Cutting a Pac-Man Cab into a Ms. Pac?

[davieboynj]

Alright, First off I hope this isn't sacrilidge, doing a conversion like this, responses i receive will definitely affect what i do...

I want to take my (already converted to Arkanoid) Pac-Man /Galaxian cabinet and convert it into a Ms. Pac / Galaga Cabinet by cutting off some of the front.  My reasons are:

1. The cab is already beat up and the art destroyed. 
2. Galaga is the flavor of the month, and i got all of the artwork for a song.
3. I can't stand the thought of going through a deconversion that even a layman can recognize as a pac conversion. 

Is this possible?  are the cabinets otherwise identical?  am i insane?

[RayB]

I don't understand what you'd be cutting off. Weren't both cabs the same other than a few minor things like location of control panel bolting, etc?

[Quarters]

I presume he means to cut the top front of the cab into the (lady-like) curve pictured below.

I say go for it Converted pacs are everywhere.

[pointdablame]

I don't understand what you'd be cutting off. Weren't both cabs the same other than a few minor things like location of control panel bolting, etc?

The profiles are different.  They are similar, but far from the same.

[Kevin Mullins]

I think there are some other suttle differences also.
Check out http://www.jakobud.com/ and compare the two.
I don't know how "perfect" his plans are, but they look good to me.
I'd lay it out on your cab and see if everything will fit to the specs.

I figure if you can mod it and it be an exact reproduction of the Ms. Pac then go for it.
If not...then I'd just leave it alone. IMO

[unix4hire]

I'd vote in favor of restoring it as a pacman even if Ms. Pac is in it.  That's what I did.  I figured pacman is the quintessential arcade game, even if Ms. Pac is technically the most popular game.  I know when people see that I have a pacman it seems to illicit more awe and excitement than my street fighter 3, of course I'm sure they'd probably be excited if it was a Ms. Pac cab instead.  Personal preferences.

[JoyMonkey]

Here's both side drawings layered on top of each other (thanks again to Jakobud for the awesome cabinet layouts). Ms.Pacman does just about fit in there (if you round the sharp tip off a little; it's not that sharp in reality anyway).
Seems like a lot of headaches for something so trivial that could end up not working though. I'd restore the Pac-Man and build a Ms.Pac to give it some comany.

[Stingray]

Way too much work for something 999 people out of 1000 would never notice, IMO. Just do it up like a Ms Pac and skip modding the cab.

-S

[ChadTower]

I have a Pac that I'm in the middle of not only restoring to Ms Pac art but an alternate color scheme Ms Pac. 

If it looks good, in the end, you did the right thing.

[MinerAl]

If you're going to go through the pain of making all those cuts and buying t-mould and everything, just make a Galaga from scratch.

If it's a "I'm gonna do this because I wanna see if I can" then our ideas really won't matter, but if it's to sell later, just use the arcade parts from the Pac cab in a new unblemished cab for roughly the same trouble.

Then again, I have a Pac cab that I've been meaning to deconvert from a golf game for a year and a half.

[davieboynj]

Here's both side drawings layered on top of each other (thanks again to Jakobud for the awesome cabinet layouts).

Interesting to note that all the shleves and panels are identical with relation to the rear corner of the cabinet.  Should i decide to go through with this, it seems like it would be fairly trivial, except for a little bit of bondo for that part that sticks out near the control panel. 

thanks all, for your comments!  I guess the main thing that leads me to do the galaga is that it's my favorite of the bunch, and I have all of the art.  I would love to do a pac, but i'd rather not go through the trouble of getting all the stensels, etc..

[daywane]

I have a empty MS PAC
I can lay it on some butcher paper and trace it for you. Roll it up and mail you the templet.

I think the Galaga and MS PAC  are close enough to work with your art work
I think (but not sure.) MS pac is smaller
I read a post years ago of some one building a Galaga and used MS PAC art.
the art was smaller than the cab.
He had painted it blue (MS PAC blue) the edges of the art work were hard to see in the pics.
trade you the templet of MS PAC for A templet of PAC Man,

[johnvv]

You can also just order one of these cabs from arcadeshop.com. 

http://www.arcadeshop.com/cabinets/cabinets.htm

Ultimately, it might be less expensive than what goes into retro-fitting an existing cab - especially if you don't have the tools already.  In terms of time, much easier than modifying an existing cab - escpecially if you have wood damage to repair.