Hey all! I usually don't document my restorations, but I always enjoy reading threads by other people, and boy do I have a craptastic example to share. I airbrushed my first playfield last year after being completely inspired by Vid's Playfield Restoration Guide, and felt really great about the result (I'll throw a pic in). I did use some decals for the inserts on that playfield, but have challenged myself this time to do it without (the only exception being waterslide decals for the gradient - for which I can't think of any other way to reproduce).

First off - I acquired this bad boy last October or November. I'd been on the lookout for a Diner to go with my bottom up Taxi restoration that I'd completed earlier in the year. I really enjoy ground up restorations, and saving what otherwise should probably be parted out, or pitched in the trash ... Anyways, a friend of mine texted me about a Diner that popped up on Facebook marketplace, I couldn't believe it when he said it was a complete project, but the guy was selling it for $350. Since this was a title on a very short list of pins I was looking for at the time (the only other being NBAFB), I was suuuuuper stoked! My friend texted me back in a matter of minutes, and informed me that it had actually sold the day before

After pretty much kicking myself for the rest of the day for not noticing this thing when it popped up, I came up with pretty much the only plan I could, which was reaching out to the local collector list, and pretty much suggesting if it was too much of a project for whoever bought it, that I'd buy it off of them plus (can't remember if it was $50 or $100 bucks). To my surprise, the guy that sold it responded and told me that I was probably in luck, as the guy that bought it had never owned a pin before, and had contacted another guy in town about restoring it, who promptly told him to sell it and buy another pin. I ended up getting in touch with the guy (who had yet to even pick it up) sent him a PayPal, plus a few extra bucks, and became the owner of the absolute worst Diner I've ever even heard of. This thing would likely have probably been in better shape had it actually been on fire.

The seller had told me that it came from an insurance recovery something or other, that was trying to salvage it or something. Looks like it was in a mudslide. I did wear a heavy duty respirator, gloves, etc. when initially cleaning it. Anyway, enjoy!

Here are a few of the pics from the ad - hold onto your hats, the pics aren't half as bad as the real deal.

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Here are a few pics I took while stripping the playfield. The first pic is after I "cleaned it up a little" - the grime was almost completely soaked into the wood

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I was encouraged by how well (comparatively) the mylar had protected the artwork underneath it, but unfortunately when I removed it - carefully using the freeze method, some artwork pulled up with it. I also realized that pretty much every single insert was broken. I wanted this to be mostly without regrets, so I ended up replacing most of them, any that weren't replaced, I ended up sanding them so I wouldn't end up with crappy flaking clear under my final clear coat.

Speaking of regrets - I tried sanding the wood parts of the playfield to see if I could chip away at some of the grime - could only do so much, so I'm gonna have to paint those areas eventually. When I originally got the playfield, I screwed around with it a bit to see how well I'd be able to cover some of the filthiest spots - knowing it would probably eventually cause me more work in the end. The grime continued to soak right through the paint, so I just decided to wait until I could have my buddy put a base clear coat on the playfield.

I'm gonna fast forward just a bit, because probably 8 months had passed between then and now. About a month ago, I finally had the base clear applied, and started working on it. The 2nd pic is what I started with after the base coat was applied.

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I started with the inserts. I'm using a Silhouette Cameo 3, and Inkscape, and an HP 4670 to try and recreate them, which is a totally new thing for me. Was a little difficult at first, but eventually figured out the best practices etc.

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One insert that I'm pretty proud of, is this guy - I had to pretty much re create the entire thing, since I had sanded the insert, and the surrounding areas were pretty much destroyed. I'm gonna fix the red, and apply the gradient after I have my buddy lock it in with another coat of clear (and after I learn how to do a gradient in Inkscape). Never mind the insert in the lower left corner - the colors are totally whacked, I was just trying to see how the mask I created would turn out.

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I'm gonna fast forward to now, and try to post an update once a week or so. I'm shooting to send this back to my friend to put another coat of clear on it to seal everything in. Here's my progress as of last night. One thing I realize as I go, is that I should have just replaced the inserts with Babs and Pepe, but oh well .. I'll deal with that later.

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Just a quick note - while I was waiting on the base coat to be finished, I ended up tracing Boris and Babs, and created 7 layer masks for Babs. I have a feeling doing that part will be an absolute nightmare. Also, will get out our very good camera to take better pics.

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Thanks for the support! It's definitely a ton of work, and looking back at the initial pics make me want to barf - was super gross! BTW, Here's pics of the Taxi I did last year that I'd mentioned in the initial post.

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Thanks for the offer. I will likely have to take you up on that! I panicked for a second and had to go back and check that I had the lift ramp as well - seems like they aren't easy to find.

Thanks! Ill definitely buy a set when i get a bit closer to that stage.

My buddy Joey hit it with another coat this weekend to seal everything in. Will get back to it when i snag it later this week.

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Spent the week spinning my wheels pretty hard, but not really getting anywhere. I decided to go ahead and take care of all of the red - there are definitely some areas of the playfield that have different shades of red (that are supposed to be the same) due to fading, or crud. I'll get into that later - what held me up all week once I got about half way through the red on the playfield, was something I was dreading more than most things - "DINER" in the middle of the playfield. Once the mylar removed, some of the paint had peeled off, and the colors were pretty faded.

The first challenge I had, was to try and fix the fact that if you held a light behind the inserts, the missing paint area would show through, even if you painted over it. The solution I ended up with was to carefully dab it with primer until it was about what I needed. I ended up sanding it even with the playfield, and as an end result, it was exactly what I was hoping for.

I scanned the logo, and recreated it in Inkscape. All I can say, is that I'm totally glad I have an infinite amount of screw ups - I screwed this thing up a countless amount of times. The third pic is after I applied the black layer, and the white layer to the "E" and "R". I went through about 3 or 4 stencils, before I could align the white (which I did by splitting the "DIN" and "ER" - no idea why, but was super frustrating) and ended up screwing up the red that I'd started with. The last pic is what I currently have, after redoing the red and white - needs to be touched up a bit, but fairly happy with the way it turned out.

I also spun my wheels quite a bit on the gradient. I have the perfect solution, just having a hard time applying the Waterslide decal - which I've done before, but am just not currently having any luck. Don't know if leaving the paper in my garage for months in the heat did it any favors, but might end up ordering some more. I'll update that later on in the day.

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There are more than a few things that have, and still do intimidate me about this project, thankfully most of the time the fact that it's an unknown that causes the most stress, and eventually it turns out to be no big deal. The remaining things that intimidate me the most about this project are the half tone gradients, the characters on the playfield, and eventually having to replace the bottom of the cabinet. I do have plans for tackling each of those things, it's just a matter of making them happen when it's time.

I specifically waited to have the playfield sprayed again before tackling the gradient. My first problem with this project was figuring out how to successfully create a halftone gradient, which was a huge pain in the butt for someone such as myself, who has very little experience using any of these programs. It took a bit, but like learning how to do what I need to do in Inkscape for this project, just took a bit of persistence. I printed the gradient out at Kinko's on wsd paper, and used a pattern I created in the software for my vinyl cutter to cut out the exact shapes I needed for the grill area. The pic below is the cutouts with the backing paper still on, laying over the areas they will eventually will cover.

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Since the last post, I've redone nearly all of the red on the pf, and most of the rest of the blue. At this point, I'm gonna hit it one color at a time, and I'm currently working through yellow. I'll put up pics this weekend of the entire pf, but here's an area of yellow that I've recently been working on. The last layer will be the halftone gradient moon shapes, after i have it shot with clear one more time.

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So I know I said I'd provide an entire PF pic, but I'm gonna wait until I finish a few more things and send it off again. I've done quite a bit since the last update, and am tackling one of the things that probably intimidates me the most. This part was a nightmare from start to finish (as I'm sure you can imagine) I started with a smaller section so I wouldn't have to spend all day removing vinyl squares from the surface if I screwed up. The funny part about tracing it was that no square is equal in this damned thing, so I manually sized each and every square on this entire section. Definitely needs a bit of cleanup, but I feel much better about tackling this section. Also, the vinyl although being low tack, is pretty strong, so will probably need to redo the red surrounding this area. Definitely easy to screw up sections that I've already done at this point, therefore need to have it hit quick with clear to seal everything in one last time before I finish the rest of the artwork. 20180902_141818 (resized).jpg20180902_143651 (resized).jpg

Thanks for the encouragement, and the perspective! I'm pretty much enjoying most parts of the process, and I think I can barely see a light at the end of the tunnel as well (which is a massive improvement). I'll see if I can muster up the energy to get my cabinet out tomorrow and take a pic of the aux board. I'll shoot you a PM with a pic as soon as I can get one.

It's been what seems like an eternity since my last update, but I've been a bit distracted, and have kinda been running out of steam.

The hardest parts on this so far were the b/w checkered area on the right, and the red checkered area in the middle. So far I've done the red in the middle, and will cover the white after I have it hit one more time with clear. I'm definitely going to be doing quite a bit with water-slide decals in areas such as the credits on the bottom white area, since the text is way too small to attempt with my vinyl cutter.

I'm still planning on covering some black areas, and taking care of the rest of the yellow around diner, but I'm somewhat encouraged that the light at the end of the tunnel seems a bit more defined at this point. Don't get me wrong - I'm totally enjoying the process, but might need to let it sit for a bit, while I maybe distract myself with work on the cabinet.

I still have the grueling task of recreating the characters in the middle, but other than that, the only thing I'm still not sure of, is how I'm gonna match the gray for the coins - I'm assuming I'll just end up redoing all of them.

Overall, I'm really happy with how all of the colors pop. I'll post another pic when it has been cleared again. Tomass I won't lie, I totally forgot to get those pics, but I'm gonna switch gears and take some time to work on the cabinet, and promise I'll get those for you in the process.

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Here's a pic of the playfield as it looks now, was taken right after it was sprayed, so still wet. Hopefully this is the last time before the final clear coat.

Still have to do the white checkered area below the characters, need to do the characters themselves, the money, as well as the black lines everywhere. Looking forward to finishing the playfield up in the next month or so.

Ive already cleaned and tumbled all of the hardware, washed the harness, and re sleeved all of the coils, so the cabinet will be the next big project after finishing everything up.

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Good question, i fully intend to. Ive got a pretty decent mix for it. Will probably leave that for last.

I just looked up your restoration thread. Hell of a nice job! I like the result of the wood color. The whole thing looks fantastic!

I'm finally getting back to restoring my Diner, as I've been a bit distracted restoring my Twilight Zone - https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twilight-zone-restoration-1

A few things have come up since I hit the pause button on this project. The playfield is pretty much almost done, but I couldn't resist when I saw a few bronze playfields being clearanced out on CPR's website, so I bought one, along with a CPR backglass (since it was discounted with the playfield purchase). I am going to finish the other playfield, and I'm pleased to say that so far it holds up (IMO) to the new screen printed version. The main issue with the bronze playfield is that the white is off on many of the inserts. I definitely believe they got it right by grading it as a bronze, but fortunately, it's all stuff that I can fix, and just have re cleared. One of the draws to going this route (besides the clearance price) was that they cut out the letters for DINER, and made them as custom letter inserts, rather than having the standard rectangle inserts that lit up everything around the letters.

I've already started working on what I'm going to do to fix the inserts for the new bronze playfield. I'm just going to fatten up the letters a bit, something that literally no one will notice (I think).

Another thing that I've come to terms with, is that the lower portion of the cabinet that I have is absolutely toast. I'll post some pics later, but the plywood is delaminating, and the bottom is totally toast. There's not really anything salvageable about it, so a friend and I are going to repro it. All in all, by the time this thing is done, It'll practically all be new (ramps, playfield, cabinet, backglass, plastics, etc.)

PS

I've also scanned the entire CPR playfield, which will help me out significantly in finishing the old playfield.

Thanks for checking in! Ive done about half of the patterns to fix the inserts, and have set up my rotisserie - so almost ready to get back to it. A week from this weekend, we are going to start recreating the cabinet.

Pretty much, I'm still recovering from my tz restore, not totally ready to get back to it, but almost there!

Hey all, finally posting an update!

So just to recap the story of my playfield - as you can see from the pics, I was almost done with bringing the original playfield back from the dead, when I was distracted by my TZ total restore that fell into my lap. Time went by, and CPR released their Diner playfields. I wasn't on the list for a playfield, but was absolutely lucky enough to notice the 3 "bronze" playfields they listed on their site that were being clearanced off. At the price they were going for, I couldn't resist, and ended up snagging one (along with a bundle discounted backglass). I agonized for about a day on it, but in the end, they got me with the awesome custom "Diner" inserts, and the fact that due to the fluorescent orange, they wouldn't be able to recreate it as well without screen printing it.

Now I have a true respect for the guys at CPR for even attempting this playfield. There were either 14 or 16 colors in total that had to be screened, and I'm sure that ended in more than a few playfields that weren't able to be graded as perfect. Even with the issues on mine, it's absolutely beautiful - That being said, I think if there was a grade below bronze (say ... aluminum) that may have been where mine landed (hence the clearance price). I'm definitely not complaining, and I'm super stoked to have even had the chance to grab one - especially at that price.

The main issues with this playfield were the initial white layers for insert text. Many, if not all of them weren't centered correctly with later layers. Other main issues were that the green didn't quite land in the right spots, and the blue on the left side of the playfield was off in most places. Also, the purple area on the upper left was splotchy, and not quite aligned correctly.

All in all, it's a billion times better than pretty much any playfield I've worked on, and it's been relatively easy since I've started. My goal is to get it at somewhere in the silver range. There are some white inserts that didn't quite hit right that I'm sure I could fix if I sanded through the clear (release and Lock), but I'm not going to worry about it.

I'm admittedly terrible at taking pictures, so I grabbed some screenshots of the playfield scans I took when I first received the playfield.

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I don't really have any great pics for the update, but here are a few. I've mostly been focusing on the colors that didn't quite land right, and pretty much have six inserts left to fix.

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I'm fully planning to someday finish the original playfield - it's so close to being done, but this is the best way to go at the moment. I've corrected most of the inserts by fattening up the lettering, and fixing the issues with certain colors not landing right. I'm the total worst at documenting stuff with pictures, so hopefully you can appreciate the differences from the original scans. If you look near the top, you will notice the rippling in the original clear coat. My next step is to send it off to my friend Joey to clear, and I'm requesting he clear and sand before doing the top coat, so hopefully everything will be as smooth as a sheet of glass.

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Just wanted to share. My buddy put the initial clear coat on the playfield, and will sand it to even out the ripples in the original clear. Possibly next weekend is when work starts on the cabinet. Things are finally moving along once again

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Here are a few more pics after sanding and final clear. Picking it up within the next few days. Also planning on rebuilding the cabinet on Saturday.

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A few more pics ...
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This is the one going in the game. The original still looks great, i just have to finish it someday. This one has the custom DINER inserts that cpr custom made, so am keeping this one.

Sorry for flooding with pics, but here is a before and after with the original clear (look at the rippling at the top) and the current clear.

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My friend Matt and I spent a majority of yesterday creating a new cabinet for the Diner (minus the backbox). Still need to drill holes for the flipper buttons, and add some bracing inside the cabinet (among other things), but the hard part is done, and I'm very happy with the result! This will essentially be a brand new diner when all is said and done.

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