Modifying a Madcatz Tatsunoko vs Capcom Fight Stick w/ American Parts?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Hey there guys and gals

I'm in a bit of a pickle because I'm trying to set up my Wii as an emulation station for classic consoles (Atari 2600, 7800, ColecoVision, NES, SNES, and Genesis mainly) and I'd like to have a proper American style arcade stick setup to play these games with. With that in mind, what I'd like to do is fit a MadCatz TvC fight stick (which is basically just their SE fight stick in terms of dimensions) with higher resistance concave buttons and a Happ bat top style joystick.

 

At this point I've pretty well determined that Happ convex buttons will be too long to fit in the case, but I'm hoping these Yenox short barrel buttons will make a suitable replacement. They are 28mm and the button holes in the enclosure are 30mm, but I know they'll be short enough to fit and I'm hoping that once I screw them down the 2mm of wiggle room won't be an issue.

 

Now, what I really need advice on is the joystick! I was hoping to put one of these IL bat top joysticks with the addition of a universal mounting plate in the enclosure, but I'm starting to think that a IL or Happ Competition joystick is going to be too tall to fit in it.

 

Does anyone have any experience with putting an American style joystick in a Madcatz SE/TvC fight stick? If so, will it fit? And if not, any suggestions for a bat top joystick with a similar feel that would fit?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!