So I'm going to document the installation of a hard top on my Space Shuttle. This isn't going to be a typical restoration as this game is for route. This means that I'm going to be installing the hard top, replacing coil sleeves, cleaning and adjusting mechs and that's about it. I'm not going to mess with the cabinet nor bother with a new ramp or plastics at this time. If the hard top holds up to the abuse of being on location then when she gets retired to my gameroom she'll get the full treatment.

I'll document the game thru it's life on route also. Check out this ugly pig.

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Ok top side almost fully torn down. Am too tired to finish tonight so have a few more things to remove from the top like the lane switches and the trough. Will finish it up tomorrow. I layed the hard top onto the playfield and it appears it's going to be a great fit. This playfield is beat. The change is going to be amazing.

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I don't know - this playfield might be acceptably bad.

Playfield sanded with 60 then 150 then 220. Inserts polished with novus 3 and 2. Sprayed 1 light coat of crystal clear on the inserts.

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I used krylon crystal clear but wasnt very happy with the results. It didn't lay flat even after I really sanded, wiped the pf down with naptha a ton of times and tack clothed everything. I ended up putting on three light coats just to get the inserts acceptably clear. If I were to do it again I'd spend the time and polish the inserts with high grit sandpaper instead. Lesson learned.
I've had good luck with crystal clear in the past sealing waterslide decals and touch ups and never had an issue with it bubbling up. I think either it was an old can or the surface was contaminated like there was just deep layers of silicone in the wood that didn't come out with sanding and naptha.

I ended up installing the hardtop last night. Another caution is to make sure to use pretty robust tape to hold the overlay on the playfield. I used masking tape and it tore while laying it down. It ended up screwing up my registration pretty bad.
I got kinda mad and just tore up the whole thing and laid it down freehand and it came out amazing. I can't believe how durable this thing is. Ended up looking pretty good.

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Thanks I'm actually pretty satisfied with it. It's going to look great once it's installed. Sometimes I have to realize I'm going for much better than it was vs perfection otherwise I'll always be disappointed since I just don't possess the necessary skill level to perfect it. I have to be patient now as I'm waiting on new rubbers from pinball life and new LEDs from comet. The game actually came with an LED kit from cointaker and I had it installed but it used blue bulbs in the GI and was hideous in my opinion. It made it almost impossible to see the ball. I'm assuming the previous owner who provided the LED kit probably specified it to be that way. I"m going to replace the majority of the blue bulbs with white.

The hartop was 100x easier than doing a PF swap or restoration. I think it's a great option. I'm curious as to how the durability is going to be. It seems pretty durable but the surface itself smudges which I'm wondering if it's going to be an issue on route. I need to reach out and find out what is recommended for surface care as they don't recommend using any novus on it. I'm not sure if you are supposed to wax it like a standard playfied or not. I'll continue posting pictures as I put the game back together but I'm at a stand still until I get the additional parts in.

It's like an overlay printed onto a playfield protector is how i would describe it. Looks like a high gloss clearcoated PF after it's installed.

I agree. Should probably suggest that to outside edge as an install tip for the instruction sheet.

I think it's going to hold up great. I just want to document it.

Please make sure and document your results. I've never had an issue with crystal clear before. I'm wondering if it was expired. I pulled it off the shelf in the garage. I like the crystal clear because it drives in 30 mins which is nice.

Doesn't look like we're going to have any updates until next week. Won't be able to fuss with it Sat or Sun due to obligations.

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That looks sweet. Is there any reason you're leaning towards clearing the inserts vs sanding? I used clear because I thought it would save time. If I was going to do it again I would've sanded them. I believe in the other hard top thread it was mentioned that there could be potential outgassing issues with auto clear. I'm not sure how long it takes to fully cure.

Made some decent progress today. My pinball life order came in a day early so I got my new rubbers and coil sleeves. I ran the posts thru the ultra sonic, rebuilt the pops, started repopulating the underside of the playfield. I had to quit with the topside build since I haven't receive my Come order yet and can't fathom reinstalling the hideous blue leds in the GI. Hopefully the LEDS come in tomorrow. Otherwise I'll probably finish replacing the rest of the coil sleeves and run the rest of the posts thru the ultra sonic.

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Hard to tell with the dirty lens on my camera. I guess when you're a few gins deep it looks clear. I'll have to clean the lens and get better pics. It does look fantastic. I have another playfield I can hold up next to it for some pics if you'd like.

I think his technique is to pick his nose and rub it on the lens before taking any sale pictures. mjpinballs

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She's coming along!!

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And BOOM! Still need to tweak it a bit. All the switches need adjusted due to additional thickness if the overlay. The outhole kicker has too much play and isn't working right. Otherwise the game plays like a dream. I highly recommend picking one of these up.

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I didn't do anything. Not sure what you would be worried about as far as dust. I just sanded it, wiped it with naptha and a tack cloth.

Just saw this so I apologize for the delayed reply. The game has a few thousand plays now and is holding up great. It looks brand new. I get compliments on how good it looks and plays. I wouldn't hesitate buying one at all. I'll have to snap some pics this weekend when I'm there to show everyone.

Game had over 10k plays now. mrm_4 took some great pictures on how nice it still looks maybe he'll chime in. It still looked great and plays great.