Slowly over the past couple of years I have been buying parts for this project, and it about time to get serious. It is going to be nice to not have to waste the quarters anymore once it is done. Sometimes I think that I grew up in an arcade. We would even find slugs to put into machines to play! Mom never knew what was happening with the washing machine tokens that we had a stock pile of. HEHEHEHE.
I found someone close by who is selling machines and cabs (thanks to another member). I ened up with a Punisher Cab that was stripped and also needs a little wood work to it. Half of the cab had its side art ripped off and there is a little bit of water damage on the bottom, nothing major tho. It is still a rock solid cab for the most part, all it will need is half of a small can of bondo to fix it right up. So when i got to the place I walked out the door with the cab shell for $200 (still a better deal than the Ultimate Arcade II that I almost went and ordered). I was able to bring the price down from $550 since I didn't take the monitor, monitor glass, marquee, or control panel. I did get to keep the speakers, and working coin box, so that is a plus. It is also going to need to get new T-molding (that lucky for me I already have). I am really happy with the purchace so far.
Tomorrow I will start to get cracking on the build. I am going to use my aircompressor to blow out all of the dust from the inside, and collect any loose screws. Then I will paint the inside of the control panel area up with a spray can to make it look nice. The inside of the cab will not be seen, so there is no reason to use it. For paint I picked up a can of Krylon H2O black. Once it is cleaned up I will place it on its back so I can work on the bottom of the cab. Castors is kind a must for me on this build, it will be sitting on carpet, so levelers is not going to be needed. The wife doesn't like the Punisher side art. She wants me to use some fighting stuff, and I agree with the choice. We found some nice stuff from MameMarquees.com. I am going to consider these unless I find something else that we both like.
Hardware:
AMD 2000 with 512mb of ram (maybe more, it has been sitting in the corner for a while)
250gb Hard Drive (So I can store some music on it as well)
Geforce or ATI video card (I have one of each, just need to see which I like better)
Viewsonic A90 monitor (Till I get a larger one.)
Two Happs 8 way sticks, one 4 way stick
Happs 2" trackball with a USB conversion, and it will be setup with a backlight.
I forgot who I got the spinner from off hand.
WizKey Max 1.5 Key encoder
Actlabs USB Light gun.
I also have two very nice 110v fan units that I'll put into the top of the cab (only one will be on, and I'll keep the other as a spare.
I am not sure on the OS yet, I guess it is going to need to be a Winhose unless I can find some emulators to work for linux. Any links would be appreciated.

Here are some pics (yes that is a Dolly under the cab, used it to unload it from the trailer, and thought it was a good idea to leave it on there for the moment).