First Cab build (Began tear down)

[Diablo1616]

Hey everyone!

So I found this forum by pure chance about a week ago when I saw someone who built an Eee Pc mini Mame cab.
What the heck is Mame I asked! And after some googling I happened upon this community. I had no idea this kind
of hobby even existed but after reading through the HoF thread and and everyone elses build I knew I had to have
one. Only problem is I have a little one due before Christmas so my spending limit is pretty tight.

Now for my very first newbie question! I found a guy selling 3 empty arcade cabs for a good price (cheaper then
buying wood) but I want to make sure I don't mess up a classic so I'll post a link for you all to check it out.

http://gallery.me.com/bryan.koepplinger#100012/Empty%20arcades. (iPad won't let me attach)

Does anyone recognize any of these games? I wish I had more pictures but I won't until I buy them!

Thanks for looking and I'll post updates once I get them.

[Well Fed Games]

I attached the pic here, hope you don't mind. None of those look like "classics" to me, but I wouldn't worry about that too much anyway. Welcome to the forum!

[Diablo1616]

No I don't mind at all, thanks! I can't wait to pick them up and get started! Just so I know I'm getting a good deal...what would you pay for each cab? As far as I know they are all completely gutted except for the coin doors.

Thanks again.

[GameSharkz]

Looking Forward To Seeing Your 1st Build Cuz Im also on my 1st good luck..youll need it haha

[lastrega]

you'll be fine, I started my first cab in march of this year, finished in May.

I was not lucky enough to find a good used cab in Maine, for under 500$ so Built mine from scratch.... cost me 389 in wood, screws, paint ect, so with a pre built cab your off to a good start....

you should meet your dead line in time, and as far as money goes..... controls and such are faily cheap, I paid 279 for buttons , and joysticks and encoders.... may cost more if you want a trackball(s).....if you got an extra pc lying around then your golden...............
The most dollar crunching item is your monitor, a new crt arcade monitor cost a bunch....
However there are some really good guys on here, that may get you a deal on a good used one, or better yet may have one for sale them selfs....... ask around:) 

Be leary of ebay, when in doubt, ask someone here..... folks around here know who the good vendors are........ so once again welcome and your not alone, retro gaming is an awesome experiance:).................ML

[Donkbaca]

Are you getting all 3?  Or just one?  I wouldn't pay more than 150 bucks for a gutted cab with just the coin door.

As for the PC, I just got an off lease 3.0ghz core 2 duo for 150 bucks off fleabay.  Core 2 duo is the best processor for MAME from what I gather.  A P4, though will work for just about anything you want to play, and you can get those form anywhere between $0 and $75

If cost is an issue, make a 2p cab.  4p are more expensive since you need more buttons, joys and a pricier encoder.  I would ditch the trackball, unless you LOVE trackball games.  I personally don't think its worth it, not many fun trackball games to justify the 60-100 bucks you would need to invest to get a trackball.

For encoders, get a 2p xin mo from paradise arcade or GGG, they are like 25 bucks, plug and play and easy.

Buttons/sticks, depend on personal preference, but you can find them pretty cheap at most vendors.

The monitor is important.  I would just go 21.3 inch LCD.  They are 4:3, plenty big enough and usually good quality and can be found for under 200 bucks.  I wouldn't mess with an arcade monitor unless having one is really important to you, they are heavy, hard to find, expensive and a PITA to mess with.  Just go LCD, they are cheap enough, easy to find and plug right in to your PC

[Diablo1616]

So I went and picked up 2 cabs today from the seller. When I arrived the guy said he had sold the three in the picture to two guys who came by yesterday. What I didn't know is that he had about FORTY (40) more in his garage! He had up-rights, cocktails, pinball, jukeboxes, you name it. I know I saw an original centipede cab in there somewhere. He was selling them all for different price ranges and since I was on a budget I went with this one, which I paid 30 bucks for. It came with a coin door, a control panel (no buttons or trackball) and that's about it.




As I was loading it into the truck he asked if I wanted another one he'd give to me for 10 bucks and I went with some old (and heavy!) generic looking cab for parts if nothing else. It came with two complete coin doors with mechs and a dollar bill acceptor. I didn't get pics of the second one today. The guy was super cool and said if I need anything else to give him a call. He took me to the second story of his garage and he had a ton of coin mechs, PSU's, game boards and original arcade monitors. So if anyone needs something let me know and I'll see if he has it.

So my first question is what material is on the side of the MDF panels? My buddy said it was melamine (sp?) and just a covering but my second question is what is the best way to get it off? Heat gun and peel, sand it down with a DA? I've never done any wood working in my life so any advice is great advice.

Now I just have to figure out a way to work on this in the garage in day after day of 100+ degree heat in Arizona....

[Donkbaca]

You should nab a pinball!

Sweet score!

[Rando]

Really nice find and seems like you located a good guy to work with.  Welcome and luck!!

[mathew_123456]

In regards to the melamine stuff on the side - I'm in the same boat. I've looked at all kinds of forums, and ran into the following conclusions (someone with actual experience might know better/ different)
- can't use heat gun to peel - I've even tried, but it is quite strong.
- you can purchase paint that will adhere to this (I purchased something similar to this http://renomart.com.au/laminate-melamine-paint-by-white-knight-paints/)
- apparently, using melamine/ laminate as a base, you can achieve a very good finish with painting, since the base surface is great to start with

I'm currently in the process of using bog (bondo as you would probably know it) to fill in the imperfections, after I removed stickers and the glue residue.

Good luck with yours - I've got a 2 year plan to finish mine 

[Diablo1616]

Matthew - after reading your post and then doing some googling I've decided to try and paint it (thanks for making my mind up for me  ). Some people are saying you need to use special Melamine paint and others say with the right primer you can use regular paint. I'm going with the latter to save on cash as I have leftover automotive paint. So my plan is this:

1. Fill gouges with putty/bondo
2. Sand
3. Use a primer suited for plastics/adhesion promoter
4. Sand
5. Repeat step 3
6. Sand
7. Paint with the fire engine red auto paint I have
8. Sand
8a. Repeat step 7
9. Clear coat
10. Wet sand
11. Buff to mirror like finish (hopefully)

Then I can focus on getting it functional 

I've also got some plans in the mix to make the monitor moveable. The angle the screen sits now would be terrible for playing gun games so I want to come with a solution that I can on the fly have the monitor come out and sit up right and then go back down when playing other games.

[Green Giant]

You should live in Houston.  Then I could raid that guys garage.  Get a juke while you are at it.

[Diablo1616]

Today was a super slow day for an update but you gotta start somewhere I suppose  . Stripped off the old vinyl side art and was left with awesome residue I have to get ride of. For anyone who has done this, is Goo Gone OK or should I use an adhesive remover from a spray can?


I then began the rest of the tear down. Back exhaust vents removed (they look to be in good shape as is, no new paint needed), removed coin door and the rest of the insides.


Are these counters able to be reset or did this machine really only make about $1,100 USD?



Finally, should I keep this board for anything or is it trash?



I'm waiting on a friend of mine who works at The Depot to get me a scrap piece of board with Melamine on it so I can try out my painting technique and whether or not it will work. I had to stop after removing these things because I felt like I was melting...100+ Degree heat at 9 in the morning sucks. Dang you Arizona summers!

[Nephasth]

Goo Gone sucks. I highly recommend Rustoleum's adhesive remover (pictured on the left).

[KonkeyKong]

Don't throw that little circuit board!  It's an 8 watt per channel audio amplifier, cost ya $40+ new. (if it's in working condition)

[Diablo1616]

@nephasth - thanks for the input! I'll go grab a can tonight and give it a shot in the morning.

@KonkeyKong - since I'm going to use a computer to run the games is there a way or reason to use the board? Or should I throw it up on eBay and try my luck?

*bonus - I plugged in the fluorescent fixture and it lit up right away! One more thing I don't have to buy   

[KonkeyKong]

it looks like you can run sound out from your computer to the amp, then from the amp to speakers of your choice.  In otherwords, you won't have to use/hack a pair of computer speakers.