback]

at the last minute they rolled in a stripped cabinet.  An X-Men dual screen six player, what a monster.  Someone had converted it to a 2 in one machine with a vertical on one side and horizontal on the other.  The cabinet was pretty solid but ugly.  It did have 3 good leaf joysticks and about 12 buttons and 2 good 3 slot coin mechs (did I mention this thing is huge?)

I wanna see some pics!!!!   

[JThw8]

I wanna see some pics!!!!   

I'll get some up shortly, they wont be the best as I have the CP and cabinet separated right now.   The thing is really a mess right now....but who could resist.

Oh, also not pictured is the bezel glass, real glass not plexi, I pulled it out for transport.  It was poorly spraypainted black to fit the new monitors but I have some pretty good solvents (I paint cars as a hobby) which will usually remove paint from glass no problem.

Ok, heres some quick shots
First the main cabinet

The top of the CP, as you can see, quite a quickie hack job by the previous owner

And finally because I found it to be an odd compairison, the CP next to my Yugo...

[SirPeale]

OMG - that one?  That was kicking around at another auction recently.

[stevejt]

Congratulations on that cab.  I won one on ebay this spring.  I got an AWESOME deal too, but mine came with 2 monitors, and 4 complete games.  I still have the cab in my garage though, it doesn't f@*&%#! fit through my basement door.  But I didn't learn there,  I bought another cab complete that doesn't fit through the door either.  But hey, I don't make the same mistake THREE times, now I always get measurements...  Good luck with it, and keep us posted!

Steve

[JThw8]

OMG - that one?  That was kicking around at another auction recently.

Yeah, quite a few people there had commented that it had been making the rounds both with and without internals.  What can I say, I cant resist a lost cause....maybe thats why I have a Yugo in the garage to compare it to....ok 2 Yugos actually, but thats just my shameful little secret

[Samstag]

....ok 2 Yugos actually, but thats just my shameful little secret

Well, if you're going to skate, you need one for each foot, right?

[quarterback]

I wanna see some pics!!!!

[mozzer]

It was at the Baltimore auction in October

[mrGrinch98]

I am just wondering how you got this beast home, and how much beer you had to bribe your friends with to help move this game?

[Will]

That cab supposedly has a ton of water damage....

[Gunstar Hero]

That cab supposedly has a ton of water damage....

Still a great deal! Steal the good parts and burninate the rest.

[JThw8]

I am just wondering how you got this beast home, and how much beer you had to bribe your friends with to help move this game?

I was going to run home and get my car trailer but one of the guys who worked at the armory where the auction was held offered his help.  We put the CP in the back of my suburban and the main cab in his pickup.  Without electronics and separated into 2 pieces it was able to be moved about by just the 2 of us, the main cab was a bit of a struggle but manageable.

That cab supposedly has a ton of water damage....

None that is evident.  The bottom corners of the cab are chewed up like I would expect to see on any old cabinet but its still strong and solid and no signs of water. 

Still a great deal! Steal the good parts and burninate the rest. 

That was my initial thought, even if I didnt use the rest of the cab the 3 leaf switch joystics and 2 coin doors were well worth $5, but the cabinet is so unusual Im considering using it now, just trying to come up with something unique to do with all the extra space.  I still like the idea of a kegerator built in but the wife isnt fond of that, she has approved a slushie machine though   I could make rum and coke slushies in it!

[krick]

I was going to run home and get my car trailer but one of the guys who worked at the armory where the auction was held offered his help.

Armory?  Was this auction in Cherry Hill NJ?  Just curious.

[JThw8]

Armory?  Was this auction in Cherry Hill NJ?  Just curious.

Yep, thats the one

[teef two]

Well the solution is obvious. That cab is crying out to have a widescreen plasma put in there. Home cinema and arcade machine in one.

Note: Anyone taking the above seriously is welcome to all my spam about medication!

[HaRuMaN]

Dude...  why do you have, not one, but two! Yugos in your garage??   

Seriously though, nice find, and for $5 bucks, beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!

[Tiger-Heli]

Dude...  why do you have, not one, but two! Yugos in your garage??   

Spare parts, I'm guessing . . .

[JThw8]

Dude...  why do you have, not one, but two! Yugos in your garage??   

Spare parts, I'm guessing . . .

Ahh, the saga of Yugos.  Well, its like this the first one I got to convert to an autocross car (parking lot racing) They are very good cars for this because the style of racing is about handling and "quickness" as opposed to flat out speed.  The drivtrains in them are actually the same as Fiat 128s and X1/9s so there is a good performance market if you know where to look.  They are very light and because they wrapped it in an ugly box instead of a nice aerodynamic shape like the fiat it gets classed in a lower class for competition purposes.

The second one...well as my dad says one to crap on and one to cover it, but seriously, once people see you have one they kinda come out of the woodwork to give you one they may have sitting around.  Im still not sure what Im doing with it.  I joked for awhile that I was gonna do an old school "pimp my ride" with it and mount a bartop mame with classic games in the back hatch just to goof on them.  But Ive got too many projects to mess with it right now

[krick]

Armory?

[RetroJames]

Dude...

[JThw8]

[Damn.  I missed seeing this monstrosity in person.  LOL!

I live about 5 minutes away from that auction.  Where do you live? (if you don't mind saying)

Im not too far from you then, I live down in Blackwood and work in Mt Laurel.

[JThw8]

[
Autocross - cool.  I was wondering where this thing came from.  Someone holds these events at Turner Field in Atlanta about 7 blocks away from me.  I am always in a rush running errands everytime I pass it, maybe I need to go check it out.  Man it looks fun!

http://www.apexbenefits.biz/ABS-Mtrsports.htm

Definitely check it out, you dont need a fully modified or prepped car, any stock street car which is safe (seatbelts, reasonably good mechnical order) can run.  Most clubs charge about $20-$30 for the day and if you dont have a helmet they have loaners.   Some of the most fun you can have with a car on the cheap.

[PacManFan]

LOL, as stated, that cab was at the auction in Timonium, I had a good chance to check it out. That cab was also on ebay about a year ago from what I remember.
At Timonium, there was actually a MAME system installed in it, then the guy took the computer out of the cab right before it was auctioned.

-PMF

[krick]

[Damn.

[JThw8]

[Damn.  I missed seeing this monstrosity in person.  LOL!

I live about 5 minutes away from that auction.  Where do you live? (if you don't mind saying)

Im not too far from you then, I live down in Blackwood and work in Mt Laurel.

Cool.  I live in Pennsauken just down the road from the Pennsauken County Club.
And I work in Mt. Holly.  We should get together some time.

Definitely, you arent far away at all.  I used to live out near Mt Holly.
I'll need some help moving this thing in the house once its painted  

And on that note the project update for the night....
I stripped the sideart off one side...the defender graphic was just laid on over top of the old X-men graphic.  The Xmen looked to be in good shape but unfortunately the edges were painted over so I just removed it all down to the wood.  For anyone attempting this I highly recommend walpaper scrapers, made quick work of it.

The sides of the cab are actually plywood.  If not for the nicks and gouges I would have been tempted to sand it back to the veneer and stain it.  But it was pretty tore up so I filled the deep gouges with wood filler then skimmed the whole thing with drywall compound to get a smooth surface.  I contemplated using auto body filler but I really just needed a light skim to smooth it all out and it didnt seem worth the trouble to mix up a batch.

Still debating on a theme/color
Its going in our basment which is being redone as a gameroom/bar with a Jimmy Buffet/Margaritaville theme.  The bar is being done ala Fins (If you've ever been to a margaritaville you will understand) with a shark theme so I considered doing some kind of shark theme.

I contemplated wrapping the whole thing in 1/2 PVC painted grey and painting the cab blue with a mural of sealife and sharks so it looked like a shark cage.  Since there is so much room on the sides of the monitor we even talked about mounting some fish tanks to either side with freshwater sharks in them

Of course Ive also thought about filling the space with digital clocks behind the bezel glass set to different time zones ala a "Its 5'oclock somewhere" theme.

In the end the wife will dictate the theme and color, Im just the labor

[Tiger-Heli]

I contemplated wrapping the whole thing in 1/2 PVC painted grey and painting the cab blue with a mural of sealife and sharks so it looked like a shark cage.  Since there is so much room on the sides of the monitor we even talked about mounting some fish tanks to either side with freshwater sharks in them

Of course Ive also thought about filling the space with digital clocks behind the bezel glass set to different time zones ala a "Its 5'oclock somewhere" theme.

In the end the wife will dictate the theme and color, Im just the labor

You have all those creative ideas and you're asking HERE for advice.  I wish I could come up with things like that.  I don't think fish tanks and electronics would mix well, but it sounds like a cool concept.

[JThw8]

You have all those creative ideas and you're asking HERE for advice.  I wish I could come up with things like that.  I don't think fish tanks and electronics would mix well, but it sounds like a cool concept.

Thanks for the vote of confidence   The more ideas the better.  Its hard without seeing it to fathom the actual amount of space in this cabinet, but all the electronts with the exception of the monitor will fit in the CP box with room to spare.  There is enough room in the monitor cabinet to build partition walls to separate the monitor from the tanks and waterproof everything.  Still, the cost of 2 tanks of the proper size and all the equipment is a bit excessive.  Im definitely thinking some kind of sea theme at this point to kind of go with the whole tropcial getaway idea of the basement.  Still trying to come up with a good long wacky name....with 4 ft of marquee space I figure it should have a rediculously long name.

[skim36]

Nice nab on a cab.....pardon the rhyming.....I like the plasma idea...sell your yugos and buy the plasma and there ya go.....seriously tho...a dual mame setup is what I would do.  One upright and one horizontal.  beer tap on the side with drink-holders....stuff like that....

[JThw8]

well the theme has been decided, see post in project announcements
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,28661.0.html

The wife is liking sharks more and more and with my fascination with aquariums and such I may just weasel my way into a 200 gal to support a nurse shark to complete the theme of the room

[DarkKobold]

This cab is famous in both KLOV and RGVAC... It has appeared multiple times. You really need to gut it, and burn it, and post LOTS of pictures. You'd be hailed as a hero!

[JThw8]

Which would be better burning it or returning it to something that might look ok in your house?  I think its a great challenge to take this hideous and dispised thing and try to make it into a decent system again.

I poked around for a few minutes over on KLOV but coulnt find much relating to the cabinet, if you come across any old links Id love to see them just so I can see some of the history.  It seems everyone I talk to in the hobby knows of this cabinet, its semi-famous