Quoted from Shredder565:Is it possible to get a decent donor machine for $5,000 or under?
YES: I sold a decent working TAF about 3 years ago when I was moving for $3200.
I still think your better off not building a TAF unless you can get an almost complete wired playfield from someone. TAF is just too complex of a playfield to custom make parts for. There was a lot of TAF made (over 20K) so it is not a hard to find game. Even operators in the late 1990's parted them out. Wired playfields are out there and it would be your best option to find one.