Quoted from megadeth2600:I got the flooded Pirates of the Caribbean on Friday for $1500. It was worth the risk to me, but I'm sick in the head. Had I had the space in my Element, I would have nabbed that Transformers LE too if it was complete. I saw it was missing the backglass (it was an LE ... that would have been pretty difficult to replace ... I think those had a glass vs. a translite). I didn't bother to check it out since I knew I couldn't fit it and I didn't want to dwell on it if it was complete. He was asking $1800 for that ... I think I could have worked a 2 for 1 deal, but, again, I flat out couldn't fit it with the other stuff I was bringing home.
I *love* projects like this!!! I used to come across various levels of destruction like this all of the time years ago. It brought back some good and bad memories. I actually wanted a PotC, so I figured it'd be worth the risk. If I hit a brick wall, I can save the parts to make a "Sid Meier's Pirates!" custom machine when I retire early and make custom pins for a living (i.e. not going to happen).
Anyway, the good so far :
Turns out that the PotC was complete aside from the lockdown bar, translite, translite trim, translite glass, and DMD. I already have a spare DMD. Translite is on its way.
Playfield is NOT warped nor water damaged which shocked the living hell out of me!!! I expected to see *something* bad. I won't know if it's completely OK to use until I have everything stripped, but it's looking really nice. It doesn't seem to have any wear at all. I didn't find any mold too!
Everything on top of the playfield is cleaning up nicely though I have a LONG LONG LONG way to go (i.e. the toys, plastics, assemblies, etc).
The cabinet is fine (I am replacing the MDF stuff in the head and bottom though). The artwork looks great. Not perfect, but there is no warping of the main cabinet parts. The cabinet will be scrubbed inside and out ... the inside will be repainted. (I do that anyway during a restoration).
The bad so far :
Gonna have to sandblast, tumble, and recoat several metal pieces. Rust!
There was battery acid damage. I've fixed this a million times on older Bally/Williams games. I gave it a vinegar bath and rinsed it, simple greened it, rinsed again, another vinegar bath, rinsed ... I'm going to power it up tomorrow. That's going to be fun
I am going to replace the cabinet bottom and head back panel since that material is rather porous and exposed. What shocks me is that it didn't swell up like a balloon. Still, I'd feel better having new MDF. You can clean up the painted stuff ... evil micro-critters won't get in there, but MDF seems like it could hold nasty smells and mold spores.
A few motors are not sealed. I expect to have problems with those. Can't wait to see how that goes
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I've done this level of rescue before. First time was a Data East Star Trek and somewhat recently an Addams Family.
I plan on keeping this ... I don't sell System 11 and beyond stuff very often. Seems like a few games I have sold are ones that I really want back (Bride of Pinbot is my biggest regret ... man that BoP 2.0 is frigging sweet and I'd love to have one just to play that!).
If it ever gets put up for sale, the potential buyer WILL know how I got it (I might make my first restoration thread on Pinside ... at a minimum, I'll take enough photos for a teardown archive of this machine in the event someone needs them in the future). I would never sell a machine that I got in this state w/o letting a buyer know. Quite frankly, anything that was in a fire or flood should come with that warning ... there are a lot of bad smells and potentially hazardous organisms (mainly from floods, mold being the biggest concern). If you know what you're doing, you can certainly address those issues. I would hope others do the same. I'd feel like I was ripping someone off if I didn't warn them. This game is by no means hazmat, but it's the decent thing to do when someone plunks down cash for a game.
That was Sandy water and sewage damaged pin. Be careful with that
