Just pounced on a FREE NBA Jam Cabinet, now the trouble begins.

[bfauska]

 

I just looked at CL and found a free NBA Jam cabinet.  No monitor, game board, marquee or powersupply.  The cabinet looks clean and solid, the CP is intact, the jamma harness, and coindoor are there and seem good.  My current plans were to use a 19" computer monitor for my setup, but I am worried it is going to look tiny.  Does anybody have a pic of this style cab with a 19" monitor?

I will keep you all posted as the project progresses, I may try to shrink the cab down a bit to be more appropriate for the monitor and a 2player CP.

If the size seems out of place for me I may also consider a Seattle area trade for something more compact.

[theCoder]

You might want to consider going with a 21" monitor.  I picked one up on eBay 6 months ago for $75 delivered.  Works great.  Seattle huh?  I'm 5 hours south on I-5 in Albany.

[leapinlew]

I think it will look tiny... didn't those things have 25 or 27" monitors in them?

[Crax]

  I may try to shrink the cab down a bit to be more appropriate for the monitor and a 2player CP.

That should play most 4 player games, I would keep that as a dedicated 4-player machine and build/rebuild a 2 player one for other stuff if you have the space.

[bfauska]

Leapinlew, yes I think the original monitor was a 25, and some people have stuffed 27s in there.

Crax, I don't have any need for a 4 player and I barely have room for one cabinet as it is.

I was thinking if I can't find a trade I could do some careful surgery and make it a little narrower and shallower so the 19" doesn't look too small.  I am trying to see just how much I can do on this thing for how little money, luckily I am resourcefull, and work in a shop with all the tools I could need and enough scrap materials to keep me stocked up.  I have on occasion seen larger computer monitors than 19" for free on CL, people switch to LCD and don't want to pay disposal fees, I may be able to get a 21".  I am trying to avoid buying a new video card to run an arcade monitor anyway, although some of my old ones may do the trick, I know some will output the right refresh, I haven't checked mine yet.  If I find that I can run an arcade monitor with my current setup I could stay on the lookout for a cheap or free arcade monitor or cabinet w/ monitor.  If I had the room I would already have a T-Mek with 2 monitors I could have pillaged. 

I think that worst case scenario is that this cabinet is good for a few cp parts, the coindoor, and marquee retainer.  We'll see what it's like when I pick it up.

The serious downside to this is that my wife, who seemed fine with me looking for an arcade cabinet, now seems unhappy that I actually FOUND one.   I think if I can make sure it is cleaned up and somewhat finished looking before I find an out of the way place in our Theater/Guest room/office I could be ok.

[Crowquill]

Proportionally, it'd probably look pretty similar to Rampage. Every time I look at a picture of that cab it reminds me of some of the tiny monitors used in MAME cabs.

That should be a great all-around cab for MAME, but if you don't want the Frankenpanel and are short on room, maybe you'd be better off with a smaller cab.

[leapinlew]

The serious downside to this is that my wife, who seemed fine with me looking for an arcade cabinet, now seems unhappy that I actually FOUND one.

Thats not a downside. Thats expected. Ultimately, our wifes do not want us to be happy unless it's about them.

 

[bfauska]

That's not a downside. That's expected. Ultimately, our wives do not want us to be happy unless it's about them.

 

Now that's funny.

It's here!!!
Posted on CL at 9:30 pm and in my back room by 11:00am  not too bad if I say so myself.

I am a little bummed though.  The cab was a GameWorks which is an arcade-like entertainment center here in Seattle.  GameWorks uses credits on cards that you buy to operate their machines so instead of coin mechs they use a card reader, which they keep when they toss out their cabs.  I had hoped to get a working mech out of the deal, but no go.  On the bright side coin doors are not too pricey on eBay.

I am going to do some research on the cab, I don't think it was an NBA Jam after all, but that's good, because I like the total lack of sideart and shape a little better I think.

I'll post pictures and an update tonight.

[bfauska]

OK here's some pics... First what I thought I was getting


I am not a huge fan of the angle of the monitor or the really deep base on those cabinets.  So when I picked mine up and saw this:

I was convinced that the photos of the NBA Jam cabs on-line just made the angle look odd, but when I read the Dynamo sticker on my cabinet and saw that it was a model HS-5 I did some research and found that it was this:


Which was not even originally a 4 player cab.  I really think I like this shape better, and I don't know if the NBA Jam cabs had the slide out wood shelf or not, but this one does and it seems like a great place to mount a de-cased PC.  I think I will fabricate a new 2 player CP that fits between the sides of the cab like the original, I may be able to find an original but I think I'd like to squeeze a spinner and maybe trackball in there.

Right now my plans are to do a new CP, replace the top coindoor, mount the monitor and make a bezel, come up with some marquee art, and replace the t-molding (maybe red.)

There you go, an update with pics.  I think the very next step is going to be some ghetto playing with the monitor sitting like it is, and my desktop CPs hooked to the laptop hooked to the monitor.
 

[Sidgoop]

My current mame box was a Mortak Kombat 4, which is the same box that Midway/Williams has been using the for the past 10 or so years (and just like the original NBA jam).  My previous mame box was in a Dynamo cabinet.  Having owned both, each machine has their own pros/cons.  The Dynamo cabinet is easier to mount the monitor, and it will look decent with a 19" (with the right size bezel), but making a control panel box is a lot more difficult.  With the Midway/Williams, you just need to build a new cpo out of a sheet of particle board, whereas the Dynamo, you either have to punch the existing metal panel, or fabricate an entire box, then find a decent way to mount it to the cabinet itself.  I used a LOT of right angle brackets for that one!  Anyway, good find, and good luck with your project

[bratwurst]

NBA Jam is one of my all time favorite games, and one of a couple four player games I really want to be able to play on the cab I make.   I'm not going to be able to get a lot of space though (wife issue here too) so I will probably be stuck making a slim LCD cab that would look silly with a 4 player CP.

Anyway - great pickup and good luck with the build!