First Time Mame conversion

[mllkat]

Greeting's,
I have finally been able to locate an old cabinet for my first attempt at Mame conversion. It was an old Taito TNK III cabinet...at least that is what the marquee said it was. The metal control panel however did not match the configuration of TNK III. After I stripped the old CP clean and peeled off the laminate...or whatever that ungodly sticky mess is, it revealed a QIX CP overlay...so who KNOWS what it was originally. Anyways, I digress...Have any of you arcade masters converted an old Taito cabinet or know of any perculiarities I might run into? I know the CP is small...being only 22 3/4 inches wide. Not a whole lot of room to work with. Any advice would be appreciated.

I have included a pic of the cab and the control panel.

Thanks,
Mllkat

[paigeoliver]

Very standard cabinet, very standard control panel size. It will hold a Streetfighter 2 layout with no problems, just don't expect to have room for trackballs and spinners.

[mllkat]

Very standard cabinet, very standard control panel size. It will hold a Streetfighter 2 layout with no problems, just don't expect to have room for trackballs and spinners.

Thanks, That will work out well as I had planned to just make it a two player console with around 6 buttons for each. A trackball would have been nice...but there is always the next project. Now for the next newbie question....Do I need to sand off the old Taito side Logos or can I just paint over them? I am undecided whether I will just paint the cab or laminate it. Contact paper is also a cheap alternative...Again any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

[walls83]

Just make a changable control panel.  You can have one with the SF layout and another with a trackball and spinner.  That cab is perfect for Golden tee I just hate to see that go to waste.  the angle of the monitor and Plex. is perfect.

[HagHore]

You could put a trackball in there, but it would have to be something like a Penny & Giles 2" trackball, they have a very small footprint.  You could also hack up a MacAlly iBall and get it in there.  You won't be playing Golden Tee with those trackballs, but they work well for games like missile command, centipede, etc.  Or in place of a trackball you could also easily fit in a Oscar Model 3 spinner or a homemade one like theNasty's or the one erikruud made (tornado spinner would also fit).

[mllkat]

Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate your advice. I'm now looking into what the possibilities are as far as trackball use. If I can't make it work I will  probably go with the suggestion of making interchangeable CP's to accomodate whichever controls are neccesary. I am also working on my Marquee...I will post a pic as soon as I have a design that pleases me. Thanks again for all input.

[mllkat]

Has anyone tried or accomplished a rotating Marquee? Perhaps a 3 sided one similar to  the rotating CP's I have seen elsewhere on this site?

[Stingray]

My control panel is only 1/4 inch wider than yours, but yours looks to be a little deeper than mine. I've got a big ole 3 inch Imperial trackball on one of my interchangable panels. It fits but only just.

-S

[mllkat]

My control panel is only 1/4 inch wider than yours, but yours looks to be a little deeper than mine. I've got a big ole 3 inch Imperial trackball on one of my interchangable panels. It fits but only just.

-S

What else do you have on that particular CP? Any joysticks or just buttons for the trackball?