Amazing Mame - First pictures

[paigeoliver]

Ok, we just got started with the Amazing Maze conversion. We had to begin by replacing the missing 3.5" base at the bottom, and then we proceeded to mount the 21" KDS pixeltouch monitor.

The original base was rotted, and broke off back when I picked up the cabinet.

This shot shows the machine before any paintwork, but after we made a new base for it (we used 2x4s for the base).

[paigeoliver]

The original painted glass was beginning to flake, it was missing a few hunks near the bottom, and had paint ready to chip off in other places as well.

I painted the missing spots black, and then shot the entire thing with 13 coats of clearcoat (from the back obviously). I don't think any more paint will be chipping off this thing any time soon.

[paigeoliver]

detail of the bad part of the glass.

[paigeoliver]

Along with the new base, I added a bit of wood edge molding all around the bottom of the main cabinet, that hid the damage the edges had sustained from being moved around without a base on it.

[paigeoliver]

In this picture the back has been repainted, and Kevin is working on detail work on the front side.

[paigeoliver]

This shot was taken after all paintwork was completed (back, monitor bay, base, and the inner part of the protruding sides all sanded and repainted).

If you glance inside you can see where I didn't trust the strength of the monitor shelf, and added a 2x6 on each side to beef it up (original monitor weighed about 30lbs less than the one I installed).

[paigeoliver]

Refinished top (still need to reinstal speaker hole blockoff plate and power switch).

[paigeoliver]

Here is the original monitor interior monitor bezel/overlay.

It has seen some water damage and is ripped near the bottom. I plan on only using the top part of it, as the bottom part is too far gone to be presentable (it looks worse in person). Plus it doesn't actually fit the current monitor anyway.

[paigeoliver]

My trusty/rusty coin door (notice it still has the keys on it, too bad the locks are long gone).


Still left to do.

Fabricate new control panel (original has metal overlay, and no cutout for buttons, I am not going to cut any holes in what might be the last Amazing Maze overlay left in the world).

Fabricate and install interior speaker mount board, and use upper monitor bezel section as overlay on it.

Repaint rusty metal thingy on the bottom of the glass.

Clean up coin door (the original paint job is still great, but all the bits and pieces need to have rust removed).  I also have an identical (but black) Midway coin door to use for parts if needed.

Install computer.

Play games.

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                     UPDATE
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Ok, the new panel has been fabricated and wired. Used quick disconnects for most of the inputs, but soldered the grounds (auto parts store only had one box of the .187 ones, so I used up that box).

The game has been moved into the house to be finished up.

For the panel I used some Capcom fighter sticks (the ones that came with Final Fight), a street fighter button layout, and player start buttons. No admin buttons on the panel, but I did install 3 buttons inside the coin door, and may stick a pause button on top. More pictures to come later.

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                     UPDATE
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                     UPDATE
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Ok. I got the motherboard installed (I forgot the brand, but it is an Athlon 650, with 128 Ram, an ISA Soundblaster 16 and an AGP Voodoo 3 card). I just managed to finish whittling the mame roms down to the proper set for the cab (no clones, no mahjong, no quiz, no analog, no 4 ways, no games without sound). That still left 1200 games, which aint bad.

I also wired up the coin mechs, and admin buttons (3 inside the coin door).

Still todo.

Reprogram I-Pac to deal with dead player 1 left input.

Bolt control panel down.

Choose a front end.

Move hard drive out of desktop computer, and into Cabinet.

Screw speakers in somehow.

Fabricate inner monitor bezel.

Scrape clearcoat overspray off clear area of glass.

Install upper section of original inner artwork.

Replace a couple of pieces on the coin door with ones that are not rusted.

Acquire and install lock.

Glue t-molding into slot on control panel (slot is too big for standard pressure install).

Possibly wire a hidden external pause button (I put 3 buttons inside the coin door, but an external pause would be nice)..