(Topic ID: 206891)

Taxi 2018 HEP

By High_End_Pins

6 years ago


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  • Taxi Williams, 1988

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There are 599 posts in this topic. You are on page 7 of 12.
#301 6 years ago

T nuts are roughed in and I will now seat them with my patent pending McCune T nut tool.
The tool accepts #6 or 8 screws depending on which t nut you are looking to draw in.

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#302 6 years ago

what would be the best way to draw those t-nuts in if you didn't have that special tool?

#303 6 years ago
Quoted from cavalier88z24:

what would be the best way to draw those t-nuts in if you didn't have that special tool?

A large washer covered with felt on the playfield side

Something like this for example but with the felt. Doubling the washer might be worthwhile too.

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#304 6 years ago

Why not a beefy hammer like stern does? What are the advantages of pulling it in versus pushing?

#305 6 years ago
Quoted from epthegeek:

Why not a beefy hammer like stern does? What are the advantages of pulling it in versus pushing?

I have found that method of the hammer to sometimes crack clear and just doesn’t fully seat the t nut as reliably.

#306 6 years ago
Quoted from epthegeek:

Why not a beefy hammer like stern does? What are the advantages of pulling it in versus pushing?

It's clear that HEP is definitely not Stern

#307 6 years ago

If stern had an issue they would have other playfields lying around. Harder when you’re restoring. I made something like Chris has and it works well; two large fender washers with felt and a screw with a hex head so you don’t slip. Works really well.

#308 6 years ago

Just added a new item to my life bucket list. I Will one day own one of these HEP masterpieces! You sir never fail to impress, thank you for sharing your amazing talents.

#309 6 years ago

Always love going through HEP threads. Has to be a pain to take photos throughout the process but I'm guessing you do that already for your own verification. Wondered if you'd ever consider doing some sort of gopro mount as you're working and maybe post video of the process? Maybe charge some fee for users to watch your process sort of like how Clay does with his pinball ninja site?

Not that GRC holds a candle to your restorations, but watching them tear down a taxi and show parts of the restoration process was fascinating

#310 6 years ago

Any ideas as to lessening or eliminating that "hop" the ball does when transitioning down from the rail onto the flipper? Every taxi I've owned and played have it. The ball hops onto the flipper from the rail and makes control a pain. It's not a smooth transition.

Ive tried adjusting the rail without success. Maybe it's just a poor alignment from the factory.

#311 6 years ago

So do you not hammer the t nut at all? Just pulling from the frontside with your tool? Couldn't this lead to 'spinning' t nuts in the future that failed to bite into the wood?

#312 6 years ago
Quoted from Elicash:

So do you not hammer the t nut at all? Just pulling from the frontside with your tool? Couldn't this lead to 'spinning' t nuts in the future that failed to bite into the wood?

How? Both the hammer and the tool draw them in straight down into the wood. The hammer does it with blunt force and the tool does it with slower and more measured force, but both pull in the same direction.

#313 6 years ago
Quoted from pintechev:

How? Both the hammer and the tool draw them in straight down into the wood. The hammer does it with blunt force and the tool does it with slower and more measured force, but both pull in the same direction.

A hammer drives straight into the wood, I assume this tool creates circular torque that could bend the teeth of the t nut before they bite. I ask because I have seen other threads where people insist on hammering. But I am going to do this soon and I am leery of hammering the backside of my Mirco playfield.

#314 6 years ago

My take is using a hammer impacts (no pun intended) not just the T-nut you are presently setting into the plywood, but those impacts also can vibrate other T-nuts already in place, possibly loosening them. While it is highly unlikely, that same vibration could also loosen other things like inserts as well. Still, using a tool like HEP is using prevents this.

#315 6 years ago
Quoted from Elicash:

So do you not hammer the t nut at all? Just pulling from the frontside with your tool? Couldn't this lead to 'spinning' t nuts in the future that failed to bite into the wood?

It really depends on the t nut. The thinner #6 ones can be flimsy at the teeth.
If so then I lightly tap it in place and finish drawing it in with the tool.
If I do not get a good bite and piercing of the teeth then I just pull the questionable t nut out and find the next one very easily seats properly.

#316 6 years ago

T nutting is complete so I can start installing the rails that Taylor made.
He copies a factory sample and then CPR does the same so exact hole placement between the two cannot be guaranteed.
What I like to do is lay the rail on its side and get a sense of how close they are.
Taylor’s rails are nice solid oak so they must be predrilled so as not to crack them or break a screw.
Out of the 9 screw locations I would say 7 look to be dead on the money and just one or two might need to be drilled once I screw the 7 perfect ones in.
Like the cabinet build it is not a shortcoming of the CPR or the rails it is just the many variations that are found in the samples. You just really cannot expect everything to fit together perfectly without a lot of extra effort along the way.
These machines have so many parts/components and using “new everything “ is actually much more work as a result if you want to get it right.

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#317 6 years ago

Rail is screwed in place at two of the perfect location.
Then I drill the remaining holes just to insure I don’t split the rail or break a screw as I place the rest of the screw for this rail.

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#318 6 years ago

First rail is placed and then measured for verification.
I find that the notch cut out placement is a good place to use for that.
They are essentially exact.

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#319 6 years ago

Moving to the next rail it is just held in place with two screws so I like to run those through to use as a way to check the holes.
They look great in terms of spacing
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Next I can place the rail upright to get a sense of how it lines up side to side by resting the predrilled holes in the protruding screw tips.
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When doing that I can see it is too far out of spec and is hanging off the edge. image (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpg

#320 6 years ago

I remove the old factory rail from the factory playfield and note the hole placement.
Then check the CPR to find the holes are much closer to the edge in this location.

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#321 6 years ago

The easiest and cleanest solution in this case is to drill the rail to match the CPR.
The rail was correct the playfield was not but when given the choice of drilling the rail or playfield I would always pick the rail when possible.
Rail is now in place.

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#322 6 years ago

Rails are now in place and I have installed the jet bumper nails.
The next part I will tackle is installing all the hammered in wire guides
Without a doubt one of my least favorite and one of the more risky parts of the assembly process.

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#323 6 years ago

These threads are simply a goldmine of knowledge. Chris, thanks so much for taking the time to share in such detail!

#324 6 years ago

Laying these wireguides out in a similar way that I did the rails gives me an idea of if they will line up correctly.
It also lets me know if the holes are large enough in the CPR playfield to accept the guides or if I must enlarge it.

All line up acceptably less the ones that go behind the flippers.

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#325 6 years ago
Quoted from High_End_Pins:

The easiest and cleanest solution in this case is to drill the rail to match the CPR.
The rail was correct the playfield was not but when given the choice of drilling the rail or playfield I would always pick the rail when possible.
Rail is now in place.

I have to admit, I was surprised when I saw Taylor pre drills all his rails to match the existing ones, both bottom side and top side.

I make my own rails and I don't pre drill anything until it's time to install them. Everything is drilled to match the playfield the rails are going on. Even in dealing with plastics, etc. that get mounted on top. I don't drill holes for them until I know exactly where the holes need to be. I've found, too many times when populating a new playfield, things may get shifted just the slightest (up, down, left or right), making the pre drilled holes unusable.

#326 6 years ago

The holes are too small so like the Flipper guides the top layers will be enlarged
One of the old rails is used as a protector and gauge during the hammering of the guide.

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#327 6 years ago
Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:

I have to admit, I was surprised when I saw Taylor pre drills all his rails to match the existing ones, both bottom side and top side.
I make my own rails and I don't pre drill anything until it's time to install them. Everything is drilled to match the playfield the rails are going on. Even in dealing with plastics, etc. that get mounted on top. I don't drill holes for them until I know exactly where the holes need to be. I've found, too many times when populating a new playfield, things may get shifted just the slightest (up, down, left or right), making the pre drilled holes unusable.

I rarely hear back from people that it is an issue so have continued to drill them. I think I have had 5 out of hundreds of sets that were such an issue that I had to make a new set. I would love to not drill them, it's a huge pain in the ass.

#328 6 years ago
Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:

I have to admit, I was surprised when I saw Taylor pre drills all his rails to match the existing ones, both bottom side and top side.
I make my own rails and I don't pre drill anything until it's time to install them. Everything is drilled to match the playfield the rails are going on. Even in dealing with plastics, etc. that get mounted on top. I don't drill holes for them until I know exactly where the holes need to be. I've found, too many times when populating a new playfield, things may get shifted just the slightest (up, down, left or right), making the pre drilled holes unusable.

That is not really much different than CPR or Mirco predrilling playfields as far as Taylor’s rails go.
He is providing as close to a finished product as he can because that is what people are expecting. Most would complain if they had to drill them from scratch.
For me I love the fact I don’t have waste the time it takes to make them and I can spend that time on other details.

#329 6 years ago

Wireguides are in place and I am looking to install the jet bumper bodies and wafers next.
Not surprisingly the holes are too tight to install the base in.
This is so common I have a bit that use just for that.
Don’t know when or where it came from but it works great.

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#330 6 years ago

I can place the bodies now.
I have a drawer full of new bodies and nice condition used ones.
My preference is to use the nice used ones when possible because the new ones I have been getting the last year or so seem to flake more than wear and it can make extra dust as the game breaks in.

On the fence right now about wafer colors.
I am doing this one in black and I like the way the black ties in with the surrounding art.
Blue is factory and looks nice also.

Tough choice and a complete pain to change later.

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#331 6 years ago
Quoted from pintechev:

Both the hammer and the tool draw them in straight down into the wood.

A hammer is different than pulling them through.

Back in 1972 when setting up foosball tables. To drive the bolts into the leg/cabinet. If you used a steel hammer, you split the leg every time. If you used a rubber mallet, no problem.

LTG : )

#334 6 years ago
Quoted from High_End_Pins:

Who likes blue wafers?

Blue; original is classy.

#335 6 years ago

Both look good but I favor the Black ones.

#336 6 years ago
Quoted from High_End_Pins:

Who likes black wafers?

I would almost have to see the whole playfield put together in order to tell. The blue is a perfect match but the black looks good too, especially if you're doing other black accents.

Right now, I'd have to go blue.

#337 6 years ago

Black, I like how they blend into the surrounding art as you mentioned.

#338 6 years ago
Quoted from pintechev:

Blue; original is classy.

Yes I am leaning that way too. They do have a little more pop to them and work well with surrounding art.

#339 6 years ago

One thing that is always nice about black wafers is they don’t show dirt.

#340 6 years ago

I vote blue.

#341 6 years ago
Quoted from High_End_Pins:

One thing that is always nice about black wafers is they don’t show dirt.

Most of your restores don’t show any dirt

#342 6 years ago

Black ties into the center raise jackpot insert and rings around the jet bumpers.

Blue ties into the cabs and Gorbie.
I could argue either one. I think I am going to go with blue it works well and it is factory.
If they were not so hard to change later it would be cool to be able to see them both truly in place and make the call then.

#343 6 years ago

Blue for sure

#344 6 years ago

The public has spoken and it looks like blue is the best choice this time around. image (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpg

Now the sockets need to be installed.

I really wish I could trust these new lamp sockets but I just don’t. They break at the joints way too often so I re enforce that joint prior to installing.

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#345 6 years ago

Now I can flip it again and run the sockets and other staple down items.

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#346 6 years ago

I will be reconfiguring pretty much all the. GI lighting.
This will mean s well thought out approach to which sockets are used where and eliminating the bare wire in favor of color correct insulated wiring.
Stapling the jet lamp socket leads first and using a coil bracket to insure it will clear them.
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Clear tubing is used on the leads that pass through the bracket which is factory.

I will be using that lower profile staple socket in this location for better clearance over the factory configuration. The way it barely fits in the factory style is my dislike for that set up.
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#347 6 years ago

When it comes to these sockets that go under the lane guides I prefer the ones that can be unscrewed easily not the staple downs.
New gold(short) screws are used in place of the old slot style ones.

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#348 6 years ago
Quoted from TaylorVA:

I rarely hear back from people that it is an issue so have continued to drill them. I think I have had 5 out of hundreds of sets that were such an issue that I had to make a new set. I would love to not drill them, it's a huge pain in the ass.

I appreciated it! Like Chris here... I had a few holes on my TZ set that the pre-drilled hole wasn't suitable (off by say.. < 1/4" compared to my game's setup)... but not enough to be concerned the template was off or to vote for no holes. I say... Drill baby Drill!

My only issue is when holes are so close and the new hole means risking a weaker mount vs a clean area.

#349 6 years ago
Quoted from High_End_Pins:

Who likes blue wafers?

blue!

#350 6 years ago

GI sockets are mapped out. I need to add a couple more but they go over the eject shields.
These are going to be new because the old ones were broken.
They are just tracings on the old playfield now. image (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpg

The one on the right is easy to place because it sets even and straight. It does utilize a clear spacer
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The left is a bit more complex.
This seems like a minor detail but these eject shield placements are crucial to how the ball ejects. There is little to no wiggle room on them.
The CPR dimples are virtually nonexistent and off. I circled them.
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