Wow! I’m just seeing this now, and I’m early in re-populating the PF, but unfortunately have put the pops on already. This map significantly indicates that I need to go back (Remove what I started) and complete the T-Nuts first. Thanks for the full overview, and if you have a better suggestion, I’m basically listening to any advice you have ow that I’ve seen this. (My first And probably only PF swap so any pointers Or criticism are so much appreciated. THANK YOU for putting this here for me to see before I had almost everything (except T-Nuts) populated. I recall the pops T-nuts and how I was supposed to have the PF completely supported on a solid slab and then hammer them in. Stupid that I never thought to do the ones beyond the pops. Maybe you have a simple (but probably kind of risky) suggestion to get the rest of these T-Nuts installed with the PF Already installed and opened up to a vertical position. I don’t have a swivel table to work on it by doing a simple flip. Do I need one for this if this only a one-time thing? I’m already buried in the cost of upgrades by a few thousand dollars, so any advice or constructive criticism would be very appreciated (I don’t intend to ever sell the game, so I knew anything I put into it was for my own pride and satisfaction). Problem is that it’s been in repair for a couple of years now to get there. Please help.

Thanks!

Got T-nuts pulled in/driven in, etc. tried a lot of different approaches including the advice with wide washer. Only one was failing to stay in after applying all the tricks. I ended up tightening a plastic post to the top, force with rubber hammer and punch over each barb on the nut, and eventually had it seated deep.

Do you feel like every single piece of a pin is like its own puzzle to solve as if no 2 pieces (even nuts, bolts, and screws) ever seem to be the same as the one prior? I have well over 50 tools to work with (many specifically for pin repair), and I still find myself usually playing MacGuyver trying to diffuse a bomb with about every other piece I remove or put back on. My funniest struggle was with that Allen set screw for the flap diverter mechanism. Mine was probably set by prior owner with Gorilla glue and the hole was already pretty stripped (from install or prior servicing I’m not sure. It Doesn’t help that I needed a series of mirrors and cell phone pics in awkward angles to even see what was going terribly wrong in a place I could not get to with the naked eye. That might have been a year ago, and it is still a vividly bad night in my memory. I look at set screws in a whole new light (mostly angrily and negative with my jaw clenched) since then. I enjoy the constant challenges and creativity I need to use to fix/restore pins, but sometimes looking for that different tool because it’s assembled with a different bolt/screw/driver bit/etc. at seemingly every piece gets kind of frustrating.
Haven’t given up yet, so I probably never will.

Traits a pinhead almost MUST have deeply engrained into their DNA or upbringing are:
1. Work ethic...anything is possible if I go after it with my best efforts.
2. Patience, (and alcohol when the patience wears thin).
3. Love a challenge or new problem to solve just to keep it interesting/hold arrention (That’s probably ADD).
4. OCD. I thought I was pretty overboard, but some of you guys have me beat and your finished product’s glowing aura and beauty is a testament to that OCD persistence. I bow to your dedication and skill. You are remarkably talented artists.
5. Tolerant family members (ie. spouses giving up their basement space, then their garage space, then their living room etc.)
6. Being ok with taking a loss in $ to appreciate and showcase something that is truly an under-appreciated form of art surpassing most other art forms in enjoyment and function.
7. Craves aggressive external stimulation for the pure fun of playing, but also being reluctant to say, “that’s good enough”. Rather, “what else can I do to this?”

I honestly thought people who US cleaned their nuts, bolts, and small hardware were “way crazy” a year ago, but I now have an ultrasonic cleaner on order (and an older rock tumbler that I have never tried for shining up pinball hardware). I just think the time it would take to attack the many clusters I mentally break the machine into and bag/label all those clusters of parts to avoid losing track of what goes where would go completely badly if pieces were all piled together and done in large batches. So, now I am one of the “completely crazy” people hoping to join the ranks.

I admit, I will probably never do another complete resto. again Or maybe not even a PF swap, but I am sure I need to know that I tried, hopefully actually succeeded, and that I am really capable of doing any daunting task I choose (Refer to item 1. above).

J