Project "Half Fast"

[pink]

Ok, thats not going to be the final cab name but, its a fitting place holder.

Ive finally decided to stuff mame in to a 25" midway cab sitting in my garage.  This will be my second mame cabinet project - however the first was 5+ years ago, and things certainly have changed a bit!

So - Ive been on the lookout for the last few years for a good deal on a working or non working lateish model 25" midway cabinet.  This HAD to be the cabinet - I spent so much time playing MK*, I can't possibly imagine using any other platform.  The one I found is actually a WWF cab, but other than the cabinet art and the marquee, its essentially the same cabinet.

Current condition:

Everything works, sort of.  The monitor is having some color issues in the top left corner, and the picture is sitting about an inch or two off the bottom of the monitor, despite the vert pot being maxed out.  Hopefully both of these will be addressed with a capkit that I have ordered.  (Its a Hantarex Polo,  if anyone is interested)

Here are my plans:

CP will be two player, 7 button layout (6 button SF + lower left extra neo layout), with a 3" trackball in the center, a dedicated 4 way balltop and a spinner.  I intend to use shift buttons from the jpac extensively, so I don't expect any extra buttons on the CP - preliminary layouts in visio don't seem to crowded.  I'm not altering the size of the CP from the original midway cab. 

I want to do as little hacking of the original game as possible, although I have my doubts about whether or not WWF Wrestlemania is going to be considered a collectible classic any time soon.

So - I plan on leaving the original CP top entact.  It was fairly easy to remove as the original arcade cabinet lets it swing up via a hinge, which I just unbolted it from.  There are nice connector pluggie things that let you quick disconnect the CP from the cabinet, wiring wise.  This will also save me the hassle of filling the existign holes which are all in the wrong spots anyway. 

Since I'm going to be using a JPAC, I'd obviously like to use the existing wiring as much as possible.  My plan is to disconnect the wiring from the back of the wwf CP Ive removed at the buttons/joysticks, and reuse it to wire the majority of my new CP, then just run the extra wires for the extra p1, p2 buttons myself.  If I were to return the cab to stock, I'd jsut have to reconnect the wiring to the original CP.

Where I sort of have a dillema is what to do about the cabinet art.  The WWF artwork is not exactly my cup of tea.  Yet, I'm trying to not hack up the cabinet to a point where it can't be restored.  Ugh.  Its sort of beat up a bit, I suppose I could justify removing / painting over the sideart that way.  I'm not sure what to do about it at this point.  Opinions are welcome!  Obviously at the very least, the marquee is changing, and I'm removing the WWF specific instructions from underneath the monitor glass - but I'd really like to just go to town on the cabinet exterior with some filler and a few coats of black paint

Anyway, I'll be posting some starting condition pictures later on.  I also have some proposed CP layouts I'll be posting. 

Hopefully I can get some graet input along the way - looking fwd to this!

[pink]

First thing I'm going to need help with is identifying some of the power wiring.  It looks like the game power supply is being fed FROM the isolation transformer, and not the other way around?  I'm going to take a picture of all the power wiring on the floor of the cab, I'm definitely goign to need some help sorting it all out

Pics will go up this weekend!

[pink]

Ok, here is a quick idea of my proposed CP layout.  Trying to keep it as simple as possible.  Will be playing a decent amount of Golden Tee, so thats why the TB is smack in the center with nothing above it. 

There are two attachments, one shows the layout with the joystick/TB bases indicated, and one is without the bases to get a better idea of what the top will actually look like.

Opinions welcome!

(Overall dimensions are H: 13 3/8    W: 26 5/8)

[johnperkins21]

I think I'd move the spinner and 4-way just a little closer to the sides and put 1 button next to each. Crossing your arms to play a 4-way game with a button looks like a difficult thing to do. Other than that, I'd say it's looking pretty good.

And I say paint over the artwork. This is not a "classic" cab that needs saving. If you can easily save the artwork, maybe try and do that but I wouldn't feel bad about painting over it.

[pink]

I'll def think about your suggestions.  I tried the extra button(s) up there and it seemed like the last thinmint that drove the panel from just full to overloaded.  I'll try moving a few things around and see.

Thanks for the advice on the side art .. I'm pretty sure thats what I'll wind up doing, its not like im gutting the whole cab... and even then it doesnt seem like too many people will mourn it.