Shit!!! I guess I'll have to watch my language.

Thanks to Chris for the blacked out TAF he did. Kornfreak liked the look and we'll be doing the same on this.

http://christopherhutchins.com/gallery/album554

Hopefully, this one turns out as nice.

All I see in that pic is a truck, a pinball machine and a couple of dicks. Well, maybe only one dick.

BASTARD!!!!!!!

Seriously?? Wake up?? I never sleep!!

This stuff makes something like Goo Gone look silly. Spray it on and leave for a couple of minutes. Then use a plastic razor blade to remove the majority. Then use a rag to wipe up the rest.

What I've found though, while it's great for removing grease, it's not the greatest cleaner. An example is the playfield slides on newer games. After wiping off most of the grease with a rag, I'll spray them with Orange Power and go over them with a stiff brush. Once done, there'll still be some minor brownish dinge. The Purple Power removes that.

I can't say. I've only done newer cleared games. On those, I use the freeze method and Orange Power to remove the glue. On non cleared games, it seems the heat method is better along with Goo Gone. Again, I've never tried it.

Not sure yet. I'll be checking options at Expo next week.

You want an Addams, Chris? I'll sell you this one when I'm done. Cheap. Some guy on Pinside sent it to me, no charge. Let's just keep this between you and me though.

I'd have to see pics of what you mean. If it's broken, you glue and clamp. If it's chipped, you fill with bondo. I'll be getting to that.

Any kind of mylar comes off that easy on a Diamond Plated playfield. I literally had those three pieces off in about a minute. The key is to not get cheap on the freeze spray. The glue removal takes a bit longer, especially with pieces that big.

Don't you have to take Taro outside or something.

Sorry, man. Not doing shit on your game today.

Here's what the bottom looks like. It's dadoed into the sides front and back. Not sure how you'd ever get it out without breaking it out the bottom.

IMG_3638 (resized).JPG

Alright, asshole!! If this were my shop, it wouldn't look like it does!! But it's not mine. It belongs to someone who's not quite as organized as me. Thankfully, they let me still use it.

I'll get to that eventually. I'm in Minnesota. Hop skip and jump from Illinois.

Um. That should be 320 grit. Fat fingers must have texted 329. LOL

For anyone following, 80 grit sandpaper is used to remove all artwork, paint, bondo, etc. Once all repairs are made and everything looks good, I'll then go over the entire cabinet with 120 grit. Once that's done, finally everything is done with 220 grit. If you don't like sanding, this job is not for you!!

I got lucky and one side was already falling out. I simply and carefully beat the other sides out with a hammer. The plywood sides separated nicely right at a ply.

I heard that asshole!!!

Heard that too ASSHOLE!!!!!!!

No you don't. Everyone does.

You do realize I'm going to kick your ass at Expo this weekend......if I can get out of my chair.

Well, YEAH!!! Cause I'm doing all the work!!!

We have our fingers crossed.

I don't know what this one will cost until I'm done, but I tell everyone, you can figure on at least $6000. With all the mods around and people wanting plated and powdered trim, color DMD, etc., they're getting more around $7000. I've done them for more than that too.

Interestingly enough, cost is the same for most any game done. That's WPC and WPC-95 games, which is most of what I do. I pretty much do the same thing for every game, so title makes no difference.

And just to clarify, $6000 or better is the restoration cost. You provide the game. It can be a $2000 FT or a $8000 MM. They all cost the same to restore.

It all depends on what you're dealing with. Prior to the early 90's or so, the artwork was screened directly on the plywood. Then, Williams started using plywood with an outer vinyl material installed from the manufacturer and that's what the artwork was screened to. Most people think this is a decal but it's truly not. I think the only games that got decals installed were CC and MB. On these, the artwork was screened on decal material, then the decal was installed on the cabinet. It's one reason why most of these games had wrinkling issues.

What they used doesn't follow a timeline either. While IJ was made before AFM and has the vinyl material, AFM does not. And some games had the vinyl material on the head and not the bottom cabinet and vise versa.

I've never restored a TAF that had the vinyl material. On this one, you can see in the pics the ink slowly being sanded off. There was no glue involved. If the white had been vinyl, I would have that to deal with.

If screened on wood, I always sand it off. If the vinyl material is used, I'll remove with heat and putty knife and then sand. I've never tried any kind of liquid and never will. I'm too afraid it would drip or run onto the inside or outside of the bottom and cause a stain. I spend too much time making those look nice to have that happen.

I've got more detailed info about artwork about half the way down on page one.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ij-restoration-started

Lots of different ways to strip artwork off a cabinet. Use whatever method works with whatever tools you have. I'd love to own a Festool. I think it's about the quickest, cleanest method. I just can't justify the expense.

I will admit, Chris has very good taste in beer.....if you like drinking 40W oil.....after it's been through 10,000 miles!!

FWIW, Chris's charges are simply passed on to the customer. I make no money off it.

That's it. I can't take it. I'm sending your game back. No charge!!

WTF. It's Friday. Here's my current beer selection. I normally don't have that many but we recently had family over so I had to stock up. Maybe Chris could show what he's got.

And thanks to Kornfreak, a couple cases of Spotted Cow were on him. Thank you!!!

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Dear God!!!!

I heard that, asshole!!! We've already discussed them. Told him I'd burn his game in the fire pit before I'd put that shit on!!

The trim is shorter on the sides because that's how you buy it. It's made the same as the originals.

Sanding before decals is done with 320 grit, followed by red Scotchbrite pad then white.

And this is needed because some dipshit decided he'd paint the back of the cabinet and head with spray paint.

Thanks....I think.

Finally, someone with good taste in beer!!

Sorry, man. We don't drink that shit in this thread. You'll want to head over to the HEP thread for that.

I'll get there eventually, but lots of work happens to the switch harness, especially the switches. They all get replaced.

We all have a feminine side. I just happen to be more in touch with mine.

I can't believe I just said that.

I will say, though, no dresses or leggings were worn during this restoration.

I think they look pretty cool. My only concern is the lifting of the playfield. I don't care how careful you lift it, there will be that one time you put a tad more pressure on one side and the playfield doesn't lift square and you get a scuff or scratch in the artwork. Same goes with mirror blades. When I install those, they're the very last thing I install before I pack the game. I tell the owner he can put the first scratch in them.

Yes it would and I ordered it the other day.

FWIW, the tilt switch and flipper switches didn't look that nice out of the ultrasonic. They were tumbled.

Clear would scratch just as easily.

Sure can. Just disconnect the wires first.

One will certainly get you by. Things just take longer. Two smaller ones let me keep things organized. One will have the cabinet hardware in it and one will have all the playfield stuff. The larger one is needed for the larger pieces. I don't use that one much but when I need it, I really need it.

OK, let me explain those first few pics. For those who don't know what I coil is, It's a plastic bobbin with a tube inside with hundreds of layers of wire windings. The ultrasonic gets the cleaner throughout those layers. To get it out, I use compressed air blown into the small slot at the bottom. That blows air from the inside out. The bubbles shown are what I get when I do that. I'll blow then rinse, blow then rinse and keep doing that until I get no bubbles. Flipper coils can sometimes require that as much as ten times.

In order to fully dry them, I'll do that same process, only without the water, many times throughout the day.

I actually throw the entire switch assembly in the tumbler. I'll bolt things together first so it doesn't come apart. Once done, I'll remove the bolts and loosen things to remove any media. I've done this for years and had no issues with the contacts. However, they do get cleaned with denatured alcohol.

That's your problem, not mine.

Let me just say this, if I can't have fun with what I do, I don't want to do it. Why do you think I retired as an electrical contractor. After 40 years, it got to the point where I hated what I did. It was time to move on.

I get all my generic stuff from Terry at Pinball Life. I buy the switches and diodes 100 at a time and will make up an assembly like process where I attach all the diodes myself. Most actuators are reusable, so I just transfer them to the new switch.

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=830

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=173

Yup. And how many types of screws are in a pinball machine with all the different lengths? Maybe 50? There are some real common ones I buy new, but I just can't see throwing away perfectly good fasteners simply because I can buy new. I do throw away a number of them that have issues and use new also.

It may sound stupid, but I guess I pride myself in being able to restore and reuse as many parts in a game as I can. It's kind of a game in itself.

Exactly. I've had plenty of games with corrosion so bad damn near every fastener had to be replaced. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Nope. Rick is the only one who makes them like the originals. You can get them at Bay Area Amusements or Planetary pinball.

I've had that happen before but I always figured it was because I didn't let the coil dry enough. A week later when I went to put the coil in, I simply pressed it back down and it stayed.

If they look familiar, they're from an Ace Hardware store. You can't buy them, they're made strictly for Ace. I bought 36 five drawer units at an auction for about $300.

Of course they had been sitting in a pole barn for years. Many of them still had the parts in them. Some had mouse nests. It took me about a week to clean them all out, strip off all the old labels and clean them all. It fucking sucked!!!

They're made by Hillman, if you want to check them out.

I never cut wires. Too many times, there's just enough as is. However, before pulling the wires, I'll take a picture of each of the coils showing wire colors.

Speaking of solder on the tabs, that gets removed. I didn't show it but I call it my redneck method of solder removal. Simply heat the tab and bang the coil on the bench top. Works like a charm.

Thank you!!!!

For those who don't know, a reversed diode on any switch will cause all kinds of odd switch issues. It can drive you crazy!!

Did you want your game back in one piece?

I have to admit, I feel a bit stupid. Since I had to make and install a new bottom, I could just as easily moved the power box hole more to the back. I guess keeping with originality sometimes gets in my way.

That's just wrong right there.

There will be a thread eject from here on in if anyone says anything about any man's hole!!!

Whether there's beer involved or not!!

OK. Where's a moderator when you need one!!!!

You want this one.

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=4359

Absolutely!! Bleche Wite changed their formula a few years ago and doesn't work nearly as well. If it ways Black Magic on it, it's no good.

I'll wipe them down with a rag, but that's about it.

I'd love to share with you, but I can't. I've got a buddy who owns a body shop and his guys do all this type of work for me.

Not that I'm aware of.

Nope. All the pics are taken on my Iphone as the work is done and sent to Kornfreak.

Allow me to be blunt. Because it would look like shit!!

Sorry, but in this case, I want original. Not plywood that would look totally out of place.

Actually, all the micro switches get replaced throughout the entire game.

I did that once with an IJ restoration two or three years ago. I can't remember how many hours were spent taking pics and posting everything at the end of the day, but it was lots. Way more than I want to spend ever doing again.

What Kornfreak is showing is only some of the pics I text (along with colorful descriptions) to anyone I do a restoration for. With phones now, it's just too simple. What they do with the pics is their business.

Koenfreak asked if he could share them here and I said sure. Leaves me lots more time to actually work on the game.

Ding ding ding. You are correct, Gord. This way, George has to do all the work!!!!

Here's the IJ thread I did about three years ago. Most things I still do the same, but some things are done differently and better. It was fun to update the thread to start with, but after a while it got kind of old.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ij-restoration-started

You wouldn't get so many pics if you didn't ask so many questions.

This, I'd say, is the biggest reason for sharing pics and getting the customer involved in the restoration process. Once done, he sees exactly how much work and what's involved in restoring a game.

A simple artistic change Chris made on his TAF that I used here. Let's give credit where credit is due.

I hate to say it, Hilton, but working construction, my whole life, I've always had manly hands. It's literally all I've ever known. I thought they would get better now that I'm only dealing with restorations, but they may be getting worse. If you've ever stripped an entire game apart, playfield and all, you know how black your hands can get. I don't even want to know how many times I wash my hands throughout the day. A dozen maybe? And it's with some relatively strong cleaners.

I'll seriously give this stuff a try. Thanks!!

Not sure what you mean. Kornfreak sent me a semi decent game to restore. That's it.

Oh hell no!!!!!

Just for the hell of it, I kept track of the number of vendors I had to deal with on the last restore I did, which was a FH.

I think most would think it's maybe 8. Turned out to be 17.

Not really any kind of technique. I use an adjustment tool like yours and a small needle nose pliers.

They should be 3.25" X 6".

They're cut at a 45 degree angle so the perpendicular sides are 1". Not sure of the length. They've been thrown away.

I had some plywood damage when I removed the bottom, so I cut mine 1 1/4" to hide it. I also cut mine longer.

All I need now is for Hutchins to quit drinking beer and finish up the playfield and I'm back in business.

Ball drops only, Wally.

Yup. The rivets could be painted on, but anything 3 dimensional will cause mounting issues.

I've not had an issue using the DB3, other than, the actuator needs a tad more travel before it actuates the switch. This is easily fixed by slightly bending the actuator.

We be waitin for parts.

Nope. That'd be one of the hold ups.

While waiting for parts, I finally got a new playfield installed in this guy.

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Nothing happens in my life after eight anymore. On any night.

Only a couple of issues. The mini playfield was missing most of the dimples but they were pretty easy to figure out. On the main playfield, the dimples got progressively worse as you moved towards the top, to the point where most were gone in the top quarter. Again, not too hard to figure out.

Best to keep your old playfield as a guide until you're done with the swap.

I've lost count how many playfields Chris has done for me. Never had an issue with any of them.

Most are #6 X 1/2". The shorter ones used on the lamp sockets are 3/8".

Just good ole' drill bits around here.

I don't think Jim made it. It's something he had available at work.

I made my own before Jim sent me this. I'll see if I can find it.