I got a Funhouse in bad need of new cabinet decals and never did this before. The videos and web forums mostly talk about stripping down the entire machine and pulling everything out of the cabinet, they laying it on its side. I don't trust my skills enough to strip out all the parts and then remember how they all go back together. Or, maybe I'm just lazy. In either case, I'm sure others have applied decals on a standing pinball machine like this and I just wanted to confirm in photos - Yes, You Can! I just wish I had a 3rd arm for some parts of the install, but my forehead, knee, and elbow helped in that regard.

Step 1) put on saw horse with legs off, remove all side hardware (its just a few bolts).
Step 2) use wood filler and sand.
Step 3) apply Sherwin Williams gloss primer tinted to the blue decal color.
Step 4) measure, center, mark, and cut the decal enough to handle and position correctly.
Step 5) clamp decal to position and also use some masking tape to hold in place.
Step 6) make a "hinge" with tape down the center, lift one side of decal.
Step 7) peel off release liner from lifted side, cut off liner, hold breath and pray.
Stepspray cabinet area with slightly diluted Windex, rub all over the wood.
Stepsmooth down gently with clean paint roller, then squeegee out excess Windex.
Step 9) let dry for 2-3 days, trim edges and holes with Exacto blade.
Step 10) re-install cabinet side hardware and bolts. Best to use standoff leg protectors from Pinball Life.

Pics enclosed. I would like to note that the new cabinet decals from Phoenix Arcade are SUPERB and well worth the money! They have very high quality, high durability, and are way better than the original cabinet art. I enclosed a before and after close-up so you can see just how much better the new ones are than the original. I'm extremely pleased with how this turned out and would do it to my other machines if they needed it.

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More pictures showing the installation.

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More pictures showing the other side (hard to photograph doing it since I'm working alone).

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Just look at the original artwork quality vs. the new decal quality. I'm in the graphic arts industry and was really shocked how bad the original art looked. The new ones look as it was originally intended to be. Nice!

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The backbox brackets were removed after first putting both bolts (left and right side) into the bottom of the backbox where it secures it to the cabinet. So the back box was fully secured and the hinges take only a few minutes to remove. I also repainted the hinges once removed. More difficult is the bolt on each side holding in the playfield hinge. For this, I did one side at a time with the playfield in the full upward position and put a wood block under the playfield on the side where the hinge bolt was temporarily removed.

I did a game this way also and removed backbox hindges put a couple of small blocks under backbox and used longer bolts to secure it . I did one side of cabinet wet and didn't like how the decal want to move so i did other side dry, if i do another i would install them dry

I think wet or dry is really debatable and optional. I did the backbox decals dry, no problem. Before doing the wet application on the cabinet, I used scraps of decal material to test wet vs. dry. After applying and letting sit for 3 days, I tried removing the scraps. I found no difference in adhesion. Wet in theory allows you to peel off and re-apply the decal but you really cannot "float" it. For the front decal I did dry and really, really wish I'd done it wet. Reason being the big hole in the middle where the coin door goes can cause stretching and distortion of the decal when applying it. (before and after pics below)

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I agree to keep original when ever possible, unless original is so beat up that it looks like crap. That's how mine was. You can see the cabinet front before & after in one of my newest posts. I don't like reproduction art unless it comes from the original files. From what I can tell, the Phoenix Arcade graphics are official Williams licensed reproductions from the original art files and look great.

Its about $300 and 8 hours labor.

Is it possible to get rid of the orange peel effect if you were to strip it down and bondo the cabinet?

The orange peel was most likely the texture of the primer paint under the decal, as I applied the primer with a paint roller. Probably a smoother roller and/or better primer would help with this. However it does not bother me. Many original cabinets with glossy surfaces show textures. For example, here is my Bride of Pinbot and Scared stiff. If you look at the gray color, you can see pronounced striation waves in the texture. So even original cabs have texture. This is really only something you see from 3" away with a super bright light highlighting the gloss.

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It is his game and he is proud of it ! Goddamn it ,it is his first decal job and he did pretty good in my eyes, perfect no . He will get better and better because he had the balls to do this one and the next one will be better and so on .
Pinside is full of opinions and not enough know how !
Thanks for sharing Calico ! When you go to sell, if you ever do, don't call it a high end restoration and you will be fine !

Thanks. I'm no expert. Never even played pinball until 12 months ago. Its certainly not a high end restoration. The playfield and plastics would never qualify for that. It's just a basic restoration; a good looking players pin. I highly respect the high-end restorations and they are worth EVERY penny in terms of attention to detail and labor of love. I could never do that quality of work.

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