Well, I was keeping track of my progress offline, but I figured if I posted it on here, it may help someone someday. So here you go, my long-term BSD project!

I think I can sum up the condition of the table in one picture (Not my fix, it came this way):

BSD Twisty Tie

Thanks! You are right, I'm pretty lucky, most of the parts seem be here to my knowledge. Not functional, but here none the less.

If you like that mod, check out this little number. Someone had to drill holes in the cab for this gem to fit.

Start Button?

Okay first this is first, with all the weirdness going on with this table I couldn't get a fix on what is a mechanical issue and what is a CPU issue. Both the CPU and Power Driver boards were sent out to Coin-Op Cauldron (http://webpages.charter.net/coinopcauldron/Index.html). Clive is very responsive and provides fantastic service. All my boards will be sent to Clive at one point or another.

Here were a few good reasons to send the boards in. It looked like there was some battery acid damage on the CPU board. The J-120 was fried so only half the GI was working. Once I got the boards back from Clive, all the lights worked. Time to start troubleshooting before I tear this thing down!

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Beginning the troubleshooting:

Problem: Not recognizing drained balls.

Solution: Ball popper was causing balls to not rest properly on the trough switches. After cleaning and readjusting, balls drain properly.

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Problem: Mist Ball not working. The magnet seems to not detect or grab the ball.

Solution: All the long and short optos tested okay. After tearing the game apart, I found one of the wires badly fraid very close to the shielding. Instead of fixing the harness and chancing a break elseware from the 20 year old cable attached to moving powered maget, I just went ahead and ordered a new one from marcos. (www.marcospecilties.com)

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Problem: The playfield slide assembly appears to have never been attached properly. It’s been wearing away at the interior wooden rails for years. The brackets also appear to be bent and missing springs.

Solution: Replace the interior wooden rails when the cab restore begins and purchase new playfield slide assemblies from Pinball Life. http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=3163

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(Not much “restoring” going on yet, it’s mostly building an inventory of replacement parts)

Problem: The flap on the entry ramp is broken.

Solution: Bought a flap kit from PinBits. http://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9&products_id=460

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Not as bad as you would think. As soon as I get to the tear down I'll throw some "before" pics up.

Problem: The game will drain the ball when it’s in play.

Solution: First I checked the trough switches, they seem to be okay. Now to trace the switch wires down the harness to check or broken/pinched wires. Sure enough several wires have been frayed. They are not bad enough to re-run the wire, I’ll just unsolder one end and throw some heat shrink on them when I tear the game apart.

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Problem: Under the playfield I found a classic little repair called...... the zip tie fix. Yes, it looks like the posts broke off this bracket and instead of replacing it, someone said "Meh, lets just throw a zip tie on it. Sure, the coil stop sits at 45 degree angle, but who cares! No one will ever know " Okay, so maybe it didn't play out that dramatically but you get the idea.

Solution: Replace the bracket and coil stop.

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Problem: The cabinet is becoming separated in at least one corner.

Solution: once I get the playfield out I'll take the brackets off the, separate the corner a little more, squirt some tight bond in the crack, then vice it or use ratchet straps with wood blocks to squeeze it together. We will get there soon enough.

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Well, I think the initial round of trouble shooting is over. Initial being the keyword.

I'm checking out the cabinet to see how much work its going to require and surprisingly the side art has no fade and looks pretty good. The back box on the other hand is not so pretty. I'm thinking about just filling the lock bar holes and doing some touch ups on the cab and then stripping the back box, bondo, sand, repaint, and install decals. But, I'm not quite sure yet. What do you guys think?

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So, like clockwork, the day of the tear down both my Ultrasonic Cleaner and my rotisserie broke. The ultrasonic was just a cheap on from Harbor Freight but I expected it to last a little longer than it did. These almost always fail due to the seal around the electronics failing and soaking the interior in liquid. (Picture below was taken to look at the seal). Solution for that is simply to buy a new one.

The Rotisserie on the other hand, I did not expect to fail as it did. One of the wooden blocks split after only a few months use. I’m predrilling and clamping before I screw to ensure the wood does not split further apart. I obviously need to make/get a replacement piece but I’m hoping this fix will last me to the end of this thread.

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I've never seen a counter on a domestic game before but this one sure has it. I don’t know how accurate this is or when it was installed, but at the time of this restoration it has 30,480 plays.

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Okay, let’s walk through the typical process here as I tear down the top of the playfield.

1. Everything stripped off the playfield gets put into individual ziplock bags.

2. Screened plastics are hand cleaned with Simple Green.

3. Everything else gets thrown into the Ultrasonic cleaner that contains half Simple Green, half distilled water, and a little bit of Dawn dish soap.

4. All parts are rinsed and dried.

5. Metal parts get thrown into the tumbler with Flitz metal polish.

That is basically the entire process for most top playfield pieces. Some require a little more hand work than others like the ball guides, but I will get into that later. I’m attaching a few pics of the tear down process but I certainly will not bore you with all of them. If anyone does need specific tear down picture for their BSD, please let me know and I would be more than happy to provide them.

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Yeah, I was surprised as well. The whole playfield looks fairly good. I think I'll still throw a cliffy on the Rat Hole though. I won't be doing a playfield swap this run but eventually I'll swap it out with a clear coated one.

Well, the top of the playfield is stripped and wiped down with simple green. I spent a good amount of time cleaning parts today with the steps mentioned above. However, I also attempted to polish the ball guides out to a mirror finish. My first attempt is shown below. It looks like I didn't spend enough time on it with the scotch brute pads since I can still see some grain and light scratching. Its also slightly hazy but not bad for the first attempt. The left side is just cleaned but mostly a before picture where as the right side is the current after. I think I'll keep testing out a few things and once I have it looking good I'll post the steps I took.
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Well this doesn't look right now does it?

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Neither does this..

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Well, the tumbler has been going non-stop all week. Every batch stays in for about 48 hours with 3-6 rings of Flitz in Walnut media. I'm considering buying a second Tumbler to speed this process up. So far so good.

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Just because I do things a certain way certainly does not mean its the easiest or "best" way to do them. After all, I'm no Bryan Kelly. Here is a perfect example. When I'm tumbling small screws, I always end up with some media dust in the tight spots. So, I end up cleaning them up by hand after I use a pick to get the grit out, by hand.....

I've often thought of just throwing them back in the ultra sonic cleaner like others do. However, I always end up drying them by hand after the ultra sonic cleaner anyway because if I don't they will dry with simple green white residue on them. I've also blown them off with the air compressor but often have the same issue with residue since the compressor will blow some slightly moist air on the hardware anyway. I'm at the point now where I'm admitting there must be a better way. This simply just takes too much time.

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The cabinet is also getting completely torn down. The parts will be cleaned in the same manner as the top play field parts documented above.
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The cabinet is now totally stripped. Typically the interior wood rails would not be removed when I work on cabs but in this case they were so badly damaged they are going to be replaced instead of touched up.

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Hey Jay! I'm an open book when it comes to prices. I'm not into pinball to make money. What I love about the hobby is taking a machine that is beat up and making it look as nice as possible for others (and myself) to enjoy for years to come. This one was $600. The gentleman I bought it from told me I was "basically getting it for free". He knew it was worth more but he also realized it needed a good home and some TLC.

The playfield is now almost totally stripped, wiped down with Simple Green sprayed onto a mircofiber cloth, and the mylar has been removed. Spot cleaning will be the next work done on the play field to touch up some rough spots.

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Thanks Indy, much appreciated. Are you using the decals because of the red fade? I've had a hard time letting myself use decals on this one only because I've so rarely seen cabs without fade. I'm going to try my best to use the original art work.

Side rails have been removed with no damage. All I use is a metal putty knife, heat gun, and painters tape. I'll apply painters tape as close to the side rail as possible, then heat the metal with the heat gun on a very low setting. Next, I slide the putty knife straight up until I feel it touch the top of the rail then pry against the old adhesive. Works like a charm.

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Oh wow, that sounds pretty cool. Do you have a pic of the alternative background art?

Haha yes, in fact I may purchase a whole new head and restore this head for another machine down the line. That has yet to be determined. This head is rough!

Hey Sky, you are correct. Until Rick decides to reproduce these, no one else will be allowed to (in an official capacity). Luckily, some very gracious people are more resourceful than others and are willing to help those of us that do not have the ability to print quality decals.

Agreed! I was thrilled. It gives me enough room to put the cash in it needs.