Noob needs a little guidance.

[spooky]

Hi all I am new to this forum ,just found it yesterday and very limited on the whole arcade conversion thing. I want a Mame machine badly for my new private bar and have been exploring my options. I have a local arcade machine vendor who has a King of Fighters machine thats in decent shape. The only bad things are the side walls of the cabinet are painted black spray can and there is a "insert coin/Credit"image burned in the screen actually running vertical on the left side as if the monitor was flipped on its side when reinstalled. Not very noticable at all and doesnt bother me a bit. I asked the lady that worked there about converting it to a Mame machine and she frowned on me and said"Well,to do that you need to replace the monitor, wiring harness,and JAMMA board. Is this true? The monitor? I have also seen JAMMA boards on Ebay that are supposed to be pre-programmed with 1000s of games. Would this get me away from having to use a computer tower with MAME installed? And lastly I thought about just ordering a SNK Arcade Game Room Classics bartop machine and enjoying the games on it and coverting it later. I read it has a standard JAMMA board configuration but I want to be positive it will work before I put down the cash. But I would rather have a full stand up arcade machine with the lit marquee and coin door if I can figure out what I need. Please help me out guys I dont know much yet but trying to learn. It is a little confusing. (PS I am familiar with Mame I use to have it installed on my old comp and had no problem running it.)

[spacies]

Welcome to the wonderful world that is BYOAC.

You don't need to replace all the stuff in the KOF cab.

Just replace the KOF Jamma PCB with a J-Pac and add an Arcade VGA card to your PC and you could be up and running in hours.

Or cheaper still is to to rip it all out and sell that stuff, install a PC monitor, 19" or bigger, buy an I-Pac and fit it all in your cab and again, only a few hours to be playing!

You could tidy up the side later on.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Unholyknight]

Projects like these are fun, and it shouldn't be too hard to do, just listen to the above post.

If you ever end up letting the KOF game sit around give me a PM and I'd take it off your hands, I would pay of course.

[spooky]

I was wrong about the game. Its FIghters History for 300.00 but he also has a very nice IKari Warriors for 350.00. Maybe the prices are high I don't know I am going to try and haggle with him. Thanks for the replys I am enroute to his store  now and will let youguys know what I get.

[shardian]

Welcome to the boards!

You may want to try a local search on ebay for arcade stuff. I got two fully operational jamma cabinets off a guy locally for $50 each. Vendors tend to overcharge when they do sell stuff.
You also may want to take a picture of the cabinet and show it here - someone may be able to identify it for you. That game was usually a kit game - the vendor bought the game internals and art, and then put it into whatever empty cabinet they had sitting around. I know you are excited and in a hurry to get your game on, but you may want to take a step back, do some research and shop around. Odds are you could find something better, and something you will be more happy with. Being a green horn, you won't have much ground to stand on when haggling with this vendor.

Good luck with your cabinet!

[spooky]

Thanks for the welcome and replys. The owner of the store wasnt there when I got there but the lady that works there told me there service department was overloaded with Cabs they use for parts. I left a letter telling the owner what I needed and what I would be useing it for.The lady said the store owner was familiar with the  MAME conversion and would be happy to get rid of a spare Cab or two to free up space in there service building. May turn in to a good thing. I will keep my fingers crossed.

[_) (V) (-)]

That sounds like your best bet, check out their wearhouse and you may also find other parts you can use, controls, marquee, etc...

Another option is the auctions. ( There is another one coming up in the Milwaukee area next week. ) However, these are more of an educated buyer type of thing. You should know what you want and are willing to pay before buying anything at an auction.

[spooky]

I finally talked to the store owner today and he said he had plenty of good 2 player cabs and maybe even some 4 player cabs he would sell me for 75.00. He said I wouldnt need the monitor and he would remove the "board " and Marquee and keep those for parts. I guess I dont need those things anyway...or do I? So I guess I will be buying a 25 inch TV soon. He has cabs for 19 and 25 but the bigger the better is what I am thinking.  Anyway,I am worried as to what he will rip out. What I need and dont need. As far as I know the Jpac is an adapter to hook the PC to the Jamma board? What do I need to ask him to leave? I would like to use the buttons that come in the cab already without hacking keyboards an mouse and soldering. Any advise???

[spacies]

OK,

You really only need the cabinet and the control panel.
If the buttons and joysticks are any good then maybe those too. But if they are crap then you can buy some new ones.

An empty pre-built cabinet is a good start.
You don't need the original JAMMA wiring, power supply or the monitor chassis and tube etc.

You will need a TV, a PC, an IPAC (if thats what you want to use) and some speakers.