Glad to read you fixed yours. Helpful information.

My brackets ended up about 9 7/16" from the edge.

Next time you raise the playfield it would be interesting to know if yours or all doctor who games are out of alignment.

Rdoyle1978 has stated that a very many games are scraped on the right side. Its possible that this is an issue with a lot of them.

Mine was misaligned from the factory. It's always been canted to the right and scraped the sides it seems.

I'm scraping white wood putty out of the deep notch in the cab side, ill replace it with bondo or half time.

So, a factory f#ck up....

Nice detective work on the play field misalignment

I will be checking after next week when I return from Vacation.

Thanks, it took awile since I thought it was just cabinet droop from wear.

And I had replaced all the pivot parts. It was a bit confusing but perseverence paid off.

I think this is a great lesson for everyone as most would assume everything to be aligned

After seeing that one of the repair targets was installed way off. I got suspicious...
20190628_160325 (resized).jpg

I'll either fill the hole and re-drill it or adjust the hole in the switch mounting bracket...or both.

Wow! This never would have crossed my mind, I figured it was related to the playfield bowing strangely, or a bad fit with the mechanical parts. But having owned now 3 of these and worked on a whole bunch of them, this seems likely the result of a bad factory template

yes that would raise alarm bells, great work

You gotta check every wire in every connector on a routed used game.

It's amazing what you find.

Molex pins for the mains jumper.
Solder blobbed and pressed next to a pin.

Hidden from view deep in the game.

You would never know why the power was so unstable.

Probably why the game was sold!
They couldn't find the fault in the power.

My game collapsed under the weight of all the trash repairs.

All for lack of a $6 crimper
20190629_110400 (resized).jpg

Still working on getting my game back on its feet, but was just wondering if anyone has any cool instruction cards they would be happy to share?

Cheers.

I just got my rapid tac adhesive remover from autubodynow.com

https://www.autobodynow.com/products/adhesive-remover-rapidtac-rremover4oz

They had the 4oz bottles and free shipping.

Sprayed it on, waited 60 secs.

Scraped off the 27 year old mylar adhesive off pretty much instantly with a plastic razor blade.

Followed up with the adhesive remover sprayed on a paper towel to gently rub off any last bits if glue, plus a little scrape here and there.

Cleaned off the adhesive remover with rapid tac cleaner/application fluid.

This stuff works fast and effectively.

Took 6 mins to remove all the mylar glue from my playfield.

It smells like goo gone kinda orange cleaner smell.

Goo gone did nothing to the glue.

This stuff is amazing.

Clearcoaring doctor who playfield this weekend.

1st coat down.
Filling, flattening coat tomorrow morning as well as minor keyline and black touchups.
20190704_180108 (resized).jpg20190704_180135 (resized).jpg20190704_152357 (resized).jpg

There are 2 screw punctures.
One in the doctors coat and another in a yellow line.

I might just make a black button for the coat and maybe a black triangle for the yellow.

They are tiny and really dont merit mixing and matching paint.

I can save that for the next time lol.

My $50 spray booth.
Held together with $6 worth of drop cloths and gorilla tape lol.

Ventilation would be nice. I have a box fan and hepa filter setup for bigger jobs. Not really necessary for a little piece of plywood lol.

Works surprisingly well for tiny playfield and cabinet work.

The key is a tyvek suit and proper respirator rated for auto clear.

My exposure is less than 45 mins per operation.

So, really safe.

That’s gonna be nice. My DW has a clear coated PF and it’s a beauty. Wish the rest of the game was as nice!

Just picked up a DW. When I played before buying it, I see that the left ball lock in the time expander will eject out for a drain at certain times. The game gives you back the ball.
The previous owner said this is how it is and the game knows bc some Dr's won't get the ball back and some will. I thought the ejector must need an adjustment? Or this something that does happen and the game knows it.
thanks

My Doc always give back the ball, good boy...

Final clear today.
It came out pretty good.

Its mirror-like.

My sparaybooth roof diffuses the light a bit.

I'll give it a month while doing the cab and mechs.

Then we can see the die-back and final sand and buff.

I'm optimistic, it will be ok.
20190706_191006 (resized).jpg20190706_191040 (resized).jpg20190706_191056 (resized).jpg

With new playfields being unobtanium, it behooves us to preserve them if they can be restored a bit.

I could shop for a better game that doesn't have 2 screws carelessly plunged in the middle of the playfield, or doesnt have a warped twist in it. but it can always be fixed.

A little clearcoat and touchup does wonders. The twist is coming out with a bit of negative pressure.

I keep hearing the words of lieutenant Razak from Starship troopers.

"Hold onto what you got!"

Makes sense to me, I'll do my best lieutenant...

Cab work isn't too bad.
I'll post some pics while I do it.

My cab has a collapsed leg and stripped out leg plates.

Plus one corner is loose and needs gluing and repinning.

Also some big gashes in it.

Nothing a little bondo and half-time cant handle.

Attention RUSH fans, just finished my Ver. 1 of a Doctor Who Rush orchestration for the Pinsound card. I have replaced all of the sound and jingle files with Rush original tracks. Will work on replacing some of the SFX sounds for Ver. 2. Will upload to the Pinsound community once the website is working again. Thanks.

Post a video! Sounds interesting

Pinsound video of Rush orchestration

nice! I especially love how it starts with 2112 - that's a perfect soundtrack to this game

That's really good!

Thanks. Rush is a great band for Dr Who as they have lots of songs or parts of songs with keyboards and no vocals. The game starts with three different Rush songs. They are on a random basis. Having trouble uploading it to the Pinsound Community. I think there are issues with the site.

What's the issue with the site?

Can’t upload any files. Going to send them files direct tonight so they can be uploaded by Pinsound. They are aware of the problem. Will post when it is available.

Cabinet work started.
Its 1/8" out of square.

Probably ok.

Front corner was blown out.
The other corners are surprisingly tight.

A little glue and a few clamps.

The ryobi brad nailer for $99 works perfectly. 2" brads for the sides, 1" for the blocks.

A little bondo to fill voids.

Used a skill saw to cut gussets out or a piece of 2x4.
Sanded them to shape on a belt sander.
20190709_190813 (resized).jpg20190709_190818 (resized).jpg20190709_190827 (resized).jpg

Are you just using the wood block in the corner or are you adding a metal leg bracket?

I'm upgrading all the leg brackets to the newer heavier williams ones.

Cabinet work begins.
Lots if voids in the plywood.
20190711_091527 (resized).jpg

Will have to cut new skids lol.
20190711_091552 (resized).jpg

The rigid 6" sander is adequate for the decal removal. 60 grit is pretty effective with shop-vac attached.
Cant beat a dust free sander.
20190711_091506 (resized).jpg

The Doctor Who Rush remix for Pinsound is now showing on the community website. If anyone wants to give it a try. Thanks.

http://pinsound-community.org/forum/index.php?/files/file/279-pinballjah-doctor-who-rush-remix/

Sounds amazing!
Nice work.

found this at the flea market today, exterminate!

20190714_123738 (resized).jpg

Awesome. Please scan that so I can make my own sticker.

There was a guy set up at TPF selling NOS play field plastics, promo stuff etc.
He had a stack of these he was selling for either $1 or $2 a pice (can't remember the exact price).
I bought a bunch of stuff from him.

I have an extra one of these if you want it.
Shoot me a PM with your mailing address and ill send it to.

Also got a few Tardis promo stickers as well.

IMG_3320 (resized).jpg

Cab primed and ready for paint
20190718_083645 (resized).jpg20190718_083652 (resized).jpg20190718_083703 (resized).jpg

My game had been poorly painted, touched up and filled a couple times in the past lol.

It took a bit to remove the prior repairs, square the cab and re-brad/re-block all the split and rotted wood.

Should last another 30 years now!

Cab painted and screened.
Warning on backbox.
Patent numbers on cab (you cant see the cab screen, too lazy to flip it for a pic...) lol.
20190724_191345 (resized).jpg20190724_191356 (resized).jpg

Next up, decals!
Yay, finally will look like a game.
One thing I learned on this resto.

NEVER USE RUSTOLEUM PRIMER.
NOT ANY TYPE OF PRIMER FROM RUSTOLEUM. IT DOESNT DRY ON WOOD !!!!!!!!!

End of service announcement.

Use kilz original oil based. Use a foam roller and brush (you gotta sand it any ways...)

More to follow lol

Looks great so far. What do you suggest for black paint to touch up the edges and sides when they get scratched or just faded over time? Thanks.

The black paint pens from pinrestore are pretty unbeatable. Matte finish usually is best

Krylon satin black is a very close match to the original paint.

Its thin enough you can spray it on a rag, a q-tip or paper towel and rub it in.

Molotow paint pens, sharpie oil based paint pens etc.

Even a sharpie marker works but will turn purple after awhile.

NICE idea! (ok, not the sharpie )

Thanks for the advice on the paint. I have always wanted to touch up some of the black areas on the game. A few games I have bought have a really nice glossy black finish and I always wondered what they used.

Decals installed
Next we see if the playfield fits and how the side blades look
20190727_231508 (resized).jpg20190727_231517 (resized).jpg20190727_231525 (resized).jpg
Ministry of pinball decals do not go edge to edge.

They are quite shorter than the cab.
So I trimmed the bottom to make a black border that somewhat matches the head.

I left a slightly larger border in the rear.

It was a compromise but turned out ok.

Not many choices for doctor who decals these days unless you make your own.

The decals look good but it is odd they are too small. That is the first time I've read about smaller decals.

I actually like this approach better - the decals that are made to wrap around end up cracking in weird places. This makes the game look very clean and almost like a modern game

Outstanding job!

I was a bit surprised to say the least...(insert explative here..)