Just found this club. I have two EBDs, both are project pins.

I will be digging into them soon, I hope. My plan is to pirate the best parts, to build one decent player's machine. A full restoration would be nice, but I want to get one up and running as soon as possible.

I'll try to post some pictures, soon.

Anyone sanded an EBD playfield down, and used a full graphic overlay? I have a playfield that is beyond my abilities to retouch.

Did you have to do anything to the surface, after installing the overlay?
How does it play?
Were you happy with the results?

Herb at fabfan.com says he has EBD overlays. He quoted me $250, shipping included.

I was unsure about the quality of the finished product.

Are you going to do it yourself? If so, please document what you do with photos.

I am really interested in how it turns out.

Anyone have a parts list or diagram for the pop bumpers and all the non-flipper coil plungers and sleeves?

I need to totally rebuild my pops and replace every coil plunger and sleeve.

OK, since this is also a restorations thread, I'll hit you all up for my question.

Here is a close up of my playfield. It has these little cracks all over the playfield. The paint is about 95% there, but the wear areas are not from the cracking. In other words, the cracks in the paint are solid, and not coming off the playfield.

What can be done about this? I assume the cracks will always be there, so it there a way to seal everything as is? If so, should retouching be done before any sealing?

cracking.jpg

Really, Magic Eraser? Never would have thought.

I suppose the trick is knowing when to stop.

I gave the ME a shot last night with some 90% Isopropyl Alcohol. What came up was a lot yellow-looking crap. The cracking is very slightly improved, but I didn't want to scrub too hard.I kept checking the ME, and didn't see any paint.

What were these playfields coated with? What is the best product to seal it with?

Also, I need to remove the wooden side rails. I removed the screws from the underside, but it looks like they are also stapled in. Any trick to removing them with no damage? I was going to just gently wiggle them back and forth, until the staples pulled out of the wood, cut the staples off, paint the wood, and then reinstall using the same screws. I don't have a stapler that would shoot staples back in.

Geez VID. I just checked out page 16 of your guide on restoring playfields.

You have me thinking twice about trying to clear coat my playfield, myself. The amount of personal saftey equipment along, looks daunting. I wonder if I can find a local autobody shop to do it, or if they will screw it up.

Wow, I never realized the plastics in the back were clear. Also, what's up with all the white, as opposed to the yellow on mine, in front of the seven drop target bank.

I must have an early prototype game.

Seriously, nice-looking game, Bonzo442.

Is yours an original playfield, repro, or overlay? Mine has a lot more yellow in it, but it was not stored kindly.

I am stripping all the old clear coat off right now, but it is still more yellow than white in front of the 7-target bank.

playfield.jpg

Thanks for the info Gatecrasher. Now I know that my original playfield isn't that yellowed, it's just original.

Thanks for the response.

I have taken everything off except the mylar rings around the pop bumpers, and removed the pops, themselves. I have scrubbed a good bit of the old clear off using the alcohol and Magic Erasers. It looks a little better, but there is still some of it left to work on.

I can't decide if I want to try and retouch it. I'm not much of an artist with paints. I'll have to upload a photo or two of the area between the slings, and if front of the 7-target bank.

I hate those 555 sockets. When I finally restore my EBD, I and going to replace them with 44/47 sockets. they are a much better connection, in my experience.

Those are not the ones used on EBD. They insert into the lighting board of later games.

Unless Steve Young at Pinball Resource has the exact 555 sockets, these are more in line with what was used on the playfield.
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/077-5030-00
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/077-5026-01

I had to replace a few and the ones I bought were really cheaply made. One or two simply broke, but it may have been that the ones I bought, weren't the best quality. This is especially true with the 555 jet bumper sockets, and I bought them from a well-known supplier.

Using 555 LEDs, I think the lamps themselves are more fragile and likely to get the leads bent if you are not really careful.

That's a pretty amazing restore. What method did you use?

Mine isn't quite as bad as yours, but there's some wear around the balls, both sets, and in the blue area. I need this done to mine since the EBD reproduction playfields have once again filled up, without me knowing about it.

Thanks for the link. Truly amazing work, especially since you hand-painted your retouching.

The fact that you could go in and repaint all the yellowed white areas, is especially impressive.

Here's a shot of mine, but I have no retouching skills.

IMG_1281_(resized).JPG

I'm assuming the original EBD and EBD LE playfields are identical and interchangeable.

Is this correct? Thanks.

Looking at photos, they all look the same but I have never seen a LE in person.

Has anyone received a Bronze playfield from CPR?

If so, how does it look? Please post photos.

I too was on the waiting list but there were no golds or silvers available. I really want to see a detailed example of the bronze before I buy. I'm thinking the blemishes might too distracting for me personally, at the bronze level.