No, not usually. It's just easy to add a securing screw with the PF out and fully accessible but not necessary.

It's only the 6-32 T nuts for the inlane plastics. The teeth on these are pretty small. They won't fall out on their own, but if you push on them with a screw from the top side, they can.

All the rest are 8-32 and you shouldn't have any issues.

ok so after reading 2500 posts, i've committed to building an addams, but using a hurricane pin as a donor game for parts. Thanks for the unwaivering enthusiasm Shredder565 . See it through to completion!

Are you reading the same thread as me? This whole thread is the reason NOT to do it. Good on the OP for trying and it is entertaining. But no way in hell would I want to do this. Lololol

Hahahaha. Def not a way to save money or time. There’s still some unobtainable parts to source I think that I am curious about. If you don’t have a way to get that wiring harness though, that’s a real hurdle to jump. Shredder lucked out big time on that

wiring harness is no big issue. The hurricane WPC wiring harness will be reused in the conversion along with the transformer, cabinet hardware and
headbox backboard, some mechs that are the same etc. There's 6 extra wires to add to the wiring harness and i have another in my spare parts. Most parts are available as far as i can tell. Lamp boards and ball guides have been repro'd. A friend locally has his addams torn down, starting a restore with a new playfield, i've copied the playfield side rails and pf backboard, pinched the original playfield for resto, and a few spare parts. I'll compare wiring harnesses next (guess who gets to wire his machine back up haha), copy the backbox lightboard, and send the playfield for restoration. I've made a spreadsheet with all (the major) parts to acquire, and will try and order in bulk to save freight to Aus, or buy here where i can. Seems doable to me. I won't start the build until the other 2 games i'm working on are back together, and no rush to complete it. Here's the playfield.. as you can see it's well trashed!

261523092_587483565692745_909603004198853526_n (resized).jpg

Building any machine is a labor of love. When I run into trouble(I wired that diode backwards? Oh, shit...) and get grumpy, I click through threads like this to get my motivation flowing again.

I admire your determination and drive. It is a learning process as well. As I learned with rebuilding a classic muscle car, it is cheaper to buy one already done. The sum of the parts plus shipping is more than it is worth at the end. That rule only applies to flippers, not to people who are on a journey and have no intention of selling.

With the qualification that, when done, it'll effectively be a New In Box version of the game. You can't currently buy that at any price. Apples to apples would be to compare against the price for a high-end restoration where they've replaced the playfield, plastics, and a lot of the other parts, to make it convincingly Like New. That'll have a market value a lot higher than the average used unit, I imagine.

I understand what you are getting at here but do you really believe you will be able to compare the craftsmanship to an HEP restore and value?

Well, I wouldn't want to make assumptions one way or the other about anyone's level of craftsmanship, but does it really matter? My point was that a from-parts build is going to be more like a New In Box machine. That might be worth something to the builder that they're willing to pay extra for, so comparing it to the average used price might not be appropriate in assessing what it's worth to the builder.

I think the big thing to keep in mind when establishing a value would be the level of finish and execution. You could get away with a technical scratch build by using a bunch of used parts and pieces, poorly done brand new decals, etc. My personal Addams scratch build is all new parts, assemblies, cpr gold playfield, polished metals, powdercoating, etc. I would value at completion near a high end restore, not HEP value, but definitely more than clean used value. When I started my build I figured I would be pretty upside down but seeing the prices of used TAF hitting the market place I will probably not be bad off at all.

After seeing a new WH20 listing at 11.5k, I stopped in here to see how it was going, because maybe with pinflation so rampant, a scratch build might be getting closer to on par with buying an original. Disappointed to see the conversation has moved to value and what the thing will sell for, before its even been born. Just another sign of these inflated times I guess. I have an Addams, I wanted a White Water and started a thread on scratch build for that, but the consensus was buying one will be cheaper. After seeing today's listings I'm not so sure.

Previously I was interested in building a Monster Bash from scratch when they were stupid expensive and the remake came along and saved me. Hopefully WH2O finds itself on CGC's list.

Wait a sec, from my perspective, the conversation is about the exact opposite of that - it's about what you'd pay for it if you wanted to buy one exactly like it. The proposition was "it'll cost you way more to build one than to buy one". My point was that that might be true* if what you want to buy is just a TAF, any TAF, but might not be quite so accurate if what you want to buy is a New In Box TAF. Because that's basically what you're going to get at the end of the project.

* And like you pointed out, the asking prices on nice used TAFs on Pinside and eBay are $11K, $12K, I even see one on eBay for $24,999. So maybe the parts price is even competitive with the used price at this point.

It is not just about the cost. Building a pin from scratch has a lot to do with the challenge and fun. When it is done you have a game that is unique. I am impressed with your drive with this build. I love a good challenge, This is on top of the list.

I purchased a players The Addams Family at a good price and will be doing a full restore. I am gathering the parts in preparation for the fun. You learn a lot about a game during a full restore. This will be my second full restore. My first was #HS and the game came out perfect.

Keep up the great work and I am enjoying your process. Not sure I would have the patience to do a scratch build.

Timing couldnt be better on this. OP will have a brand new game worth far more than the cost to build it.
I bought most of the parts to build a Bad Cats about 2 years ago...it will cost me considerably less to buy the rest of the parts needed to complete it than to purchase one in todays market.

You will be just fine. Its all about the journey and the things you learn on the way.

Dont get me wrong, I want to see this project succeed. Hopefully the prices of parts seriously lag the skyrocketing price of macines and it really becomes cost effective to build them. Im just PO at these prices, I had a few more titles on the wishlist and most of them just went out of reach.

Yeah, for heaven's sake, let's not let the part vendors in on the secret! But somehow I don't think too many people are going to see scratch builds as a great way to Beat The System and drive parts prices up in the same way. Clearly what's been driving up used machine prices (for many years now, not just recently) is that many of the titles from the 1990s are widely considered all time greats the likes of which we won't see again, and good-condition examples of those titles will only ever get scarcer over time, with the exception of the handful of Remake titles. A perfect recipe for spiraling collector pricing. (And even in the case of the Remake titles, there are enough people who consider the original runs to be more collectable than the Remake runs that the Remakes didn't do much to drive down prices of the originals.)

I know it’s a hobby and just for fun to build. BUT if you also include your time. No way can you ever build one less than buying one……..now, time excluded just having fun and something to do….go for it.

That's what I was getting at about how most people won't find a scratch build to be a good way to Beat The System on collector pricing. If you're going to look at the time you spend on it as work, and you're going to prepare a bill at your hourly rate to charge to the project cost center, this really isn't your kind of project. You'll come out ahead by finding the most deluded price gouger on eBay and offering 10% over asking. You have to look at the time on it as entertainment time, the same way you wouldn't send Marvel a bill for two hours of your salary every time you sit through a superhero movie.

Edit: bad reading comprehension

In all fairness some of those movies feel like work to watch! I should send them a bill

No way... How?

I agree, no way....unless you are just tallying up all the remaining parts.

Threads like this one fire me up. Great job on the Addams scratch build.

That’s a bunch of full assemblies though, not switches. Switches alone should be $4?- $12 per switch or so

I can relate, as I am trying to do a similar job with a Doctor Who pinball. I also followed the switch location list and found many were no longer stocked by marcos. I was lucky enough to find some used ones in France, Australia, Germany and Argentina. Gave up trying to find a project pin to rebuild. The trough switch assembly was the hardest so far. I am collecting parts, before I invest in a cabinet. Like the OP and others, it is about the hunt and the build and the experience. Maybe, I will document it once I get rolling but it will be worth half the value of an AF with the same WPC89 boards and similar switches and pop bumpers, VUK, ball popper, coils, and cabinet/head.

You're sure right about that - just collecting the parts is a big enough project all by itself. Identifying them, finding them, fabricating them when no one is selling them, and then keeping track of everything once you have it on hand. By my count, Addams has somewhere around 1500 distinct parts, and many of those have quantity > 1, so the total number of individual things to collect is probably something like 5k. It boggles the mind that anyone ever made a business out of building and selling these things (and here I'm talking about the actual factory manufacturers like Williams and Stern, not us one-off hobby builders) - especially considering that the end product is a rather niche amusement device. I can see how the economics work for something utilitarian like a car, which is also an incredibly complex product made up of a gazillion parts, but an amusement device? Kind of amazing.

Its a "Christmas Miracle", Lol....

Switches???

Or assemblies and mechanisms.

Look at all those fun parts