Burlington, WI
man, I hope you got that game cheap. Nice shop area. I think just the picture of the shop you showed was more room than my touchup room and spray booth combined. 
(Topic ID: 53497)
Linked Games
Attack from Mars
Bally, 1995
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Looking good hope you picked it up for a great price. Lots of work ahead. But will be amazing when complete.
Quoted from 2manypins:what is the advantage with Rapid Tac? great work so far!
I wanted to try a product specifically designed for this type application.
Looks nice. If I may make a suggestion, rub your finger perpendicular to the decal edge. Do you feel the decal? Does it want to lift? If it does, cut it again at more of an angle. Do this until you don't feel a thing.
Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:Looks nice. If I may make a suggestion, rub your finger perpendicular to the decal edge. Do you feel the decal? Does it want to lift? If it does, cut it again at more of an angle. Do this until you don't feel a thing.
Thanks, I tried a different method this time and was very unhappy with the results.
normally I will set a straight edge in a 16th of an inch. then cut to that,
Quoted from Skypilot:Also started using this
Loved using that.. personal preference of course.
4 weeks later
now the REAL fun begins. looking great so far!
i'm sure you'll have to drill many holes that aren't there for this repo pf btw glb
Quoted from CaptainNeo:Holy shit. Did a saucer explode under that old field? Looks like a bomb went off in the middle.
That AFM kicked some alien a$$
Quoted from LEE:I always love taking a hammer to brand new, or newly refinished, playfield.
I hear you, not one of the finer parts of restoration.Speaking of that ,cudos to CPR my Taxi pf came t-nut installed.
2 weeks later
Quoted from BillP:sweet powder coating
Thanks Bill,
That black will go great with those red ramps you sold me.
Looking good. I love the gloss black powder, that should really pop.
FYI – here are some things to look for on the repro pf: (1) dimple holes for the right sling and right flipper were off on my Mirco pf – the slingshot kicker would have been hitting the actual playfield if I installed it using the original dimple holes, (2) if you are going to use a mantis protector at the SOL hole you’ll need to do some dremel work, and (3) the shoot lane will cause you problems (not long or deep enough), so the ball bounces around and doesn’t always make it around the orbit when holding the left flipper button in. You can adjust the auto fire mech. to account for item (3), just takes some tweaking.
Looking forward to seeing the finished product, keep up the nice work.
Quoted from PinballMikeD:if you are going to use a mantis protector at the SOL
I had a cliffy for SOL and Im not liking the fit. The back of ti tends to stick up a bit when Items are attached over it. I saw a few with mantis protectors an I'm considering changing it. Any thoughts?
I did a mantis in my mirco. Im like you, i dont like the look of a cliffy at the sol. They do not perfect fit perfectly in the sol. I got mine very close. Not as good as I wanted but close enough that I could live with it. I was also dealing with the thick clear coat in the opening. Kerry @ Mantis doesn't recommend them on mirco because of the fit but with work they are good.
Quoted from PinballMikeD:Looking good. I love the gloss black powder, that should really pop.
FYI – here are some things to look for on the repro pf: (1) dimple holes for the right sling and right flipper were off on my Mirco pf – the slingshot kicker would have been hitting the actual playfield if I installed it using the original dimple holes, (2) if you are going to use a mantis protector at the SOL hole you’ll need to do some dremel work, and (3) the shoot lane will cause you problems (not long or deep enough), so the ball bounces around and doesn’t always make it around the orbit when holding the left flipper button in. You can adjust the auto fire mech. to account for item (3), just takes some tweaking.
Looking forward to seeing the finished product, keep up the nice work.
Hi,
Can you elaborate on 'adjusting the auto fire mech' please?
I'm mid-restore and not far off this stage, so any detailed tips would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Paul.
Quoted from Skypilot:I had a cliffy for SOL and Im not liking the fit. The back of ti tends to stick up a bit when Items are attached over it. I saw a few with mantis protectors an I'm considering changing it. Any thoughts?
Personally, I like the mantis ones more. I think they look better and don't affect the ball during game play.
http://s437400854.onlinehome.us/wp-content/gallery/monster-bash/50.jpg
http://s437400854.onlinehome.us/?page_id=125
You might have to widen the area where the martian switch is located though, as the mantis protector fits in there as well.
Quoted from monkeyboypaul:Hi,
Can you elaborate on 'adjusting the auto fire mech' please?
I'm mid-restore and not far off this stage, so any detailed tips would be much appreciated.
Cheers,Paul.
Hi Paul,
I found that the shooter lane wasn’t deep enough, so the coil plunger was hitting slightly above the center of the pinball. So, I used some washers to raise the height of the entire coil assembly to compensate. It’s crazy what a fraction of an inch will do. This took some trial and error to get right, but in the end it did work. This might have just been an issue with my pf though. Hope this helps.
I guess you could route out the slot the auto fire mech. fits in as well, gotta love clear coat 
Mike ,That chrome version looks phenomenal.
Did you make or purchase the green plastics on the right side. I was considering making them in red.
Quoted from Skypilot:Did you make or purchase the green plastics on the right side. I was considering making them in red.
I believe those are from Pinbits.
Quoted from PinballMikeD:Hi Paul,
I found that the shooter lane wasn’t deep enough, so the coil plunger was hitting slightly above the center of the pinball. So, I used some washers to raise the height of the entire coil assembly to compensate. It’s crazy what a fraction of an inch will do. This took some trial and error to get right, but in the end it did work. This might have just been an issue with my pf though. Hope this helps.
I guess you could route out the slot the auto fire mech. fits in as well, gotta love clear coat
This is a common problem on many games with auto plungers. I'm glad you posted this, Mike. Maybe you should make a thread so it's easily searchable. My LOTR auto plunge wouldn't kick the ball hard enough to put it into play, so I'd always have to manually plunge during multiballs. Same issue, just a tiny tweak to where the ball was struck made all the difference.
Quoted from PinballMikeD:Hi Paul,
I found that the shooter lane wasn’t deep enough, so the coil plunger was hitting slightly above the center of the pinball. So, I used some washers to raise the height of the entire coil assembly to compensate. It’s crazy what a fraction of an inch will do. This took some trial and error to get right, but in the end it did work. This might have just been an issue with my pf though. Hope this helps.
I guess you could route out the slot the auto fire mech. fits in as well, gotta love clear coat
Much appreciated. I look forward to the challenges that lay ahead
Quoted from Skypilot:Not a lot of action but my parts came back from the powder-coater
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Looks great - I have done almost exactly the same, except I did NOT do the wireforms, they're still metal/chrome, but I DID do the coin door.
Great job!!
Is the powdercoat on the ramps gonna last with the ball passing through a million times? 
Quoted from hassanchop:Great job!!
Is the powdercoat on the ramps gonna last with the ball passing through a million times?
I've been told by others it does
Quoted from Skypilot:I've been told by others it does
Hmm......
I would love to see the progress when you start playing the machine. Are you gonna "document" it?
I ask because I would love to do that on my Sopranos.
My FGY has a red wire ramp (factory installed) and it's flawless. Maybe they use some kind of special treatment at Stern?
Quoted from hassanchop:Hmm......
I would love to see the progress when you start playing the machine. Are you gonna "document" it?
I ask because I would love to do that on my Sopranos.
My FGY has a red wire ramp (factory installed) and it's flawless. Maybe they use some kind of special treatment at Stern?
Remind me when its finished and played a while and I will be more than happy to check the game count and take pictures.
Ive always been a fan of natural wood.On my Tom restoration I used black walnut on the rails in a natural finish. I want to keep with the black theme so I'm using it again. Only this time I will stain it in ebony.
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Cut
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Stained
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Original on the left
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Quoted from PinballMikeD:if you are going to use a mantis protector at the SOL hole you’ll need to do some dremel work,
Thanks again dremel used
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