If you can’t have the best, there’s always other fish in the sea, right?

I usually don’t do full restorations as I live with 70+ machines so something always needs work. I’ve done several playfield swaps and used to fix pinball machines for a living so if you take too long on one game your work gets backed up too much.

The most detailed I’ve ever gone on a game was a Hokus Pokus where I cleaned and polished every relay and replaced almost all the wood. This likely won’t go that far.

I’ve always wanted to do a restoration thread. This being my first, go easy on me please!

Let’s start with some original pictures in its former habitat. I can still hear the sound of the saw working on one of the front leg bolts. Almost all leg bolts had nuts on them. They were all severely rusted and I was fortunate to remove them all (but one) by hand.

B66F9957-0B19-4296-BA9B-8738CF716A8B (resized).jpeg

C0962690-CA2C-4EE5-A684-1A622B4A2DC3 (resized).jpeg

D07B3307-A1A7-4543-8BD7-2FF0913103D4 (resized).jpeg

All loaded up in the truck. The previous owner passed away and his son sold it to me. I’m sure he and his buddies got a ton of use on this machine. There was a mini rec room in the basement where he lived. Pool table, bar, and of course this pinball. I’ll be anxious to play a game in his memory and hopefully he’d approve of what’s being done.

(As an aside I don’t know the family…but still…)

51A05048-D2BA-48E7-BD4F-3610738C2C76 (resized).jpeg

Have you seen a more secure back door? Looks like this was reinforced with metal trim around the outside. I haven’t decided if I’m going to reverse this yet. It’s kind of neat but I’m not sure how I feel about metal creeping around the side of the cabinet. If I reverse it the door will look kind of messed up with holes in it. If anyone has an opinion one way or the other let me know!

090D6266-2197-4FDB-8293-659ED35139DB (resized).jpeg

DD66D303-D406-4B50-B02D-626A3BAA8B55 (resized).jpeg

A few more miscellaneous “as is” pictures. Backglass isn’t horrible but I’m on Ron Webb’s list.

Playfield is dirty but has a lot of potential. No areas of missing paint etc. I cleaned the rear of the large fish to see how it would clean up.

A little disappointed about the rusty spill around the arch tag.

28101A48-A57E-4C79-8C80-1538869E56D4 (resized).jpeg8DB7FDDE-BC75-4D96-BFB9-4E2BC357525B (resized).jpegB4EFE387-7484-4B90-AED5-AFBAD79DC109 (resized).jpegCA7C8F45-041F-42FD-BE95-10E7F3CF2D79 (resized).jpegD7D48E8A-7516-4AF8-A8CF-026516A951F4 (resized).jpeg

427B97B9-CF4A-4B62-8C62-3E989AA9E656 (resized).jpeg

NOW we’re making some progress. Cabinet is stripped down and my artist is already matching colors. The (assuming) water damage on the back box has been repaired and needs to be detailed. I didn’t get a picture of that yet.

A4D0E744-EEEE-4A8D-930D-E654CD0E5DD2 (resized).jpeg

CEAB412A-579A-40B8-9F28-9E36A41EC8DC (resized).jpeg

Alright some support has arrived in the mail.

image (resized).jpg

Glad to hear! I don’t have this recorded anywhere but I’ll mention I bought this on April 29th so it was easy to make a lot of posts in this thread to stage out the beginning.

Next few days I should be able to post a side by side of the side rails with one being sanded and polished and one not.

What’s fun about this game (or not) is the nicotine staining which makes the game look all that much cleaner once I’ve gone through a part. I went down to 400grit to get most of the heavy scratches out. I’ve been working on other machines and stepping up to 3,000 grit is a good finish for me.

Polishing compound still drying but the side trim cleaning up well….

83B75C8A-658F-4271-A2BE-6A9D429B4D1A (resized).jpeg

Backbox repairs almost done now….

5163E8F2-07C8-4964-84AA-DE7A53D748B9 (resized).jpeg

Reproduction backglass has arrived

055A9457-431D-4D54-B9DC-FE902EFF3E64 (resized).jpeg

F29306F1-EEA3-4472-8A95-9D70BAD0D53D (resized).jpeg

Making good progress. Glad leckmeck started reminding me about this game on Sunday.

50A6EADB-7387-4702-A2EB-52ADE573A013 (resized).jpeg

640FEE45-9667-4DA5-A013-D39321E1173D (resized).jpeg

No halos thankfully

Cabinet colors have arrived!

9C078EF2-0001-4F1B-A682-20CEFD6C63E1 (resized).jpeg

Been playing around with cabinet base colors. A lot of good ones to choose from

0D2BA95C-0925-4472-B94B-5CC6A73A69B6 (resized).jpeg

Spring time is almost here. Getting some spray cans on order for a finishing coat for the white and looking forward to resuming this restoration when the weather allows.

Also have parts showing up soon for a sprayer to play with webbing on other cabinets.

Going with a different color white….

F69C04C5-5EDD-49A2-A3B8-9572E6ADAEB4 (resized).jpeg

My finger hurts. I don’t think I could do that again if I tried.

Basically I mixed half and half with water and kept testing on paper as I thickened with more paint.

2430F3C4-2C33-4CF4-95D6-B29C6B78504B (resized).jpegCFFC6AB6-1219-4A67-B677-B66831E340C4 (resized).jpegEE869665-B485-4186-901D-CB702D39F972 (resized).jpegimage (resized).jpg

No bristles, no brush. Just flung my finger at the cabinet with the tip of my finger loaded with the right amount. I was struggling with the spinning brush thingy and got frustrated so then the above just fell into place.

The spatter on this repaint is much conservative compared to another Atlantis sitting in my living room. So, I probably could have gone more crazy.

This is my first spatter cabinet. I have a few webbed ones I want to do and already have all the supplies for that.

I just ran around my house taking pictures of other spattered cabinets and I definitely went light but hey, it’s whatever. Not really a right or wrong. It’s not like my paint colors are going to match to factory.

(This repaint is being done offsite from my house)

35B79CC8-A2DA-459C-9565-D99391ABAC0C (resized).jpeg

95E190D2-AFCD-48AD-9EE6-56F5A32A6DB7 (resized).jpeg

D4CEB90D-FCE8-4B13-A4C0-F98237DD1DB1 (resized).jpeg

DBD42E04-12E6-41BD-B68A-B9A155493E62 (resized).jpeg

Today is red!

4D2C95B4-8294-487E-8317-8F2EDB03754F (resized).jpeg

34FF64FB-ED15-4821-BD0A-27F00166021B (resized).jpeg

AB5BDCE3-ECAE-40B5-9356-E1CB4CE547BB (resized).jpeg

BD1EA82C-07F6-4A9A-878E-BE59BEA0E7F4 (resized).jpeg

33A0ADEE-DA3A-4CF4-80FF-EA29F64D5E8B (resized).jpeg

22195BF3-988B-46FE-8C51-CD70D0B04BE8 (resized).jpeg

Well this is embarrassing.

I’ve spent tonight swapping out a couple coin plates to see what’s best because I had ASSUMED Steve was sold out of these. Turns out it’s only the doors and 1x entry plates are out of stock. I’ll be grabbing one next week from him. On the plus side my other games have shiny parts now.

I intend to paint the rest of the cabinet Tues/Wed or Thursday this week.

4F64B944-5970-4824-9F10-C4A0EA798D68 (resized).jpeg

C0084B23-D95A-4F09-8BD7-92BFC55DB9E5 (resized).jpeg

Green is on the cabinet with the exception of the “stripe” around the top of the pedestal. I’ll add that the next couple days. I wanted to get this done earlier this week but too humid outside to paint. The stencils pulled up some white in a small area so I have to go back and fix but after that will be pretty close to perfect.

My greatest anxiety was lack of, or too much overlap of the seabed around the fin of the fish. One turned out better than the other but both still turned out well in my book.

Pics from today in no particular order…

C984F8EF-A581-4581-8A66-E21906B49D0D (resized).jpeg

1BBBD506-8733-4E87-8F49-1373A18C416E (resized).jpeg

5BA00380-DCC2-4A87-90AB-F9B1C88FEC41 (resized).jpeg

FC72A39D-BA4B-4F11-AF12-B44465F1BC63 (resized).jpeg

623E7206-D2F7-468F-90F0-598A53C22F80 (resized).jpeg

EB8A6477-A49F-457E-A49A-E4C68D5B6C80 (resized).jpeg

You’ll either love it or hate (me) for doing this.

Added some seaweed to the front. The geometric wedge below the coin door just seemed too boring.

2AA7ED3F-B544-4F01-A07B-568E674B54F3 (resized).jpeg

1B6DB92B-8E87-4300-B341-8A7FAABE5311 (resized).jpeg

Finally getting this game off the ground…literally.

I didn’t have it in me to use the last coin door I got from Steve Young. I have a new strike and entry plate too but couldn’t bring myself to use them since I’m not doing a full blown restoration.

New leg plates are on.
Reproduction legs are on (shout out to leckmeck for selling me a set)
New flipper buttons and housings.

D0FC3D2B-B21C-4E83-A52C-67AD3440A458 (resized).jpeg

A8192B64-4435-417D-9C49-25A6022BCFAD (resized).jpeg

I swapped coin doors from my Big Shot since it was cosmetically good other than rust. Mid evaporust bath before sanding for a tune up:
96BF7090-E361-498B-A8D6-3331D7C7BE4E (resized).jpegA7560BDB-92D9-4257-A72C-C6ED12E327D0 (resized).jpeg

Since there was a lot of spillage of liquid the entry plate frame was a disaster so too were the sockets…..soooo….I nailed a couple 555 1SMD 555s and used a twisted pair off a CAT5 cable. I use this wire all the time instead of pop bumper sockets and never an issue.
CF3E393D-2500-42A4-BDE8-16CD3BA65CD4 (resized).jpeg

Coin door is painted! I added an alternate color that roughly matches the playfield and backglass.

Atlantis Door Painted (resized).jpeg

Colors used:

IMG_6403 (resized).JPEG

Reject buttons polished up well:

IMG_6478 (resized).jpeg

Cabinet is slowly going back together.

I did install a new tilt assembly without the roll tilt.

New foam on the chime unit:

Chime foam (resized).jpeg

Getting some good progress done this weekend on the playfield

041B1FDE-6E7F-426F-9E45-B95213E96BAB (resized).jpeg

8A8E119F-15C1-45B3-9E35-70535C4DE899 (resized).jpeg

BADA556C-33BA-4FE0-A394-8D49F361FBA3 (resized).jpeg

Another good push today!

Drop targets are fun to hit but hate installing them.

I went ahead and inverted the colors of the drop targets to see if anyone notices. Is there even a right or wrong way? Most I’ve seen have white at the bottom. I’m guessing it’s to contrast with the playfield art and easier to see.

A2553D14-E37D-4062-AD74-BA2743E66642 (resized).jpeg

774B6A15-CCB0-477C-BDD1-6758428FB5AD (resized).jpeg

E4C78865-007B-4DF4-A346-BBF7654CF73E (resized).jpeg

Playfield is back together. Spent a lot of time wiring up the coin door. Still needs a lot of work and adjusting but for the most part this is back together. I’ll visit this game again as the other 3 projects get closer to being done.

C5C8A047-2E93-4FFA-9BFF-6DF2CFEB3190 (resized).jpeg