Good to hear! I just ordered my Flash Hardtop last night! Hopefully I'll have it installed shortly after the new year.

I picked up a Flash hardtop and have a couple questions.

My inserts have cupping and I keep seeing people say that the hardtop works great for cupping, no need to do anything. If you're already stripping and sanding down the playfield, why not just replace the inserts? Their printed instructions included, which I didn't see on their website, states that "leveling inserts and "eye dropper" filling cupped inserts is acceptable." My first pin and new to all this, but replacing "looks" easy...provided I can find the right inserts, so wouldn't that be a better option? Caveats?

Second, my shooter lane is pretty off between the playfield and hardtop. I planned on calling Outside Edge next week, but did anyone else encounter this? Hard to tell, but including a photo.

It's just sitting on top currently, going to start sanding tomorrow! Hopefully can install it next weekend!

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No turning back now! Wood is done, just have to smooth out the inserts then put a seal coat on. Hoping to install the hardtop next weekend!

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Sure do! It's not a great solution for this honestly. With all the electronics hanging down, you have to get it just right to straddle...and while locking it down I've let it slip and it's hit down on the saw horse...So now I have to triple check all the parts before firing it back up, make sure things aren't touching due to getting bent. Recommendation, use actual sawhorses!

Sanded the inserts today. I already replaced the top white ones. Actually wish I did them all kind of. People made it sound more difficult than it is. But I think it'll be just fine in the end. Clear coat tomorrow!

It was a long process...but SHE LIVES!! The hardtop looks amazing! Plays so much better now too! I have some adjustments to make on the flippers and switches, but it's great to have it back up and running again.

I'm slow, so I'd say it took me 20hrs to complete.

Tips
- Take pictures of EVERYTHING during the stages of tearing down the playfield! I took photos before I started, after removing plastic graphics, after removing posts but placing screws back (to document which screws were where), and before removing any parts (flippers/switches). This saved me multiple times from playing the guessing game.

- Don't attempt to install it alone! I couldn't imagine getting this in place correctly solo.

- Easy with the Dremel. Don't focus on trimming out rollovers or whatever else for more than a second, it heats up and the hardtop will start melting. This will cause lifted edges around your hole, so you'd need to trim back further to get rid of it. Flick off any plastic as you're doing it so it's still warm, before it quickly hardens, making it more difficult to get off to create a smooth and flat edge. Thankfully I realized this early so I didn't run into much of an issue.

Issues I ran into:
- Screw and other holes weren't perfectly aligned. As others told me, the older playfield was made by several people and wasn't done exactly the same between them. So screw holes or bumpers might be just a smidge off. Simply (carefully) trim out where needed. No fault of the Hardtop, the vast majority were perfect.

- Hardtop sticks out around the outside edges (ha!), trim it to avoid various issues. I almost had a catastrophic incident with it sandwiched in my Jawhorse.

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Earplugs and painters tape worked for me too. I cut earplugs in half so they wouldn't stick up and out as much for sanding. Though a lot flew out during sanding, ha. Made sure to check all of them and painters tape before applying clear coat. Also had to double up earplugs for slightly larger holes, otherwise used painters tape. For bumpers I used four earplugs and stuffed them in. I'm not sure why I didn't just use painters tape for those too, ha.

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If I ever do one again, I'll likely replace all inserts instead of just a few rough looking ones. This time I only replaced regular 4 inserts, plus 5 rollovers. I would once again sand and clear coat it though. I don't want to worry about that old paint peeling up. Get it off and adhere it to a good clean surface.