Yet another New Project (First of Several)!

[80sMike]

Well I suppose after a couple of years lurking it's time to officially come out of the closet...So to speak. 

I first discovered MAME back at v.37.  From the start, I always thought of how cool it would be to be able to build a cab, but was never really able to wrap my head around actually doing it or where to start, not to mention a general lack of space/money/time.  Somewhere along the way I discovered BYOAC and realized it really could be done.  Now I've got space and money (2 outta 3 ain't bad, right?), and I'm finally on my way to Arcade nirvana.

I've been collecting parts off and on for quite a while, and up until a week ago had been working on some plans for a custom cab that would fit into the English/Irish pub I'm finishing up in the back yard...Something that would more-or-less blend into the traditional decor.  Then I stumbled on the cab pictured below on Craigslist and am now heading in a (slightly) different direction.

It's a hacked Dynamo cab, so I don't feel bad about MAMEing it, and in fact will be keeping it nearly original...er, as originally hacked.  As it turns out, the 27" Phillips TV I originally bought will fit perfectly with about 1/4" to spare.  I don't have a good mockup yet to show how I'm going to deal with the CP, but I'm going to use the original metal CP as shown in the picture (9"x25.5") and will be fitting a full 6 or 7 button 2 player layout with spinner, Star Wars yoke, Tron/flight stick, 270 wheel, 360 wheel, trackball, dedicated 4-way stick, and if I can fit it, a dual tank stick setup...And all of this with room to spare and without swapping CPs    Needless to say I've got a ton of metalwork ahead of me!

Not to leave anyone hanging, but I need to work out more details before I publicize that part of the plan (don't want to make too big a fool of myself  ).  Part of the reason I'm even posting this is so that you guys can help keep me on track to actually get it done.  I have a tendancy to take on more projects than I can handle.  I'm taking this whole week off to try to finish the interior of my pub so I'll actually have a place to put this cab when it's done, but I already spent half a day yesterday stripping the cab instead 

BTW I'll be offering up the original PCBs and harness from the F-1 Super Battle conversion for free if anyone wants them.

Any and all comments welcome!
Mike

[Bones]

You had me the moment you said you owned a pub.

If there is anything I can do, please don't hesitate to ask.

[80sMike]

Heh, I had feeling I was risking hijacking my own thread in the first post by mentioning the pub 

If there's enough interest I can post a couple of pics in EE.  If I had my webserver running I'd have my progress page up for that as well...