Author Topic: Taito 's Universal cabinet - aka Double Dragon cab (Read 16145 times)

SLICK19 · « **on:** July 05, 2007, 02:38:06 pm »

I have read a lot of posts about people building arcade cabinets lately and I have seen some great projects that people have been working on, but has anyone ever built a replica of Taito's G.T.C. 100 universal cabinet? I have also seen cabinet plans on the net for Ms. Pacman etc. however, I have not seen any plans for this popular cab. Does anyone have any plans for it?
For those of you who don't know this cabinet was the Double Dragon cabinet that had the drawer on the bottom of the machine for easy PCB access. check out the pics.

shardian · « **Reply #1 on:** July 05, 2007, 02:53:55 pm »

That would be a fairly easy design consideration to incorporate into any cabinet design.

SavannahLion · « **Reply #2 on:** July 05, 2007, 03:51:54 pm »

Wouldn't the risk of water damage be an issue there?

I kind of like the Stern Cabinet. Though I have to wonder about the damage it might incur as people might kick the cabinet in that area.

shardian · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2007, 03:58:59 pm »

Quote from: SavannahLion on July 05, 2007, 03:51:54 pm

Wouldn't the risk of water damage be an issue there?

Your PSU, and Iso are almost always sitting on the floor anyways, so there isn't much different. Plus, most people don't have to worry about water damage.

SLICK19 · « **Reply #4 on:** July 05, 2007, 04:41:48 pm »

Yeah your right adding a drawer to any cabinet design would be a simple process. I would like to find one of those DD cabs though, I like the style better than some of the others that Taito did. Some of their old cabs had the monitor almost laying down flat and it always seemed to cause a glare on the monitor. I hate that with a passion.

As far as the DD cab goes, If I can find one somewhere I will take the measurements and draw a set of plans for it on AutoCad or something

SavannahLion · « **Reply #5 on:** July 05, 2007, 06:28:51 pm »

Quote from: shardian on July 05, 2007, 03:58:59 pm

Quote from: SavannahLion on July 05, 2007, 03:51:54 pm
Wouldn't the risk of water damage be an issue there?

Your PSU, and Iso are almost always sitting on the floor anyways, so there isn't much different. Plus, most people don't have to worry about water damage.

I guess you're right. My cab has the PSU about 8" or so off the ground because of the foot, but it's still down there.

For me, water tends to be an issue because of how shodd

Quote from: shardian on July 05, 2007, 03:58:59 pm

Quote from: SavannahLion on July 05, 2007, 03:51:54 pm
Wouldn't the risk of water damage be an issue there?

Your PSU, and Iso are almost always sitting on the floor anyways, so there isn't much different. Plus, most people don't have to worry about water damage.

I guess you're right. My cab has the PSU about 8" or so off the ground because of the foot, but it's still down there.

I've been caught more than a few times due to water damage. In my old apartment, I've been flooded out three times by my count. Always because of dickless neighbors and a gutless ---uvula--- of a landlord.

Angry_Radish · « **Reply #6 on:** July 05, 2007, 07:06:53 pm »

I absolutely LOVE my DD cabinet, it's perfect for swapping jamma boards with the drawer, plus you can fold down the monitor to work on it as well as rotate the orientation from the front, no tools needed.

shardian · « **Reply #7 on:** July 05, 2007, 08:33:54 pm »

Quote from: Angry_Radish on July 05, 2007, 07:06:53 pm

I absolutely LOVE my DD cabinet, it's perfect for swapping jamma boards with the drawer, plus you can fold down the monitor to work on it as well as rotate the orientation from the front, no tools needed.

Those are some nice features, especially the rotating monitor.

Disturbed013 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 05, 2007, 10:51:54 pm »

DAMN I LOVE THIS FORUM!!!!

So that's what my cab looked like in better days!!!

I'm right in the middle of a conversion project using one of these, those pictures are awesome, great to see what it was supposed to look like.

I'm begging anyone that has one of these intact to please post or email me some pics of how the monitor is mounted. Mine was completely gutted out and I'm having to refab that area completely, any clues would really help me a lot!

I am also modding the drawer mechanism a little by adding in some drawer slides, the wood on wood thing just wasn't working for me. Granted, I don't plan to get in there too often, but I figured it would be better to upgrade it now while I'm refurbing.

Please, anyone please send me some pics especially the monitor mounting.

Thanks,
D13

Crowquill · « **Reply #9 on:** July 06, 2007, 02:57:35 am »

A friend of mine used to have one of those that was Superman.

Those really are nice versatile cabinets. The drawer feature is nice, but I think the Dynamos drawers were a bit easier to work on since you don't have to squat to reach it. But on the Taito cabs you also don't have to reach up through the coin door and unlatch a control panel to access it. The monitor mounting options are where the cab really shines.

Anybody got a straight view of the sides of one of these?

SLICK19 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 06, 2007, 09:36:18 am »

I found these shot during my search for plans.... two are real pictures and one is a drawing that is more of a straight on shot.

SLICK19 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 06, 2007, 09:38:19 am »

good grief i posted the wrong one

here is the right one.

Angry_Radish · « **Reply #12 on:** July 06, 2007, 10:27:41 am »

I can post dimensions or pics of whatever you need, I'm currently running a midway skins kit in there, but I haven't changed the cabinet at all..

Disturbed013 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 06, 2007, 11:44:20 am »

Radish, it would be great if you could post or send me a few pics of the inside of the cab showing how the monitor is mounted.

Slick19- would love to see if you come up with drawings/plans for this cab.

D13

SLICK19 · « **Reply #14 on:** July 07, 2007, 12:58:44 am »

Well as far as drawing the plans go, that should not be a problem. The only thing that is critical is getting all of the angles right. I can see how two or three people working on that over a forum could get all screwed up. Anyway If I find one that I can physically lay hands on I will create a set of drawings for one. "Disturbed013 I keep you in mind " I do know as far as basic dimensions go the cab is listed in the Double Dragon manual as having the following:

Depth = 29-7/8"
Width = 24-3/8"
height = 71 1/2"

This is the only information I could find. I am sure Radish could fill in the blanks though.

Angry_Radish · « **Reply #15 on:** July 07, 2007, 09:27:49 am »

Yeah, this should be a slow weekend for me, I'll get some pictures and see how many dimensions I can get before I run out of time.

Disturbed013 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 07, 2007, 12:34:14 pm »

Doh! Been waiting for someone to help me when I could be helping the group.

I've got one mid-project sitting in my garage that hopefully I will be improving today...

Slick, if you're near 85706, you can "lay hands" on it, otherwise, I'll try to take some measurements today too and get them back to you. I agree, I'm not quite sure how to measure the angles for you, some are angled corners and some radiused. Well, I'll post up what I can, and maybe between me and Radish you can get enough info to extrapolate the rest from the drawings already posted.

SLICK19 · « **Reply #17 on:** July 07, 2007, 05:29:33 pm »

Disturbed013, That's cool, however, I am on the other side of the stupid country....

How typical. Anyway I will send you a email with the basic dimensions I need. I have scanned a rough drawing that should be pretty self explanatory

Radish, If you want the scan I can send it to you also. we may be able to compare notes.

Later....

BrentRadio · « **Reply #18 on:** July 07, 2007, 06:15:32 pm »

D13,

Here ya go!

http://www.brentradio.com/images/DoubleDragon/Monitor/

Let me know if you have any questions.

Also, as a side note, these cabs were made from pieces of other cabs. Mine has 3 different cab pieces. I found these when I pulled the drawer all the way out.

http://www.brentradio.com/images/DoubleDragon/SideArt1.JPG

http://www.brentradio.com/images/DoubleDragon/SideArt2.JPG

So my 1987 Taito Double Dragon Arcade Game is made from:

Piece #
1 Bally Heavy Metal Meltdown Pinball 1987
http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1150&picno=4045

2 Bally Xenophobe Arcade Game 1987
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=X&game_id=10503

3 Bally Dungons & Dragons Pinball 1987
http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=743&picno=18743

4 Bally Heavy Metal Meltdown Pinball 1987
http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1150&picno=4045

5 Bally Xenophobe Arcade Game 1987
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=X&game_id=10503

That's pretty cool!

What does yours have I wonder?

Brent

Disturbed013 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 08, 2007, 02:53:43 am »

Brent: That is *smurfing* awesome, thank you so much. You have solved several mysteries for me, especially what those little curvy pieces are on the insides, they are about all that is left of the monitor mounting aside from a small vertical wood strip on one side, and one of the metal brackets left on the other side. I have been really stumped on how it was fabbed. Your pics are going to be an enormous help. I'm putting in a PC CRT, so I'll have to come up with something a bit different, but you really clued me in. I owe you one!!! And yes, I have noticed some strips of wood that appear to come from other cabs (guess recycling was happening in the 80's), what puzzles me is how you were able to figure out from a 3/4" strip of wood where it came from. Seriously good eyes there. I'll snap some pics tomorrow and get them up here and see if you can tell what mine are from.

Slick, got your email, and will confirm all the dimensions in the AM. Already I can clear up something that the manual is misleading about, the width they give is outer width, not inner. Great drawing, I'll get it back to you ASAP. I was actually planning on taking just about all those same measurements today, then me and the missus got sidetracked and went out of town and came home with a slot machine.... woo-hoo, ding ding ding ding ding!!!!!

BrentRadio · « **Reply #20 on:** July 08, 2007, 04:52:33 am »

Glad to help!

I wish I could take credit for eyeballing those cabs, but I had no idea.

I posted it to RGVAC and they figured it out!

Link

Brent

Angry_Radish · « **Reply #21 on:** July 08, 2007, 09:23:26 am »

Woohoo! Guess my procrastination payed off!

I was busy cleaning up a Pole Position cockpit I picked up yesterday, and was planning on snapping photos of the taito cab today, still need any at all?

Disturbed013 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 15, 2007, 01:33:46 pm »

Radish, you're off the hook, the photos Brent put up were more than I needed!

Slick, I emailed you the dimensions, along with some more info, if you need anything at all for this, you know how to reach me, (or Radish)...

D13

SLICK19 · « **Reply #23 on:** July 15, 2007, 09:57:25 pm »

Cool.

I got the your message. I will see what I can figure out.

SLICK19 · « **Reply #24 on:** July 16, 2007, 12:35:06 am »

Hey guys,
I have been going through the dimensions that Disturbed013 sent me and there are some differences in the dimensions that Taito lists in the Double Dragon manual and Disturbed013's DD cab. After seeing this I got to thinking about some our earlier posts. For instance, Brentradio had mentioned that it looked like his cab had been build from recycled parts which makes me wonder if the actual "as built" DD cabs don't differ slightly from one another here and there.

What I mean by this is, maybe Taito came up with the plans to build these cabs to a certain specification and somewhere along the way started recycling old cabinets that were close in shape, but slightly off here and there rather than building ever one from scratch according to plan.

The variation in chopped up cabinet parts could cause the differences in the dimensions. If this is the case there maybe more to drawing these plans than I first thought.

Angry_Radish · « **Reply #25 on:** July 16, 2007, 08:04:21 am »

I don't think they will be different dimensions.
From what I've seen on my DoubleDragon and Pole position cabs, the recycled pieces they used (at least on mine) were for strapping and braces, not for the sides, etc..
Let me know one of the dimensions that are off, and I can measure mine and we can go with the best 2 out of 3

SLICK19 · « **Reply #26 on:** July 16, 2007, 12:15:57 pm »

Radish,
Ok, give this one a go and see what you find.
The Taito manual gives the depth of the cabinet as 29-7/8"
Disturbed013 measured this and got 27-1/4"
Check out the pic for the area I am talking about.

Also, while your at it check the maximum height of the cab. Here is the other info on that.
Taito - 71-1/2"
Disturbed013 = 71" (he thinks the difference might be because of the leg levelers)

Thanks for the extra help

Disturbed013 · « **Reply #27 on:** July 16, 2007, 03:46:54 pm »

Slick,
The difference in the depth listed in the manual and what I measured is accounted for. They are listing a depth dimension from the back to the frontmost point, not the width of the side panel at the bottom. Note the approx. 3" bumpout in your last pic where the control panel is, that will account for the difference.

>The Taito manual gives the depth of the cabinet as 29-7/8"
>Disturbed013 measured this and got 27-1/4"

I just ran and measured that to make sure, and yes that is the difference. Mine is actually 29 3/4" though, and after wondering for a moment about how much old particle board shrinks, it occurred to me that the slight variance is very likely due to the fact that my cab does not have t-molding on it at the moment, and that the factory spec would surely include that in their dimensions.

And yes mine has those weird recycled pieces too, but none are major pieces, all are internal support, bracing, etc.

D13

BrentRadio · « **Reply #28 on:** July 16, 2007, 05:10:09 pm »

Here's mine:

I don't think using chopped up cabs would make any difference, as the pieces were all cut to the same size. I think they just recycled the wood. All original DD cabs should be the same size. I think they mainly used the pieces as braces and support, but either way they were cut into the same size for what they needed.

Brent

Angry_Radish · « **Reply #29 on:** July 16, 2007, 05:30:41 pm »

Damn you BrentRadio, don't you work?
Bah, I guess I don't need to do the dimensions on mine when I get home, lol

SLICK19 · « **Reply #30 on:** July 16, 2007, 05:32:30 pm »

Thanks guys that clears up a lot
Brent that pic is great that will help a lot

after looking at that my estimating was
fairly close Thanks a bunch

BrentRadio · « **Reply #31 on:** July 16, 2007, 05:44:03 pm »

it's called vacation!

SLICK19 · « **Reply #32 on:** July 16, 2007, 08:18:56 pm »

Here is a rough sketch on what I have done so far. Feel free to check some of this stuff out and let me know what you think. This is a little difficult since I don't have this cab. you will have to forgive me about the drawing I had to change the format to a forum friendly version

-Slayer- · « **Reply #33 on:** April 30, 2018, 05:28:53 am »

Quote from: SLICK19 on July 07, 2007, 12:58:44 am

Well as far as drawing the plans go, that should not be a problem. The only thing that is critical is getting all of the angles right. I can see how two or three people working on that over a forum could get all screwed up. Anyway If I find one that I can physically lay hands on I will create a set of drawings for one. "Disturbed013 I keep you in mind " I do know as far as basic dimensions go the cab is listed in the Double Dragon manual as having the following:

Depth = 29-7/8"
Width = 24-3/8"
height = 71 1/2"

This is the only information I could find. I am sure Radish could fill in the blanks though.

Hey mate I know it's been awhile but we're you able to get to get together some plans and built this cab? I am looking to do the same but there is almost zero help on the net apart from the couple of sketches on your thread. Any help would be amazing.
Cheers.

Paul


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