just take your time with the braid wire, don't rush it, your not under a time-frame to get it done...all will be fine...I have never had to replace my braid wire and I've done a ton of swaps...

Thanks Stu. Yeah, overall I think it's probably a wash in time spent removing and re-using the existing braid - compared to re-soldering a new one. With that in mind I opted to re-use. With that decision came the peace of mind knowing that everything was still wired up correctly.

Reusing the old braid is much easier, unless you plan to replace the old GI sockets ($$).

First swap, and i re-used the braidwire. Even bought the correct staple gun and staples to put them in the new playfield. You need to take your time and go slow (as Stu pointed out), but on the + side you save time and problems from resoldering and replacing all the GI sockets.

My Cyclone was a CPR second. It had some small issues, but nothing like what i saw on the S for Whirlwind.

For what its worth, CPR seems to make things right for their customers within reason....

I usually charge $1k for a swap, more for time sucking games like WH2O, of course.

The trick to making money @ $1K is to be efficient.

I've got two rotisseries, air stapler, blow off gun, roll around tool chest, roll around parts rack, tons of extra screws and springs (if one falls, I'm not crawling around looking for it), 2 cordless screw guns (one for drilling, one for screwing), Metcal solder/desolder station.

I'm very happy with my CPR Whirlwind playfield that i received last week, i already begun the swap, here's a picture with my progress.

IMG_0150.jpg

No crackling in your inserts? I was looking at a friends new stern pins and the inserts are perfect with no crackling. I just don't get why the CPR inserts are crackling. Maybe they should use the same company that Stern uses?

i think mine is near perfect, has really less crackling than OP's, from what i saw in his photo

Good luck with the swap. Glad to see someone tearing into this project would love to see some progress pics in the future.

There's slight crackling in the CLU center progress ladder insert in my NIB TRON that I got a month ago.

Doesn't make the game any less awesome/beautiful.

I have talked to kevin about this. (he called me, I didn't have a problem with the cracked inserts. It is what it is) Most of the nos WW pf's I have cleared (that are already lacquered from the factory) have the cracking. It is not caused by pressure, and I do now how to avoid it, when applying the clear. [It just takes experience. I was talking about this in a different post about how experience is priceless. Once they are cleared, the only way to fix it is to remove the insert, belt sand and replace, which is very expensive.
Speaking as a perfectionist, the crackling inserts don't bother me, and there are lots of little quality issues on pf's that do. (though not on this one) CPR does the best they can, I am certain of it. They even prime the back side. Look at the back of a mirco product. It has pools of clear from the top, and if they sealed it with something I cant tell.
The ink on the ww is fantastic!! and if you think the colors are off, that is because the originals were made by 3 or 4 different companies, that each mixed their colors daily. There is a large difference between a sun and a tag, and a linc smith. Not to mention the fade. For example, I am restoring 9 IJ pf's right now, and I can not use the same yellow on 2 pf's because they are noticeably different.
When it comes to clear, it is a production method that is subed out I believe. So a vendor gets paid a small amount to clear each one. He doesn't think individually. I am guessing each pf is cleared 2 coats a day for 2 days. As a finish product it looks great. Since I am an artist and a perfectionist, I prefer to use a very expensive clear, that cost a buttload, and is very hard to "work" after it is laid because it is so hard. (what I measn by work, is after the last coat, sand down the entire surface, and buff polish for hours) I also wait 10 days between sets of 2 coats. This eliminates the clear from sinking in 6 months in the low spots, and on the wood grain. If cpr did this, the pf would have to sell for about 1100, and it would take a long time to get the run done. Many people don't want that nice of a pf, though most do, they just don't want to pay for the quality.
The procedure I have done to eliminate the problem of the cracking inserts, adds quite a bit of time to the clear process, so price goes up. I suggest folks look at it like this: Its production, mass made goods. Just like all of the flaws on new sterns. 50% of the new in box sterns I have bought didn't work when I opened them up. I can get all black and white and say I want my money back, but really I just want to do what it takes to get it the way I want it. Pinball is just like hot rods. You have to work on stuff all the time. Even brand new parts. OR, YOU CAN PAY A PROFESSIONAL TO GO THRU ALL OF THE PROBLEMNS AND ISSUES FOR YOU, IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY, AND DONT HAVE THE PATIENCE.
The other thing, is now when you see someone's pins that are perfect, you should have a new respect for them, because you cant just buy them like that. It takes work, patients, money, networking, and working with professionals.
Lastly to finish this rant, Whirlwind games were very successful on route and made a whole lot of quarters. So, most have pretty beat pf's. If you install a new cpr, (even stock, as is) it is going to look so much better than the one you have. But you cant just drop in a new pf. Not only do you have to do all of that work, but you will have to fix and replace all of the other stuff. Nothing worth while is easy or cheap. Especially in pinball.
I own close to 200 pf's, and about 6 come in and 6 go out, a week. Man, I have seen it all. It is just what it is, To be cleche. I would worry about the big hunk out of the corner of the cab, or the diamond ring test someone did on the pf glass. I am sure any pf pro will remove the inserts, fix the problem, and reclear, if you want to pay for it. Its not like you can go to wallmart and get a new ww pf, and if it comes to that, where you can buy pin parts at wallmart, do you think they will look better? god help us!!!!!!
its only pinball cheers, ron kruzman

Still waiting to be contacted. I pre-ordered mine Aug 2012.

Haven't heard much after CPR announced that they were behind in the process. Everyone was originally supposed to be contacted by the 12th I believe. The not knowing is killing me though. I ordered in Oct 2012.

I got mine and checked for the insert crazing. All are perfect. Now I have been told that the clear used by CPR is not the strongest and will dimple from air balls. I tested this in the apron area and it did dimple however I do realize it has not yet reached the 45 day cure time recommended by CPR. I could have it recleared but I would love to get people's input on this before I do.

All boards will dimple, more clear won't change that. It's a steel ball, it can/will dent wood and plastic will follow. The older the wood gets, the harder it gets, so the playfields will harden over say 10 years. Also, the wood gets dimpled uniformly which hardens it up. Better to tear it down and have it cleared 10 years from now. You won't wear through the clear by a longshot.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/playfield-dimple-reality-check