So, I got a phone call at my shop today, asking if I knew anyone who would buy an old Elvira pin. So of course I drove out there and checked it out. Bought it on the spot, for a very fair deal for the lady selling it and an ok deal for me.

But when I got it back to my shop, I realized that it was from the arcade I hung out at as a kid... the arcade I learned to work on pins and videos at.. and it is one of the very pins that I worked on, 30+ years ago!

So chances are, I’ll restore and keep this one, unless someone makes an offer I can’t refuse.

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Does anyone have a restorable playfield for sale? I'd like to send one to @kruzman, but don't want to send mine... as I am enjoying playing it

Also, is anyone selling a good quality set of replacement decals for targets and such? I want to make her brand new again... Actually, better than new.

Honestly, I would rather have him redo an original, than a CPR. From what I have seen in the past, both firsthand and on here... I am not too keen on having a CPR pf in my table. Maybe I am way off, but I have seen some really crappy playfields from them.
It just seems to be hit or miss.

Yours is absolutely stunning though!!

Did anyone buy one of Ron Kruzman's super cleared playfield's for this table.. and then decide it is too much work?

I want to buy your playfield. Hit me up.

PM Sent

LOL! Yours is damned nice! But ima make mine even better.

I have my Elvira sitting, waiting on a restore. I bought all new plastics for it, when I get to my shop later, I will see what condition those pieces are in on mine for you.

Does anyone have a source for the square tombstone switch? SW-1A-182-17 ? Mine has been replaced with a round red one. Also, I need all the switch target decals other than the tombstones.

Turns out Action Pinball has the switch faces and decals.

I’m getting my dirty girl apart, man is she filthy! I know it’s full history, so I am pretty sure it has never been stripped down since it was new.

With that said, are the pop bumper rings still unobtainable? Or did someone make them again? Mine are all wobbly. So I’ll either have to get them welded or find replacements.

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Thank you!

i have decided to pull the Mylar and as such, have ordered the set of insert decals from MoP. However, it doesn't look like the Decal for the Elvira insert is included. I haven't gotten them yet, but it isn't in the pictures. If that is the case, does it exist anywhere? OR should I carefully cut around it and leave that one alone?

I’m not sure I’ll need it yet, but I like to be prepared.

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Hopefully I won't need it. We will know more Sunday

I have a buddy in Germany, so at least that is an option. Thank you!

I ordered this set. So we will see what I get.

https://www.ministryofpinball.com/en/elvira-and-the-party-monsters-insert-decals.html

Well that went better than expected!! But it is going to take forever to get all the glue off.

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There! It took about 8 hours, but all the glue is off and I just have to fix a couple of inserts. Next I’ll finish stripping the playfield, clean it and polish all the metal.

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My original plan was to do a full restore, with another playfield. That is still the long term plan. But I’m looking for a NOS playfield. For this one, I’ll either just wax it really well, or recover it with Mylar.

Yea it is. The easy way is almost always a bad idea. You will do irreparable damage, versus fixing it right.

If you are going to take the easy route, using something reversible, like everbrite. Dries crystal clear and rock hard, but alcohol will easily remove it. I use it for cupped inserts.

Speaking of not taking shortcuts.

There is so much work to do, to undo hacks and broken bits, that I decided to pull the playfield. First I’ll be stripping and cleaning, then as I put it back together, I’ll be fixing back to original.

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Yes. Just get some weather stripping and add it. It helps with switch hits.

Does anyone have a part number for this bracket? Mine looks to be broken.

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Hmmm, it might be A-13100

Yep! Thanks, looks like I need
01-6935 flap-ball gate
12-6882-1 wire hinge pin 1 3/4

In the manual and clearly identified as the part needed, are two entirely separate things.

It is.

You may remember how filthy and nasty my dirty girl was, well… she is MUCH cleaner now!! I’m still polishing metal and replacing t-nuts and hardware, but she is a lot better looking now! I also received the back wall with a new decal from Enchantress

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So, I have a question.... I am not planning to clearcoat this playfield, as I am still hopeful of finding a NOS one to send to Kruzeman. Yes, I know CPR exists, but I really want a NOS playfield.. so anyway, I am not planning to clearcoat it, should I recover it in Mylar after I put on the 4 or 5 insert decals I need? It will only be going to my home, where it will see fairly light usage.

The difference is night and day. His tables won’t dimple like CPRs finish. Rob is the best guy to ask about cost, but I think it is around $1200. I could be wrong though, it’s been a while since I checked.

What am I missing here? New posts match the old posts. They are the same height as the skinny post. But the plat is sit a 1/4” higher than the stand-offs for the inlane.

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They are two piece, but I don’t remember there being a spacer.

Well, Let's go rob a very waterlogged Party Zone for some parts and see if the spacers are different.

Wait... your posts are 1 1/16th inch? Mine were 1 3/16th inch almost everywhere, with a few 1 1/16th posts. It looks like my old ones were too. I don't have any of the skinny posts in 1 1/16th inch.

The manual also calls for 1 3/16th as the main posts. 12 of them. only 4 are 1 1/16th

Yea I looked, every single skinny post I have is 1 3/16. Looking at the old plastics, they just cranked it down.

So now the question is, what is right? The manual specifies that only 4 star posts are 1 1/16. Should be the outlane posts and something else, which is pretty standard on these Bally's.

I just can’t imagine that cranking them down was how it was meant to be from the factory…. But it is how mine was and I am 99% certain, it has never been apart. At least not to this point.

In other news, I got my insert decals from MoP and put them on. They are not perfect. Fairly far from it. But they look a lot better than the missing inserts.

Each insert decal seems to have an annoying, white outer ring, outside the black key line. Also the black lettering is too opaque. And as you can see, the colors are off. Fortunately I didn’t need any of those.

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I couldn’t tell you. But probably.

Ok, so I spent a couple hours going through this thread and other restore threads. It looks like generally speaking... Cranked down is just how those plastics are on the original machines. They all seem to have a curve to them.

Before I had mine welded up, I had intended to take them to a local machine shop and have 100 or so made up. But I have other uses for the money.

Take one of your existing ones to a machine shop and see if they will replicate it for you. It is an extremely simple assembly and shouldn't be difficult for a competent shop to duplicate.

A little more work done on the old girl. I got my pop bumper rings back from being welded up. I’m fortunate to have a lot of high tech labs close by and friends with hookups!

I also polished up the shooter Rob plate and installed a new shooter rod. I threw in a pic of the coin door, with the original arcade sticker on the front. I’ll replicate that and put it back on the door when I finish.

The cabinet restore will be next year.

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Next year, when I do the cabinet. For now, the misses just wants it in the house and playing.

It is personal preference. I have used both and both hold up just fine over the years. It is all in the prep work. Anyone who does powder coating, can do it for you.

It’s not cut out straight and I haven’t put in my new inserts or fixed up the door… but this is what I’m doing for my table.

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Slowly and bit by bit, Elvira is starting to look like a Pinball machine again.

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I haven't played this table since probably 1995. It came back to me about 2 years ago and into storage it went. A few more weeks to get it right won't kill me.

I currently have a backlog in my shop of about 35 pinball machines. So i can only work on my stuff on the weekend and even then, I spend most of the time playing catchup on customer machines.

Your back wall decal really makes it pop!

So very very close. Next weekend, I’ll finish rebuilding all the action and get it back in the cabinet. Then, board work starts.

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Yes. I went through countless restore threads and other Elvira posts. Looking at those images, the plastics are meant to be sloped from the factory.

I just did a couple pages back, pretty sure I had the part numbers there too.

Ok, where on earth does this connector go? I know it is right in front of my face, but for two days, I haven’t been able to find it.

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So it is!! Thank you!!

If they are good quality, I’ll take them.

I’m ordering all the bits I need to fix the alkaline damage on my board. But I can’t find these in the manual. What is the item marked as B? Is it the same as the cap in C57?

*Edit*
Nevermind I found it. It is the same as cap C59

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I can get it for you in the AM.

I do this for a living. Rebuilding and repairing pins that is. So I’ve got a few tools. I made some descent progress this morning.

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I am so sorry, I got distracted by a new Jukebox I bought and forgot to get you that pic. I will grab it tomorrow morning, I promise!!

I hope you ordered it from @dumbass. The RottenDog Sys11 MPU is utter garbage, more often than not.

I’m sorry, better late than never though!! SKWilson

Oh, look at that, I have a wire broken off.
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Same.

Well, I’m pretty much done with the alkaline cleanup. I’m now waiting on a few components, mainly PIA chips, so I can finish repopulating the board. I also bought the cab decals from DK so I decided to go ahead and do the cab restore now.

So now I have to figure out my armor colors.

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For a machine that spent its first 13 years in an arcade, the cabinet is surprisingly damage free!!

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Thank you! I miss my old shop, it was bigger. But this one is nicer. I have started to personalize it too. I filled a hole in the floor with epoxy and my keychain and a quarter from my birth year.

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Slowly getting everything stripped. All new armor arrived today, so Monday I’ll drop it all off at the powder coater’s shop.

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I got a bit further, but my compressor and sander are at the house. So this is it for today. Who makes the replacement restoration decals for the cabinet? I’d like to replace all of mine. I suppose I can print my own, but if someone is making them….

I’m not planning to repaint the back of the cabinet. I like a bit of patina on my pins and it cleaned up pretty nice.

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Everything is ready to go to the powder coater’s tomorrow.

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High gloss blood red. I’m going for that wet blood look.

Yep, but not fire engine red, but a dark blood red.

I'll be picking the exact shade tomorrow, at the PC shop. But I have a vision of what I want in my head. I want a deep red, like heart blood.
Something like this.

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It is just too much black imho. Everything blends together. But then I don't like blacked out cars either usually.

The illusion Cherry is what I think CoolCat used on his. It looks nice, but wasn't the look I'm going for. Plus I don't want to copy his as it still lives in my town But it is about the right shade of red.

This one, I think would look amazing in person.

I am sure it will look awesome when you finish it!

Ok, so I went with Fractured Cherry, which is a lot like illusion cherry. Maybe the same color. I’ll have it back in about three weeks.

Everywhere here is like that or worse. We have a LOT of people moving here from California and Texas. The housing market exploded! My home tripled in value in the last four years and they are building over 300 apartment units within 2 square miles of my place.

I have a 3 week lead time for on-site pinball repairs and my in shop turn around time, is about a year now.

It’s a good problem to have I guess, but nerve wracking as well. I don’t like having so many pins in my possession!!

Dammit

The first coat of primer is on and has since been sanded to get the high spots. Oh and I ended up painting the back too.

Tomorrow I have a full day at the shop, so I should be able to make some descent progress.

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Heat gun and a slow pull, Then followed up with Xylene to melt the glue off.

Speaking of Xylene, there was a life lesson in using it! I had the cabinet outside my shop, soaking the glue in xylene and scraping it off. When I was finished, I left the cabinet outside until the end of the day, then pulled it into my shop. Turns out, it had not vented off enough gas. When I came back in the next morning, the entire building smelled of Xylene and my two shop cats were high as a kite.

I got an early start this morning. Trying to get the cabinet prep finished before the storms roll in this afternoon.

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The body has its first and possibly only coat.

*edit*
I found a rough spot under the left flipper. So I will let the paint harden for a day or two, then I will block sand the area. It wont be in an area that should require repainting.

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Ok, I’ve spent several days on the bodywork. It’s as good as it is going to get. My RapidTac will be here tomorrow, so maybe Thursday, I’ll have the vinyl on it.

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Oh yea, I guess they couldn’t find the volume switch???

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Tomorrow I hope to put the vinyl on the head. I’ve also ordered red chrome trim to replace the old chrome from the metal speaker grill. I stole @coolcatpinball’s idea of painting the speaker panel red. The effect is very subtle and I like it.

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That is my Pinball repair/restoration shop. MOST of those pins are client machines. I currently have about a 1 year backlog of work. Only about 18 of the pins are mine and don't factor into my estimated wait time for repairs. I.E. I will get to mine when I can.

That is a client's machine. It will be getting a full rebuild, the Eightball 2.0 code, Yoppsicles, Titan Rubber and new plastics.

I managed to get the head of the cabinet finished this morning, before I had to head out for an on-site. I hope to do the body this weekend and I should have the armor back in a week or so.

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I sanded, filled, sanded, filled and sanded and filled until it was good enough for me. Don’t like it, don’t worry. It won’t be in your house.

The bubble you highlighted was from the wet application method. It is since fixed. One spot is a run in the corner that wasn’t visible until the vinyl touched it. The rest, aren’t even visible in person.

http://www.passionforpinball.com/eatpm.htm

Oh, I am VERY happy with it. She was an absolute BEAST when I got her.

Today I got a call that my powder coating was done! So I had to rush next door and grab it. I threw the coin door together and mounted it to the cab, so I could see how it’s going to look.

I’m in love!!!

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I never noticed this before and now it is going to drive my OCD insane!!!! Not only are the colors reversed, the stripes are different sizes and spaced apart on the sides!!!
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The cabinet is nearly complete. I need to put all the insides back in it though!!

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They all look like this. when I saw it, I was PISSED!! Then I went back through my pics and the original was that way. Then I hopped online and looked and yep. They all are like that. However, now that I see it.. there is a very good chance I will have custom ones made on down the road.

Thank you!!

I got them from DK I forget where he ordered them from and yea, they are Matte and very thin. But they went on pretty easy, The front piece was barely big enough, so you don't have any wiggle room.

I made some more progress today. The cabinet is officially finished! The inside has been wired back up, with the exception of the buttons. I’m waiting on new ones.

I did however forget a piece, the metal top for the shooter lane. So I’ll drop that off Monday morning to get powder coated.

The big milestone for today, was putting the playfield back in!

It turns out, today is the two year anniversary of me buying this table.

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Well, my MPU alkaline repair, did not go so well. So at the advice of ChrisHibler I’m just going to build my Dumbass Sys11 board. I ordered about $300 worth of components for it today. I hope to get it built in the next month.

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My red chrome came it! Now I need to get the Bally logo remade in red chrome.

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And I thought I got a lot powder coated!

I SHOULD have the rest of the parts to finish this board, by Saturday morning. So far, I have 13 hours in the build and 7.5 hours into sourcing parts. So 20.5 hours, with about 2 hours left.
I have spent almost $550 in parts and shipping and will have $2250 worth of shop labor tied up into this board. But dammit, Elvira WILL live again before summer is here!

It is considerably cheaper to just pay Dumbass for a built board and be patient.

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Yea, I would NEVER suggest to one of my clients that I build a board for them. I would tell them to be patient and wait on theirs to come. But, I do this in my downtime. I've kept track of the time and costs, so I can show my clients why they should just be patient

I'm sure a lot of stuff can be sourced cheaper, if you wanted to shop around. But I tried to buy most everything in one spot. Also, I bought extras of most stuff, just in case. But even if you only order what is on the list.... It isn't cheap by any means. There are $60 of PIA chips in there.

First test of my custom apron decals didn’t go well. Colors are wrong and they made it too big. The clear vinyl’s ink can’t get bright enough. So the next set will be printed on white vinyl and die cut.

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Oh yea, this has cost me $200 so far. Honestly, I should have done the design work myself and left them to figure out the ink and medium. But I’m slammed with paying work, so working on my own stuff takes a back seat.

These look much better! But the triangles are still too damned large. But this does look nice!!

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She is finally done!!! I’ve spent several months, hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars. But I present to you, EATPM Blood Edition.

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