starting my first MAME cab

[moonpatrol 4 lyfe]

I'm starting my first MAME cab, and I have a myriad of questions, so please bear with me.

I purchased a 4-player GI Joe machine by Konami.  I believe it was a TMNT cab in a past life.  only $180... fully working except for one joystick and one button. 

My first question...
I'd like to keep my PC outside of the cabinet (so I can use it for email, work, video encoding etc.)  I have an NVidia GeForce FX5200 that I use for video editing.  Any chance of keeping this card, and putting an ArcadeVGA card on the same PC?

Next... If I do buy the Arcade VGA card...
The resolution for the GI Joe game isn't that
high. (I dont remember the exact number.)  If I keep
the stock monitor will my MAME cab still be able to effectively display emulated games of higher resolutions and higher refresh rates?

Thrid... Any comments about the J-Pac interface?  I don't want to gut a perfectly good JAMMA cab or start stripping wires, etc.  I would like to be able to swap PCBs in and out of my machine.  It is a 4-player game, and from what I understand, I'll also need another card (since the J-Pac doesn't
support all the inputs necessary for 4 players).  I'd also like to add six buttons per player.  What combination of cards will I need?  Will I still be able to just "plug and play" when I'd like to use a PCB instead of my computer?

Fourth... Is there any special procedure for swapping jamma boards or modifying a jamma cabinet?  Anything thats necessary to prevent a fried board?  ... or frying myself?

Finally...   I'd like to restore the outside of my cabinet to tip top condition.  I'm not sure what kind of graphics, marquees, overlays, etc I'll use.  I can't tell if my cabinet is painted, or if it's covered in formica or black laminate.  If it is covered in formica, how will the the cab turn out if i peel it off, then prime and paint the cab?  From what I've seen, formica and laminate can be very expensive.  How will a paint job turn out?  Will I be able to add side art over the paint?

Thanks for the help!  Sorry for the tons of questions, I just want to get the job done right.  My cab is pretty beat up, and I'd love to get it looking shiny and new!

Bill

[Will]

First off I bought the same cabinet a few months ago and have been working on converting it.Your monitor is most likely a wells gardner 25 inch 25k7 (k7000).I will try an answer some of your questions

1.No there both agp cards and you wont be able to use both at same time.

2.If you use an arcade vga you should be able to run all mame games in the correct resolution.

3.No comments on the j-pac other than I decided that I needed more inputs than the j-pac could handle and had no plans to use the old 4 player gi joe control panel.

You could just cut a new cp and than design it however you wanted it.If you keep it as it is now you will be limited in the number of games you can play.It is a mass produced Konami cabinet made of particle board feel free to convert in any way you want.This is not a classic cabinet by any means.You need to read more about the ipac at www.ultimarc.com and also read up on the arcade vga there as well that will explain alot about what you need.Not sure what you mean by "plug and play" ?

4.With mame you can pretty much run any game that you can use with your jamma connection so not sure why you want to go this route.Don't touch the big red wire on the back of your arcade monitor .

5.Its probably just painted.I sanded off the old and than primed and painted it and came out good considering its just cheap particle board.

There is a ton of info on most of the topics you want to learn about on this board,try using the search feature.You can make it into an amazing mame cabinet if you want to but be prepared to put some work in.The best advice I can give you to start in this crazy hobby of arcade renovating/building/converting/customising/gossiping is to buy the Project Arcade book.It has my mame cabinet odyssey alot easier.Here is a link.
Amazon.Com Link
Good luck with your project.-Will

[moonpatrol 4 lyfe]

Will,

Its nice to see someone has the same cab as me.  It seems there's no documentation available for the Gi Joe machine at all.  =(

How did painting the cab turn out?  I'm almost positive my cab was covered in a sheet of something or other, by the way it just peels off.  I'd love this cab to look brand new when I get it.  How were your results?

Thanks,
Bill

P.S.  any chance I can get your email?  I'm sure I'll have a ton of questoins once I really get into this thing

[Will]

The painting came out great but Im probably going to cover most of it up with sideart.I dont have any current pics but lets just say im deep into project.Feel free to send me a PM with any of your questions but believe me im no expert and there are alot of others on this board more qualified to answer your questions.