Arcade cabinet restoration complete!

Well, 99% done. I still need to create a better marquee as the one I have created is printed on paper. Instead of buying one online I am considering calling around to some local print shops to see if they will take my design from Viso and print as a decal. I also need to figure out how to create some button descriptions for the control panel. I'm looking into water decals, but am worried that those would rub off. Will check around online.

Despite stripping down the computer's OS to bare minimum, some games stutter slightly. I may consider building the kids a new PC and taking theirs for the cabinet. The cabinet currently has a 1ghz Gateway while the kid's is a 2ghz with an external AGP video card.

I've also e-mailed Ultimarc as the controller will not switch to 8-way mode for some reason. This is making some top-shooter games difficult to play (1942, Gunbird, Sinistar, etc.).

Oh, and what a b$#@! it was getting this thing up the basement stairs!! Ouch!

Arcade cabinet restoration: Part 3.5 - Controls and front panels

I still need to do some additional touch-up, but for the most part she's ready!

Arcade cabinet restoration: Part 3 - Controls

Ok, it's coming together. By tomorrow afternoon I should be chasing Inky and Blinky....and the other two....

I ordered my controls from Ultimarc last Sunday and had them by Wednesday (I guess that's why I paid $18 for shipping). All told it took me about 3 hours and 2 trips to Radio Shack to complete the process of installing and wiring. I must say I'm quite pleased with the results, especially since they ACTUALLY WORKED when I plugged them in!!

I'm not typically very anal about wiring. In this case though I was a bit more careful and took my time. I avoided using solder on all connections but one and used crimped connectors mostly. Everything worked in MAME perfectly.

I'm in the process of painting the front panel and should have that ready by morning. Excelsior!