Author Topic: Refurbishing 33" Cabinet to area 51/maxium force PLUS!! (Read 9304 times)

red_johnny · « **on:** July 23, 2007, 06:21:56 pm »

Ok, here is my plan. I have aquired 1 33" cabinet which I will be converting into area 51/maxium force. Once that part is done I will be saving up and getting a quad slot adapter and adding 3 other Jamma games. I was thinking pit fighter, leathal enforcers and I am still in the air for the fourth.

I will be adding new joysticks and buttons and recovering the cabinet with new laminate and T-molding. I am going to take my speaker covers some where to get sand blasted and cromed. Behind the speaker grills will be a aluminum or mirror finish and a LED light bar which will be either red, blue or green. I will be taking the stock speakers out and replacing them with 5 1/4s and a 1" tweeter. The Sub will be removed if a 8" sub will fit. I will alos be adding a cop style red and blue swirly light on top of the cabinet to be activated by a switch. New plexiglass will be added all around. I still need to figure out what kind of TV I will be using yet. I think these can house a 34" or 36" screen, if so that is what I will be useing.

leapinlew · « **Reply #1 on:** July 23, 2007, 06:27:02 pm »

Quote from: red_johnny on July 23, 2007, 06:21:56 pm

recovering the cabinet with new laminate.

Ouch... thats going to be some work. I love this cabinet design. Keep the pics coming.

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #2 on:** July 23, 2007, 06:33:56 pm »

good luck with the project!

Good stuff

Pit Fighter? ... I generally hear bad things about that one - I haven't played it in years though.

red_johnny · « **Reply #3 on:** July 23, 2007, 06:37:35 pm »

Yeah I am not 100% on Pit fighter but I saw it on ebay the other day and thought, hey that might be a good one. There is just a TON of Jamma games out there to choose from. I am locked on area 51/maximum force though. The laminate should not be that bad to lay down. Alot of the old stuff is pealing off pretty good. I am going to work on this more as I have time to do it. I am hopeing to have at least the game running in 3 months.

red_johnny · « **Reply #4 on:** July 23, 2007, 06:48:18 pm »

I still need to figure out what color laminate I should use and the color of the T-moldings. BTW, I am a virgin at this so I might be asking ALOT of questions as I review the stickys and the newbie guides. My biggest one so far is can I use a regular TV and place it in there? I heard that TV's have mounting brackets once the casing is removed. If so, is there a walk through on how to wire it? This site is huge and has a wealth of info. I will be using the heck out of the search button as I go so that I dont ask the same questions. I want to add a amp too and a crossover to get the most out of the sound system. I know its going to be alot of work but I have been wanting to do this for several years and I finally got lucky and got this cabinet for 50 bucks plus the cost of 2 tanks of gas. I will post my progress as I go

Crowquill · « **Reply #5 on:** July 24, 2007, 09:08:39 am »

The worst problem I'd worry about is whether a TV would work with the guns. Probably would. Don't some showcase-style cabinets use TVs and composite video?

Pit Fighter sucks. It wasn't that great in 1990 and it's even worse now. If you're set on an Atari fighter add Primal Rage back to your cab. Judging from the serial #, it looks like that was what it was originally. The weird thing is that in the Primal Rage manual, it makes several mentions that the game PCB for the regular upright and showcase cab are different and are NOT interchangeable. It makes me wonder what was so different between them.

For gun games, Lethal Enforcers isn't bad, but I'd rather have something like Point Blank or Sharpshooter that has a bit more variety. Police trainer might be cool since you're adding the light.

I'd try to find games that have a good bit of variety. Maybe a fighter, a shooter, and a sports game. You've got a big enough panel you could easily have a 4-player layout even.

In some ways I wonder if running emulators might be better than running PCBs. The control panel is big enough to hold a 4-player setup plus a trackball. Multi-JAMMA setups are cool, but I'd worry about how to best utilize the space that this thing takes up. How much of the original wiring is left?

I'd also leave the speaker grills black.

Should be an interesting project.

red_johnny · « **Reply #6 on:** July 24, 2007, 09:15:33 am »

Some good notes there. I thought about the gun and the tv working together and I was going to try to find the answear before I spent any money for the conversion. I would imagine it would. I am not big into sports games and although I like the idea of a PC working with emulators that is not what I am going for here. I would not mind looking into other shooter games though. I do want at least 1 fighter game, maybe killer instint 2 or something.

red_johnny · « **Reply #7 on:** July 24, 2007, 09:21:00 am »

Does anyone know where I can buy a 4 to 1 switch for the jamma board? I found some on ebay but they go for quite a lot of money.

shardian · « **Reply #8 on:** July 24, 2007, 09:51:39 am »

Making that a multi-jamma/shooting cabinet will be VERY difficult. You are much better off going the mame route and getting some act labs tv/out guns. Area51/max force uses an arcade monitor, though I can't remember off-hand if it is standard res or medium res. Monitor selection will be much simplified by going with a tv also.

As to laminate, all those miter joint sections will be almost impossible to laminate unless you disassemble it, not to mention the ridiculous cost associated with laminating something that big. You are aware that formica laminate is $50 per sheet right? You should really consider filling/sanding/painting as a restore option.

Good luck with your project, I'm sure you will love it when it's done!

shardian · « **Reply #9 on:** July 24, 2007, 10:03:19 am »

Quote from: red_johnny on July 24, 2007, 09:21:00 am

Does anyone know where I can buy a 4 to 1 switch for the jamma board? I found some on ebay but they go for quite a lot of money.

Clay Cowgill makes the multijamma board.
http://www.multigame.com/jamma.html

However, I remember reading somewhere that he is too busy to make them anymore. It is worth an email to him if you are interested though. And yes, they are expensive

Mikes Arcade has a bouble Jamma board:
http://mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?sku=DBLJAMMA

And lastly, here is a thread you might be interested in reading about a diy jamma switcher using relays.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=45208.msg429336#msg429336

red_johnny · « **Reply #10 on:** July 24, 2007, 10:44:35 am »

Quote from: shardian on July 24, 2007, 09:51:39 am

Making that a multi-jamma/shooting cabinet will be VERY difficult. You are much better off going the mame route and getting some act labs tv/out guns. Area51/max force uses an arcade monitor, though I can't remember off-hand if it is standard res or medium res. Monitor selection will be much simplified by going with a tv also.

As to laminate, all those miter joint sections will be almost impossible to laminate unless you disassemble it, not to mention the ridiculous cost associated with laminating something that big. You are aware that formica laminate is $50 per sheet right? You should really consider filling/sanding/painting as a restore option.

Good luck with your project, I'm sure you will love it when it's done!

I was not aware of that as far as the laminate. I will paint it then. I guess I was thinking this would be easier, I am still going with what I want to do and just do what I can afford as time goes on. Thanks!

leapinlew · « **Reply #11 on:** July 24, 2007, 12:40:36 pm »

Quote from: shardian on July 24, 2007, 09:51:39 am

As to laminate, all those miter joint sections will be almost impossible to laminate unless you disassemble it, not to mention the ridiculous cost associated with laminating something that big. You are aware that formica laminate is $50 per sheet right? You should really consider filling/sanding/painting as a restore option.

He's right in the fact that you will have to disassemble the cabinet to laminate it properly. The cost isn't that bad though - the cost goes down as you order more sheets.

red_johnny · « **Reply #12 on:** July 24, 2007, 02:59:26 pm »

Quote from: leapinlew on July 24, 2007, 12:40:36 pm

Quote from: shardian on July 24, 2007, 09:51:39 am
As to laminate, all those miter joint sections will be almost impossible to laminate unless you disassemble it, not to mention the ridiculous cost associated with laminating something that big. You are aware that formica laminate is $50 per sheet right? You should really consider filling/sanding/painting as a restore option.

He's right in the fact that you will have to disassemble the cabinet to laminate it properly. The cost isn't that bad though - the cost goes down as you order more sheets.

I think I will still paint then, I do not want to disassemble it at all.

red_johnny · « **Reply #13 on:** August 29, 2007, 09:21:11 pm »

UPDATE!!!! I got a wireing harness to replace the old one to make sure it works when I am finally ready. I also got a good deal on a Jamma 1 to 4 converter with remote control. A guy on ebay sells them for $99 and I got lucky, before he set that price he was auctioning them off so I got mine for $60! Taking off the laminate is probabbly out. I want a nice clean smooth look and I think I can get that by bondoing the nicks, scatches and such and painting over it. Also I will be getting new buttons and joysticks. I am having problems locating a good area 51 / maximum force jamma PCB. I found a area 51 PCB and a guy who would do the conversion for me for $100. THe total cost would be $250 plus shipping. Seems steep to me. Any ideas for me thus far?

Malenko · « **Reply #14 on:** August 30, 2007, 08:55:46 am »

I'm way late into this but if you want to run a TV, shooting games and more.... I'd just slap an old XBOX in there. You could mod it with a 200GB HD load up XBOX MAME and the games you want(or get the Midway/Atari/Namco collections), and still be able to load up shooters like House of the Dead using the XBOX guns, and fighters like the mortal kombats, Soul Caliber 2,etc

As for refinishing the cab, bondo and paint will do, but you should tackle one goal then the next. Get the shell of the cab in the shape you want it, then figure out the internals. The most important thing about this hobby is to remember to take it one step at a time.

red_johnny · « **Reply #15 on:** August 30, 2007, 09:43:40 am »

Quote from: Malenko on August 30, 2007, 08:55:46 am

I'm way late into this but if you want to run a TV, shooting games and more.... I'd just slap an old XBOX in there. You could mod it with a 200GB HD load up XBOX MAME and the games you want(or get the Midway/Atari/Namco collections), and still be able to load up shooters like House of the Dead using the XBOX guns, and fighters like the mortal kombats, Soul Caliber 2,etc

As for refinishing the cab, bondo and paint will do, but you should tackle one goal then the next. Get the shell of the cab in the shape you want it, then figure out the internals. The most important thing about this hobby is to remember to take it one step at a time.

Another way to do it! I like that idea but I really want to stick to the way I decided on. Plus I alreay have money wrapped up in the internals. Very good advice that I could use on the next one I build.

red_johnny · « **Reply #16 on:** September 06, 2007, 10:10:15 am »

Got my 1 to 4 jamma adapter yesterday

I will post some pics up tonight if I can remember. Its really neat, it has a remote with 4 buttons so I can just push the button and whalla, the game I want to play is there! Now all I need is 4 games

and a 32-34" TV

and lastly new buttons and joysticks

. I want to start cleaning it up this weekend (sanding it down and such) then maybe next weekend I can bondo it up.

ARTIFACT · « **Reply #17 on:** September 07, 2007, 01:12:11 am »

cool!

congrats on the progress ... go go go!

red_johnny · « **Reply #18 on:** September 07, 2007, 03:08:51 pm »

Thanks, I will snap the pics tomorrow once I am done sanding the main cab down.

red_johnny · « **Reply #19 on:** September 09, 2007, 07:37:23 pm »

Here are the pics, finished sanding down the cab and pics of the card. Now question with that, should I mount the card down where the slots are facing up? I am really concerned on how to mount all four cards without getting them damaged.

red_johnny · « **Reply #20 on:** September 12, 2007, 03:13:34 pm »

red_johnny · « **Reply #21 on:** October 23, 2007, 06:34:49 pm »

Ok, powered it up for the first time and I was hopeing to get sound out of it but I did not get nothing. I took a power light to it and found I am getting power into the cabinet. I am not really sure at this point what I am supposed to be looking for but I am trying to get a test card so I can test out some of the componets. Oh yeah, I did finally get a hold of a area 51/maximum force card off of ebay at a STEAL! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270176877910&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=017 $93 shipped! I do not know if it works yet or not as I have no means to test it. I am going to try to find someone local and have them test it for me because IF it works that is one hell of a deal

red_johnny · « **Reply #22 on:** December 30, 2007, 08:33:29 pm »

Project update. Its been awhile but I finally got off my arse and did some paint and prep work. I decided to go with a blue and black cabinet. So everywhere you see white it will be black tomorrow.

I should have my new controls and power supply soon and I expect to have everything rewired in the next two months. Now after the paint and wireing I have to get a TV. Anyway, here are the pics.

red_johnny · « **Reply #23 on:** December 31, 2007, 10:18:02 pm »

Now with 2 coats of each color. The black still needs to dry and with the lighting and the shine off of the paint it created some blurry pics. (is it dead in this thread or is it just me?)

red_johnny · « **Reply #24 on:** January 02, 2008, 05:16:38 pm »

Ok, where can I find info on how to wire up stuff? I check my wires and follwed them (learned alot right there) but I have a couple connetors I kinda do and dont know where they go. Need some help...please. Also, I connected street fighter 2 (non-cacom board) and did not get any sound. I think it might be in teh wrong mode under the toggles. Question with pit fighter, there are connector spades all over this board for grounds and 2 for 5 volt. Then a couple of pin connections, got me confused, will the SM handle this?

red_johnny · « **Reply #25 on:** January 04, 2008, 09:04:05 pm »

Cursed thead?

AlexKidd · « **Reply #26 on:** January 05, 2008, 05:54:13 pm »

I don't know about the wiring but I figured I'd hop on and give you some encouragement. The cab is coming along nicely. I'm a fan of the showcase style cab. I built one for myself of my own design. Keep posting pictures and I'll keep watching the thread

red_johnny · « **Reply #27 on:** January 05, 2008, 09:39:57 pm »

Cool. I thought no one was interested anymore. I hope to locate next week a place where I can get a hold of some Plexiglass or acrylic and get the cuts for the monitor and the control panel.

yukonblaze · « **Reply #28 on:** January 24, 2008, 06:33:46 pm »

Have you figured out the wiring?? Take some photos of sub area and wires going to 4 1/2 speakers. Then trace were both set of wires go back to jamma harness. I am interested how sub gets its signal.

red_johnny · « **Reply #29 on:** January 24, 2008, 07:38:36 pm »

Ok, I will trace it this weekend.

northerngames · « **Reply #30 on:** January 24, 2008, 08:31:18 pm »

here's a picture of another showcase control panel I just finished the other day but need to put the light's in the coin mechs still.

camera flash was not working well for some reason

atxscarface · « **Reply #31 on:** October 02, 2014, 01:19:21 pm »

Just to keep this thread alive! I have just acquired the same showcase cabinet. Was wondering how did you prep it for paint? Did you strip the white vinyl off of it or just sanded until you knew the paint would stick? This is my next step after doing some small woodworking.


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