Reading through multiple threads, I figured I'd go a bit more "Generic DE" than game-specific since what might work for your DE Batman, Star Wars, Royal Rumble, or TMNT may apply here as well.
I was just lucky enough to purchase a piece of my childhood in a DE Simpsons. It wasn't played over the past decade and the dirt shows. However, it got a full in/out vacuum & dry paint brush job this week, and I have over $100 in replacement drop targets, plastics, and rubbers showing up in the mail today. This thing is getting a full playfield dissassembly, cleaning, and reassembly. However, I wanted to run throw some questions out there to the forum based on Data East playfields in general, and some specific Simpsons questions to those DE Simpsons owners.
1) There is a center drain save post between the two flippers. The threading visually isn't great on the post, and doesn't screw all the way in which concerns me. I don't want to over-torque it and cause damage. I know it's the threads on the post because I tried a brand new 10-32 bolt and got it to thread the entire length of the playfield post (see pics).
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I'd like to seek out a new post, but I can't even find an item number, let alone a description. I thought this maybe was a modification by the original owner... as the manual doesn't show it in the playfield parts list. However, it DOES have a rubber listed on the rubbers page. So only half of this post/rubber assembly is referenced in the manual.
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I haven't had the time to go through every Data East game ever made, but I did see on IPDB that their DE Batman photos show a post. I imagine this is the same part, but their manual doesn't show it either! Anyone know what the deal is here?
2) I've read countless threads on cleaning. Even in the pictures of the area around the post above, you can see the mylar line going across Bart, and how everything on the mylar is very dirty. I just rubbed the eye on the left (Bart's right eye) and you can see that alone made it look better than the other eye. This dirt is a constant throughout the playfield. After tons of research on this forum, here's my gameplan. Please let me know if you'd do anything different (in case a mylar'ed DE is different than some other pins with or without mylar).
- Playfield gets an initial cleaning of 91% Isopropyl & Magic eraser
- Playfield gets a 2nd cleaning of Novus 2
- Playfield gets a waxing of Mothers Caranuba (It's liquid, but the tubs of Mothers Brazilian paste contained the word cleaner which makes me think it has an abrasive)
- Plastics get a dedicated plastic cleaner (either Novus 1 or something I find at the automotive store for headlight renewal?)
3) There isn't a whole ton of playfield wear thanks to the mylar, but the common areas where the mylar ends and there's high traffic, it shows obvious signs (Shooting Lane up past Moe, waterfall/spinner, drops out of wireform, around VUK holes, outlanes). The wear at Moe is noticeable, but the rest you really have to be looking at it to notice. Without buying an entire playfield rotisserie and airbrush kit, are there any paints I can mix colors and use by hand to touch up without having it warp the wood underneath and also not add bumps/thickness to that area? Moe's wear goes all the way up to the donuts entry.
Waterfall & Moe
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Left VUK wear
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Wear at ramp exit
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Wow, my first few posts on this forum have been beasts! Sorry for that, but I'm like a kid in a candy store right now with my first pin, and want this thing to be as great as possible. I'll be performing the disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly this weekend because I have new rubbers and plastics coming in the mail, so any help is greatly appreciated so I can do this all at once!
Myrtle Beach, SC
