Pac Man coctail, should I restore?

[Popcorrin]

I recently purchased a cocktail machine with intentions of converting to mame.  It is a pacman cocktail machine that had been converted into a triviawhiz game.  I didn't realize it until I got it home and opened it up. 
So now I am debating on what to do with it.  I would hate to mame an original pacman cocktail but if I was to restore it I would have to replace the underlay, the monitor, the glass, the cpo's, the control panels, purchase joysticks and buttons, and purchase a pacman board.  I can't decide if it is worth it.  I sure would like to have an original pacman but I don't know if I can justify spending the money to restore.

Questions:
How much would a pacman pcb run me?

How much is a restored pacman cocktail worth?

Opinions and advice appreciated!

[Lilwolf]

Well... if you mame it, will it be any farther away from being restored?

Then you can just wait until you find a good deal on a pacman machine.

btw, mspacmans go for a bit more... but in good shape you might be looking at 800-1000 or so.  ms pacmans seem to be going for 1500 or so.

Ebay is the place to really look

[88mph]

I think you should compromise.. restore the pacman artwork, and use pacman sized control panels (with the bolt pattern of the original pacman panels)... That way you could have your MAME machine if that's what you really want, and leave the machine in a state that is easily converted back to Pacman if you decide to change your mind in the future.

I guess it depends on if you're happy with a vertical monitor setup and can deal with smaller style control panels like the ones on a stock pacman.  I have a vertical mame cocktail and it's a blast.    

-88mph

[SuperGunGuru]

I'm not a big fan of Mame cabs in general, but I wouldn't be bothered to see it Mame'd if it's not hacked up with new control panels mounted to the sides, buttons on the side for pinball games, etc  .  A Pacman pcb can be had for around 150 working (I've seen them on ebay and RGVAC for that). Did they leave any of the original power supply or wiring in it? Is the monitor and/or game totally dead? If you decide to mame it, I think it'd look cool with the original Pacman artwork (at least the glass). The control panels on those don't allow much room at all for buttons so you would be limited on space.

[Flinkly]

just to echo the views of everyone else, you don't have to restore it now, but don't ruin it for later.  if you do mame it, stick with the j-pac...or do something similar because now that i said it, i don't think pacman was jamma...but don't tear all the wires up inside, because that's important to collectors.  as for everything else, just work in steps.  replace the underlay and cosmetic things like that first, and then get all the other parts when you want to completly restore, like pcb and control panels with overlays.  but hey, good luck.  it's worth a pretty penny.