Screenshot_20210412-195551_Gallery (resized).jpg
I used epoxy to attach a quarter minted in 1990, the same year as Funhouse. Then filled the hole with bondo.

20210401_082313 (resized).jpg
20210401_182550 (resized).jpg20210402_163752 (resized).jpg

The finished product (with the exception of the decal mentioned a few posts above)

20210412_164312 (resized).jpg
Safely packaged up for later...

20210412_164854 (resized).jpg

Glad to have the coin door behind me,. Moving on to a tedious set of tasks...regraining the ball guides (this game has a bunch), and I have 1 large ziploc bag of parts that need buffing and 1 bag of parts that need to go in the tumbler.

20210413_173733 (resized).jpg

20210413_173746 (resized).jpg

This disc is used to feed the ball, it shows some signs of wear. Im sure it could be ground down and cleaned up, but I have a replacement so I will just go ahead and replace it.

20210413_173808 (resized).jpg
There is a lot of parts and a lot of hand polishing in my future

Re graining ball guides...I used to dread this part. I tried scotch brite pads and wet sanding like I have seen others do. Its a lot if work and if your not careful the graining can appear wavy, crooked and generally crappy. I solved this problem by using a 3m sanding drum on my drill press. I set the sander just a hair higher than the deck...

20210415_154135 (resized).jpg
Then take a ball guide

20210415_154211 (resized).jpg
And set it on the drill press, keeping it firm on the deck...
20210415_155119 (resized).jpg
End result is perfectly parallel graining, looks just like factory

20210415_154616 (resized).jpg

Received another box from Marcos.... with the exception of the pinsound equipment I think I have about 97% of parts I need. Im sure a few more items will pop up once I start rebuilding all the mechs.
I am keeping track of $ spent on this project, I have tried to avoid doing this on some other restorations because I spent more than the game was worth. I will post that info at the end of the project.

Taking off for Vegas today so there wont be any work done for a few days. I will be visiting the PHOF, I understand that they just opened a new location and looking forward to checking it out.

This afternoon I was able to work through the ball guides and such...

20210418_150537 (resized).jpg20210418_151353 (resized).jpg
Got the bulk of the big stuff, including the incredibly large rear guide (not shown) done...

20210418_155359 (resized).jpg

Hand polished the wire forms and cleaned blue pads...
20210418_142429 (resized).jpg

One of the ramp switches had a shoddy looking splice in the harness...

20210418_144739 (resized).jpg
Turns out it wasnt a splice, just an area where the insulation had been damaged and some wire was exposed. I slid a piece of shrink tube over the damaged wire and heated...

20210418_145346 (resized).jpg
My guess is this area of the harness may be prone to rubbing between the cabinet and playfield, I though it best to add another shrink tube over both wires for added protection...

20210418_145454 (resized).jpg

Finished polishing the last bit of smaller parts last night.
Today its time to fire up the tumbler...
I take a reasonable amount of grouped parts and snap a pic so I can regroup them when they get out...

20210419_174535 (resized).jpg
I take a look at the media in the tumbler...its dusty, somewhat rounded and worn. Leftovers from the last project...
16188803567956142023392565919656 (resized).jpg
New crushed walnut media...

20210419_180124 (resized).jpg
I fill up the tumbler with some fresh shells...

20210419_174234 (resized).jpg
Pop in the parts, put on the cover, turn it on and check back in a few days...

20210419_174633 (resized).jpg

While that stuff is baking in the tumbler I turn my attention to the light boards, small opto and power driver from under the playfield. These are in great shape, just dirty...

20210419_184600 (resized).jpg
I remove the bulbs and the lamp sockets...

20210419_184945 (resized).jpg
Bulbs go in the trash, sockets and boards into the untrasonic....

20210419_185725 (resized).jpg

Damn...as I start to put the light boards back together I realize that I forgot flashers when I placed my Comet order... I will get a count together and get those ordered.

Whats the best place to order the OCD boards, from Comet as well?

Thanks!

The can started at room temp (68°) I put it in the freezer for 30 min, tried it but it wasnt quite ready, put the can back in freezer another 15 min and it was good to go. You still need to depress the tip only 15-20% but the cold paint splatters better.

After a toothbrush scrub and a rinse with clean water the board and lamp sockets are COMPLETELY dried with compressed air...

20210419_192022 (resized).jpg
They shine like new!
20210420_160125 (resized).jpg
Next I reassemble the boards with new comet bulbs...

20210420_155732 (resized).jpg20210420_161418 (resized).jpg
And again these get packaged up for safe keeping, another component that is plug and play and ready when reassembly begins...

20210420_161706 (resized).jpg

When I went to get the box from comet, I came across the box of parts back from modfather and decided to take a peek...

20210420_175022 (resized).jpg20210420_175151 (resized).jpg20210420_175202 (resized).jpg
Although I want to keep this fairly stock looking, the painted Rudy should look great without being *too* different

Now my plan is to move on to the insert board. I thought I could just give it a quick general cleaning with some new white paint on the front and be done with it. It has some blue overspray on it from a long ago repaint of the head (in the wrong color blue)

20210420_180124 (resized).jpg
Upon further inspection I find several cooked, brittle broken lamp sockets with a few missing one side or the other. I dont really have any confidence in them...
20210420_182047 (resized).jpg
I am sometimes reminded of how many different bulbs there are in these games. When I was doing a WH20 awhile back I used the wrong bulbs in the topper, not knowing there was a special bulb for them. In Funhouse I came across these round bulbs and thought maybe someone had put them in by error years ago...

20210420_180148 (resized).jpg
But, it just turns out to be a specialty bulb that blinks on its own and is just yet another part to add to a new shopping list.
I also learned that the cooked sockets for the insert board are not available and I have to use a screw on replacement so the list quickly gets longer...

Do you recall which ones you have tried already?

Hmmm, those were the ones I was going to try. I guess I will wait awhile to see if anyone chimes in with an acceptable alternative. Im just afraid that if I use OG incandescent blinky bulbs it will look noticeably different from the sunlight comet frosted bulbs I am using for GI.

I need to shelf the insert panel while I wait for new lamp sockets, I will revisit that next week.

Time to tackle the transformer. This one is dirty but is by far in the best overall shape of any recent game from this era I have worked on...

20210421_164910 (resized).jpg20210421_164920 (resized).jpg
That red wire threw me off a bit, at first I thought it might be a hack but after a little snooping online I found it to be correct.

I usually remove the mounting brackets, then strip the varnish from them and polish. Along with that I would repaint the transformer housing with black BBQ spray paint and wash the harness.
This one may clean up good enough to look great but still be original. If not then I will strip it down and proceed with the above course of action.
Lets see what happens...

Nothing fancy in this first step. Simple tools and methods...

20210421_170233 (resized).jpg
First I hit it with a dry toothbrush and use compressed air to remove a good deal of the grit. I use a cloth with some simple green to clean up the serial # tag and the housing. I also use the moist cloth to individually clean the first inch or so of each wire where it connects to the transformer. I only worry about the first bit of wire, I dont want to get any moisture in where the connections are made. After that I switch to a spray bottle and toothbrush to make short work of the rest of the harness and the connectors. I can saturate these areas as much as I want with no worry. Then a wipe down with fresh water followed by a clean dry cloth and compressed air to dry.

Results after first cleaning...

20210421_181828 (resized).jpg

Im going to leave the transformer as-is after a good cleaning. There are some dings on the top of the housing that im not too thrilled about but they are minor and even if I repaint it they will still be just as visible. Very little corrosion anywhere on this game, usually these transformers need more attention.

20210422_090500 (resized).jpg

Time to check back in with the tumbler...

20210422_145155 (resized).jpg

Looks good at first glance...

20210422_145512 (resized).jpg
A wipe with a clean soft and they look great...

20210422_150548 (resized).jpg
A quick wipe down of the rest of the parts from the first batch and its time to reload it and let it run.

GI OCD ordered
LED OCD ordered

Also trying to order a set of red rails from Reese Rails. I usually cut and lacquer my own but I saw a pic from pinballinreno that looked stunning.
By the time I get some oak, cut and finish it, then try to source the proper color red I think Im better off just ordering them this time.

Buff...polish... repeat
Buff...polish....repeat
With the occasional set of parts through the ultrasonic...
20210425_151040 (resized).jpg20210425_152442 (resized).jpg20210425_153124 (resized).jpg

20210425_141737 (resized).jpg

Two packages showed up today...

20210426_170834 (resized).jpg
What could they be...

First one is no surprise...

20210426_170903 (resized).jpg
Looks interesting, its a lot of stuff to fit in the back box...I got the mounting brackets they offer as well

20210426_183035 (resized).jpg

Theres another one...this one Im very excited about.

20210426_183458 (resized).jpg

download.jpeg-9 (resized).jpg

Nope, thats already waiting in the pile of parts.
20210426_193642 (resized).jpg

This box contains (sort of) unobtanium in it...

20210426_193516 (resized).jpg
25 original style insert board lamp sockets!

Not so fast!
I have found in almost every restoration that I have documented (and a few that I did not) someone has stepped up and offered a needed part(s) without solicitation. This time I received a pm from pinsider ismiglif, he was kind enough to offer me the last few lamp sockets he had stashed away. Thanks Chris, I owe you one buddy!