Hopefully this thread is still relevant: I have a customer looking for a NOS dolly pf for a restoration. Of course I will get a clear job out of it!
anyway PM me if you have one or know of one.

I think I go thru phases. At one point I got really tired of ballys (especially paragons) because I was getting a lot of them, and they have their own charm, or you could call them issues, that are time consuming. Then I do 6 months of repro pfs, and I am ready for some nos old stuff. How was it my mother used to say it so eloquently ? oh yea, "Boy. you are like a fart in the wind".

Here is another Alice cooper I have finished that is going in to a new game. there is a cool mini pf that I have all ready sent back to spooky. I have really fallen for the art on this pf. It would be a god wall hanger for sure!!!
I am finally getting back on track, and up to pace with the jobs. Everything was delayed because of roof damage this year, and the whole spray room had to be rebuilt, then dialed in. Plus a new supplier for my clear. same manufacturer, but a supplier who can get materials that are newer than 2 years old!!!!

LASTLY: I want to mention that I have a cpr TAF pf almost done, that is for sale. I am waiting for it to be purchased before I do the last set of coats and block and polish. PM me if you are interested.

Also if you have any nos pf's to sell or trade, drop me a PM
AS always thanks to everyone for the support. I really appreciate being able to do this for a living!

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Here is an amazing deal on a ww pf. If you are planning to do one in the future, and the little issues in the clear dont bother you, this is your chance to save about 700 bucks!!
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/hep-williams-white-water-playfield-set

Hi sergio, I am willing to make a trade on any of the pfs I have in stock, but those old stern pf's in nos, are as rare as chicken teeth. Take a look at what I have, or maybe a clear job to put toward that dolly. If I didnt do this for my living, and could save my money instead of pissing it away, I would only trade my nos pfs (like you).

I thought I would share this. I will preface it with the fact that I got my first pin when I was 14 (my dad helped) and it was my dream to own an arcade. When I got older I wanted to be an operator since arcades seem to fail so often. The draw to weighing a 5 gal bucket of quarters, is always been my dream.

I have a good friend named Chris Travis (rock pinball). I dont know how it came to be, and I am sure its a interesting story, but he got the opportunity to open an arcade above a new restaurant in a small town called Wayland. (little 2 or 3 light town). The upstairs is a big open room the size of the restaurant below, so he divided it with tall black curtains on a cable, and with the help of a couple local friends who have games to add to his, plus he bought some vids, Chris did my dream and opened an arcade.
So I went up there this weekend to check it out. I figured since its such a small town and the restaurant is just finished being built, no signage, that no one would even know he had the games up there. In my mind, that still within my dream. I got there and there were 2 families in the restaurant, and there were 2 kids upstairs. So I figured since he prob wasnt making any quarters at all, I would donate mine to the earthshaker. It played awesome and I got my name on it. while I was playing, a group of 4 little kids came up and started dropping quarters. Half of them didnt know how to play the games, and one kid was about 9 and was amazing at the basket ball game where you throw the small balls in the hoop. Chris came up to play a couple games with me, and give me some Quarters (thank you by the way), and he checked his coin boxes, and since everything chris travis touches turns to gold, of course there was a bunch of coins in there. I was super impressed and super happy for him. This guy never just talks about ideas. He often comes up with an idea, and gives it a shot, win or loose and he usually wins, all while working 55 hours a week at a regular jobie job. So the video games do much better than the pins, (most of the little kids had never seen a pin, or thats what it looked like since he could get 45 baskets in 30 sec, but tried to climb on the pin as if that was what you do with it. He didn't know the shooter was to launch the ball) and of course the claw game that grabs candy is the best quarter maker.
So this weekend I was reminded that nothing ventured nothing gained, or however that goes. It was really inspiring, and maybe some day I will get a game on route. Next time I need to bump this thread I will write about my great idea to put my GnR pin in a tattoo shop, and how I just agout got thrown out for insulting the owner. After all" its an art studio not an arcade!!!"

Ok back to the coal mine.

I always forget to take before pics. In this case i took 3 lousy pics (they are on the page before this, so take a look before looking at these pics) because this pf was in bad shape. it was stored upside down on cement, so the top 8-10 in were flaking off the wood if you ran your hand across it. There was a scratch from the top eagle on the upper right all the way down about 4 in below the grass his boots are in. all of the inserts got reglued, and I had to sand off all of the laquer all the way down in the lowest part of the wood grain. I had to paint the key lines around every insert. There is a couple places I would like to fix that have a little planking but I have 14 hours in to this all ready. I havent talked to the customer for the ok on stuff that is not essential.
I sprayed one thin coat down to lock it in and see what it looks like, so before you say anything about the clear.
Anyway I am not big on pics of work in progress, but I am trying to keep this thread updated

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here is a close up

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Thank you for posting them.
One of the best parts of my job is that people dont tell me all of the stuff they want me to do to the pf. For the most part folks just want me to "do it" and know that I will do my best.
This is the second frontier I have done since summer and the art has really grown on me. I have actually never played the game, but this era of bally is my fav by far.
I Just checked the book and 80-81 were amazing years for bally. It looks like in 1980 they produced about 67000 units if you include future spa. Frontier is the lowest production at 1850, and hot dogin at 2050. That is super rare since the other titles were about 7000 units average in 1980. I had a beautiful hot doggin and I didnt realize how rare they were. Here it comes the ol sellers remorse.
In 1981 Bally made the perfect Trifecta: FATHOM/MEDUSA/CENTAUR. Plus EBD had come out a couple months before. It looks like, by the numbers, they were goin for bankruptcy in the end of 84. I can only imagine a pic of the factory production- floor in 79-80 and then in 85-85. There must have been a lot of lay offs.
So in 1986 we would go to Pinball Petes, which was right off MSU campus (at Frandor I think, if anyone was in the area at the time) and I would get the Pins to my self, with ridicule from my friends who really looked down at pinball machines. The way I picture it in my memory is 1980's frat boys with revo sunglasses and collars up, on their pastel polo shirts playing video games, and pinball was left for the burners. I was one of the few burn-out rockers in college in the 80's.
In 1991 I moved to Venice Ca and things were a lot different than the Michigan scene. This is one of the few countries in the world (that I have been to) that has such a HUGE variety of cultures, almost completely independent of each other, because of the size of the country I think.
I will keep it to playfields

One of the easy ways to tell a pf is an IPB is if you see rubbing compound in the edges of cutouts. often its covered by clear. Its hard to miss.
Most all of his Scared stiffs have issues with the black screen not being sharp and full, and often you will find some small amount of touch up. Once you find it, you will notice its not too good. Thats an IPB. Plus i know the feel of the clear. I like IPB beter than others in some cases. Its a case by case situation depending on which title and run.
Happy New Year!

Do you think it could be done for the kzoo or ohio show? That may be a reason for me to go to the ohio show its been like 4 years.
A beautiful narcissistic dream would be a kruzman section at the kzoo show, with games with my pfs.

I wanted to post some pics of a run of the mill, or typical job. Its clearing a cpr centaur, and the pics show that you get what you pay for. I get emails all of the time from people that tell me they are just going to have a body shop clear their pf after hours for only 100 bucks. For this example I am going to completely set aside how bad that pf will look after 100 games. This is to show what I do on repro pf that the manufacture say it is perfect,gold, whatever, and that its better than the one you have in your game now. (the second part is usually true but absurd).

So this is what I mean when I say tighten up the inserts. Its caused by the screens not being lined up, and when you see a wood sliver on the side of an insert, its from the art not being set in the right place on the board. Also my pet peeve which is cracks around inserts.
I would agree that the flaws on this pf are not necessarily enough to pay to have it done, but if you want your clear to look amazing the day its installed, as well as 15 years down the line, then it makes very much sense to have it cleared, and in for a penny, in for a pound. On stuff like this, I wont clear a pf without doing it. I wont clear a pf with cracks around inserts or flaws. We have to fix that stuff first

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Here are some pics after I painted the inserts, and matched the black. I still have to build up the clear, and level and all that jazz, so it is not a finished job. I still have not proofed the art to make sure its good 'nuff.

I am finishing 6 pfs in the next 2 weeks, so watch for pics to come. I have 3, done in the living room, waiting too clean the holes and cut-outs while I watch cartoons (It takes over an hour to thread a towel thru the holes, big and 1/8 th inch).
A nos champ pub, and a mirco BSD, and a cpr Firepower. The look amazing, the black of the firepower shows off the clear quality. BTW if you have a cpr firepower, you need to re-glue the inserts before clearing. You can more than likely see several with cracks around them thru the clear. Now days, when in doubt (mostly on nos pf's) I reglue them. Its only 2 hours, and if they get loose under a clear coat, that pf is garbage. I hope to finish a NOS afm next week that needed drilling and dimpling. I noticed every insert had cracks around it. usually its just the big ones, and usually I do it for the pfs that are around 30 years old, but now I am taking no chances when its only a 75$ service.

So watch for pics of finished jobs to come (its about time).

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The red, "special" insert will get painted

so I started working on a quicksilver repro pf, and I saw something that always makes me giggle like a little girl. It makes me think about how its so common to show nude womens' brestesis, but rarely the male member. This reminds me of every time I got a chance to deface someones text book cover, back in elementary school

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That centaur belongs to Mr tom.
2 games that when restored, look better than new out of the box (there may be more)
Centaur and funhouse. Both look so clean and amazing, both great art, and both play like there is a 4th dimension with one of my pfs

crap I didnt take pics of the before sanding, and it would be good to show that the clear was so thin you could feel the layers of colors. If it is too cold to get the spray room above 75, I need to get the small amount of black touch up done on that pf.

My job is feast or famine. when the pfs are done I bring them in the main house and put them against the wall in the living room, and I am out of wall room with hopefully 4 more pfs getting completed this week. If my worst problem is no room to lean complete jobs then my world is OK

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Can anyone guess the game on the right? (dont answer if you have been here)
I do this with pics often. I try to figure out the games in the background.

Also I found out that Spooky is doing a rick and morty pin!! That is one of my favorite shows. There is so much potential being its animation and sci fi. I am suppose to be getting a couple of the pfs to clear for installation any day now. Its pretty cool of spooky to let folks get their pfs cleared by me before installation. If you are interested in getting one of my pfs in your game, you can talk to Kayte at spooky or email me

OK I havent been to east lansing in about 20 years. I was there to see Henry Rollins speak, and I hadn't been there in years, then.
Back in 1987 not 86 as I mentioned a couple weeks ago in my post and I believe grand river was the main drag, and I thought frandor was about 2 miles, from campus, west, (maybe) right before you got to the high way.It may have been a place I incorrectly thought was frandor. If I am correct that it was west of campus then it was on the north side of the split 2 lane road. If that was not Frandor, it is where I liked to play pinball.

Thank you for the bump. Everyone is welcome to post any posts or questions about pfs or pinball, or as in this case pinball location history.

So this was a swing and a miss. Its a customers sorcerer repro, that has aprox 3 inches of twist. Now that I did it (and learned) I would do it different.
I may use some 3/4 in plywood I have laying around that will possibly straighten out the frame, and take the pf with it, by cutting it to fit the pic frame I built, and screwing it right on top of it. hopefully the thickness of the plywood will stop it from twisting
The owner is very resourceful and may make a steel bracket, but in the mean time I am afraid to clear it all twisted, because when he straightens it out, it could pop the clear, since the twist is so extreme.
I deal with warps all of the time,which are generally not a problem at all, and usually I can fix them with gravity in a week or so. The same customer sent a medusa that has such a smile-warp, that the clear is beginning to get strange in the center of the smile, so I have it braced at a 45 deg angle with several pfs on top of it. If gravity wont do my job, then I will use some braces screwed to the back. I just reluctantly threw away like 30 pieces of side rail that have been collecting dust for 10 years or longer, and within 3 months I needed them. Duho!

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So good news if you are in the West michigan area, or ever travel there my buddy Ryan Thompson is opening a Pinball Game room in Rockford MI which is Grand Rapids as far as I am concerned. Opening day is this Saturday 10 am to 10 PM. the address is
Pinball Land
114 courtland st
rockford MI
49341

If you want info go to:
[email protected]

Here is a pic, he is just getting started, so its a good thing to support people who are investing in pinball in all ways, from your trusty playfield advocate to guys who design, or folks who make mods, and of course people who sell and route games. I wouldn't do my laundry there, but every time I am in kalamazoo I go to the coin op laundry to drop some quarters in his pinball machine. I try to build up some credits to leave for the kids who are bored out of their skulls but dont know what pinball is all about, and dont have the coin.

Anyway Ryan Has been working on this place for a couple months, and it really looks nice, and there is a great line up considering he is just starting.

He has kindly offered a space on his wall for me to hang a couple pfs, and I am trying to get up there, hopefully Sat.

I am not in grand rapids, but there used to be a comic book place that was east of 131 but I forgot what road. Does anyone know where that is and if they are still going with the machines. I know they belonged to the owner at the time. I dont leave the compound much so I dont know if they are still there.

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Generally the side rails will straighten it out, but if they dont, the heavy parts will. This one is twisted enough I just am covering my sweet ass. I doubt it will be a prob with the parts. They made the games, and the way the pf's sit, knowing that the plywood would have plywood issues.

Chris is not part of this one. 2 people with similar dreams at the same time. How about that?

Here is a letter I wrote to reply to someone who wrote me asking how I do the pop bumper lugs on a clearcoated pf. I understand it is terrifying to mes up a beautifully cleared pf. The pop lugs are one of the first things you do, and if you have a problem with them, you may not want to continue. Like I said in the letter, my install kit was a result of me freaking out about cracking clear coat with these and t nuts. I didn't post the question because I would never post someones email. I have really strong feelings about that because a lot of people will do just that and it is very wrong.

I realize there are guys who do total "How to" explanations of populating a pf, but lets just assume that I haven't read any of those... because I have not.

So by posting this, I can refer to it next time I am asked the same question, and maybe pimp a install kit or 2

Good Morning . Those things (bastards) are what I call lugs, because I dont know what they are called. I designed my install kit around and because of them. You will totally screw up your pf if not careful. forgive me if I forget, but do you have one of my install kits? hopefully so like I said they are a result of those lugs. here is the procedure i have refined.
First thing take your time and do the first pop (3) and after you have a working system, then do them all at once. I do them first thing on the job so I can do them on the bench rather than roticery (as well as t nuts) I put the pf on some 2x4's so they are right under the pop area, but the nail can still go thru. I use the Bit from the install kit that is the big one that is curved at the top or the big round one, and I carefully remove all of the clear out of the counter sunk hole. If your pf dosen't have a counter sunk hole, remove the clear then drill the counter sink.
after all of the clear is removed, use the measuring tool included for the size of the nail shaft, and use a drill bit that size or a hair thicker, and predrill. then use your glue kit and drip a drop of glue on the top rim of each side of the counter sunk hole. This will lock the new edge of the clear down to the wood. the glue will immediately soak/wick under the clear around the edges.
Now that you can slide the nail thru the hole without pounding, check if the nail is the type with fins or the type with a collar of points. if it is the collar of points, then use the measuring tool in the kit to pick a drill bit a size smaller that the collar, and predrill about 1 cm.

Now put your nail in, and I use my finish nail set, if you dont have one a 16 penny nail will do, and put it in the center of the head and tap with hammer until you knock it down to the level you want. I do this on the bench with 2x4's under to support, but with just enough room for the nail to go thru. tap it down till it is where you want it. i like them flush with the clear or a hair higher. Thats it.

If you don't have my install kit, I wouldn't do it till you get one. Its 80 bucks plus ship.
same as with t nuts on the top side. use the flat top bit to remove all of the clear out of the countersunk hole, use the glue applicator on each side's edge, and let it run down to the wood. Mt nail set it thick enough that it goes about a cm in to the t nut but doesnt bother the threads, and with the 2x4's under I wack about 2 or 3 times.

Until I figured out the pop lugs and built the kit I wrecked a couple clear coats because I pounded the nails in to the clear, and it chipped cracked, didnt look good. Plus my clear is so hard the t nuts wont go thru it (they have dull teeth).

Hope this works. if it helps a lot let me know and I may put it up on the pinside thread.
take your time, ron

wow, Thanks a million for the heads up. I laid 2 coats last night, but I really said the first set, so I will be able to make the adjustment. I will check out your info, and i cant say thanks enough.!!!!!

I just read thru the entire thread on this quick silver install documentation. Since you have done a couple of them, you are getting so good at documenting the work. Since you are doing it to the highest standard, it leaves room for folks to pick and choose, but man, talk about helpful. This will be a great template for someone who is going to do one, (and it sounds like you have a bunch of people who are going to)

I highly recommend reading this thread as it progresses to start digesting the info if you are a soon to be beginner or amateur (as for installations I am right there in the middle of the two, leaning toward beginner. Unfortunately I need to work 6 days a week at my jobie job to make the bills so I dint have much time to expand my self in these opportunities. But life is long).

In my opinion Mircos clearcoat keeps changing. This one didnt have the trademark rollercoaster surface. It was pretty darn flat, but the clear was soft to answer your question. I cant quantify it, except by how the sander went thru it, and it was very easy to push my finger nail in to it.

I should spend more time looking at others work, but I really dont. Like I have told folks in the past I bought a centaur with a stock repro pf in it, and within 100 plays the surface looked like a golf balls surface. So much so, that I sold it fast because when I told folks it was not my clear they were looking at me sideways thinking why didnt you do the clear? Other wise I would feel like a crook sanding off clear coats that are good enough. Most are not, but occasionally a repro goes thru here with a nice clear. But since it dosent have the 8-10 layers of fully cured hardness, it will never look like my work after it is used. It sucks having pfs in the shop for 13 weeks, but that is what it takes to let each set cure fully before adding more.

I used to rock them out in 4 weeks, and they looked great. Now they have to look great, but I am way more concerned with how it will perform during installation and game play.

See how I made your question all about me? it is after all my thread