I figured I'd start a thread now that my project has officially started. I spent the last few months lurking and reading a lot before I committed.
Backstory:
I posted an ad on craigslist a month ago for an empty pinball cabinet. A local called me and said he had an empty Williams Phoenix machine (standard size) and would deliver to me for $100 and some change. He called me a few days later and said he had another cab in better shape, a 1980 Williams Blackout (also standard size). He came by and brought me both cabinets. He thought the project was cool and gave me both cabinets in case I needed anything.
The Blackout cabinet was pretty complete minus the electronics, playfield and backglass. The Phoenix wasn't in very good condition and was missing the playfield glass, lockdown bar and legs. With two cabinets I have picked the parts off the worst cabinet and put together one good cabinet. I chose to use the Blackout cab because it was in much better physical shape, and I liked the retro black/red/orange paint. Both have coin doors and mechanical, knockers, buttons, backbox, side rails. The plan so far is to keep the Blackout cabinet as original. I'm going to make use of the coin mechanism, backglass lock, stock flipper locations.
Some pictures of the cabinet:
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For the build, I'm planning on the following equipment:
Displays:
Playfield: Insignia NS-40D510NA15 LED HDTV, 1080p, 60hz, 176° horizontal and vertical viewing angles. This display ALMOST fits without decasing (20-5/8" wide). The Insignia logo at the bottom will need to be trimmed, otherwise it is a perfect fit. The playfield length will be approx 35-5/8".
Backglass: Insignia NS-28D310NA15 LED HDTV, 720p, 60hz, 160° horizontal and vertical viewing angles. I tried a 32" but it was just 1/8" too wide (and unfortunately the same price) and I didn't want to modify the cabinet. I chose the 28", which should be just fine. NOTE: the 28 and 32 inch Insignia LED TV's unfortunately cannot be decased because the enclosure holds in the display layers.
DMD: I haven't decided yet. I'm looking for 15" displays that will fit.
Computer:
Processor: Intel i5-4690K, 3.5GHz (up to 3.9GHz), 4-core, 64bit processor. Found a great deal through a friend.
Motherboard: TBA. I just need something with at least 1 PCI-express 16 3.0 slot Z97 chipset.
Video card: EVGA SuperClocked Signature 2 02G-P4-2661-KR GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit. Found an open box at Fry's, and not only was it on sale, but there's a $30 rebate on it right now and only cost $140 after rebates. I plan on using this to drive the playfield, backglass and DMD display (if I use a 15").
RAM: 8gigs. Whatever has decent performance versus cost.
Drive: Looking at options for SSD, but if something happens, I can't play. Wondering if I can use my 1TB for tables, and a SSD for the OS? Will likely get a 120/128gig SSD.
Accessories: bluetooth trackpad/keyboard combo
I'll just use the onboard audio, as I think that'll be sufficient. Haven't decided on connectivity like ethernet or wifi.
Controls:
Virtuapin Digital Plunger kit V2
Ledwiz for outputs
All new buttons for flippers, start, navigation, etc.
I want to use the original coin door and have a free play hidden or enabled with a lock.
2 contactors for the flippers (will add contactors later if I feel I want them, but will build with them in mind)
LED flashers in the back of the playfield
Other:
One large fan for backglass
One large fan for the back of the cabinet, one in front to pull air through.
Custom wood bezel for the backglass with speaker holes
a couple of small speakers for the backbox and an amplifier. Haven't decided on sub yet.
Here are some pictures of the LED display fitment. You can see that the 40" fits width-wise, except for the insignia logo. I will decase this display since the bottom is too deep.
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I've got the processor and plunger kit on order. Both of the Insignia TVs, EVGA video card and a power supply for the Ledwiz have already been obtained.
That's it for now