Initial D Arcade Cabinet (part 1)

Time to reveal another project I’m working on…. I’m going to build another racing arcade game.

I recently purchased another arcade cabinet (with the wife’s permission). As you may have seen here, some years ago I built an arcade racing cabinet using real arcade parts where possible. It was done to resemble a classic Sega Rally machine and ran on a PC with a Logitech control system. Full details here:

Sega Rally cabinet build and details.

This was a great project and something I have really enjoyed both in the construction process, and when finished. The only thing that I wasn’t completely satisfied with was the base unit construction. I build it from wood, and was never able to fully capture the look of the metal cabinets. It was passable and good fun to play though. I decided to keep an eye out for a genuine Sega racing cabinet frame to update my build with.

Empty Racing Cabinet Found

I found an empty cabinet that was very close to home that would do nicely. The cabinet was a little rough, and would need a full restoration before going in my workshop, but it was a very reasonable price. It was being sold by a trusted contact of mine at VideotronicsUK based in Bradford. I’ve bought several arcade machines and parts from Mo over the years so I knew there would be no issues.

Soon I decided not to continue the Sega Rally theme, and that Initial D would be a good choice. I have always loved the Initial D Arcade Stage games, and actually played them more than Sega Rally in the present cabinet. Luckily I managed to get a complete Initial D dashboard and wheel from the same seller.

A week later the cabinet was in my garage ready for me to start work.

Disassembly

Time to take it apart. I needed to dismantle everything, right down to the base. As you can see, some of the metal panels were suffering with rust spots and flaking paint. I could have tried to clean this off myself, but thought it would be best too just send everything off for shotblasting with a local company. I was suppressed how easy it was to disassemble, but some parts are very heavy.

The base and other large panels are now off for shotblasting. More updates soon.

Neil