Genie
Gottlieb, 1979I picked up a non-booting, but cosmetically decent Genie recently. This is my 2nd Genie, which says a lot because I've rarely doubled down on a game.
I'm a little bit worried, because our local PCB genius has been over this game without success (yes, I'm looking at you Brian). ...I'm going to strip/touch-up/clear the playfield. Stay tuned as I mess it up....
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Congrats on your purchase, Brad. Yeah there sure were some things I still wanted to get done to the game, but had too many distractions along with the previous owner working a lot so that hurt when I was available to get out there The original MPU had some battery corrosion, but for a while I had it working, but it was short lived.
I imagine you noticed the fuse breaker I added in the cabinet for the drop taget target assembly. If I remember correctly, the fuse for the drop Target was 5 amps. I took some measurements and it was drawing pretty much close to 8 amps when it would fire and then blowing out this fuse after spiking a couple times. I did not want just to put in a bigger fuse until I found that is what was required. But that was low on the priority list until I got the game working reliably
I look forward to seeing the final result.
Quoted from Arcane:Please do yourself a favor and get new clear posts from PBR. Those are not very nice.
Those were right outa the game. Here's another shot after my high-tech method of running them through the dishwasher. You can also see I've tumbled a few parts while I wait for new supplies to arrive.
Quoted from SunKing:Those were right outa the game. Here's another shot after my high-tech method of running them through the dishwasher. You can also see I've tumbled a few parts while I wait for new supplies to arrive.
Much better. I stand corrected.
After restoring my Buck Rogers, I found out that quite a few of these clear posts were cracked. I do not know if it is the result of ball impacts or over-zealous operators. It did not hurt to replace them all for 50 cents a piece.
Your posts are in a much better condition than were mine. They may easily last another 10 to 20 years.
Yves
A few more pics of the teardown....
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In the pic above, you can see one of the previous owners hacked up a couple of the connector bundles. Uggg... I should be getting a load of parts this week, including new connectors and pins from GPE - and I splurged on a new PI 1x4 board.
Quoted from SunKing:splurged on a new PI 1x4 board.
Quoted from cp1610:I have the extra functions on like having a skill shot.
My new PinTisserie™ - Playfield rotisserie from Marco arrived yesterday. How did I ever go this long without one??
DISCLAIMER:
Before I get too far along, I want to stress that I am NOT doing a full restoration. I like to think of what I do more as a 'players restoration' - where the game plays and looks as good as new (or better) from the players point of view. That means I'm not too concerned with polishing parts on the underside of the playfield, or repainting the inside of the cabinet. Don't get me wrong, I really admire the guys who have the patience, skill and tools to do all that. ...but I'll leave that to the pro's like HEP (if you have not seen his threads - he is the pinacle of pinball restoration). I'm just a guy doing this in his garage for fun.
With that said, I do try to 'up my game' each time, and with that in mind I spent a little extra for some 2PAC in a can. ...read some good things about it - hope it works out ok.
I'm about to do the same thing with my own Genie. The one I bought, thankfully, came with an extra NOS playfield, so I don't have anything to do there. I just need to do a full swap of parts. I'm excited to see how yours turns out.
Got the pops removed and gave the playfield a final cleaning before laying down the first coat of clear. ...and yeah, the milar rings just came right off - which was nice.
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Nice work.
Yes, the mylars are barely glued on these old System 1. When I restored my Buck Rogers, it was the same for me. Quite a contrast with the Bally early SS, where you have to use all kinds of incantations and chemicals to get them out without destroying the artwork.
Before going any further, I would fill up the inserts with clear coat. Especially on the bottom section of the playfield.
You can then sand and clear again.
Also, I would touch up some of the damaged playfield (i.e. the red on the last picture) areas, before the next Clear coat. Most of the colors can be matched directly with Liquitex Acrylics, without any mixing.
Yves
Thanks Arcane. Yep, that's the plan. This was the 'sealing' coat. I'll lightly sand this layer, then do any paint touch-ups and fill the inserts before the final coats.
And at some point I still need to re-pin all the connectors - not really looking forward to that. ...it's not terrible, just tedious.
Quoted from SunKing:And at some point I still need to re-pin all the connectors - not really looking forward to that. ...it's not terrible, just tedious.
I'm going to be doing that too...it's probably why I'm procrastinating. Haha.
Quoted from JBK:I'm interested in the clear coat product you are using?
There is a whole thread on that. It averages about $20 a can if you buy 5 since it is UPS ground shipping only in the USA.
http://www.repaintsupply.com/spraymax-2-part-2k-urethane-aerosol-clear-coat-p3685.html
Following. Not a bad looking game to start with to be honest. I have always been freaked out about doing my own clearcoating, but it looks like you're jumping right in! Any good links you'd recommend on doing the 2PAC?
How, what did you clean the playfield with before clear coating it? And pre clear coating did you sand or do anything for clear to bond? I have a playfield I'm going to do this to as well clear and touch ups and then clear some more. So as much as you can share would be great.
Before the first coar of clear, I cleaned the playfield with Novus 2, then Naptha, and used some Magic Eraser on the ball trails and swirls.
Honestly, I don't feel 100% comfortable giving 'restoration' advice - I'm a hack. For good advice, go read one of Vid's guides, or check out a thread from HEP or Brain f'ing Kelly. Those guys do it right. I take shortcuts...cut corners... have crappy tools and work out of my garage. ...so while I like to think I may inspire someone who isn't an expert to save a machine that's otherwise headed fo the trash, I certainly do not want to hold myself out as an expert in the process. For the most part, I do it for fun. I enjoy trying to do as best I can with what i have.
Just curious at some point I will be doing this to. I'm just a guy with players games so this will be a first for me.
Quoted from PoBoyPinball:Just curious at some point I will be doing this to. I'm just a guy with players games so this will be a first for me.
Quoted from BCpinhead:Did the acetone remove any paint or the top coat in your prep for clearing?
D'oh! It was Naptha - not Acetone. I used Naptha after the Novus.
...geez - now you see why I'm not 100% comfortable giving advice - that would have been very bad advice. I've fixed my original post.
Quoted from SunKing:D'oh! It was Naptha - not Acetone. I used Naptha after the Novus.
...geez - now you see why I'm not 100% comfortable giving advice - that would have been very bad advice. I've fixed my original post.
Must had been drinking that day?
I was getting tired of my Genie. Until I heard Jeff's suggestion to replace the ball with a ceramic Power-ball.
Damn!
The ball flys around faster and is more chaotic. But oddly the ball times are longer. Frequently I can complete more objectives, get A-B-C-D or the upper drops. I don't get it. But my friends say it night and day different, for the better, and I agree.
Sunking your restoration is coming along nice, have you found the matching touch up colors in off the shelf flavors? This thread is getting me motivated to strip down my Genie... Thanks for the motivating thread.
Will you paint the upper area there? looks like a bad grind area, you should try to atleast fix it somewhat.
Quoted from pinballdork:Sunking your restoration is coming along nice, have you found the matching touch up colors in off the shelf flavors? This thread is getting me motivated to strip down my Genie... Thanks for the motivating thread.
Thank you! Yep, I'm just using the standard Creatix paints - got 'em from Hobby Lobby. It takes a bit of trail and error to get 'em mixed right to match the somewhat faded colors on the playfield.
Quoted from Luzur:Will you paint the upper area there? looks like a bad grind area, you should try to at least fix it somewhat.
Yep...that was tough, and honestly I'm not really proud of what I did there. Here are pictures from after all the paint touch-ups, and after the 2nd coat of clear. My plan is to sand down this coat, put on another - sand that down - then apply the final (4th) coat before final sand and polish.
For the upper area that was blown out - the PROPER way to handle that is with frisket mask, airbrush tools, etc. However, I don't have an airbrush, and when I priced a few - seems a decent one runs well over $100. So, being the hack I am, I took a shortcut. I painted the entire yellow area with a fat brush. It took a few coats to cover and even out. I then took 1000 grit sandpaper and sanded it out some to smooth out the brushstrokes. Then...and get ready for the purists to cringe...I used press on letters for the text. Uggg... Well, it came out ok - not something that will pass a close inspection - but better than just leaving as it was IMHO.
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Hah, looks A-OK, on my first paint-fix i misjudged the color on my Dolly Parton playfield and had it turn dark red instead of blood red, so if this is your first paint job you sure made it look good.
Keep on paintin'
Quoted from SunKing:Thanks Jim! I'm always looking for a fun project.
Then do I have a project for you.....only needs a little touch up before moving on to clearing 
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Quoted from Captive_Ball:...only needs a little touch up before moving on to clearing
Yikes! ...well, at least the rubbers look ok. Think I'll have to pass on that one. 
I decided to let the 2nd coat of clear cure for a bit longer, so started working on re-pinning connectors. It's tedious, but once you get on a roll it goes pretty quick. Snip, strip, crimp, insert - rinse and repeat over and over...
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Well.....crap. I had two cans of clear left, and decided I'd use both to try and slather it on thick and hopefully be done with it. I sanded and cleanded the playfield before applying, but unfortunately, I'm not happy with the results. There wasn't enough clear to completely level the inserts. To make matters worse - on the last can I got some condensation that dripped from the spray nozzle onto the playfield.
Damnit.
I tried to see if I could polish it all out - started with 400 grit to level, then went to 1000, then 1500 and finally 2000 before starting with the rubbing compound, polishing compound, etc. After working on it for a while, I could tell it just wasn't going to come out nice enough to warrant the effort. I don't want to spend another 5+ hours polishing this playfield to a nice, clear shine if the inserts are not completely level, and there are other imperfections. So, I decided to order some more clear. My goal is to get everything level so I can put down a thick enough coat of clear that will not require hours and hours of sanding and polishing to get a smooth clear finish. I've seen it. If I can get everything level and then apply enough clear, I may be able to just let it dry and be done with it.
The good news is that my Pascal PI 1x4 board has arrived. Now I can finish re-pinning all the connectors, and get most everything else cleaned up and ready to go.
I'm pretty sure vid mentions in his thread that dripping 2pac into sunken inserts is the way to go. Spraying a lot won't level itself over an insert. I think the surface tension is too high for that. SO building it up higher and then sanding flat was what he suggests.
Quoted from SunKing:Well.....crap. I had two cans of clear left
I have some at my house if you need more to finish it off. I can double check tonight to be sure it hasn't expired.
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Houston, TX
Albury
