Careful with the metallic paint. I imagine it’s very similar.

This technique seems to be working well. The key is masking areas off. You can see the excessive overspray on the paper. That would be awful To get on smooth areas You already finished. Moving right along tho..

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Backbox basecoat is done. I’m going to try spraying the montana varnish on the bottom before removing the paper. See how that goes. Cabinet progressing. Started painting some of the interior wood pieces.

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Forgot to post these. Painting the large surface area of the cabinet proved to be difficult once again. Really hard to prevent this flake streaking effect when spraying with rattle cans. Wish I had a spray gun for this paint, but it is what it is now. I did 4 coats on this side & I’m running out of silver paint.

Once the stencils go on, it will be less visible I think. And perhaps I’m being obsessive here & no one will notice. The flake does look good though on close inspection.

I also sprayed for coats of the semi gloss varnish on the bottom of the head it test it. This stuff sprayed as a very wide fine mist. Secret is quick passes & thin coats. No sanding in between. Let the layers build up. Turned out nice. I’m definitely applying to the entire cabinet.

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Temps dropping & fall approaching. Time to bang this paint job out. Stencil day part 1 This game a piece of cake. Simple single layer.

Stencil applied, masked off & sprayed, stencil quickly removed. 3 quick light coats. The black covers very well. Edges don’t look very raised either.

The only issue I have is that I left the tape on the backbox for awhile & it was hard to remove. It’s left some residue on the back edges of the head framing. Not sure how I’m going to remove it, because goo done will wipe away the unprotected paint layer. Tried using a clean rag & it just doesn’t want to come up.

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One more side to go

3 coats again on the side & remove stencil. It was about 60 deg here today. Working out well.

I like how the silver pops now

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4 light coats on the bottom of the head. 2 minutes apart. Stuff dries pretty fast.

I’m just debating going through the whole “one horizontal side at a time” for the varnish, or just saying the hell with it & spray everything vertically.

And the stencils are done!

I had to pull it into the sun to give the silver justice. The flakes really sparkle with a light source. It was worth it & certainly beats spraying it flat grey. I also like how the inside turned out.

The streaking in the silver pain is easier to see in the sun, but I’m curious if anyone notices in person.

Anyway I’ll let this cure until next weekend & they hit it with the varnish. The black should pop better after that & at least the paint will be protected from scratches.

One things for sure.... it’s not a Meteor anymore!

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Instead of taking a risk & spraying the varnish vertically, I'm just going to do the same process I did for the paints. Horizontal & masking to prevent runs & overspray. Temps are back up over 60 degrees this weekend, so its time to finish this paint job up. Very curious to see how this varnish turns out.

Wed - Head Top / Cab Back
Thurs - Head RT side / Cab Front
Fri - Head LT side / Cab RT side
Sat - Head Front / Cab LT side

Sprayed the Montana semi gloss varnish this weekend. It’s really hard to photograph properly, but I’m really pleased with the results. Here are some before & after pics where you can see the shine & protection. I recommend this stuff. I’ll be using it for all future builds.

Two light coats, then two heavy coats. Spray horizontal so you can lay it on thick without concern of runs. I would have liked to apply more coats but I was running out of cans. It really comes out as a mist, and I’m convinced a third of the can turned into an aerosol & floated away. Also spaying with a light source reflection visible on the surface made it easy to see where the clear was being applied.

I just need to finish spraying the neck & then put it all together. Instead of stapling like they did originally, I'm just going to screw the neck in place & countersink the heads.

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We have an official QS cabinet! Just wanted to get some legs on it to see what it looks like.

Added the cab protectors & the heavy duty corner plates. Screwed the neck in & countersunk the screws. Time to start piecing this thing together

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And the Third Coast harnesses arrived today. Very impressed!

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Just some tinkering this weekend. Cleaning & polishing parts. Running the cabinet ground wire, etc. The new upholstery stapler is phenomenal. Going to come in very handy for securing light board & playfield ground wire later on.

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The coin door restoration begins.

I was just going to remove the assemblies & set them aside since they weren’t too dirty, then just repair the door itself. But you know how that goes...

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Now it’s in a million pieces, being tumbled & polished. Acetone took the old tape right off the bezel, and a little hammering & bending got the door back in shape. After I get the paint stripped, it will be time to weld that 3/8 inch hole closed.

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Testing out the paint stripper before I do the door. Sprayed & then let it soak for 15 minutes. Used a plastic scraper & some steel wool to get the paint off. It required 2 sprayings to get it off, and then it was back into the Rustoleum soak to remove the stubborn rust

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Well that was a nasty messy job. Lots of scraping. Lots of scrubbing with steel wool. Over & over. The door was especially difficult. But it eventually all the hammer tone paint came off.

I wonder if letting the parts soak in the paint remover would work better? I’m not sure I would use the spray again. Took multiple coats & the can nozzle clogged often.

In any case, it’s ready for welding

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My boy welded up the hole & grinder it down this weekend. Turned out nice. Also took a dip in the evaporust bath afterwards.

I applied JB Weld yesterday & it takes 24 hours to fully cure. Hopefully it will and down nice & flat. I forgot to take a photo tho.

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More door parts tumbled & polished. Ready for assembly.

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Glass guide rails cleaned & restapled back into place.

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So I purchased the new reproduction version of the Classic Stern side rails from Pinball Life. They are cut well & after removing the protective tape & glue, they polished up nicely.

My concern is the bend at the leading edge. The PL version has a much more angled bend than the originals. See photos. I’m concerned that it will be difficult to side the glass in without scratching the glass. I don’t know why they bent this so much at the production factory.

In any case, I may just have to take a pliers after they are installed & bend the edge up a bit so it doesn’t contact the glass. We shall see. Curious if anyone had to adjust theirs.

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Once polished they sure look nice & shiny though!

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Mugs approves of the new garage space heater. Going to come in handy when the temps really start to drop.

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JB weld cured 24 hours, sanded & primed. Probably another coat tomorrow & it should be ready for silver hammer tone.

Also painting the legs at the same time. Get it all done before the snow arrives.
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Thought I would share these.

I want to keep the pops on this build as they were originally designed. So I had to source the unique plastic bumpers for these Classic Sterns. They say the pop action is a lot faster with plastic vs metal bumpers. Who knows, but I’m intrigued to see how they function when finished.

I found this design & had them 3D printed. They are nylon & not as shiny or smooth as the grey plastic originals, but I was able to order in any color. I think the red will look pretty sharp with the white bases & yellow caps. They weren’t cheap tho.

Also purchased new coin plate chutes, but in hindsight, I could have just painted the old ones I guess.

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Got the door & legs sprayed with the Rustoleum Hammered paint. I really like the way it turned out. It took multiple coats & passes to get it just right. After doing testing, I found the effect looked better if sprayed on a horizontal surface.

The problem was that the spray cans often splattered drops of paint, landing on the surface, which ruins the hammered effect. I finally learned to do a pass, then quickly dap the nozzle to remove any buildup of paint which might drip.

After getting it just right, and letting it cure for 24 hrs, I thought I could start putting the door together. But after pressing my nail into the paint, it’s still too soft. I’m going to let it cure awhile before moving forward.

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Yep ordered on Shapeways. They look durable & strong. The material looks somewhat porous to me, so I’m curious if they will get dirty often or be difficult to keep clean. We’ll see it guess.

This was pulled out out the Meteor when I bought it. Check out the soldering job on this replacement rectifier board. Yikes!

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Now I’m no soldering expert. And this was the first time I attempted board work. Some of these joints look better than others but they’re all tested for continuity & have good connections.

I like the heat sink on this nvram weebly board. No need for aluminum plates or paste.

Transformer panel all reassembled. It’s onto rewiring the tilt panel with the new third coast lower cabinet harness tomorrow.

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Yes the nozzle design was awful & led to all the problems. Lesson learned tho.

Ended up looking great for a classic game & beats dropping cash on powdercoating.

Installed the lower cabinet harness today. The harness fit into the cabinet perfectly.

I need new flipper switches, so I still need to install those. I chose not to install the original outlet onto the tilt panel, because I wasn’t thrilled about the design. I can always add one later as it plugs in. Taped off for now.

Onto coin door assembly once the paint is fully cured.

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Figured I might as well let the door cure until the weekend, so I got started on the light board panel. Bought a sheet of 3/4 inch MDF from Home Depot & got to work.

So I used the light board template file that has floated around these QS threads. It’s a great file, proper size, etc. But for the life of me, I could not get the pages arranged properly. I couldn’t get the overlapping right when printing. So I had to modify it, draw lines & numbers, etc. Looks overly complicated but it works for me.

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Used the circular saw to cut the sheet to size. Put the template on top & clamped it into place.

Predrilled each hole with a 1/8 drill bit, then removed the template. The predrilled hole makes it much easier to drill through that lousy MDF. Used a 1/2 inch Forstner bit & drilled halfway from the front. Then flipped it over & drilled the rest of the way from the back. This kept both sides clean & no blowouts/chipping in the MDF.

I still have to cut out the display areas & a couple other spots with the plunge router. Ran out of time today. But it’s looking good. That forstner bit was a lifesaver.

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