Need help with construction

[ballboff]

So i've got a icade jr, which i've ripped apart.  I've also got a 3.5 inch screen that uses the gpio of the pi.  I've also got a picade hat.  I want to connect all 3 together and I'm not sure how.  The icade jr has controls which I want to use and I was wondering if it's worth it, and if it's easy to wire them up to the picade.  The pi i'm trying to use is a pi A+ i think, the first gen.  Now I know you're gonna say i'd be better off with a pi zero, but I just think that would take too much configuration.  Will I need to solder all the controls by hand and then attach wires that connect to my picade hat?  I seem to be struggling with space too, i've seen mobile solutions knocking about, but do these all use zero boards?

https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/picade-x-hat-usb-c

https://www.amazon.co.uk/iCade-Arcade-Cabinet-iPhone-ThinkGeek-Red/dp/B0083T1M3E

[Drnick]

I have one of these, they are tiny OK you will need to strip down and get at the bottom of the controls, On mine it had very small wires going to a control board. Cut all those wires at the board end, Then connect those up to wire and pin blocks for the pi hat. (Looks like you can purchase a picade wiring loom which should have everything you need on that front).   The main problem will be one of room to fit everything in the Icade,   Personally I would take the controls out of the Icade and build something the right size to fit pi/hat/screen and controls comfortably.

See the following for someone that did same with the larger Icade. Theory is all still the same.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Bartop-Mini-Retro-Arcade-Raspberry-Pi-and-Customis/

[ballboff]

Cheers mate. Yeah i've got one of those too, which I did exactly that with.  That's what gave me the idea of doing it with a jr.  I've opted for stripping out the controls like you've said and i'm going to use a brand new set of tactile buttons that I should be able to just hook straight up to my picade hat like you said.  Appreciated.