Well, it's finally starting to resemble a pinball table again. I polished all the ball guides out to a mirror finish and reinstalled most of them. The new cabinet and head should hopefully be arriving this week from VirtuaPin.
(Topic ID: 102576)
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Bram Stoker's Dracula
Williams, 1993
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Quoted from RGAires:Waiting to see it...
I'm going to make a serious effort to get some documentation done tonight, sorry it takes so long. I need a real camera, this cell phone does not provide any sort of detail in the pictures. I'll also get some shots of upcoming projects as well.
Shot from the flippers, a decent picture of the clearcoat.
Shot of the right outlane, all the ball guides were polished to a mirror finish.
Shot of the coffin ramp (not installed yet)
Shot of the right outlane again, I had these chromed. I also decided to go with the Titan Pinball translucent rubbers throughout.
Shot of the left outlane, wireforms are chromed. I also decided to go with purple Titan Pinball post sleeves for the lower area and red for the upper.
Shot of the upper left drop target area, new set of plastics installed throughout the playfield. This particular plastic needed riveting done.
Orleans, ON
Now all you need is one of these 
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-fs-bally-williams-warning-stickers
Not only do I have all the warning stickers but mine also have my original serial number in all the appropriate places, BSD coin decal, and my name as the restorer. However, I'll eventually order yours for some other projects when I just need to replace individuals decals instead of every single one. I really like keeping the original serial numbers on my new decals, I think the history of the machine is important to maintain.
Edit: Ignore the backbox patent sticker, those will be silkscreened on the new cab.
Next on my immediate to do list:
Receive and inspect new cabinet this week (hopefully)
Receive and install new coffin ramp
Restore transformer
Restore playfield backboard
Restore coffin
Decide what and where to mylar
Decide what to do about my ramp situation (to be discussed in a future post)
Order target decals
Nowra
Fantastic thread. I now have a much greater appreciation for these threads having just finished a Williams IJ. Didn't go as far as you but next time..... Who's knows. Thanks for taking the time to post. I know what it's like as I did the same thing on our AA site here in Australia. I was pretty happy with the results. Sorry for the hijack. Now get back to work.
Quoted from jokerpoker:Fantastic thread. I now have a much greater appreciation for these threads having just finished a Williams IJ. Didn't go as far as you but next time..... Who's knows. Thanks for taking the time to post. I know what it's like as I did the same thing on our AA site here in Australia. I was pretty happy with the results. Sorry for the hijack. Now get back to work.
No such thing as hijacking this thread, I enjoy seeing other peoples work! That IJ looks pretty sweet. Next time you do some work, put it in a restoration thread. Not only does it help other people, but also it's helped me stay organized. Sometimes I refer back to older posts so I can remember how I actually did something. Looking forward to seeing your restoration thread in the future!
Highland, IN
Quoted from aobrien5:Probably no more than the ball drop above Video and out of the rat hole. Maybe the inlanes.
What about around the pops?
I could custom paint the village and graveyard plastics for you. I have done a few sets for HEP and he was very pleased with the results. A bargain at 50 bucks, and a real nice upgrade from that hokey paint job from the manufacturer back in the day.
Quoted from modfather:I could custom paint the village and graveyard plastics for you. I have done a few sets for HEP and he was very pleased with the results. A bargain at 50 bucks, and a real nice upgrade from that hokey paint job from the manufacturer back in the day.
I appreciate the offer! I had them painted already by a fellow pinsider Mcclad;
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bsd-documenting-for-fun/page/2#post-1931232
I know you do good work and I look forward to buying some mods off you in the future! I was considering having the Dracula coffin custom painted. How do you think that would look? Any potential? I figured you would be the guy to ask (I'm not the most creative guy).
Quoted from aobrien5:Whoops. Yeah, that too.
Obrien, do you think just around the pops is good enough for that area or should the whole pop pit be mylared?
Quoted from Glarrownage:Obrien, do you think just around the pops is good enough for that area or should the whole pop pit be mylared?
The whole pit was mylared from the factory (at least on mine). Kind of a biohazard looking shape.
Quoted from aobrien5:The whole pit was mylared from the factory (at least on mine). Kind of a biohazard looking shape.
Yeah so was mine, I was hoping I didn't have to recut that whole thing out of mylar. I didn't know if it was necessary, but since there is a ball drop in the center, makes me wonder if I should.
Quoted from Toasterdog:Looks fantastic! I personally wouldn't Mylar since it is clearcoated.
Thanks! Yeah, I really don't want to use Mylar on the clear but it seems to be the popular opinion on Pinside that it's needed...
Quoted from Glarrownage:Thanks! Yeah, I really don't want to use Mylar on the clear but it seems to be the popular opinion on Pinside that it's needed...
If it was on route I would say do it, but depending on how much play your games get its not needed with the relatively low plays home games usually get.
Quoted from Glarrownage:Yeah so was mine, I was hoping I didn't have to recut that whole thing out of mylar. I didn't know if it was necessary, but since there is a ball drop in the center, makes me wonder if I should.
You should be able to use standard half circles and just cut the center piece?
Quoted from Squeakman:I agree with Toasterdog, shouldn't need the mylar with clearcoat.
Quoted from Squeakman:If it was on route I would say do it, but depending on how much play your games get its not needed with the relatively low plays home games usually get.
Well, that makes me a little more comfortable with the idea of not slopping it up with mylar. On another note, I wish there were Mantis Protectors for the Rat Hole.
Quoted from aobrien5:You should be able to use standard half circles and just cut the center piece?
There is a good compromise. I have the whole circles that I can just cut in half to install.
Quoted from Glarrownage:Well, that makes me a little more comfortable with the idea of not slopping it up with mylar. On another note, I wish there were Mantis Protectors for the Rat Hole.
You can get a cliffy.
I have seen the work of Art that Jess is doing and I am blown away by his attention to detail. He is really putting a lot into this machine and everything on it will be perfect. Keep up the great work Jess!!!!
Quoted from aobrien5:You can get a cliffy.
http://www.passionforpinball.com/bsd.htm
Yeah, I'll pick one up. I just prefer Mantis since they can not be seen.
Quoted from Jesterfunhouse:I have seen the work of Art that Jess is doing and I am blown away by his attention to detail. He is really putting a lot into this machine and everything on it will be perfect. Keep up the great work Jess!!!!
Thanks Steve, that means a lot! I'm a little OCD about these restorations, I guess that's why its taken almost a year to get to this point. I think the most difficult thing about the whole process is allowing myself to say "Yeah this part looks good, I can move on". I try to remind myself that not everything can be perfect.
I'll post some pics a little later of my next project I'll be doing the same style restoration to. *Hint* They just announced ColorDMD support.
Next project is The Shadow! This game will get the same treatment as BSD. I've already done a lot of the prep work so this one won't take me a year to finish. If anyone has found this thread helpful, then I will consider doing a whole new thread for The Shadow.
Nice hole in the Sanctum
I have a mix of chrome, brass, and black nickel plating already done.
Also picked up the alternate translite/speaker panel thanks to fellow pinsider and creative genius Aurich.
The perfect Friday night, just drinking coffee and working on my restorations. So, I've been trying to decide what to do about these ramps. First, a little back story; these ramps were announced to be reproduced this year (at least the big one). I've been waiting for that to happen but its been far to quiet. I realize this may be the one piece on this table I won't be able to make look like new. Another note, the decals are also not reproduced, it's an unfortunate predicament.
I wanted to stretch this out long enough to find a NOS or a reproduction but I'm at the point where that isn't going to happen in time. So I can either strip off all the decals, flame polish, install new ramp flaps, re-install the decals, attempt to repair the cracks as best and risk damaging the ramp/decals further I can OR I can clean it, change the ramp flaps, and continue looking for an NOS ramp or reproduction and accept my current ramps not looking as fresh as the rest of the table. I'm concerned if I do the latter the ramps will bring down the quality of my entire restore (at least until I can replace them). On the other hand it would look much worse if I screw up the plastic repairs, decals, or flame polishing.
What do you guys think? I'm alway happy to hear any input!
The decals on the ramps should come off w/o any risk of damage. Heat with a hot air gun from one side and peel up from the other. Just work slowly and you'll be fine. Clean up all of the old glue and use some 3M 467MP to reapply.
For patching up the cracks I would recommend the Plastex Repair Kit, Bondic and/or there's a crystal clear epoxy (I forget the brand at the moment, but can get it if you need it). Which one you use kind of depends on the situation, but with a little effort you can get fairly invisible repairs. Get a scrap broken ramp and practice the technique before using on the good ramps.
Nice work on the restore!!!
Beautiful work! That is going to be one sweet BSD. I would not go to the trouble of removing the ramp decals unless I was putting them back onto new ramps. I would go with your other idea of just cleaning and putting new ramp flaps. Then just wait it out until repros become available.
Thanks to fellow pinsider jasonpaulbauer, I received my new Coffin ramp today. Great quality, very clear, and all the holes are drilled perfectly. I've included a picture of his business card as well.
Old ramp on the left, new ramp on the right:
jasonpaulbauer's business card (Sorry its sideways, when I use the rotate feature it makes the pic really small):
New Coffin Ramp installed with a new ramp flap. It needs some slight adjusting left to right. The flap rubs a little bit against the left ball guide. I'm going to try to add an additional washer to see if that helps at all (fingers crossed). I have a similar issue with the entry ramp.
Well, its Friday night again and its time to start cracking. I got held up this week because of a couple of screws breaking off in the hex spacers for the coffin. I'm starting to think that I should just replace mostly all the screws during a restoration instead of tumbling old ones. I've broken more off during this restoration than I have working on any other pin ever. Maybe it was due to environmental conditions this particular pin sat in for 20 years, who knows. Either way, I just received an order of more hardware from Pinballlife.com so I'm set to go.
(Pics Incoming)
1 week later
Thanks for creating this thread and posting so much info and pics! Your restoration is very nice!!!
I just picked up a REALLY DIRTY craigslist BSD...aka "The Money Pit". Had no top glass for who knows how long. Not sure what I will do, probably just a shop job, a restoration may be a bit too much for me right now.
This is only my 2nd game, I shopped a WH20 I picked up at a yard sale, all the ramps were melted since it was out in the sun, (ty Troz for your ramp Donations) so I am still new at this.
Anyone know why a pin would have wooden rails on the bottom of the cab? What a surprise I found when I tried to turn off the pin when I picked it up and couldn't...
Looks like it came from Canada based on the money I found inside. Everything is super dirty, back box, boards, inside cab, wiring, Cabinet will need some TLC, surprisingly one side isn't faded.. Was fun putting the head down as it was missing the bolt on the right side, also had to drill the lock. Batteries had some corrosion so I'll have to do a deep board cleaning regardless.
I've started the teardown, stripped a lot off the playfield putting everything in little baggies and labeling what connectors went to what. I tried to remove most of the surface dirt. I'll post after clean-up pics on next post.
I am very interested in how your Chroming went an how much it cost. Being in Cali I am sure I'll have to ship out of state due to regulations. The cleaning has begun though, it is a start.. going to try an get the rust off all the ramps first to see how bad they really are then I'll see about Chroming. So far only visible broken plastic is over the center targets.
Never seen that before. My only guess is it was moved around a lot and the op did that to make it easier to slide in and out of a truck? Anyway, you've got your work cut out for you with that one but I'm sure it will turn out nice.
9 months later
Hey Guys, I'm really sorry about the long delay. I had some health issues including a torn bicep and surgery. I was pretty much unable to do anything related to the hobby until recently. I'm going to start catching up on PMs and respond to any questions I left unanswered. If you guys have any questions please feel free to ask, I should be back in full swing now. Let the restoration continue!
3 weeks later
Quoted from mollyspub:Just found this thread. Looking forward to the progress !
Thanks! Things will pick up here soon. I just got fully cleared to use my arm again, finally!
Okay, finally some progress. I'm focusing on the cabinet while hoping that if I delay finishing the playfield long enough, a NOS ramp or a remake will magically become available. By the way, if anyone has a NOS available, I'm obviously interested 
.
So, starting with the backbox I cleaned, tumbled, and in some cases plated all the metal brackets. I used a metallic colored rattle can to repaint the grate by the knocker and the metal back plate. All the stickers have been replaced as well as new cable clamp holders.
1 month later
Well, the restoration is basically done! Now for dialing the game in, tweaking a few things, and doing some lighting mods. I've decided that, when available, I'll just swap my ramps out for new better ones, hopefully NOS. But in the mean time I really just want to play it as is. So my current to do list is as follows:
Order Harness loom, shorter transformer screws ½ inch, and PDI glass
Print custom apron cards
Install Love Never Dies backbox mod
Adjust lockdown bar reciever
Adjust left inlane switch
Install mylar after shooter ramp and under coffin ramp
Fix slow drop target
Solder broken trough harness wires
Solder broken lamp harness wire
Tighten and adjust left flipper
Replace LED in "D" insert
Replace LED in "?" insert with color changer
Take before and after pics of areas I documented earlier in the thread
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20160905_011040 (resized).jpg
20160905_010930 (resized).jpg
Quoted from aobrien5:Looks great, congrats!
Thanks man, you have been a lot of help throughout the process on here and the BSD club thread. Thanks again!
Quoted from mollyspub:Now all that's left is for you to sell it to me!
Hah, man I dread selling this thing. Whenever that day comes I'll be taking a huge loss but thats okay, I love the process and knowing that it will be enjoyed for years to come. I see you have Congo on your wish list, thats a machine I have an eye on for my next restoration project.
Quoted from mollyspub:All kidding aside... Let me know if you do ever sell this or your future Congo project!
I will for sure! Thanks for following the thread and posting, it certainly makes the documentation of these restorations worth while.
2 months later
Newest mod now available for you.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/colordmd-game-50-love-never-dies
Quoted from Glarrownage:I will for sure! Thanks for following the thread and posting, it certainly makes the documentation of these restorations worth while.
I have enjoyed this thread immensely. Thanks again for the effort to document the process.
I think we are all still waiting for new ramps. Rick is a little slow on this...a lot slow really. He would make a fortune as it's always the big ramp that is broken. Oh well.
Again fantastic job. If I wasn't so far away I'd invite myself over for a beer and a chin wag. 
Cheers Scott
Quoted from PinballManiac40:Newest mod now available for you.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/colordmd-game-50-love-never-dies
Thanks! I just got my clear speaker panel for it. Now I just need to wait to receive the Color DMD. I noticed that the repro speaker panel has purple instead of red for some of the blood. I may try to find an alternate artwork speaker panel that matches my cabinet art instead.
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