Nothing wrong with that at all, Dan. Someone has to love the ugly girls.

Here's another great use for the rubber mallets...installing translight trim.

The new WPC trims aren't too bad but the WPC-95 ones can be a bitch. They're just a tad too tight. What I do with these is use a wooden dowel, a smidge wider than the trim opening and force it in and work it all along the entire edge. This widens it enough where the install is a lot easier.

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Looks like my next project just showed up. This has to be delivered to an undisclosed location in WI on the 21st, so I may not be back here for a while. But when I do return, it'll be time for IJ artwork install.

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One more "tool" pic. I picked this gem up from a buddy of mine who bought it a couple years ago and never used it. The damn thing is built like a tank. Does anyone have any idea who may have built and sold these? It came unfinished and of course my buddy stored it under a workbench in his garage so it had quite a bit of surface rust, which I had to remove and it then got painted.

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And now on to decal installation. Most decals will come with registration marks, sometimes and sometimes not, indicating the top, bottom and sides of the cabinet. The next three pics show why you probably don't want to use them. You'll see the top of the black, the registration marks and the bottom of the black on the two sides do not line up.

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In the first pic, I've cut the excess decal to the top of the black. Lots easier to line things up with this gone. The second pic shows how I do my measuring to make sure I get the decal to line up properly. All you need to do is press the decal on the edge with a finger and it'll make a ridge that you can measure off of so you get the same amount of black around all the edges.

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Once I've measured half a dozen times and double checked things numerous times, I've decided I need to have 1/4" of black border on the top, so here I'm cutting the decal and will be using a standard utility knife.

I should mention, anytime you do a decal job like this, make sure you use a BRAND NEW BLADE!! If you don't, all kinds of bad things can happen. They're cheap. Just install a new one.

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Now it's time for the install. I've only installed artwork using the dry method. I don't care whether you do it dry or wet, do whatever works best for you, but I won't be spraying any kind of liquid on my cabinets.

For the side head decals, I like to install them from the top down. After measuring and cutting the top edge (and both sides have been cut the same) I peel back about three to four inches of the backing and the excess backing, when folded back, will keep the decal away from the side. I then install the top edge so that it lines up with the top of the cabinet. That's the first pic. The second pic shows the small bevel I put on the top edge. The decal will eventually be trimmed such that the portion installed above the bevel, will be removed.

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If you've never installed decals before, you're going to find them to be quite thin. They should be. We don't want to be installing some thick piece of laminate that once installed, looks like we installed some thick piece of laminate.

Because they are so thin, you need to be careful with them. You'll find them to be rather pliable. If you were to grab two corners and pull hard enough, you could actually stretch or distort them.

Having said that, you need to be careful when it comes time for install and lining up the starting edge. You need to make sure the decal edge follows the cabinet edge perfectly. Because of the thinness, it's easy to get the decal to "smile" or "frown." If that happens, you're going to be in deep shit after installing a few inches of it. Trust me.

Once I've got my edge started, I like to use a cotton rag and run it up and down as I peel the backing back. Peel back about 3/8" at a time while pressing and smoothing with the rag.

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Once the deal is installed, now comes the important part. The way it's been explained to me, the vinyl decals are made from "pressure sensitive" vinyl. What that means is, the adhesive is contained in millions of tiny bubbles and the way it gets released is with pressure. For that, I use a laminate roller and pressing as hard as I can, I'll go over the entire decal.

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Now comes trim time. I'll trim all edges twice. Once, as in the first pic, I'll hold the blade perpendicular to the side to remove most of the excess. The second cut, I'll go "in for the kill." I hold the blade at a 45 degree angle (maybe more) and run it along the edge of the cabinet. This is why it's so important to make sure all your edges are perfect.

When done, you should be able to run your finger up against the edge and not feel the edge of the decal. If you do, you need to cut it again at more of an angle.

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In this first pic, you'll see one side trimmed and the top side not. In the second pic, you'll see the top done.

Again, make damn sure you can't feel the decal edge with your finger!!

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Once your done with all your trimming and you've got the results you want, you will, of course, notice a white edge of the vinyl that results from the trimming. For this, I use a black medium tip paint pen and go around all the edges. This takes a bit of technique to do neatly, but once you've practiced on some scrap wood, it's a piece o' cake.

When done, your edges should look like the second pic. You damn near have to get a magnifying glass out to even see the decal edge.

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At some point during this whole process, you'll want to cut out all the holes for the carriage bolts and the like. For this, I like to use an Exacto knife with a #11 blade. Again, make sure it's SHARP!!

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I forgot to mention. Hey, don't yell at me, you're getting this shit for FREE!! Before I install the decals, I'll clean the top and bottom side of the decal and also the surface it's going on, with compressed air, tack rag, anything short of licking it with my tongue, to make sure I have no particles of any kind that might get between the decal and the cabinet.

If you can't easily do this with the blade, it ain't sharp enough!!

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A wise man knows his limitations. If you don't know what you're doing, DON'T DO IT!!

Next up, the use of my patented "coin door filler plate."

But seeing as it's Friday night and I've had enough of this shit for one day, I need a beer. A nice, tall, cold beer!!

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Personally, I think the metal protectors Stern came out with are one of the most revolutionary "mods" in the last few years. Of course, they had to come up with something once they went to installing decals for their artwork to prevent wrinkling. No other protector makes sense to me when installing artwork and protecting it. It's completely hidden and keeps the leg from coming in contact with the cabinet. I also recommend making sure the leg bolts are good and tight. This prevents the leg from "rocking" and contacting the cabinet if you are one who likes to move your games when playing.

After finishing up the artwork on IJ, I'm now installing the cabinet protectors.

In the first pic, I install the protector with leg bolts tightened to keep it in place. I then take my utility knife and cut the artwork around the protector.

The second pic shows the artwork removed. I'm not sure if this part is necessary because with it screwed in place, it shouldn't move causing any wrinkling. But I'm not taking any chances and it only takes a few minutes to do. You can see how well the decals stuck to the cabinet. While removing that little piece, it wanted to take up some small chips of plywood.

In the last pic, I've reinstalled the protector with bolts tightened and installed the two screws holding it in place.

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Here are the other three corners installed.

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I hate using the term "best." As long as you buy from a reputable manufacturer, you'll be fine. Take a chance buying off Ebay from someone who goes by "DecalsRus" and you might be in trouble.

The heads all done, at least as far as I can go right now.

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If you're into restoring games, do yourself a favor and visit Pinrestore.com. Scot (yes, there's only one t) Bogart started this site years ago. There was a time, most restoration supplies and tools had to be sourced from multiple locations. Scot sourced it all and put it all in one spot.

I would recommend looking at everything Scot has listed. Tools, supplies, you name it. I have a feeling you'll find something you'll need.

And Scot and his wife Deb are super nice people.

thats a beauty.
i see the wire braid, what kind of stapler do you use.

I've had this one for years. Shoots the exact staples you need. All available at Pinrestore.com.

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This is by far the best hose I've ever used. Super lightweight and easy to coil up. Once you've tried this one, you'll throw your old 3/8" or 1/2" rubber hoses away!!

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Painters Touch. Found at most big box stores. No clear over paint. Just semi gloss black.

I'm waiting for a couple of parts to finish up the cabinet, so it's on to stripping the playfield.

I've seen a whole lot of pics of different types of rotisseries and I guess my thought is, if it works for you, that's all you need. I will say, if you're making one yourself and can somehow come up with a "finger" style mount, I think it makes things easier. The problem with using holey angle iron is, you need to remove quite a bit of stuff from the underside before you can even get the playfield mounted. You can see what I'm talking about in the following pics.

And if you're using any kind of fasteners, instead of clamps, make DAMN sure you use a bolt that runs all the way through the playfield. Do NOT use screws screwed in the playfield.

In the front, I'm using the holes and bolts that held the playfield and lift brackets. In the back, I always remove the slide mechs and run a bolt into the T-nut on the topside.

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When stripping a playfield, the most important thing to do is take lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of pics.

What I like to do is take 8 pics at a time. First is the bottom half from the front. Second is top half from the front. Third is bottom half from the left side. Fourth is top half from the left side and so on. Next, I'll remove a "layer" of items and take the same 8 pics. This continues until all I have left are nothing but posts, such as star posts, slim plastic posts, metal posts with sleeves and the like. Taking pics from the different angles will save your ass at some point. Trust me. You will, at times, want to take specific pics of the way some things come off and whatever you do, if you find yourself thinking you don't need a pic because you'll remember, DON'T LISTEN TO YOURSELF. YOU'RE AN IDIOT. JUST TAKE THE PIC!!

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I think the only thing I take notes on is the location and length of any hex spacers used on the topside of the playfield. You can't tell the length when looking at pics. Otherwise, when it comes time to put it all back, I simply look at my pics in reverse order.