Sanded the cabinet today after the first round of filler.
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Next, I applied Bondo to the areas that were sanded and to the leg areas where the legs marked the cabinet.
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The sanded these areas and feathered it in so the final surface is smooth.
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Will probably Bondo the Backbox corner one more time since I sanded a little too much off this time.

I rebuilt the Drop target mechanisms and they are ready to install.
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Now to the playfield. I started working on the black rings around the inserts.
Here is a typical example of the damaged ring on the "S" insert.
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New ring applied.
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Then I started on the lower part of the playfield. Here you can see the Extra Ball, Ride Forever and the 2X inserts have been done.
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I got everything from the BIKE inserts down done along with the USA inserts at the top. Had enough for one day.
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Sanded the cabinet for the final time. Originally the underside of the cabinet and backbox were not painted. I painted it black for a more finished look and I want the bottom finished before I start spraying it.
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Found a couple of specks in a couple of inserts. Probably a crack that trapped sanding residue. No bid deal. Take an Xacto blade and scrape it out and drop clear on the area. I could have just waited until the next spray but I would rather drop it now and sand and put the insert ring on so the entire playfield is at the same stage when I clear the next time.
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Sanded those drops of clear on the inserts and put the rings on.
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3 of the 5 big "X" inserts had scratches on them that would let light shine through.
Here are the 2X and 4X to show what I mean.
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I just couldn't let that go so I cut some new insert text for those as the BIKE inserts that I will show in a bit. I already cut the 2X out when I thought about taking a picture. lol
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Here are the 2X and 4X fixed.
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I had to do all of them so they looked identical. All done.
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The BIKE inserts had some scratching too. The B and I were fine but the K and E were ugly. This is probably worse than it would be in a game because its a super bright flashlight but I still have to fix it.
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Fixed
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Painted the inside of the cabinet today. I hate unpainted vent holes. These were painted but not very well so I always paint them before I paint the main area.
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Its a little to hard to spray the inside of the cabinet so I brush and roll the inside with gloss enamel paint that will stand up pretty well to wear. Pretty happy with the finish on this cabinet as the wood was in really good shape.
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Cleared the playfield today. Really happy with how it came out. There are slightly raised areas where the vinyl rings and text are. That will be sanded flat. I might be able to do that without sanding all the way through or I might have to spray again for a final coat.
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The following picture shows the raised areas over the vinyl that was placed around the inserts.
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I very carefully block sand all the inserts to try and get them level with the rest of the playfield. Sometimes you can do this in one sanding and sometimes you have to clear and sand a second time. I was able to get them virtually flat in the first sanding.
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In the following pictures you can see that on some inserts I was just getting to the vinyl so it worked out pretty well. The discoloration you see on the insert rings is the overhead light reflecting different on the vinyl vs the clear. When I clear again it will be a solid rich black outline.
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I might be able to shoot the final clear tomorrow if my schedule works out.

Shot the final coat of clear on yesterday. I hope to sand tomorrow if I have the time.

Primed the cabinet.
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Here is a close up of that area I ripped of taking the side rail off.
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Thanks. Had some personal stuff come up so I don’t think it’s going to make it to Texas. I will still try but if not, no big deal. Family comes first.

Making progress. Stored the playfield in the gameroom while I paint the cabinet. That paint is nasty in the air. I have a ventilation system but just playing it safe.
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I got two coats of paint on the cabinet. Normally I only have to paint one coat but I got a couple of light areas so I decided to paint a second coat. I didn’t get any pictures of the cab between coats and I don’t want to open the booth to take any now since I just finished the second coat.

I did take these with my phone thought. I can’t figure out which one is the fresh air and which one is the exhaust.
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Today was an interesting day. I was getting ready to clear the cabinet and I realized I didn't have enough clear to shoot three coats so I had to go get some. Only to find out they closed my local shop and I had to drive 40 miles to get some. Anyways, after the delay I got the cabinet cleared and I really happy with the results. All I have to do is a light sanding and the decals will be ready to apply.
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Tonight I was able to get the playfield sanded. I sanded up to 5000 grit and there is a dull shine. I will buff tomorrow to a mirror finish and then it will be ready for assembly.
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Got the miscellaneous cabinet decals done. I print them on a vinyl material. I want the front side to be laminated so what I do is I put a thicker piece of paper behind the decal and then I put it through a heat laminator. I use a thicker piece of paper because it will tend to curl some if you just use a standard piece of paper.
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Then I trim around the edge and that allows the paper along with the back side lamination to be removed. This just leave the front lamination and the adhesive material on the back of the decal
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Then I trim them up and run each piece through the laminator again just to make sure all the edges are sealed good and then they are ready for application. I changed up a few to match the theme better.
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Started to sand the cabinet. The finish looks pretty good but it needs to be sanded so its flat for the final clear and for the application of the decals.
You can see a hint of texture in the clear.
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It becomes obvious when you do your fist sanding. Anything that is still black is slightly lower than the rest of the surface. Here is a close up after a little sanding with 800 grit.
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After a complete sanding with 800 to level the entire surface, I will sand with 1000 grit to prep the surface for the decals.
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Using Nahphtha, you can see the reflection on the surface is more of a true reflection without the texture.
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Now I just have to sand the rest of the cabinet.

Thanks. It’s a fun game. It’s not as complex as the games of the time but it has some fun stuff with the drops and spinners. You have a goal of traveling across country to the cities. It’s a Fun colorful game that you don’t see too often.

Got the cabinet sanded and ready for decals. I decided to start with the backbox since it is the most complex. The most important is the first layer since everything goes off that layer. On this one, since I am doing a custom graphics, I am having to split some of the colors. I use the measurements that I wrote down before I sanded the original graphics. I use blue tape to set up where the first layer should be.
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I put the orange down first minus the "Bally" logo. I am putting some blue outline around the orange Bally logo to pay homage to the blue in the original scheme.
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Next is the white minus the eagle head.
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Then a metallic silver. The metallic doesn't really show up in the picture.
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Added the red "U" and blue "A"
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Now the yellow Eagle Talons.
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Next is the metallic gold eagle. Once again the metallic doesn't really show in the picture.
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Now the white eagle head.
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Now the orange/yellow beak and the blue/orange Bally logo.
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Now and original idea for the back of the cabinet. I don't care about the text that used to be on there so I want to do my own thing.
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Backbox is finished and ready for Clearcoat.Dscf3599 (resized).jpg

Now the front of the cabinet. The main cabinet is a lot easier as there are only two colors on the front and three on the sides.

I started with the orange without the Text so I can add the blue background to it.
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The blue background
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Finished with the Orange text. The blue background ties in to the blue in the original scheme.
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Thank you.
I get my vinyl from a place called USCutter. They have a color guide book you can order that has all of the colors on a clear sheet. You can detach the sheet and take it to whatever you are trying to match. I use the high performance because it is the thinnest and best quality.
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Got the main cabinet finished and ready to clear. Same as the backbox. Gotta get that first layer set right. I actually cut an extra piece of the orange stripes on bot sides. That way I could line them up with the front decals for proper alignment.
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I got a phone call and got distracted and forgot to take a picture of the orange. Here is a shot of when I did the other side.
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White.
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Metallic silver. Looks like white with the reflection of the lights.
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Done and ready for clear. I like doing decals but there is a relief when it is done.
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Buffed the playfield out.
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Where are my sunglasses?
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Prepped the cabinet for its final clear. I might be able to squeeze it in in the morning.

I got all my powder coating back so I assembled some of the stuff for the cabinet.

Power box and transformer.
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When the ground braid attaches to a part that is powder coated or a metal piece is attached to a powder coated piece and it is grounded that way, you have to remove the powder so it makes the grounded connection.
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the lock down receiver. Installed the decal but will keep the protective film on until the machine is finished.
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Just finished clearing he cabinet which is the last major thing. It’s gonna be tough because I got some family medical things going on and that obviously that is more important. I will try to the last day to get this thing done. And looking forward to seeing you there bro.

Dscf3630 (resized).jpgDscf3627 (resized).jpgDscf3629 (resized).jpgCabinet Cleared.

Now the fun part. Cleaning all the sanding residue off the bottom of the playfield. Basically removing all switches and GI sockets and cleaning the playfield and the sockets.
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Got the pops and drop targets installed. Along with all the switches.
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You can do it either way. If you want it flat you sand the clear off the vinyl and just scuff the areas that didn’t have clear. After you spray again you sand the entire thing and you will be level. Depending on how much clear you sprayed, you might have to do a third coat.

For cabinets, I typically don’t do that. The only way you can tell that there is a small edge is too feel it. It’s a pretty small level difference.

I love this stuff so I will try and answer any questions. You are actually correct on that one. The logo is one of the rare instances where I stack the vinyl. I try and avoid that but I added a blue outline to the logo so there are two layers of vinyl with a larger blue layer and then the orange text placed on top. That and the Harley Davidson text on the front of the cabinet are the only two areas on the entire cabinet that are stacked. So yes, there is a little more level change there vs the rest of the cabinet. But I do think the picture exaggerates it a bit.

Yes. I apply wet to both. It allows for movement of the vinyl as its on the surface. The vinyl is pressure activated so when you get it perfectly placed, you start running a plastic applicator over it ton”set” it and work all the fluid out. The application tape has micro holes in it so you spray some fluid on the outside and work it around and in a couple minutes, you can take the tape off and wipe it all down.

I use a vinyl application fluid.

I am illuminating all the star posts. There are 24 on this game.
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This area was a nightmare to get done. I want to hide the wires as much ass possible and there is only one hole and that is the GI lamp. It took a lot of work to get the wires routed down through that socket.
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There is one post that I could just not make work. I had to replace it with a bell rubber like the ones next to the pop bumpers. I actually modified a post LED and thought I was going to get it to work. I put a hole in the lamp panel and the metal guide fit perfectly through it. The only problem is that when the metal guide went through it shorts out one of the connections. There is no room to make the hole any bigger so I will have to accept defeat on this one. I replaced it with the rubber because I don't think it would look good with one post not lit. I think it would look like something was broke.
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All installed and waiting to wire up.
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Most of the playfield is put together with out the plastics on.
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Bottom of the playfield is done except for the post lights and organizing the wiring.
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New style corner brackets. I trimmed the orange stripe before I cleared so there should be no issues.
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Installed the newer style leg brackets and new grounding braid.
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Installed the cable mounts.
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Lockdown bar receiver. You will see in a later picture that the movable part is black chrome.
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Installed the power box with a custom fuse decal.
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Shaker motor and transformer installed.
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Added the playfield support bar. Inside is complete.
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Added the side mirrors.
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Installed the corner brackets and new ground braid.
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Installed the metal back panel with a custom fuse sticker.
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The FCC sticker did not have any sticky left.
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Even though nobody will ever see it, I fixed it anyways. I used 3M adhesive tape.
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You can see the wear areas on the top chrome piece from resting on the lower cabinet.
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I found the exact match at the auto parts store.
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I used an old side rail as a guide to put the strip on straight.
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Installed. Shiny chrome.
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Boards installed. Complete except for the light panel.
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Cabinet Finished. The legs are my shop legs with wheels on them. The legs will be black chrome like the rest of the trim. I also have a set of Metallic orange that match the inside trim but I will more than likely use the black chrome as I like the way it goes together.
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I'm glad you are enjoying it. It's been a fun one to do.

I divided the post lights between 3 GI strings. I added the lead wire to a GI socket. I used the Comet Matrix system which makes it easy to connect them all together.
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I like to completely wire the playfield before I put it in the Cabinet. That way I can run all the tests and fix any problems while its on the rotisserie and not in the cabinet.
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Its alive.
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Had to fix two connectors on the post lights but everything else is working well.
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Added two bright white flasher strips on the bottom of the cabinet. These are the same ones I used on Jurassic Park and I am very happy with them. Mounted with some custom designed brackets that I printed in Transparent orange.
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I put plugs on them so if I have to remove the playfield at a later time, it will be easier.
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I attached the wire spools to the machine connector and I just set them to the side. Once I put the playfield in, I will run the rest of the wire to the playfield flashers.
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I just love it when you open a new product and something is broke. Bought new CPR plastics and made the mistake of not opening them until now. There was no damage to the box so I had no reason to believe that anything was wrong. The area that broke is around a mounting screw cutout and there is just not that much plastic there so it is a weak point. I am sure that just moving around in the box just snapped it off. Nobody's fault and I am sure CPR will send me a new one. I just should have looked when I got it.
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The good news is that with this machine being home use only, The original corner plastics were darn near perfect so I used the original. I got lucky on that one.

Playfield is now complete and ready to install into the cabinet. I leave the side plastics off because it is easier to handle while putting the playfield in.
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I apologize for not having this thread updated. A lot has been happening on my end and I will try and get an update done in the next few days. The machine is done but I haven’t had time to update the thread.

TPF was a blast. It was great to hang out and help out.

Sorry for the delay in getting this updated. Going through some medical issues in the family and spending time with my dad during the day and staying up until 3am for the two weeks before TPF trying to get this done in time and just didn't have time to document.

The last thing on the playfield was the apron. The paint on the apron had a few scratches in it. Other than that, it is in really nice shape.
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I scanned the painted areas and cut vinyl.
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I didn't get any finished pictures during the restore but here are the ones after the show. Barry signed it at the show.
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The last thing was the topper. I always like to add a little something to my machines that is unique. I had a few ideas but there is a fine line between adding something to a machine that looks good and functions well and something that is too much and looks like it doesn't belong. I settled on a topper that I thought would look good and my hope was to make it interactive with the game. I started this topper on Tuesday evening. I was starting with a blank slate and not really sure if I would be able to finish it in time since I was designing it as I went.

I have a Harley Davidson. About 9 years ago I put new Vance and Hines pipes on it. The two exhaust shields had a very minor blemish in them that probably only I would ever notice but I called them about it and they sent me two new ones and told me to keep the originals. They sat in a box for 9 years until Tuesday night. I got them out and I thought they would look perfect on top of the machine. I do not have any pictures of the build process. I built a mount for the pipes and then put two orange flashers in each pipe. One flasher in each pipe is hooked to the left spinner and the other flasher in each pipe is hooked to the right spinner.

Here are the pictures of the finished pipes.
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Flashers
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Here is a short video of a spinner hit. It wasn't a great hit but you see the effect. Its cool because the frequency of the flash is related to the speed of the spinner so as the spinner slows down the flashes do too. Kinda like letting off the throttle.

So the machine is finished. Here are a few pictures of the machine.

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New custom manufacture date decal and patent numbers.
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I put custom Harley Davidson vinyl on the bottom of the playfield and on the speaker magnet.
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Mirror blade protection removed.
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Many thanks to everyone that had comments on the game at TPF. I enjoy talking pinball with all of you. I was fortunate enough to win 1st place in the 90's category and they announced that the Grand champion was between myself and Kevin Moores TOTAN. Congrats to Kevin on a beautiful machine and I was honored to be mentioned along side him. Awesome show and see you guys next year.
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On to the next one....