River Edge, NJ
Thanks Ted...let me get it together first!
Cabinet should be incoming...!
(Topic ID: 79388)
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Twilight Zone
Bally, 1993
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Quoted from JAG63:ok, i have never seen this before, what are you cleaning the boards with?
I use scrubbing bubbles to clean PCBS! works great!
Remove any socketed ICs, fuses, desolder relays.. spray it on, scrub with a paintbrush. rinse, repeat as needed. Dry with an air compressor and let the PCB sit in front of a good fan for a few days... looks like new 
Cleaned up the clock, put the rest of the powerfield back, put the clock bad. And rearranged the pop caps.
Just need to swap one flipper coil and clean up the rest of the wireforms and then cabinet here I go...!
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2014-03-29 11.08.52.jpgI would say you got the itch? My wife the other day told me she didn't mind if I added to my collection. I was puzzled but let her continue to tell me that she can see the value? Just Thinking I should have got that in writing. Nice project I bet your enjoying it and are playing in no time. Thanks for the pics
Yeah, it's nice to see it saved. I know full well that I could have gotten a new cabinet for it or done all new decals all around, but I personally am happy making this just a nice player, and I kind of consider it a "survivor" if that makes sense.
Besides, the "spare" cabinet I have really was much worse off. I forgot how badly the back of it was chewed up!
2014-03-30 15.27.51.jpgHad to break out the paint for some things, and figured I might as well get into the new speaker panel! As you can see the original one was pretty nasty. I ordered a new one from virtua pin and it looks nice...so it got a coat of paint. When I have time I will put in all of the t-nuts and goodies.
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So for the first time in a very very long time, machine is standing on its own 4 legs!
New ground braid installed, leg plates back in, and I took my trusty paint and painted the top lip of the front and a few other small places.
Honestly, this isn't a perfect cabinet. If I find that I fall head over heels for this game and it's a keeper, I will probably do a brand new cab for it and a brand new playfield. But this is a damn nice cabinet with unreal original side artwork.
Very very happy with this, especially compared with what I started with!
Still lots to do, I need to move over the wiring, move stuff into the new head, and hopefully in a few days get the playfield put back into home!
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2014-03-30 18.45.01.jpgDidn't have nearly enough time last night to work on this, but started to populate the cabinet.
Unfortunately the USPS seems to have lost (or temporarily misplaced) my parts order, so my hopes of getting the cabinet together and stabbing in the playfield kind of went bust for this week...but still making progress nonetheless.
Very un-dramatic stuff the last few days, but it's still good stuff. Very very few parts left to install.
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2014-03-31 20.48.17.jpgUghh as if I didn't want a TZ enough already lol,
Been following this thread from start to present, and now that you can taste the finish line I feel as if I'm getting all antsy lol, I can just imagine how you feel!
I really really hope I can find a decent TZ locally, I've been looking and nothings come up this side of the country 
Quoted from Starscream:Ughh as if I didn't want a TZ enough already lol,
Been following this thread from start to present, and now that you can taste the finish line I feel as if I'm getting all antsy lol, I can just imagine how you feel!
I really really hope I can find a decent TZ locally, I've been looking and nothings come up this side of the country
They do come up, but it's a matter of timing and price. There are a few around that I know of, but they are all premium prices. It's unreal to contemplate that I picked this up as a disaster for $3k, but that's what it was.
You're close, you can come on by and play once it's playing!
I know I'm getting really close, but on the other hand once it's all assembled I need to actually make it work. Who knows how many board issues or wiring issues may need to be chased down. What I've done so far is, to me, the easy part. Takes time, but it's all laid out and methodical. Troubleshooting flaky optos or switches or board issues can be a headache like no other, especially on this machine!
Thank you! I appreciate the offer! I was going to raise a hand when you were re-doing your basement but sadly I was working,
I used to live the very next street over from Ted in Park Ridge, and I've met Rob in Nanuet numerous times Yet to get a game from him I might add lol, Maybe he can find me a TZ
Even at 3K that disaster sure was a diamond in the rough, its great that you could see through the dirt as its a real jem underneath all that
Got home late from work last night, and only put a little time in, but I laid the wiring back into the cabinet, transformer back home, flipper buttons, etc.
Just waiting on a new coin door, but beyond that, this cabinet is ready to get back into service!
I was thinking long and hard about putting things back in that weren't detailed and polished. And I'm content with doing that on this machine. I like calling it a survivor. That's the latest thing in cars...preserving as much original as possible and only fixing what needs to be fixed. Original patina on things, stuff like that.
I feel like I rescued this poor thing, but I still want it to bear evidence of that...
Although down the road I'm half pondering a new cabinet and playfield...
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2014-04-01 20.30.16.jpgThanks for taking the time to post all the pictures. I have been following this thread for months. It is great. TZ is my favorite game of all time. It is awesome to see one in such detail. When I retire I will find a project TZ and take it apart clean and reassemble. It looks like gratifying work. Thanks again. Keep up the good work.
Quoted from LitzDoc:Thanks for taking the time to post all the pictures. I have been following this thread for months. It is great. TZ is my favorite game of all time. It is awesome to see one in such detail. When I retire I will find a project TZ and take it apart clean and reassemble. It looks like gratifying work. Thanks again. Keep up the good work.
Just happy that people read my ramblings
Quoted from LitzDoc:It's awesome. I look forward to this thread every weekend. When the machine comes alive I would love to seem some video of it in action. I am happy there will be one more TZ around for people to enjoy in the future.
Oh man, you mean I'm going to need to figure out how to do video too?
Thanks Ted...I think
The plan is for me to get the playfield back installed this weekend at the latest....I have some time off on Friday that, if I don't wind up on another pin-adventure, I'm going to get it done...
Well I managed to spend some "bang head against wall" time last night.
I had replaced one flipper coil a while back. I put the new flipper bats and rebuilds in and the other flipper wasn't moving smoothly. Figured maybe it had an issue with the coil even though the new sleeve went in without a problem, but that's what it seemed like.
So in went the new coil last night. And it still wasn't moving smoothly. Checked the gap on the topside. It was fine.
Wondering...wondering...
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2014-04-02 19.29.41.jpgAnd so, that done, I could reassemble just about the rest of the playfield. I have a flasher socket to replace to get the back left plastic back, but everything else is there....this playfield is going to be going into it's home very soon!
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2014-04-02 20.37.34.jpgReally is crazy how nasty it started out to now. Very well done. I finally got time to play this last weekend and finally "get" the game. It's a great game: so many shots, features, etc. There's never something not to shoot for it seems.
Keep up the great work.
Quoted from dmacy:Really is crazy how nasty it started out to now. Very well done. I finally got time to play this last weekend and finally "get" the game. It's a great game: so many shots, features, etc. There's never something not to shoot for it seems.
Keep up the great work.
Yeah. I've played a few. First few times I played I really got turned off to the game. They were just not well tuned or maintained so I walked away from it just thinking it was a massive dark abyss of a table with impossible shots. Then I got my hands on two buddies with them and it was like night and day!
Quoted from NJGecko:Yeah. I've played a few. First few times I played I really got turned off to the game. They were just not well tuned or maintained so I walked away from it just thinking it was a massive dark abyss of a table with impossible shots.
That's what happened to me. I have to put more time in The Twilight Zone!
First the Funhouse restore and now this TZ. It's like you are walking through each of my games before me. This is great. Thanks for posting this. It will definately help when I decide to tackle my TZ. I'm just about done with the Funhouse. It's back in the cabinet. I also had mixed feelings about TZ after only playing it a few times but knew it was a game I would really enjoy if added to my collection. I'm really glad I got one. It is the game I play the most now.
Can't wait to play mine...
Hoping I get a solid bit of time tonight and get the playfield ready to go in.
Also waiting on a few replacement bolts for the cab, but those should be waiting for me today. I just need to line up help to get the playfield in. NOT going to tackle that myself!
Having not worked on a TZ before hows the serviceability of it?
Does it use rails for the PF or is it on a single hinge like TAF?
Thats the one thing I dislike about my TAFG, I wish it had rails like my other games,
and the TZ PF is really heavy right? I thought I read somewhere that compared to other pins TZ is about 100lbs heavier?
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