Wow...thats some serious IJ love

Wow. That looks awesome!! Have you done this for each of your pins?

Holy shit, dude. That’s awesome. Are all your pins silo’d off and integrated into a room theme?

Crap! I don’t think I did! I’ll have to take it to the next level.

My apologies in advance if this has already been discussed, but I'm looking for feedback from anyone who has ordered the glitter playfield from mirco. Initially, I planned to just get a set of RAD Cals but after taking a closer look at that playfield? It's flippin gorgeous and Indy is my GOAT!

Im about 1/3 of the way through the restore. Putting hardware in the tumbler to make em shiny. How do i get these lil things off?

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The wire ball guides? Or the mini-post?

Here are the translucent decals I put on with orange and green led strips underneath.

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I like the green jungle glow

Actually both could use a tumbling

The mini post: 1/4” deep socket or if you have a 6-1 screwdriver they usually work and what I using.

Ball guide: pull up. I use a soft handled pliers and a small piece of wood. Wood on playfield and use the handle to gently pry up on bottom of guide.

shows how they pull out. You just need to go easy as the wire has flattened edges in the wood and you don't want to damage the PF as you are pulling it out.

Over halfway done with the restoration. Need to do the sideart, cabinet work, and more cleaning/polishing of the hardware, but she's looking good and playing good.

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Looks great! Where did you mount the led strip on the single target? A pic would be great if it's not too much of a hassle.

Well, well...something interesting arrived in the mail today...IJTargetDecals (resized).jpgGoldenDropTarget (resized).jpg

LOL, no Great Idea though...

Those look great!

Thanks! Super happy with how they turned out.
I printed extras, just in case anyone else wants some. PM me for details!

Joined this club a few weeks ago! What a fun machine but not without its quirks. I spent many hours fixing the little issues here and there, and added some tasteful mods. As of today, this machine is 100% working and 98% dialed in...including the POA and Mode Start hole.

Visual Mods I installed to date:
- Comet Pinball LEDs
- Color DMD LCD (I didn't realize it but these guys operate less than a mile from my house)
- Mirrored Backglass from classicplayfields.com (in transit)
- Biplane propeller mod
- Mode Start hole light mod
- POA drop holes light mod
- Cliffys throughout
- Pinbits plastic protectors
- Air deflector mod
- Lost plastic added

Gameplay Mods I performed to date:
- Moved the Mode Start hole deflector back 1/4 inch by drilling out the holes on it, also added some washers to give it a bit more height. Blazing shots from the right flipper drop at around 70%, normal shots from the right flipper at closer to 90%, and soft shots from the left flipper are always dropping at 100%. I thought about adding a dampening square to the deflector to improve the percentages even more...but after reading this thread and others I think the hole is not too challenging but not easy either.
- Lots of trial and error to get the POA dialed in nicely. It's super fast but I am able to get it to either side consistently. Replaced the opto sensors and got the wires super clean and organized to avoid movements while the playfield tilts. Tried many angles with the bridge until I found one that worked nicely.

Other Mods I may do in the future, any recommendations for the best ones I haven't done yet?:
- PDI glass
- Mirror blades
- Orchestration and sound board mod
- New art wrap...the previous owner did not do the greatest job applying the artwork, but it is fine for now.
- Lost Plastic lighting...it is kind of dark back there I don't even really see it.
- Wireform brass exchange with pinballplating.com

Remaining issue to address to get the machine to be dialed in 100%
- The ball will regularly, not too often, get stuck on top of the idol drop down target (single one) during the quick 2 ball multiball challenge. I thought the Cliffys would fix it, but I assume the target is dropping just a few mm below the surface creating a trough for the ball to sit on. I need to disassemble it and clean it, I'm sure that will fix the issue. Not a big deal, I just need to wait until the bonus is over and then the target pops the ball up back in play.

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Looks great! I'm inclined to love it, because my game room is also full of amiibos and Indiana Jones stuff. Plus, you get bonus points for having arcade Punch-Out!!

I would highly suggest Korn's planes....they are really well done. If your into game blades they also look really nice in the game.

Anyone know where to get korns planes or the propeller mod?

Pinsider Kornfreak28

Send him a PM and get on the list....its worth the wait

KornFreak28 plane thread is https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/indiana-jones-plane-rescue-service - jump on batch 5

Getting ever closer to mine rolling off the production line and can't wait to have it installed

Korns planes and the sound re orchestration are the 2 best upgrades for IJ

The other no brainer (although not cheap) is upgrading the sound package. The PinSound + board is worth every penny (plus upgrading the stock speakers)

Call me crazy, but after listening to the popular endprodukt sound re-orchestration, I'm really not sold on the PinSound stuff. I just really like the classic music and SFX - the remix fundamentally changes the way certain parts of the music feel. Change my mind.

I think the best possible upgrade is the ColorDMD. If I could only pick one thing, it's that with no hesitation.

Thanks for the input guys, to be honest the planes by KornFreak28 were not even on my radar since I did the propeller mod but I'm sold from your comments. I just sent him a note to get on the list, hopefully it won't be too long.

I'm hesitant with the pinsound and re-orchestration because I'm concerned it is too much of an alteration to the original game. It sounds fantastic, I listened to the samples, but I'm not sure I want to invade my game that much for upgraded sound that honestly isn't a major change in gameplay or appearance. I feel the same way about the shaker motor.

To each its own, but the music in IJ is iconic and sound improvement is mind boggling....u can also use the original music and call outs (with improved quality)....its really no different than installing the color dmd...has nothing to do with game play, but its really nice to have. All these mods are nice to haves and not really necessary.

Yeah, everyone has their own tolerance for mods. Some would consider any alteration at all to be blasphemous, and some want to jam as many improvements into their machine as possible. In many ways, that's kind of the beauty of this club...we all have the same machine, and yet they're all unique to us.

I have my own lines I won't cross, and am sometimes baffled by what others do to their pins, but do what makes you happy. The only 'must haves' are the ones you enjoy, and it's worth being thankful we have so many talented mod creators in the pinball community who are sharing their talents.

Totally agree....many are purists and love the games as designed. For myself I think theres many things designers would have liked to do yet didn't have the budget for. Take Korns planes as an example. Not only do the planes look awesome having them interact with the game is really nice. We can do things now that weren't practical in the early 90's. None of these mods are a must have, but many are really nice have's that clearly (to some) improve the look and experience of playing the game.

Thank you all for the kind words about my planes. Very humbling to say the least

Does anyone know what size this hex post is? Im pretty sure its 3 1/2" but want to make sure. Im putting mine back together and can't find it. Thanks Mike

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Looks like 3 1/2". Mm scale ruler in my game:

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Finally got my IJ Idol fixed by replacing one of the white Opto emitters.
Thanks to all those earlier who provided some suggestions.

A question regarding the Wizard Mode:
When I finally reach the Wizard Mode and make the right ramp, I find the ball often doesn’t drop down onto the mini playfield because the post doesn’t appear to stop the ball.

Instead the ball bypasses the mini pf and rolls down the far left-side metal guide rail back to the left flipper. This means I’m unable to roll over those switches on the mini pf to complete the Wizard Mode.

During normal gameplay (outside of the Wizard Mode), my mini playfield and post function perfectly. The post comes up when it should and the ball drops into the mini pf.

Has anyone else experienced this? Wondering if it’s a glitch in the software?
Thanks!

I respect this position. There are parts of the mix I don’t care for. Some of the call outs are awkward and some fit nicely. I like the music and some of the added special effects sounds the most. I am going to thin it out a bit.

I think most of the music is fantastic, especially the very effective use of the John Williams soundtrack. Where it really falters for me are the fanfares - specifically when you collect a friend, when you finish a mode, when you lock a ball, and the end-of-ball mode bonus tally.
I also really like the addition of more actual movie quotes, but it's too over the top with the Harrison Ford soundalike. I think the original Sallah callouts are some of the best in pinball, and they really seem diminished or pushed back in the new mix.

I understand the whole package is pretty customizable, but I think I would remove so much stuff it just wouldn't be worth my while. Besides, I think the original sound team did such a great job on this, the first game to use Williams DCS, that I just want to appreciate it how it was originally intended.

I haven't experienced this, but I haven't achieved wizard mode enough to test it extensively. In my handful of games it has worked correctly.

I've heard that wizard mode is notoriously buggy in earlier versions of the software, and the POA has its share of bugs already. Combine the two, and that's a recipe for unusual behavior. Just like how you can't complete the Three Challenges mode if you've previously collected the POA Pit award.

Perhaps you just happened upon a specific set of conditions that caused it for that one game?

Yup agreed. I’m probably going to land a lot closer to the original mix by the time I’m done. There is a punch (no pun intended) to the audio quality that the original sound card simply can’t deliver... plus the added equalization controls are really what makes it for me. The shaker adder is icing on the cake. I don’t have my shaker going nuts either ... it’s subtle.

Here's what the gold-accented decals look like in the machine:
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The gold really catches the light in a nice way, making the targets stand out better than previously without being gaudy or overpowering.
I put mylar on the center target, and left the other two bare to see how they'd hold up. Seems really durable (using specially cured UV inks), but only time and hundreds of games will tell. The target itself will probably give out before the decal.

Nice! I can’t wait to see how these look in person...They are really going to twinkle on my machine!

Yeah, with the overall brightness of your pin, these should really shine! I'm in a pretty low-light environment with incandescent bulbs, but with your setup there should be a lot more to reflect!

@AaronZOOM: thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, our issue during the Wizard Mode with the ball bypassing the mini playfield has happened on numerous occasions.
We have a sample IJ with most updated software.
Wondering if the software has somehow been compromised or if other owners have experienced this same glitch during the Wizard Mode?

Under heavy loads the post simply doesn't fire if theres the slightest drag on it.

I think its a matter of current flow.

On my sample game, doubling the wire to the coil helped a little.

@pinballreno@ thanks for the suggestion. That makes sense as I never have issues during regular gameplay with that mini pf post, just during the chaotic action of the Wizard mode.

I have never tried doubling the wire to a coil; any suggestions on how best to do this?
Thanks.

I just added another wire to both sides of the coil and hooked it up to their regular ends at the connector.

Bigger wire carries more current.

Its slightly better...probably not worth the trouble. Probably it just freshened up the connections now that i think about it.

Try replacing that coil's IDC connector with trifurcon for better contact.

Clean or replace the pins if they look worn or corroded.

Its just anemic under heavy loads.
It barely fires in coil test...

It might just need a more powerful coil there.

Unwinding 6-10 feet of wire off the coil is the old school way of hot-rodding a coil. They called it a speed mod. (Lower inductive field)

But you can just buy the next hotter/more powerful coil too.

Lots if ideas here...

The weight of the post is a bit high for that application and coil, it could be better as its not exactly snappy.

Thanks! Some great ideas here to remedy this strange issue.

Is there any risk in adding a stronger coil for that post?
Seems like that might be the most direct and strongest solution for that post to come up.

There’s never an issue with it during regular modes for the POA, just only during the wizard mode, the post simply doesn’t seem to make it up when required.
Wondering if it’s just beacuase I have a sample game and a weaker coil was used?

In any case, thanks for the suggestions pinballreno.

Hey there JMK. I know exactly what you are referring to in the wizard mode. This occurs about 1/3 of the time during wizard mode in my game. And never happens any other time. This is what I have noticed...
When you get the ball up to the POA at any time other than wizard mode, there is a decent delay until the post drops. This allows the ball to come to a complete stop against the post. When you get the ball up there in wizard mode, the delay for post drop is much shorter, and quite often the ball bounces off the post and has not yet returned to a complete stop against the post when it drops. That gives the ball just enough extra momentum to carry it past the POA.
I have considered what to do about this and the only thought i have is placing some sort of felt or whatever on the trough behind the post to maybe slow backward momentum of ball after it bounces off post. Though i havent tried it yet. Other suggestions?
Yes, it is suuuper annoying when that happens and possibly robs you of a billion!

Hey Fremen, this is exactly what is happening on my game during the Wizard Mode- except in my case it happens about two thirds of the time, which is very frustrating (and could be robbing us of that tough to achieve billion points).

Pinballreno above suggested a few different fixes including possibly a stronger coil would work.
Just not sure if there’s anything negative could result with a stronger coil for that post.
Maybe a small piece of felt as you suggested stuck behind the post might slow the ball down a bit. Just have to make sure it didn’t affect the path of the ball.

Anyone else having this issue?