So you may have seen my original (now viral) post about the sight unseen Elektra I just picked up. Here's the thread with photos and the good, bad and ugly-
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/best-description-of-elektra-ever

I pulled the PF from the cab (first timer on this!), removed the head (another first), built a rotisserie (first) and started the restore.
Vid1900 suggested that I buy a new cab, which is a great idea, but the cost +shipping was over my budget. I've already glued the cab back in place and will start sanding soon. I still need to find the stencils or perhaps order them from Twisted Pin. I've started on the BG and super glued some of the bubble back (worked great), got the PF on the rotisserie and will pull the boards soon. Here's some pics to start with:
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Thanks Gtown.
This will be an interesting PF to work on. I need to research how others have taken it apart with all of the layers of wood and plexiglas

Here's the PF on the rotisserie. I had to make tabs on the back bracket because the back of the pf is populated and only the sides are clear.
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Here's the upper pf, just a couple of wear spots to air brush and seal.
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I'm definitely changing the cab paint. I'm thinking like a sparkle blue base, silver crystals with a red shadow and yellow lightning. Thoughts?

Working on plastics. The heat gun on low, cookie sheet, spoon and cover with pf glass is working really well.
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Here's the underbelly. The basement pf comes off and even has connectors!!! Would you look at the wiring on this thing! Imagine how much it would cost today to replicate this pin?

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Flat plastics, now to super glue broken ones. Is JB Weld better?
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Ok, Hellfire, you do that and I'll copy your
Pics and say that I replaced all that during my "Restore".
. If u pinsiders are watching my restore thinking you're gonna see screws tumbled and light sockets replaced, please move along!!! Hahaha!

Basement pf out, there's a black foam around the plexi area that has dry rotted.
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I thought it was a reverse Beer Seal for guys like us that work on pins late night!

Vanhos- I'll email that guy with the plastics. I really want an entire repro set though. Thanks for the tip!

Here's the before of the lower pf. I hit it with a ME and 91%. Lots of white paint came off, but it was going to come off anyway. I'll use the airbrush on it with a light hit of off-white.

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Awe crap! I bought a tumbler! Cabelas had their Hornady M2 on sale and I had gift cards!
EDIT- DO NOT BUY THE LYMAN ROUGE MIX IN THIS PHOTO, IT'S CRAP!
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Stencils ordered from Twisted Pins. Used their creation process which was very easy.

$134 shipped, now on to the paint stripping
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I'm really struggling with the colors. Part of me wants to keep the game original and the other part wants to spice things up a bit. I wish I could keep the serial # on the cab, but I agree with Hellfire that the paint might leak through the stencils. I did order the used plastics that Vanhos recommended. Thanks for following my thread y'all.

I like the cab decal idea!
80 grit sanding now. The wood is really not bad, no major gouges to repair.
I've got to figure out how to fill the weathered wood grain "tiny tiny gaps".
Bondo, Wood fill?

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looks great, high build auto primer fills micro cracks right?

Question:
While I'm recond the cabinet, should I just send out all of the boards for "tune ups"?
I can do the Cap/resistor replacements, but if I'm going this far, should I just spend the $$?
Thoughts? Whom shall I send to?

Glued and repaired the neck. Now on to Bondo! Here's a little trick to build up that missing piece of wood. Three shims glued together is the perfect width, then cut to fit!
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Another 1st. I wasn't going to remove the guts from the cabinet, but seeing Hellfire's pics above really helped.
The zip lock bag organization method is working for me and giving me confidence that I can put this back together.
Here's a couple of pics
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Got the stencils back from Twisted Pin. They look and feel high quality. I emptied the cabinet head of the boards and removed the backglass door/light panel. Another first for me.
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Here's the repair on the notch that was missing. Used a Dremel cut off disc and a sanding bit to shape. image-88.jpgReady for Bondo.

Fresh out of the Tumbler, still need to replace the fuse holders though.
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I'm hooked on buffing now, it's so easy to get a shine. I used the denim wheel and Green Cut Paste. Here's a few shots of before and after of the coin door frame. The one on the left is the beforeIMG_3984[1].JPGIMG_3983[1].JPG-

I think I'm sending the legs out to get chromed

Here's the color selection.
I used Dupli Color Deep Blue for the base. HVLP
I'm using Krylon Shimmer Metallic (Pink). Spray Can
Prob Krylon Yellow Spray Can

I really like the Dupli Color! Wear a mask though, that stuff is baaaad for you!image-747.jpgimage-344.jpg

I bought the Dupli from Pep Boys and the Krylon from Hobby Lobby
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The Pink turned out nice. I do wish the Stencil wasn't so tacky as it pulled some of the paint off of the cab. That said, the stencil is spot on so far. Now for the yellow.image-700.jpgimage-962.jpg

Now the yellow. I stayed with the traditional colors but spiced it up with metallics. Now to shoot some clear over it.
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Getting closer! Not perfect but I'm learning. Cabinet done, next are the boards, then PF.image-996.jpgimage-416.jpgimage-569.jpg

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Anytime, I'm no Pro at this, but I'd be glad to help!

Now working on the boards and PF. She's not perfect, but looks a heck of a lot better than when I started. Learned a ton on this one.image-841.jpg

Working on the boards now. I lifted about 3 tracers on the Stern 100 board. Only one of them needed sanding down to the trace. I think I learned that if you don't get the trace hot enough and remove the iron too quickly, you lift the trace as it sticks to the iron.
Is my polarity correct on the green and big caps?
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Can you say, "Black Friday I will be buying a shitton of 555 LEDs!"

Thanks guys, I'll focus on the GI for now.

I thought I'd add some Diamonds to the PF. Just took some plastic gems and drilled them.
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Well, crud, changed out the R53 resistor and plugged her in. ZAP and a little fire burnt that little resistor up! That's the same resistor that was burnt at the beginning of my thread.

Any idea what causes that R53 to burn? I did change the diodes, transistors and caps next to it, but I didn't change out the High Voltage Series Pass Regulator next to it (Q21 on the left).

Here's a pic:
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OK, replaced the R53 Resistor, VR1 and Q21.
Plugged her back in and NO flames from the R53 this time.

PF isn't in the cab yet so not sure if that prevents the displays and sound from working? GI lights up on the backbox and you can see the green LED flash, then remain steady. (very dim though)

I guess I need to put the PF in the cab to test the displays/sound? Unless I killed some other component last night on the board? Maybe one of the transistors like Q22 or Q23?

Hmm...

Pushed the sound test button and got the voice overs. That's good.

I put the PF in the cab and sure enough, she came to life! The Displays still aren't working, but I'll figure that out.
'You have been exposed to Elektra's Gamma Radiation!" Love the voice on this pin.

Bump for awareness!

Putting her back together slowlyimage.jpg

Thanks for asking!

Sure enough, I worked on the displays and sound settings.
The pins on some of the displays were out of the glass.
This pin must have been dropped at some point in its life. That explains the major body damage when I got it.image.jpg

I’ll have to look at what mine does