Everyone has time, the amount of time differ's person to person. It might take you weeks or months but you'll get it done. Priorities need it be set, time for yourself is an important part of life.

for me, it's not time (i can carve that out), it's motivation... it's hard to make myself work on the machine i have taken apart when there are two others sitting there ready to play... it's safe to say that i'd rather play them than work on them...

adding on a bit to the op's train of thought...

what's amazing to me is how quickly some of the "old hands" can go through a game... they can take apart and clean all the steppers/clean the reels/clean all the relays in a few hours, and it takes me an hour just to take apart 1 stepper, let alone clean it and put it back together again...

same deal with dt banks... the pinwiki rebuild instructions get it done in half an hour, and it took me 8 hours to r&r one (although it was a 9 target bank, and i was a virgin )...

i hope to get nearly as skilled as these guys someday...

I tore down my Diner game completely, but nowhere to the extent the restorers do. I did not do the cabinet. I did not clear the playfield. I took everything off the playfield, cleaned, and re-assembled. It took 4 weeks. And I don't have kids.

I am in awe of the restorations that people do. The skill is just amazing.

Chris

My only problem is sneaking in all the time on them around my wife. She has no hobbies when she gets home from work so I have to plan accordingly. I work have two cars and a dog. No kids which may help.

On the other hand I am traveling all over New England every weekend visiting nieces and nephews. So all of this is done on weeknights.

I have tons of passion for it which helps you find the time. I don't have interest to watch TV. That gives me a ton of the most people don't have. It's all about what you enjoy in life.

I think the web makes it look like its going fast. But what we see with just scrolling with the mouse in minutes is months of work and a lot of now where did this part go again. But my hats off to the incredible work time and detail that these people do to pinball.

my funhouse took almost a year. I feel guilty when I work on my games because usually my kids are upstairs and I realize I'm missing hours of their youth.

I feel the same way when I'm on Pinside.

I do not have kids!

We have no cable TV (actually only watch TV for probably 2 hours a week).

If I did not have internet I would get more pin stuff done, but then I also would moss out on the fun times here! I also would not have the knowledge to do anything I have done on a pin thus far without pinside (and mainly a few of the experts that have been so kind to provide patience and knowledge).

I have 2 boy's 10 and 12 and both of them like to work with me on machines. I give them simple jobs on them to do. I fell they should know all work that goes into a game to keep them up and going. And this is my part to make sure ther will be 2 more people that will have a passion for pinball.

The wife gets annoyed when I buy shop out a pin because that almost become priority #1 for a few weeks.

I rarely do a full tear down. Like SilverUnicorn, I tore down my Diner, but not like the restorers do. I've also torn down a couple others, mainly older less complicated games. I was going to tear down my Goldeneye completely, but wanted to play it so bad once I got all the repairs done I just went to where I could hit 90% of the rubbers and get a good polish wax in. I want my games to play perfect, play well adjusted and stay as clean and kept up as possible. I doubt I'll ever have the gumptcha to tear them down to the point of making them works of art like some do, but at least they will be really nice and great players. I have mad respect for the guys that do the full tear downs though. Wish I had the will and time to do it.

When doing a complete teardown, I take my time and enjoy every minute of it. My latest has taken me 6+ months. I do what I want and when I want, reading up and learning as i go. It's a labor of love for the hobby, and getting the game as best I can for my collection.

We, I'm just like the rest of you guys trying to find time to do stuff. What I have learned is if you have kids, get them involved. Even if you need to give one of your projects (or pick one up for that purpose) to the kids, they will usually enjoy working with you on it and will feel a sense of accomplishment when it is done and they get to play it with all their friends. My father always worked on cars, and had me help him. I learned a lot, and now can fix anything myself without paying someone else to do it. This bled over into pinball and now I will try just about anything. Remember when your kids help you it effectively doubles your time (or multiply by how many kids you have). Moat people also complain about their wives giving them a hard time, but if you get The kids involved the wife usually backs off. Wives will do things for their kids a lot more then what they will do for you. If you don't have kids and your wife gives you a hard time, sit her down and explain it to her this way. Would she rather you have a hobby that you can do in The home, and with her if she is willing, and have a tangible item to show for.your.time and money, or would she rather have you hanging out at strip bars and other places with the boys on your way home from work. I will bet she picks the pin hobby every time.

Agreed. An operator's shop job should consist of the following:

Removing all top-side playfield parts excluding metal guides, posts, and through playfield mechs
Cleaning playfield and removed parts
Replacing plastic posts
Replacing rubbers
Replacing bulbs
Apply new target foam
Resleeve or rebuild flippers if rebuild is needed
Resleeve key solenoids such as slingshots, kickbacks, etc.
Fix any burned connectors/board issues
Clean cabinet/translite

In my opinion anything more (tumbling, waxing, etc) is not worth it for a location game and nobody will notice anyway. We do the things above and our games get constant play. Any parts we buy they are paid for within 2 months tops.

@hammerhead...

well, there ARE other alternatives than simply pinball and strip clubs...

Agreed. My BSD teardown has gone on for about seven months now. http://bsdpinball.tumblr.com/

Amen brother.....we WILL conquer the BSD!

And I have yet to tear down OUR BSD! Besides cabinet fade and slight playfield wear it's in great shape!

Sorry...couldn't resist! LOL

I'm amazed by how fast some people can completely tear down a game, shop it, and put it back together (yes, I'm talking about you tatman). The only game I've ever really completely shopped out was my Airborne, and it literally took me months. I'm just not very motivated when it comes to stuff like that. Unlike a lot of you guys, I much prefer to play the games than to work on them.

You just have to find time. I too have 2 kids, a job, a house, cars, etc. but I find time to work on stuff. The trick is doing a little at a time but sticking with it. When restoring a game or swapping a playfield I try to at least work on something every night, might be small but it is still progress.

Totally agree....slow but steady, setting small goals each day/week.