First Cocktail Cabinet - Should I go dedicated, X-in-1, MAME

[cmoses]

I have been looking for a new project to tackle and have been trying to find a small cabinet or cocktail to work on.  I posted looking for a Taito or Nintendo cab or even a cocktail trying to find one.  Being in Austin it seems like they don't pop up to often so I was surprised when I saw a cocktail cabinet on Cragislist yesterday that was very close to my house.  It was listed as a Ms. Pacman but there was no picture and no price.  I called the number in the ad and talked to a gentleman that said he had one but knew nothing about them.  I asked if I could come see it after work and I went there to take a look.  It was a Midway style cabinet, well worn, he said he thought it was a Ms. Pacman, but he wasn't sure.  I took a look at it.  It had no indication that it was a Ms. Pacman, very generic, no artwork, had joystick with a button on each control panel, 2 small player buttons, a button on the side by the coin door.  It was a little beat up but looked to be all there.  I looked at the screen and it has a little burn in, it didn't look like Pacman or Ms. Pacman, it actually looked like Burger Time.  He got out a cord and connected it to the on that had been cut, tried to turn it on, but nothing.  I was still interested, as I said I had been looking for a project.  We figured out a deal we were both happy with and I took it home.  I got it home brushed off some of the dust and took some pictures.  When I opened it up I found a Namco Bally tag on it.  It has a Wells Gardner 19K4906 montior.  I found a tag on it that references Packmen and some settings, so I think it might have been a Pacman at one time.  With the button on the control panels I figured it had been converted.  The button on the side near the coin slot does not have anything connected to it.  There are lights for the control panel on one side but none on the other.  It was very dirty inside but that was pretty much expected.  I don't think it has been used in quite some time. 

So I wired up the power cable and cautiously plugged it in.  Nothing.  Then I remembered that they usually have a coin door switch, closed that and I heard the monitor click on, a fan spin and the speaker crackle.  I took a look and all I am getting is a single line down the center of the monitor.  I did not hear any sounds but after pushing some buttons I did begin to hear the game play.  It was not Pacman, Ms. Pacman or Burger Time, all games that I would recognize instantly.  It sounded kind of familiar, I am not 100% positive but I am pretty sure it is a Galaxian.  From the sounds it seems as though the game play is fine, I just have no picture.  I am hoping that there may be some suggestions I could get or things to try to see if I can get the monitor working.

My next steps would be to decide if I want to restore it as a single cocktail game and which one, probably not Galaxian as it was not a favorite of mine.  Maybe convert it to a X in 1, vertical cocktail cabinet or maybe make it a veritcal MAME cabinet.  It needs some serious cleaning, and restoring.  The cabinet is mostly laminate, but it has some marks and a couple of small pieces missing.  Glass is in ok shape but once again some scratches.  The control panels are really bad, no graphics at all, well worn, needing a lot of work.  So I have definitely found a good project.  Any thoughts on the monitor will help and would be appreciated.

[cmoses]

Well from some reading on here and talking to a friend who knows about monitors, it seems that the issue is vertical collapse.  I will take a look at it the boards and see if it appears to be a solder issue or something more extensive.

In the mean time I am trying to figure out my next step.  Convert it into a dedicated cabinet, something more popular than Galaxian like Pacman, Ms. Pacman, Galaga, etc.  Convert it into a X-in-1 for vertical games or maybe into a MAME vertical game cabinet.  I don't have any experience with the X-in-1's so I would like any thoughts on them those with experience can provide. 

There are a few chips out of the laminate so I think I will probably have to replace it, or at least on a few surfaces.  I don't know if I will be able to find something that matches so I may have to go and redo it all.