I definitely wouldn't pull out the guts and rewire. I would use whatever PAC kits are needed to where you simply plug your computer into the Jamma adapter. Then you still have the option of playing Jamma boards on there, which you might not appreciate on day 1 of cab making but eventually it's an option you might like even more than the MAME PC. Xarcade isn't going to offer anything new but a trackball from the looks of it and they probably still use the rather shitty Happ Competition joysticks. Those are only good for MK games. Sanwa or Seimitsu are magnitudes better for universal sticks and you pretty much need to go shorter and shorter on the throw depending on how many shooting games you play compared to fighters. I think if you got good sticks you would not be interested in a PS2 pad anymore. Happ Comps suck bad as a universal solution. The throw size is disgusting.