Found the perfect empty cabinet! It begins!!

[Purple Tophat]

Hello everyone!

I live in a condo with jack squat for tools. Building a cabinet from scratch just isn't feasible right now. So, the decision has been between building a pre-fab cabinet or finding a good empty starter cabinet. I've been keeping an eye on Craigslist for a while now, and all of sudden out of nowhere comes this perfect beauty of a cab for $125. The guy selling owns an arcade that's still in business, and this cabinet was only used for testing games and was never actually in an arcade. Made by TLC Industries in Schaumburg IL. It's in great shape. It's got the leg levelers, wheels on the back, handles...easy to move around! Folks, it has purple t-molding. That's just a sign! I bought it. Had to. So happy I did!Check out the pics below!

So now I can begin my MAME project! It'll be slow going, and I promised the wife I wouldn't actually do the final assembly of it until we move into a new house (which we are actively hunting for right now). I already have two purple HAPP 45 caliber gun halves. I just picked up 2 recoil guns from ebay for dirt cheap cause the gun didn't know they were recoil guns and I was able to recognise it from the pics. I'n gonna transfer the insides of the recoil guns into my purple gun halves. Now all I'll need is some way to get them working with MAME. I'm willing to wait and wait and wait for a solution that isn't IR based. I'm not gonna disfigure these beautiful purple recoil guns! But...I digress.

The plan is to buy a 4-player control panel from mameroom.com and outfit it with a purple and black color scheme of buttons and joysticks. I'll post pics and questions as I go for the help of anyone who might be so kind as to lend advice!

So...here are some pics! First question: What is with the cutout for the coin door? It's like 21 and a 1/2 inches by like 17 and a 1/2 inches. All of the over/under doors I'm seeing are much skinnier. What type of door is this, and where do I get one (preferably used and not too expensive)?

[floriske.nl]

That's a perfect project base indeed and pretty cheap as well. Good find!

[Unstupid]

That is one huge coin door hole!  nice cab... but $125 for a shell is kinda steep IMO.  Cant wait to see what you do with it!

[Well Fed Games]

Hey, good find. Even has the glass in it! For the coin door... there are some 4-slot coin doors that are larger, but even those I think aren't that large. Good luck on the house search!

[Purple Tophat]

That's a perfect project base indeed and pretty cheap as well. Good find!

Thanks! I'm totally psyched!

That is one huge coin door hole!  nice cab... but $125 for a shell is kinda steep IMO.  Cant wait to see what you do with it!

Yeah that coin door has me worried! I may have to cut a new panel if I can't find anything to fit and look nice. That wouldn't be the end of the world though. $125 might seem steep to you, but it's all relative I guess. I don't have the space or the tools to build my own right now, and I was all set to spend $450+shipping for a North Coast Customs kit, so in that regard, I saved myself a bundle, so I'm happy!

Hey, good find. Even has the glass in it! For the coin door... there are some 4-slot coin doors that are larger, but even those I think aren't that large. Good luck on the house search!

Hey, thanks! I'll definitely check out some measurements for some 4 player coin doors, but like I said, I may have to cut a new panel, or I should say ask my buddy to cut a new panel for me! Haha!

[Typefighter01]

Hey Purple,

Why not use this hole to your advantage. Cut a piece of 3/4 MDF an inch or two wider than the hole and either mount it from behind or from the front, install a traditional Happ over/under (you can pick up a brand new one for around a $100) and cut some slots on either side of the coin door to mount your Happ guns. Recessing it from behind would probably look the best, but from the pics, it looks like the hole is a little rough. I would clean up that hole with a router, install matching T-molding and screw the oversize panel from behind. Considering the coin door would take up the bulk of the room, you could get away with just painting the panel a satin black to match your cab, easy-peesy

For $125 you are of to a great start....good luck...

[Dawgz Rule]

Why not use this hole to your advantage. Cut a piece of 3/4 MDF an inch or two wider than the hole and either mount it from behind or from the front, install a traditional Happ over/under (you can pick up a brand new one for around a $100) and cut some slots on either side of the coin door to mount your Happ guns. Recessing it from behind would probably look the best, but from the pics, it looks like the hole is a little rough. I would clean up that hole with a router, install matching T-molding and screw the oversize panel from behind. Considering the coin door would take up the bulk of the room, you could get away with just painting the panel a satin black to match your cab, easy-peesy

Nice suggestion. 

[yotsuya]

Considering you really don't have to paint, cut, glue, route, repair, etc (well, except for the coin door), $125 is a great deal.

[MacGyver]

Black vinyl on 3mm Medite over the current front and no one will ever know  Lucky find on the cab anyway. 

[Purple Tophat]

Thanks for the suggestions! I posted on the Main Forum asking if anyone knew of a coin door to fit that huge opening, and a fella over there found the right one. New from HAPP, it's $266. Way to much for me. I did find a place that sells them for $119, but they're out of stock. I'm gonna call them and see if they're actually going to get any more or not. I'm also gonna call HAPP and see if maybe I can just buy the door without all of the mechanisms and such.

Here's a link to the door, if anyone knows where to get one for a good deal! http://na.suzohapp.com/coindoors/40200000.htm

The other solution that I really liked was to cut a piece of sheet metal to go over the hole, paint it with a black hammered finish, and then mount a standard size over/under into that.

Still undecided, but I could possibly be persuaded to part with the $119, just not the $266! I'm thinking I'll be patient with this and see if one comes up on ebay or elsewhere cheap and used. It doesn't seem like a popular door though, so I won't hold my breath!

In other news, I got a 27" Toshiba TV to use a monitor for $10 on Craigslist. It's going to be super tight even with removing part of the plastic case. I'll post pics and questions about that once I get to that step.

The only other thing I've done is to order a purple joystick ball-top for the dedicated 4-way joystick the cabinet will have. It's drilled for a Sanwa/Seimitsu joystick, but I was thinking I'd order a Tornado Terry's Pac Man joystick for wood panels. I'm sure I can adapt the ball to fit the stick. Unless anyone has a better suggestion for a Ms. Pacman stick???

[Hammerfist]

Looks really nice! I think it couldn't get much better from that, to find something like that for a base. Good luck with the project (and finding the house ).

[PL1]

You're looking for deals, but I haven't seen you post in the WTB Forum on KLOV, yet. (link in my other post)   

KLOV is primarily focused on dedicated/multi cabs and related parts.  Lots of good leads and sources for that stuff there.


Scott

[Purple Tophat]

You're looking for deals, but I haven't seen you post in the WTB Forum on KLOV, yet. (link in my other post)   

KLOV is primarily focused on dedicated/multi cabs and related parts.  Lots of good leads and sources for that stuff there.


Scott

Right you are! I just called the company who has it for $119, and they can have it drop shipped for me for $19.60 shipping. Good to know in case I can't find it used. I actually created an account over at KLOV a while ago, so I'm going to take your advice and go post a WTB over there tonight. It's just been really hectic trying to find a house! However, I did hear your advice, and I'm going to take it! So, thank you!

I'm going to call HAPP in a second and see if there's any way to order that without all of the mechanisms. I'll keep you posted! Thanks for all the help!!!

[Purple Tophat]

Haha! PL1 you know what you're doing! I posted on the KLOV forum WTB section about this coin door, and I got a response immediately from a guy who has one for a good price. Only trouble is I can't reply to him because his private message inbox is full, so it won't let me. Not sure how to find a way around that though...

[RonnieC312]

Where is that place at?

I see the 815 area code... it must be close to me

[Purple Tophat]

It's a place called Star Worlds Arcade in Dekalb IL. I've never actually been except for to pickup this cabinet, and truthfully I was so excited to check out my first ever cabinet, that I forgot to check out the arcade! Woops!

[Purple Tophat]

YES!!! Sold a bunch of old action figures on Ebay, so I picked up a 27" Makvision Flat screen CRT Monitor yesterday!!! This thing has never been installed in a cabinet. It has a few very minor scratches on the perimeter of the screen that you can't see when it's on. Because of the negligible scratches, I got it for $250!

It's this one here: http://na.suzohapp.com/monitors/49271700.htm

I'm quite happy to get it for that price! My cab already has 27" mounting brackets in place, so it'll fit perfectly! I was going to use a TV, but after seeing this baby hooked up for testing, I'm SO happy I went this route! Only trouble is this thing is heavy! How do you get these lifted into place in the cabinet? Just give yourself a hernia?

[Junai]

Get everything ready before you lift. Tools, fasteners, etc should be ready or at hand. Get a good buddy and some beer and heave ho the thing in and fasten it quickly. If the cabinet has mounts it should be easy if everything lines up. Best to have two guys lift and someone to start a couple of bolts before you let it go. Grats on the monitor that thing is awesome.

[yotsuya]

YES!!! Sold a bunch of old action figures on Ebay, so I picked up a 27" Makvision Flat screen CRT Monitor yesterday!!! This thing has never been installed in a cabinet. It has a few very minor scratches on the perimeter of the screen that you can't see when it's on. Because of the negligible scratches, I got it for $250!

 

[Purple Tophat]

Got the monitor into the cabinet last night!!! It was super easy too! It just popped right in place and I tightened down the nuts on the bracket. It looks really nice in there! Now I just need to order the bezel. I love how huge it looks in this cabinet! This thing is gonna be AWESOME when I get done with it!!! Super psyched!!!

Quick question:

I wanna cut a back door since it didn't come with one. Look at the pics in my first post. Where do I get a sheet of melamine? And what hardware do I need to attach the door, and from whom can I order it?

[Purple Tophat]

So I'm possibly about to order the bezel and I'm going to get my trackball from the same company because they have them for a good price. It's a place called TwistedQuarter.com. They are a good price, but they don't say what brand they are, so I don't know if they are any good. Anyone have any info on their trackballs and bezels? The rest of my stuff I'm going to order from Arcadeemulator.net.

What's better? Trackball, or High-Ball Trackball? The way the hole is drilled, I'm going to have to use one of those square mounting brackets over the top.

Thanks for any help!!!

[Purple Tophat]

So...

After a loooong time dreaming of getting back into this but having no time to do so, I am finally making progress again! It took buying a house, moving to a different state, and finally getting settled.

Finally got around to working on the control panel again. Realized after reading so many times that player 3 and 4 joysticks need to be parallel to the screen, I made up a quick template, drilled new holes and moved the wood inserts to the new holes. Now the joysticks are all properly oriented!

[Purple Tophat]

Then I started to wire everything. It took some doing to get the hang of it, but I think it turned out pretty clean in the end. At least, as clean as I could get it!

[Purple Tophat]

The CP started as a kit from mameroom/north coast customs. The problem was, if you built it according to instructions, it would be impossible to pop the top and open the control panel easily. So I sort of reversed the panels and added the hinge from the old CP that came with the cab. Now I can open and close it at will and it locks down with two cam and posts that would have been on the bottom side of the panel instead of on top.

I like how everything turned out except I am considering routing out a little bit of material to raise the joysticks up just a touch higher. No sure if I should go there or not though. They feel ok, but I know I would be happier with it if they were just a tiny bit higher. I have never routed anything in my life though. It just seems like a big pain, but then again if I routed it down 1/8", I would still have 1/2" of wood, so if I got 1/4" hex drive wood inserts, that would still give me 1/4" of wood between the insert and the top of the panel. Hmmm...would that extra 1/8" make any real difference? Not sure I would want to cut it any closer than that. What to do?

[n3wt0n]

Congrats on sticking with it all this time.

[Purple Tophat]

Thanks. Hoping that I will actually have some time get this done here. I will definitely have more questions. Going to try to route out the 1-4 joystick areas underneath to give them some more height. Hopefully I will have time to do that tonight.

[harveybirdman]

I love the monitor.


What 4 player games are you going to play on it?  sooo many buttons....

[Purple Tophat]

Yeah I got super lucky to get that monitor for the price I did!

I know, the 3rd and 4th player probably don't need that many buttons, but that is the way the control panel kit from North Coast Customs came. I haven't really finished putting together my game list yet, but I figure there will be some N64 games we may want to play that will not use analog and will utilize more buttons, so what the heck?

Aside from the obvious X-Men, TMNT, Turtles in Time, Rampage, etc arcade games, I need to have Battle Load Runner for Turbo Graphix 16 (waaaay underrated multiplayer fun), same with Super Bomberman for SNES. Then there are the N64 titles. All of these depend on whether or not each will work without analog, but some I want to try on there will be: Super Smash Brothers, Rampage UT, Gauntlet Legends, New Tetris, Bomberman 64. I doubt WWF No Mercy will play very well on this CP, but theoretically, it would play, just might be awkward. My wife is a fanatic for Puzzle Bobble and they have that 4 player one on N64.

It would be nice if NHL Hits would work sans analog. I'd also like to see if Virtua Tennis for Dreamcast or maybe N64 Mario Tennis would work. Other than that, I need to start putting all of the games together so I can finalize the list. I'm only though the 16 bit era so far.

[harveybirdman]

Well if the cp is detachable you can always build your own in the future.

When I looked into N64 support for my MAME setup, I finally realized that without the Native controller no solution was viable for me.  Also it was at that moment when I begin to seriously question console support at all for my cabinet. But I do play quite a bit of PC engine on it, you'll be happy that you added that (sounds like you already are)

Watching this one, looking forward to some pics of that monitor up and running.