Great pic, what motor is in the camaro? I know you could get that hopped up 327/350 (which is an amazing motor) But the way that front end is sitting down, there may be a big block in there?

I got pulled over in Green river on the 70 back in about 95. I was only going 10 over, but I was in a 86 black vette with a mi plate. The cop claimed I had pot in the car (I was a yank with a pony tail and stunk to high heaven) and wanted to search it. I wouldnt let him, so he said we will wait for the dog. I sat there and waited almost an hour, till I said go ahead and search it. Of course there was no pot, so he was good enough to stand in front of the car, with the green river exit behind him for a pic.
It was funny, he asked what I do for a living to afford the car. I told him I was a house painter, and they sell them at the chevy dealer. I did not appreciate cops back then.

does anyone within an hour drive from me have a back glass box for shipping? I have a customer who wants my lady death, and I know its a super long shot. but just checking. Please contact me if so.
Last day of may!

I block sanded this pf like crazy. It looks amazing, I love it!

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Its one thing to be like me and just buy a bunch of good parts and screw them on, but building a balanced 327, and getting the heads right, is an amazing thing. Plus brakes!
My first car was a 68, my second was a 67 (305 or 307 I forget) but the 68 had power brakes and the 67 did not. what a death trap!!!!! Neither had power steering. I never thought about it, but I became a good driver, even went to skip barber school in FL, but I think it all started by driving those camaro death traps. If 2 kids on the wrestling team were not so jealous, the 68 wouldnt have gotten the word prick carved in to the driver door, and all tires slashed one night after they watched fast times at ridgemont high.
My 4th car was bought a couple weeks before high school graduation. a brand new 86 trans am. within 2 weeks I drove it to a party, and 2 younger kids I didnt really know, but they knew me, jumped up and down on the hood and roof, kicked off the mirrors, and kicked the doors in, keyed it. I got the hint that I needed to get away from south lyon. I didnt go back to that town until this year. Doubt I ever will again. I just have faith in karma. One of the ways karma may have played a part is the 2 losers who did my trans am never left that town and one didnt graduate high school. The other was the police chiefs son. Good people..

I cant imaging being so jealous of someone who financed a car at the dealership, that they had to destroy it, and then go in the party to watch, and act like they didnt do it. I didnt find out who it was until I was away at college for half a year. So the camaro's provided me an education in driving and the trans am an education in humanity.
anyway...

Some Lizard porn.
This is the first time I have cleared a pf that was not restored. The owner is going for that "Rat-rod" look on a pin. If you dont know what that means, its when someone builds the hell out of a bike or car, making it super fast, but the uglier the better. The clear will make it play super fast and smooth but also show its been loved, and its suppose to look like that

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I think with the money getting thrown in to pinball now days, I can see the people who are very good at swapping pfs and repair doing ratt-rod games. They play amazing, but look stock. Back when I was restoring chevelles, I had a 427 oval port motor in my 66 Malibu. My friend suggested getting some appropriate motor badges, and maybe its me, but I would rather have people guessing whats under the hood. Although when outside the car, or at shows I wouldn't shut up about the motor. I guess its at red lights, I didnt want people to know what was under the hood. Although, if you dont know the sound of a big block, cammed out, at idle, you dont know much about motors. A big block with 4:88 gears is a launch you never forget. Now they have sensors that cost very little, that will measure your G force. I would have loved to have had one of those back then.

It will be interesting to see if the idea catches on and other people come to me with it. The game that comes to mind first is funhouse. Those pfs always have a nice "patina". Though maybe it will just be the titles that are not available as repros.

I have said many times that I wasnt interested in clearing a used pf that I didnt restore: There is a bunch of reasons in that decision. I used to do restorations, and I didnt want my name on stuff that was not perfect. Also I get sooo many people who have a pf installed in their game, and they say "how much to restore and clear my pf, its in really good shape except a couple places"
They didnt realize that I am a nut job about perfection (or at least try as hard as I can, to achieve it), plus when you pull a pf you have to remove all of the parts and when you do there there is a lot more damage than it looks like when installed. all of those screw holes, and post/rail holes are tall and get leveled when I sand, taking the paint right to the wood. Also there is the issue of just touching up some stuff, "it doesnt have to be perfect". I dont know if I want anything to do with that.
Here is another one I hear often, and I heard it again when I was asking about buying a pf. the seller said "well if you get your face down to 12 inches from the board you may see some stuff" That one makes me laugh, because almost always I inspect with a magnifying glass before I polish, and much closer that 12 inches.

I really like the way this pf came out, and I would like to do more like it. One thing we will find out soon (when this pf gets installed) is if the t nuts on the back side get clogged with clear from spraying thru the front. I think I was able to thread a rag thru all of them, when I cleaned it, so they are not completely clogged. so hopefully john will do a thread about installing this, and we will see if there are any other issues I need to address. I know one fella who wants to do one like this but he is going to have a baby any minute now, so I think his days of pf installin are over for at least till first grade. So let me know if you want to give it a try. Also I have not heard from john about the sanding I had to do. That is if he can tell that I sanded it, or if it looks different than when he saw it last. I had to sand it level and the hard part is there are LOTS of nooks and crannies around inserts that need to be sanded the hard way (with my finger nail).
But all in all I love it, I am super interested to see it installed. I am goad I got the opportunity to do it. And I am glad it came out good.

So here is dave"s sing along 2. I think number one will Be posted tomorrow if there are no probs. I LOVE these pfs!

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Here is the other sing along. These pfs were made by a true craftsman in CA named Wade Krauss. He is my age and as I have become friends with him, I realize we have a lot in common. He has been screening for a living since he was a teen. He was taught the art by his grandma, and he worked with herb silvers on Backglasses back in the day, along with Shay (those back glasses are the same quality as the originals!) He did T shirts back in the 90's, and I think he bought his CnC machine when he made all of the original wizard repros. I dont know if he still does, but he used to laminate his own boards. This is why his quality is always top notch.
His pfs are screened as they were originally, and his run batches are right around 25 pfs. So he waits until he gets 25 people or 25 confirmations, and then he does all of the work himself. There is no one to pass the buck on to. Its all him. Of course he is human, but he does amazing work. Another thing I agree with that he does is, he wont sell messed up pfs and call them bronze. His clear is like the originals were. It looks like one coat of lacquer. Also his pfs are licensed by Gottlieb. I dont know about now but Steve used to make sure the first one from the run was up to standards.

So if it sounds like I am in love with wade, its not quite that, but I would like to start a fan club

If you have an EM game that you want to get a pf for, you can contact him. Often people have to network with their friends to get the 25 confirmations. wade, much like my self doesnt have time to sell his work, just enough time to make them. I think the owner of this pf bought several (one for me), and helped getting others on board so wade would do this title.
I have an Eldorado for sale on my website that wade did. Its BEAUTIFUL!
A lot of folks complain about the quality of the 2 major repro pf makers. He only makes EM pfs, but put your money where your mouth is and support an american craftsman

Anyway enough ball hanging. These 2 sing alongs came out perfect! I am super happy with them. couldnt be happier

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No problem. I am sure there are new people watching this since a year ago or so when I talked about it.

To answer your question in my opinion, and from my experience, let it sit out of the box for 3 to 4 months. What I suggest is put it somewhere so you dont look at it in normal life. Then remember the first day or the first week of the month, take a look and see how its looking. If you check on the first of the month and you get to 3 months and its still changing, better wait a month. If it still looks like new at 3 months, its probably not going to change too much. Since the material is organic (wood), its different all of the time, plus the manufactures are often improving their process, but wood is still wood.
so thats my opinion.
I say that because about 1 in 4 pfs changes drastically after 4 months. I have had them sitting here, curing before I start, and I have posted a pic and the owner has written thinking I mixed up his pf with another's.
In my opinion about 1 in 4 end up looking good enough to install, but they are going to ball dimple really bad. Some people dont care, some want to avoid this.

It cracks me up when I realize I do things that drive me nuts when others do it.
For example, I used to like that dumb show counting cars. A lot of times they over pimped the project, and there was so much fake testosterone, and fake fraternity brother.
The 2 big things were how danny always wore his cool guy uniform. Cut off sleeves, headband, sleeve tattoos. Huge poser. Every high school kid has a tattoo sleeve now, and you are bald, deal with it. But the biggest thing is the end of the project he makes this big deal of pulling back the curtain... to surprise the brother or sister that hired him. He gets them pumped up and then puts his hands to the sides of his mouth, like a bull horn and says "bring out that so and so" and then the real acting begins. If you have ever seen the show you know exactly what I am talking about. One of his dum dums drives out the ride and the owner gasps, lots of high fives and man hugs. yuck.

So I bring this up because I realize that lately after I take the pics of a completed job, I am so excited to post them, that rather than waiting for work to be done, I go back to the house, up load them and wait for some feedback. poser.

I am now , as I do every day from may till oct, wearing a bandanna, because the meds I am on make me sweat like a Portuguese whore in church. (and here is a secret... I am bald) Poser.
In the summer I always cut off the sleeves of my ratty t shirts. Again I sweat like a lot. sometimes 3 shirts a day. Poser
The tattoos. I like to say mine are from the late 80's when it was offensive, and they are all memorials for people or events. well I am sure Dannys mean a lot to him also even if he picked them out of the tattoo book. Poser w bad, old tattoos

So I am an old, drama queen, bald sweaty, poser. I guess it is what it is, and I am.
One of the latest catch phrases, besides talking about your :"anxiety" is "own it". Its funny how these phrases become popular. People are finally starting to realize they use "literally" wrong, so I am hearing that less... thank god, but I guess I will, as they like to say "own it" as if I dont see it every day. Telling someone with a serious self hatred issue to own it, is like telling someone on the suicide hotline to "hang in there".

So I am very happy how this cpr TAF came out. This was one I had for sale that a customer bought and had me clear it (saved a lot of shipping. I had to tighten up like 8 inserts. there is some black ink smear at the far lower left, but I believe that is under the apron. I didnt see it till I started working on it.

I did add the WPC-upc decal. They are not cheap regular decals. These are made from that material that the tabs from your license plate are made. Rather than going the regular or cheap route, they look very legit.

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My good friends watch for pfs for me. Unfortunately I am zonked out before 9, but monday night my bud tommy wrote that there was a seawitch for sale good price, and sent me the link. by the time I got up and looked it up and wrote the seller it was sold.
Here is why I am writing this: it was a good customer that was selling it.
So I am going to have to write with almost all correspondence that if you decide to sell a pf, weather it be NOS, Repro, even nice used, please give me a crack at it. I am not asking for special price or anything, just give me a chance. I have so many customers waiting for me to find pfs for them. If they are not getting it cleared, I just put them in touch with the seller that I found (no charge of course).
I want to try to offer more titles so that people can buy pfs without dealing with crazy greedy sellers, sellers who dont tell you about the issues, sellers who dont wrap it well, and sellers who just rob you.

when people buy a pf from me and they get it cleared, they can save 100-200 in shipping and also the stress of it being damaged or lost in transit.
The 15% I make on pf sales really helps keep the lights on here. Often I go 8 weeks with out a pay check, and a pf sale really helps my cash flow. Lastly the best part is I love pfs, and I dont mind when it takes 13 years for a pf to sell, I have about 25 pfs that I have had over 12 years. I dont mind at all. I love pfs!

So I am going to write a paragraph about please check with me if you are going to sell a pf, and put it on every email. I apologize in advance, but I have a customer who has been waiting for a seawitch for a couple months, and I keep saying "have patience, one will come up" On the door next to my desk there are about 20 post its, with people looking for titles that I am watching for.

I forgot to mention, I really rely on people like chris, tommy, john, to send me links to pfs they run across for sale, because I dont have a lot of time to be on the computer.
If you run across a pf for sale, dont assume I know about it, send me a link to my email or a pm thru here.
My email is [email protected]
Thank you!!!!!!

I really regret selling this pf. its a true collectors item. spooky wont sell me pfs, I dont think they will sell them to anyone. This one is not only amazing art work, but its going to be so rare. at first I didnt like the art work, because it didnt apply to alice except having the names of members and songs, but it didnt take long for the style and colors to get to me, I absolutely love it. I also like the way you cant tell where the inserts are.

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Cyclone is one of the sys 11 games that doesnt get the love it deserves. Back when I was at msu, I used to play it at pete's, and I need to get one some day. I am not much a clown type, in fact I dont even like amusement parks, but on route I donated many quarters to all 3.
Many of the cpr repros including this one had a production flaw. The clear oval inserts were from a new vendor and they didnt realize that they had to sand the sizes for the glue to grab. So most of them have some knarly cracks around the inserts. I reglued these, and re outlined them and repainted the yellow.

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When i was young, I had a bozo toy box that someone made for me. It was white with pics of bozo's evil assed mug all over it. I like the clown on cyclone, because he looks crazy. I like crazy clowns. Shakes the clown was my favorite movie for years. A shakes the clown pin would be great. There is a lot you could do with that theme.
on cyclone, I like looking at all of the individual people.

So I am just slowly getting thru these pfs in between 110 degree days. I am very happy with the eldorado. Wades screening is second to none. He never has chunks of color, his screens always align really well. These are better than the originals. Screening is a lot more work than printing. and there is no doubt that screening is an art and printing is not.
I have a collection of WW1 and concert posters, and all of the good stuff/collector/big money stuff is all screened. Screening is a super cool form of art.

I have a couple pfs left to bloc sand and polish, and then I will get in to the painting work that has been put aside, as well as the new jobs. The titles that are done except the blocking and polishing are
lotr
EBD
Ripleys
I think thats it. I all ready have several of the next batch prepped.

All star roll overs get tested before leaving

Of course it didnt happen on an elviria.
It ran on to the pf as I was taking the pics.

wow. That doesnt meet my standards, maybe others feel different. Since its fresh, I suggest the owner let it sit for 4 months before deciding on installing it as is.

Yesterday, It was too hot to clear, but it was one of those days that I was super in to my job, and even though I was suppose to cut the grass last thurs and still havent done it (5 hours just on the mower, not including trimming) so I block sanded 3 of the 4 pfs I have done, before I start on the new batch. One of the 4 is a cpr TOTAN and even though it has the same amount of coats on usually use, in the 5 weeks it was curing before I do the final sand I noticed that inserts really sank a lot. The last mirco IJ I had this problem with, they were raised. I could just do more sanding, but when this happens I figure it needs 2 more coats. So now I still have to sand it flat, but with the DA sander rather than by hand.
I couldnt get the inserts to show on pics, so I just ran the sanded across it quickly with 500 grit, and you can see how they are not smooth. The 3 other pfs I did Yesterday
EBD
lotr
Ripleys,
They were all smooth with the same amount of coats, and same or longer curing period.
So like I said, I am going to da sand it level, and sand over all of the edges of the holes and put 2 more coats on it. This happens on both cpr and mirco, and only some of them. It never happens on nos stern pfs. This occurrence has been pissing me off for years. I just do my best. The pfs are exposed to a lot of changing temp and humidity in my shop. I dont know what difference that makes, but whatever.

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Oh and there was a dam snake in the studio after lunch!!!!!
I told him to be on his way and make haste! I dont care for snakes, even garters

DUH! I didnt mean to reference rockwells post I meant to mention Jlays. Hy sinuses are HUGE today, and they are making me stupid

I highly recommend watching this build. looks cool as hell. I would love to paly it when done!

I wish there were torque specs. I use a torque wrench on pretty much everything I do on a car, including lug bolts. I have got pretty good at knowing what 80lbs feels like.

I am not the expert at installation, but a couple things I have learned. wait to tighten anything until you are done or dam close. also after you play 30-40 games, go thru and check all of your posts, especially anything that is screwed in to wood. New wood will loosen up after play. you want to make sure every thing is tight or else your wood screws will get sloppy and eventually blow out. as for how hard to tighten the ones w t nuts, down on the clear, I dont know.
during the build I would worry more about over tightening. then when done when checking it out after playing, take notice of how things are sitting in the clear, and go with that.

Maybe some of the pros could chime in here. By pro's I mean people that have done plenty of installs. Bryan kelly, tommy, daane, dave, are some of the guys I talk to often or do a lot of installs. Its all opinion. I like the opinions of people who do the kind of work I like.

I got a letter from a customer the other day, and I asked if i could post the first half. It makes my day to hear that after a year they are super happy with their pf/game. So much that now they are ready to do another. This kind of stuff not only puts a little wind in my sail, it keeps me doing this for a living.

Hi Ron, I hope you are well and this email finds you well.

Not sure if you remember me, but you did your amazing work to my Mirco Funhouse playfield back in 2020? It turned out amazing after I got everything put back together and adjusted, truly a work of art. I’ve probably only had just over 100 or so plays and the playfield looks the exact same. At first I put some Mylar out of the scoop eject, but then removed it and figured if I ever noticed any type of wear, I would just add another piece but it looks like the day I got it, your work is truly remarkable and one of a kind.

I got one of J. Greatwich's seawitch pf in stock now. This one has a nice clear which I was told is a couple coats of the clear I use, I just cant remember the name its a ppg product. I think it needs more clear, but thats up to the buyer.

also this plant flowers on the solstice and christmas, which is the equinox? whenever the shortest day is. I dont celebrate either, but its nice to be reminded, with a beautiful flower.

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Definitely makes my day better!

I called on a NOS MB pf for sale, and it was not a NOS it was a repro. the owned didnt know how to tell the difference. I said the first thing to look for is dates on the side edges, as shown in the first pic.

Here is a beautiful LOTR, ready to go to europe. Hard to believe next year this game will be 20 years old!!! wow. Its still on of the best games stern has built. In the top 5 for sure.

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This is a mirco EBD not a cpr. Though the inserts are still not centered. ha. Its going to play like a puck on fresh zambonied ice!

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I always liked playing Ripleys, and I realized why. The pf layout looks very similar to TAF. Nothing wrong with that.
This will be the last job that gets done for a while. I finished up all of the jobs that were close to being done. now I am digging in to a big but manageable group, with lots of NOS stuff in it. There is like 6 or so that are/ half way done , but for the most part, the majority are like 20% done.

so no pf porn for a little while

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