Need a little advice on restoring/fixing a cab

[LAGO]

Well here is the story, I was randomly talking about trying to find a NEO-GEO for the simple reason of having one and my uncle told me he knew a guy that had a ton of arcade games and he would pick me up one for free if I wanted. Score! Of course I agreed ... So I get word that the cab was delivered to my mom's Saturday. I truck down there and find a really nice looking ... virtua cop. I'm not complaining because it's just cool to have a cab period. Not sure how you could confuse it with a NEO-GEO but oh well. Now I know virtually nothing about arcade cab's or anything (that's why I came here) It does power on so I know the game is in there. However it has no monitor, coin box, speakers are really low maybe busted (don't know how to turn them up) and it's missing a gun. That's what I can tell. So any advice on where to get parts/how to fix this puppy would be greatly appreciated.

[Flack]

Yikes!

It sounds like you've really got your work cut out for you. I don't know anything about Virtua Cop unfortunately, but I can tell you this.

Just because the lights come on doesn't mean there's a game in there. And even if there is a game in there, that doesn't mean it works. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say the game was probably bad, which would explain why someone had already scavaged it for working parts.

At the very minimum, you'll need a medium resolution monitor. I don't know what size Virtual Cop originally came with, but by looking at the cabinet on KLOV I'd guess it's big. Big + Medium Resolution = $$$. The coin-box and speakers should be easy enough to come up with. I don't know anything about the light gun. That's all assuming the board is in there and working.

I'd say it was a great candidate for MAME'ing, except it's huge!

[chadtower]

I believe Virtua Cop is either a Sega Model 2 or 2A board. Those boards have notoriously flaky sound boards so that could be an issue here. Half the time a properly working Model 2/2A sound board is worth as much or more than a whole game. There is probably a volume knob inside the coin door, maybe on the right. That's where my Model 2 cab has it. In there is also the service button that brings up your menus, which you'll need once you get a monitor.

IIRC, that should be a medium resolution game. That would mean you need a monitor capable of handling a 25khz output signal. If you have an upright cab, you're looking at probably something like a 25" CRT. The Model 2 cabs mostly came with monitors that are 15-25khz switchable (low to medium resolution). That's actually kind of cool if you can find one since nearly all older arcade cabs are 15khz.

Missing the coin box doesn't matter since it's in your house. You can just put a bowl in there or more likely just set it to free play once you are able.

You got very lucky if the game board does work. Virtua Cop, even though it's old, is still considered a money game and the boards aren't cheap. Pretty much all modern gun games are still considered money and I know I'd love to get a VC machine.

I'd suggest heading over to some good arcade forums. Try arcadecontrols.com, rec.games.video.arcade.collecting, and rec.games.video.arcade.marketplace. Feel free to keep asking here as well. I'm pretty familiar with the Sega Model 2s as I have one myself.

[98PaceCar]

I believe Happ will have the gun you need. www.happcontrols.com

You may also be able to get a monitor from them as well, but expect to pay some $$$ for it.

[chadtower]

His best bet for the monitor is a used one off of RGVAM or ebay... that replacement is going to be expensive, which is probably why they gave him the cab.