Prologue: Just A Few Words From Our Host...

This Attack From Mars came to me by way of four Pinsiders: One in Ohio, who sold it to a guy in Utah, who sold it to another guy in Utah, who sold it to a Pinsider in West Texas, who sold it to me. (You can find the ads if you care enough.) This was a perfect restoration candidate as it played nearly 100% and already had a Color DMD installed. It also came with some of the stuff that I'd need to get it going.

Much to the chagrin of some purists, I'm going to be doing some modding to this one to get it just the way I like it. It'll be tasteful (IMO), but not outrageous. All armor will be done in black, and will be modeled on this machine from HEP...

http://christopherhutchins.com/gallery/album563?page=1

...as well as this one that Skypilot did:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/my-black-attack-from-mars-finished-product

I'll also be using Skypilot's excellent restoration thread as a resource, as well as what I consider to be the best restoration documentation ever done on this site--the IJ done by Bryan Kelly. The links can be found here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/attack-from-mars-restoration-the-beginning
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ij-restoration-started

Total time to complete the restoration should take 3-4 months (it takes time to do it right...and I've got some vacations planned!).

Unlike my Funhouse restoration last year, I'm structuring this one a little differently for those who want to follow along. Many people ask how long it takes to do a complete restoration properly. My answer after the Funhouse was, "F**king long." I'd like to be a little more specific this time.

Each update will be labelled with a day number, and each "day" will mean that I put appoximately 8 hours of work into the machine. It might not happen all in one calendar day, but as soon as I've gotten to eight hours, I will consider that one day's worth of work. At the end, it'll be easy to multiply the days by eight to come to a close approximation of the time it takes to do a restoration from start to finish. (At least for me...please remember that I sanded, Bondo'ed, and painted the Funhouse backbox 3 times because I wasn't happy with it the first two times. So I have some issues.)

So let's get started! Here are a bunch of before pictures...

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Day One: The Teardown (8 hours)

The first thing I did was remove the habitrails from the playfield. Along with all salvagable cabinet parts (hinges, bolts, legs, etc.), they'll be sent to Matt Reisterer for black powder coating while I'm working on the cabinet. The rivets holding the UFO flasher sockets had to be drilled out in order to be removed.

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I also took the time to lightly sand the back of the new playfield and seal it with satin clear coat, being careful not to allow anything to drip into the inserts. I also waxed the hell out of the topside because...well...why the hell not?

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The cabinet and backbox were completely depopulated and stripped of all non-wood parts. Every connector was labelled (except for the ones I already recognize...confidence is a wonderful time-saver!), and all hardware and parts were put in categorized piles. The cabinets are now ready for sanding and finishing.

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I'd also like to add that anybody considering doing a restoration should invest in a pair of Vampliers. They're usually designed for getting stripped screws out, but worked wonderfully for getting those staples out of the cabinet. The guys at B/W stapled the shit out of stuff down there, and some of the staples were BELOW the surface of the wood. Regular staple removers won't work, and needle nosed pliers won't grab them either.

Mirco playfield. The old playfield was beat to snot. (You can see it in the playfield photo...the stroke of luck hole was chewed up to a hole the size of a lemon, and there's a big trail of wood shooting out from that hole. Bad stuff.)

No way, brother. I'm building a f**king spray tent to do this game, for God's sake! I won't consider it done until it's as perfect as I can make it, and I'll give it to one of my kids before I sell it. (Who loves ya, Tax?)

This was really kind of you to say. You know, I put all this stuff on Pinside thinking it'll just get glossed over and won't ever help anybody. Nice to see somebody got some benefit from it.

Well, don't look to my thread for any help. Ever since I put the game back together, Rudy is cross-eyed and speaks German.

Mr. R:

I ordered it from Mirco and it was shipped from Germany. I did tell him that I was a picky S.O.B. in terms of clearcoat and registration in the print. I used a Mirco FH playfield, and that, too, has not only looked wonderful, but held up very well with no extra clear put on it. Highly recommended.

I know why...so you can tell me I'm an asshole when I do something wrong.

You missed a spot.

Wish granted.

No, asshole. What's the pattern?

Update: Put another three hours in today. Update when I hit 8 hours of work, which may come tomorrow or after TPF.

Day Two, Part One: Roughing Out the Cabinet (6 Hours)

This restoration is going to be a mixture of high tech and white trash, and nowhere will this be more evident than in the cabinet restoration. To wit: Since I plan to do multiple restorations a year, and perhaps even start doing them for other people, I decided to stock up on some great equipment. (I was also told by McCune and Skypilot that it would be a great idea.) So I stocked up on a Festool setup: 3 different sanders plus the sanding block set, and the HEPA dust extractor.

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Problem is, once you spend all that money on the high tech, it only leaves you enough money to go white trash on the drop cloth:

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But while my last restoration took me a whole day to remove the decals and sand (using a Wagner heat gun, a scraper, and a pair of very sore arms), I stripped the cabinet clean in under an hour. Yes...the Festool saved me pretty much an entire day of work. I did everything with 80 grit sandpaper (9 boxes of Festool sandpaper: $400! F**k my life...).

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After sanding, I noticed that somebody's already been here before...

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I circled all the areas that were of concern, and a few corners had to be rebuilt with automotive fiber repair paste. So I cleaned out all the dead and loose wood and drilled holes to help the paste "grab" the wood, built up the corners, and filled the lock bar holes, then used the lightweight body filler on a good portion of the cabinet to flatten out any imperfections. The filler(s) of choice this time is U-Pol Fantastic and Fibral, and I must say it was a huge step up from Bondo: much easier to use, dispense, etc. Thanks to Jim McCune for the tip!

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I also had to nail and glue some loose joints on the backbox.

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While all that smelly stuff was curing (and so I would stop sniffing it!), I did a little work on stripping down the playfield. Removed the main saucer and rear power box, as well as all three ramps. I've got the playfield down to the first level of stuff. I'm doing both playfield and cabinet concurrently so that I can have it all done at the same time.

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Did a little more sanding with 120-grit sandpaper, and you can see how the previously demolished corner is now solid fiberglass, is almost back to its original shape, and stronger, really, than it ever was before.

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Ran out of gas--and ran out of daylight--six hours in. Two hours left in Day Two, which I'll continue on the other side of TPF.

Off to Texas, yo'!

Me not too good at math: It was actually 9 boxes of sandpaper. 3 different sander sizes, 3 grits each: 80, 120, 220. Thanks for bringing that to my attention...it's been corrected! And no...that'll probably last me through several machines and my wife's dining room table (at the very least, but probably much more!)

This sounds like the beginning of a Penthouse Forum story. Anyway, the entire setup sits at around 2k. Do you need all that? Probably not. You could probably get by with an RO90, which has a smaller sanding disk and converts to a delta sander. You could also get the smaller HEPA dust collector and get both for well under 1k. But I've found that every time I try to skimp on something, that's the one tool I need. So I always get it, and if I don't need it, I can always sell it.

Feel free to PM me for any details.

Says the guy who wears matching teal shirts with Shlockdoc. What your wives don't know won't hurt them.

Wow. And after all the nice things I said about you in your cabinet restoration thread.

You calling me a full bore?

Day Two, Part Two (2 Hours)
Day Three, Part One: White Trash Spray Tent (4 hours)

Holy shit. 6 hours of Bondo and sanding. 5 times. And I still found one half inch spot that would be nearly invisible to anybody else, but it's an eyesore to me. So I'll have to fill it tomorrow before priming. Cabinet prep is the most important part of cabinet restoration and saves a lot of aggravation down the road during the painting process, so while it's a major pain in the ass, it's time well spent and worth being VERY patient.

I built all the damaged corners out, and each Bondo treatment got smaller and smaller: 10 spots, 5 spots, 2 spots, etc. Sanded everything with 120-150 grit paper, then with 220 until it was smooth as a baby's ass. All corners were hand sanded to a nice bevel to avoid sharp edges and help with decal trimming (gotta think ahead!). Created new chocks and installed them, then masked the bottom and inside of the cabinet in preparation for painting. Finally, the cab was ready to rock some primer...

EDIT: The corner bevels in these shots are in EXTREME closeup. They're hardly noticible - only about 1/16th of an inch. I just had McCune go medieval on my ass.

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Only one thing left to do: Build a white trash spray tent. Total cost to do it: Under $30. Four 9x12 plastic sheets and a $22 window fan. I already had drop cloths for the floor. I do NOT count the time to do this (1 hour) towards the time spent restoring. This is all optional stuff...like the 2 hours I spent trying to find the right staples for my pneumatic staple gun because my daughter used them all and didn't replace them.

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So who's up for some Easter priming? I am! And btw...it cost me over $200 for automotive-grade primer and paint to do this job. WTF???

Pray for me tomorrow...

Yes. And no. And thanks!

And I had to buy a whole new gun to shoot the primer because my gun didn't have a 1.8mm tip, only 1.4mm--and that's only good for the final coat, not the thicker primer. And since they didn't sell the replacement tip, I just got the gun. Now I have three guns. That nearly makes me a card-carrying member of the NRA.

Bryan Kelly uses rattle cans, and he's the king of it. But it really takes a lot of practice to master, and if you aren't a pro at it, you could wind up doing more damage than good. The automotive primer is a thicker lacquer that fills in small imperfections and smooths things out a bit. But you need a decent sized compressor (look at the beast I have in that picture above), and a spray gun or two.

Also, using the automotive stuff or any oil-based paint means that you'll be cleaning your gun with lacquer thinner every time you use it. It's a really annoying and time consuming thing to do...especially when you have to do it three times like I'll have to do. But the results are really nice. Keep in mind that HEP, McCune, and other top restorers use this method to paint their cabinets; there's a reason their work looks so nice. (Bryan Kelly's work is amazing as well...but I suck with a spray can.)

No...that's Allentown. And when you drink with Skypilot, they usually find you in a gutter somewhere. I was at TPF, drinking (in moderation) with Dannunz and Tim Mezel...and a bunch of other Pinsiders.

Day Three, Part Two: Ready for Prime Time (4 hours)

Quick update: I primed the cabinet, got overzealous and had a few drips. So I sanded the drips down, did a light sanding on the rest, and sprayed a second coat. This time it was perfect (you should do 2 coats of primer anyway, so it didn't bother me to screw up the first coat). I was lucky to not find anything that bothered me after the first coat of primer...that's the payoff for taking your time on the cabinet prep. BUT...I found one teeny "dent" in the backbox, and had to do a tiny Bondo and primer touch-up in preparation for the final coats of black paint.

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Got up this morning ready to spray the black paint, but it was raining, so I didn't want to do it in high humidity. Instead, I spent an hour working on the playfield tear down again, and it's almost stripped topside now.

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I was able to spray the first coat of semi-gloss black paint later this afternoon, but I'll report on that (and my troubles with it) in the first 3 hours of Day 4.

I don't heat my garage...I just go for it. Don't know where the 65 degree thing comes from. I'm using automotive primer (single-stage activator) and semi-gloss black automotive grade paint with two activators.

I'll be the first to proudly admit that painting is my weakest skill in restorations. It's something I'm struggling with, but because I'm a perfectionist, it will be as close to perfect as possible by the time I stop painting (and if I never told you, you'll never be able to tell I had problems).

It's not about what it looks like during the process, it's about how it looks when you're done. How you get there is a different journey each time.

First of all, you get double extra bonus points for using "happenstance" in a sentence. Secondly, WTF are you talking about???

Blah, blah, blah...whatever you said.

Look...the primer was dry to the touch within about 15 minutes and ready to sand in about 2 hours. I'm not sure how that would change with higher temps and don't care. I just adapt. But this morning, when I wanted to paint and it was raining, my wife warned me that it would look like dick because of the humidity. She's the artist, and she's the painter in the house, so I heeded her advice. Whenever I don't heed her advice, my life turns into a train wreck.

Anybody else notice that about being happily married?...

Spray cans, not flashlights. When I grow up, I want to be Bryan Kelly. Won't happen though because I can't spray paint for shit.

You're a horrible person.

I'm using the McCune ("I've got huge balls so I'm doing a dry install") Method. Worked great for me on Funhouse and saves a shitload of time. Maybe I'll have someone video it. Maybe not.

I have some sanding and repainting to worry about first...

You know...people should just stop by this thread for a free thumbs-up from me. Honestly, I don't know why I keep giving up-votes to these abusive douchebags.

This will be my last restoration thread.

If I come to the Ohio show, I'll be tiptoeing on the high wire of divorce. My awesome wife has been more than patient with my shenanigans of late (please see the state of our garage above). She went with me to Texas and survived by drinking with Tim Mezel and Dannunz...and everybody else who handed her a beer or wine. And she's scheduled to drink herself into a stupor with Skypilot at Allentown in May...and again at Pintastic. And quite frankly, there's only so much of Skypilot I can stand to see. The guy stole my son from me and raised him as his own--the bastard!--and now he's after my wife.

Thanks for the kind words, and I hope to meet you at a future show!

Will do. She likes hanging out with my friends more than she likes hanging out with me. I'm not a big drinker. She's married to me so she drinks to make me look better.

Day Four: F**k...My...Life... (8 hours)

Okay, so I hate restoring cabinets. I mean really, really, REALLY hate restoring them. It's easily the hardest and most time-intensive part of the whole restoration process (and annoying because you have to wear protective crap when you're spraying).

So I spent pretty much the entire 8 hours painting two coats of paint to where I was happy with it. Yes...I'm a little overzealous with the paint and I had more than a few drips that needed to be sanded out and recoated. But for the most part everything came out looking beautiful...even to a picky bastard like me. (The white specks in the closeup pictures aren't visible to the naked eye...don't know if that's from the flash hitting a dust particle or what.)

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So I polished off a quart of paint, and even had to dump a little extra out. I was cleaning off the gun with lacquer thinner and got tired of wearing the stupid respirator. Figured, hey!...it's a calm day. Why not open the garage door and take the mask off?

Wrong.

Sometime during the cleaning of the gun, a gust of wind blew the plastic of my white trash spray tent against the back of the cabinet and stuck to it (even though the paint wasn't totally wet...there was overspray on the plastic, and that stuff is like glue when it's drying). So of course, when I pulled it off, it did damage to the paint on the back...and now I'll have to spend another two hours redoing it with some minor sanding and a repaint. But then THAT'S IT. I'm really happy with the rest of it. (You might notice a small drip on the side of the backbox...not a concern since that will be sanded down and decaled anyway.) All the visible painted surfaces will be good to go at that point.

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Which brings me to a break in this thread. No time to work on the machine before next weekend, at which time I'll be off to frolic with Kahanaohana (Scotty) and check out his pins on Kauai. Next update in three weeks when I do the warning and patent silkscreens and decals. You'll be able to see the fixed paint job in all its glory at that point.

A quick PS to this post:

This is an easier last-second thing to fix than my last-second "oops" with Funhouse. With that one, I was trying to get an angle to take one last shot of paint on the inside of the cabinet. I took a step back and knocked the backbox over, which split open against the floor. That one took a resand, re-Bondo, and repaint to fix.

This one should go a lot smoother (famous last words), but it's just another example of how, when I say God hates me, there's a reason I say it.

Only my 17th time. And free flight and hotel. Sometimes it's good to put your pinball machines on credit cards.

Thanks very much, cosmo. Problem with being a perfectionist is that even the smallest pimple looks like a mountain. And it's all you stare at...and it drives you nuts. It's gotta be fixed.

I don't use the Festool once the paint has been applied. Hand sanding with 220 (for drips), 320, and Scotch Brite pads.

My son cheated. He had two dads help him. My dad is dead.

...and he's off of mine. F**ker wanted me to do some riveting for him. I'm sure there's somebody up his way who can take care of that.

Just wait till I get my hands on him at Pintastic...

BTW and back on topic: repainted the cabinet and back box. I'm happy now, and will let the paint cure for two weeks before installing the decals and doing the silkscreens. (I also have to work on my wicked albino tan.)

I know it looks like shit. I'm redoing it again.

Who you callin' a ho?

I can't help bad painting techniques. And I know what I'm talking about. I repainted my back box for about the 47th time today and I'm FINALLY happy with it. So it has nothing to do with cold. The painting portion of a restoration has a bitch of a learning curve. Someday I plan to get it right on the 27th or 28th try.

You don't read my posts too closely, do you?

I was supposed to go to Hawaii, but cancelled last minute. So I'm actually working on the game this week, but haven't posted anything yet because a) I've been spending time on repainting; b) I've been shopping with my wife for a patio and stuff; and c) I haven't done 8 hours of work yet that doesn't involve repainting. There should be 2 full 8-hour updates sometime this week. I screened the back of the cabinet today and spent time removing painting tape, etc. (and yes...that actually takes time, believe it or not!).

Hope your project turns out awesome!

I love when my own thread goes WAY off topic. Anyway, my wife is really into reclaimed materials. Here's what she's whipped up for the new patio:

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I do...but that picture was a joke. We're white trash...but not THAT white trash.

Day Five: Hump Day!!! (8 hours)

The second best feeling when doing a restoration is when you hit the actual playfield swap point. That happened in this 8-hour segment, and it's an awesome feeling. You can wash your hands and know that you'll be dealing with (mostly) clean parts from now on as you start the rebuild.

One thing before I continue, though: No matter how long this restoration takes, you can add another 10-20 hours for all the extra shit that doesn't really count in a restoration. Like researching replacement parts, shopping for them, putting up and taking down white trash spray tents. Three times. Because I'm nucking futs and painted parts of the cabinet and head 8 different times until I was satisfied with it.

Anyway, I didn't count the extra 8 hours I spent painting in this restoration because I have issues and most people don't. But it's behind me now, and the worst part of the restoration is as well. I'm right on schedule, and now the fun begins.

You'd be amazed at how long stupid shit takes, like properly removing frog tape and masking, then having to carefully resand the small areas where the paint leaked underneath. Frog tape, my ass. The stuff is just as useless as the blue 3M tape - and I put two layers on and smooshed the stuff down. Anyway, here's the cabinet after the unmasking, touch-ups, and regluing and nailing of the speaker and power box platforms, both of which were sanded down individually:

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And before you give me any shit...yes, I know there's minor orange peeling on the inside of the cabinet. That doesn't bother me. Why? Because it's the inside of the cabinet. My goal is to get this machine better than factory, which it is...and as the title says, this ain't no HEP.

I screened the back of the cabinet and added the feet so I could tip it up and not worry about damage when applying the front decals this week. The backbox warning screen will go on in the next couple of days as well (the paint had to cure a little longer - I like to let it sit for 10 days to 2 weeks before decaling) EDIT--there's some dust on the cabinet...that'll happen when you leave it in a garage!:

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Then I turned my attention to the playfield, which I completed stripping in record time, or at least faster than that sloth Skypilot could do it. That slug takes two weeks just to get the caps off the pops. Last off is first one, so right into the basket for the ultrasonic cleaner the wire supports went:

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It's amazing how little there really is that goes into an AFM when you see it gutted and lying on a table. Please note the awesome labelling I did on each mech so that I'd know what the f**k it is in the likely event of a senior moment:

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Then to the good stuff. And again, you'd be amazed at how long this stuff takes. I installed the Mantis protectors and tee nuts, and the holes for the tee nuts were too small (thanks, Mirco!), so I had to Dremel them all out in order to tap them in. Why did that take so long? BECAUSE THERE'S BETWEEN 40 AND 50 TEE NUTS ON AFM!!! Shoot me now...

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Finally, I installed Reese Rails on the topside (thanks, Taylor!) and called it a day:

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But even when you're done working for the day, you should always have some machines doing some work for you during the down time:

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Next up: Warning screens, decaling, pop bumper rebuilds, flipper rebuilds, and all coils/mechs getting cleaned, polished and rebuilt. That oughta keep me busy for another 8 hours!

In related news, I now have a well-used AFM playfield for sale if anybody is interested (and a WPC coin door...and a bunch of other stuff I'm not using). PM me if interested.

It's just because I don't trust myself. The more info, the better. I took over 200 pictures though. No matter how much I label, I always f**k something up anyway.

Special picture coming just for you when I get home, Bryan!

Hey Bryan...not sure if you saw this in the previous pic. Is this too much?

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Thanks, Zitt...now I wish I had bought you a beer at TPF! It's all good...a Boob Job thread is two-fold: for noobs to learn something about the pitfalls of a restoration, and for everybody to rip the shit out of me. I've even got McCune LMFAO'ing at me via text. Big bullies, these top restoration guys.

But since I'm back in front of a computer, let me explain to Bryan WHY I over-label (in his opinion). First of all, I don't have the experience that he does, and I don't instantly know what a part is or where it goes. I have another table with screws and bolts, all of which are unlabeled, and none of the switches or lights on the harnesses are labeled. Sure, I know where each mech goes when it's all assembled. But when I take all the coils, sleeves, plungers, and brackets apart to clean and tumble, I put them all back in a big group by the tape label so I know they all belong to the same kind of mech.

When I did Funhouse, I didn't label quite as clearly, and had a mixup on brackets and coils at one point. So, unless you have the game completely memorized in terms of what coil goes with what sleeve, bracket, and plunger, it's pretty essential to keep them organized and grouped.

And now...back to breaking my balls!

FYI, Bryan...I'm using an ultrasonic to clean my harnesses. I know you like to lovingly caress your harnesses with Purple Power and a paint brush. Just giving you a heads-up to avoid any offense. I've labelled the ultrasonic so that I remember what it is and don't lose it.

Damn. Even my attempts to break your balls are thwarted by your age and experience. But mostly your age.

I'll let you know after I use it the first time.

Up until now, I was using the Bryan Kelly method from his white trash days using Purple Power and a paint brush. I'd no idea he'd upgraded in the interim and had joined the ranks of the fancy folk. That's what I get for following a 2-year-old IJ restoration thread religiously.

Day 6: Decals & Silkscreening (8 hours)

Well, this 8 hours went by pretty fast. Don't know where the hell it went, but I thought I'd have gotten a lot more done by this point. I spent a lot of time making sure of the details, and I was mostly successful. (There are a few things I'm not happy with, but I'm learning to live with them. Pinball ain't perfect!)

Because the pops are rebuilt THROUGH the playfield (rather than being isolated on one side), I always like to start with that. So I nearly completed the pop rebuild, but after doing some ultrasonic cleaning, I still have to run the metal parts in the tumbler so I can reassemble and mount the coils on the playfield. No pictures of that because it's far too boring.

I silkscreened the warning on the back of the back box, which came out great. I'll post pics of the finished back box after the decals are applied tomorrow, but here's a shot right before I ran the screen:

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After that, I turned my attention to the cabinet decals. To prep the cabinet, I sanded with 220, then 320, then red Scotch-Brite pads. Wiped it down with a damp cloth, then used tack cloth on both the cabinet and the paper underside of the decals to avoid contaminents being transferred.

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Note to single guys: Having a wife help you with the cabinet sides is a must. You can see said awesome wife coming to help me install the decal. She leans on the decal to keep it in place while I peel it back, then slowly pulls the paper back while I squeegee. Yes, I dry install because I'm a) ridiculously overconfident; and b) have balls the size of Manhattan (probably from the infection).

I Sharpie'ed SOME of the decal edges so that they blend with the painted surfaces, but still have more to do tomorrow.

It's worth pointing out that my decals smell just like Jim McCune's house. It's a certain brand of air freshener and has a lovely bouquet. I think the name of the smell is Utah Attitude. I'll leave it to you guys to ask him why they smell like his house (because they really do!).

Installed the cabinet protectors. And yes, it's essential to cut the decals to avoid the decals buckling when the legs are clamped down. It sucks after you put all that work into getting the decal just right, but necessary if you want to KEEP it looking just right...and as you can see, you can't even tell what's been done once the protector is installed.

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I finally got her up on her legs (powdercoated by Matt Reisterer of Back Alley Creations...thanks, Matt!) and called it a day...

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Up next: Back box decaling and rebuild, cabinet repopulation, and then it's on to the playfield full time!

You don't have to drill anything out to do the pops, and you really don't need to be nervous about it, nor do you need to see it done. Here's what I did: I simply pushed the fin shank screws through the playfield (from the top, of course), flipped the playfield over on the rotisserie, and with a matching nut and washer, used a drill to power-screw the nut/washer onto the screw. This pulls the nail all the way through the playfield, and it sits flush because the playfield (Mirco ones, at least) have the countersunk spots for the nail head to sink into. Then unscrew the nut/washer and repeat 8 more times. It's time consuming, but you do NOT want to whack those nails through, especially on a rotisserie. You're just asking to crack the clear coat...or worse. One of those things where patience really pays off.

Well, one of the reasons for a very small beveled corner is that it gives you a nice angle to slide the blade across. When I did Funhouse, I used a steel T-square (a big one), which I laid over the crease of the decal, which I pulled taut on the edge to see the edge of the cabinet. Then, I just gently cut along the ruler/edge of the cabinet and trimmed the parts I wasn't happy with.

This time, I used the Skypilot method....

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/attack-from-mars-restoration-the-beginning/page/2#post-1439483

...then trimmed the edges using the bevel until the decal wouldn't "catch" on my finger. Any areas that were causing me problems with that method (because ANY minor bump will affect your cutting line), I did with the T-square.

Hope that makes sense.

Do you think? I actually thought I was right on schedule until today. Now I'm thinking I'm a little behind. The ultrasonic and tumbler will be doing a lot of heavy lifting for me from here on out, but I still have to get the whole cabinet back together, rebuild every microswitch, and reassemble all the mechs and playfield top and bottom. Then there's the testing and troubleshooting (because nothing ever works 100% after you tear it down to wood and wire). Restorations (thorough ones) usually take around 100 hours if you're taking your time. I'm right on track for that, but AFM is regarded as an easier machine to do, and should have been done sooner. It was all the re-painting that padded my hours (but as I said, I haven't included all that extra time because that was just me being WAY too anal).

Fast. Doesn't matter because when the nut stops turning, the nail is sitting flush.

True...if you spend a lot of time getting the paint just right on the sides, which are then covered up by decals...which makes no sense to me. I just coated it all so that it was black and relatively smooth, and spent less than an hour sanding it to near perfection. Time well-spent, and paint well-saved.

F**k you.

They were both Phoenix Arcade decals.

Next gen are the decals sold by PPS. The printing job isn't as good (IMO), but the durability is better from what I've heard. PA decals scratch REALLY easily, from what I've seen.

And it's not necessary to scuff, but it gives the sticky side a better grip. And if you only scuff with Scotch Brite (which you can do if you spend all your time painting decaled surfaces, which I choose not to do), it's microscopic scratches...doesn't show at all under the decal.

I tell you, guys...I spent at least 3 hours telling myself "sticky side down, sticky side down, sticky side down" only to f**k it up by putting the smooth side down first. Took me 10 minutes--and my wife--to figure out why it wasn't sticking.

Whoa....and he spelled it all right, too.

Correct.

I agree. But when I was doing Funhouse, even if I moved the straight edge a tiny bit, it left scratches down to the white in multiple spots. There were no sharp edges hanging off the straight edge or anything. I had to keep chasing it with a blue sharpie. All better now!

You can't rush imperfection, either.

I've got an additional 16 hours in, but I've been really busy (both with the restoration, and travelling). I'll try to post the update now, if I don't get disturbed halfway...

How many people have actually done this? It seems like just another thing to get dicked up at the bottom of the cabinet. If I need to look at that stuff, I have the manual nearby. But if everybody has it, I'll laminate a copy and staple it in. Maybe.

Days 7 & 8: F My Life... (16 hours)

Okay. The good news: The cabinet is done. The bad news: It wasn't without lots of setbacks. There were problems at basically every turn, which caused me to backtrack and fix errors or do things twice. But everything came out pretty nicely. Yes, you could rip on some of the stuff I did, but I've had extensive therapy with Skypilot and McCune and I realize that NO pinball machine is perfect. Ever. And it's just something I have to learn to deal with. (FYI: Skypilot is a MUCH gentler therapist than McCune, who generally says, "Stop being such a pussy" and sends me on my way. )

All the harnesses were run through the ultrasonic cleaner at 60 degrees Centigrade for 20 minutes, then touched up with Purple Power and half a paint brush. Circuit boards and light sockets were put in the ultrasonic with a small amount of Purple Power.

For the bolts, I put them in CLR, then in lacquer thinner, then painted the heads with semi-gloss black:

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And here's the promised shot of the back box after the silk screening and decaling:

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While cabinet stuff was drying and harnesses were being bathed, I started cleaning coils in the ultrasonic and tumbling metal parts. Then I used the Bryan Kelly method of heating the solder on the leads and tapping them off onto a block of wood to clean them off. I got a little overzealous and busted one lead. More money for Pinball Resource!...

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Finally, it was time to assemble the cabinet and staple in some ground braid. I soldered in the tabs on the end of the ground braid, the way it came from the factory...

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And then the ground braid and basic stuff was installed in the cabinet and back box and after a long day it looked like this...

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I then cleaned and rebuilt the speaker panel and back box tub/lighting (but forgot to take before and after pics) and repopulated the cabinet and hooked up all the cabinet harnesses. And voila!...

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I'm particularly proud of the last picture...when everything comes together right (and it so seldom does!), that's what your back box should look like. I wish the rest of the machine was that good!

I have three issues with the cabinet: The launch button light isn't getting enough voltage, so the LED is just ghosting; the color DMD displays only intermittently; and the lights behind the Attack From Mars logo are wonky. I'll have to find the loose connection. But I've never heard of a restoration that didn't involve troubleshooting as a last step.

Next up: Populating the playfield, which has already begun...

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Just sand it. Use 220, then 320. If you have really pesky stains, you might want to start with 80...but be sure not to sand too much! Everything should still be flat and even - no dips in the wood.

The bottom of the cabinet is left au naturel.

Just for gits and shiggles, here's a quick before and after before the fourth quarter starts:

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You can see the next victim of The Boob in one of those latest pics...

Not sure how many feet. I got a whole roll of it from Pinrestore.com, and that's where I got the little tabs for the ends as well. It's an invaluable site for getting tough-to-find things during a restoration.

That picture was taken in early March, dorkus. It's a "before" picture. And my wife painted those, so you better wear a cup when you see her at Allentown.

Thanks, buddy. But you know how it is from your pinbot. It's like when you do your own crown moldings....you know every little flaw and they're all you can look at.

Thanks, buddy. Yes...the mistakes I made would probably not even be considered mistakes by a lot of other people, and you'd be hard pressed to find them now. But I'm so picky that I literally reacted as if I'd ruined the machine. I say I'm anal, but my wife says it's worse than that. She thinks I'm OCD. She might be on to something...

Day 9: Getting There... (8 hours)

Not a whole hell of a lot to report with this update that hasn't been done to death on Pinside. I just realized today that I HATE installing diverters. For some reason, it's just a royal pain in the ass, and I wonder if anybody else struggles to get it right the way I do.

Anyway, I didn't have the mis-drilled hole problem with the slings that many have reported with Mirco reproductions, but I did have pretty misaligned right flipper dimples:

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The bulk of my time during this 8-hour span was just spend cleaning, tumbling, reassembling, and reinstalling all the coils and mechs. I replaced a bunch of switches, but have one more that isn't working. So I have to replace that and solder the new flipper and pop switches in. Light harness and coil harness have to be installed, and then it's all topside. Here's how things look now:

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I thought I'd have this done in about 80 to 100 hours, and I seem to be right on schedule with that. I bought so many Bill Ung mods that he's probably taking an extra vacation on my proceeds, and that will add a few hours on to the restoration. We're looking at 2 days max left to go (and the troubleshooting stage could go on forever!), and up next is one of the dreaded parts of a restoration...

Regraining the ball guides and riveting.

The cabinet is the most time consuming part. What you didn't "see" in the previous posts is that the parts were being cleaned and tumbled while I was busy working on other stuff. So this installment is simply reassembling and reinstalling. Has nothing to do with quality or speed, but everything to do with multi-tasking effectively so that more than one thing is being accomplished at a time.

I don't know, man...I kind of find that fascinating:

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Yep. My left flipper dimples were a little hinky...I'm hoping for the best when the flippers go in.

Thanks for the diverter info. My problem was the installation itself. First, the hole for the bushing wasn't wide enough, so I had to Dremel it out a bit. Then, whenever I try to tighten the nut while holding the diverter in the position I want it, it moves. And when I got it in the right spot, there was about a 1/2 inch of play back and forth, so I'm not really sure if I installed it correctly. Had the same problem on Funhouse. Diverters are just a bitch to get installed properly, because being 1/8th of an inch off can bork your game.

We'll see...

Go f**k yourself.

I've been busy being sick, going to Allentown, and with work breaking my balls. A bad time all around, but I'm nearly done with the thing. I'll post the last 16 hours soon.

If this keeps up I might have to request this thread be shut down. I love when I start an informative thread just to wind up having my dignity stripped. Or what was left of it.

And many thanks to Skypilot for posting the picture of the Official Pinside Ugly Motherf**ker.

Yep. That's the one.

True. You should've left him alone. He told me all about you when we went out for ice cream.

Now, can we get back on topic? Oh, wait...there's nothing to talk about.

(Actually, the PF is almost done.)

If I was doing that, I would've used a spray can.

Both of you can suck it. Especially Skypilot, who is well aware that I'm almost done with the game, but because it's the busiest time of year for me (and they're messing with me at work), I haven't had time to post it to Pinside. Soon means soon. You can't rush perfection...

...or a train wreck.

I've got one quick tip: Retire early. F**king job sucks - used to be awesome. (Kids are still great, though!)

Day 10: Skypilot's a Dick - See Above (8 hours, give or take)

Look...I honestly don't know how many hours I spent on this thing. I know it's more than 8 but less than 16, so I'll put the work I did for 8 hours here, then post some troubleshooting things I ran into, then I'll catch everybody up with where I'm at. 3 updates, and the next one will be the last.

Sorry for the delay - May is my busiest month, and it seems EVERYBODY has a party this time of year, so my weekends are shot as well.

Let's get to it:

I put the rest of the harnesses on the bottom side and soldered everything in. I didn't tie down the loose wires yet because there's a shitload of mods to be put in, and I wanted to troubleshoot the stuff first in case I had to remove something. So that's why it looks so sloppy at this point:

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Then it was time to regrain ball guides. Here's what the guides looked like before regraining:

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I hit it with a Festool with 220 grit paper just to rough up the worst areas:

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Then hand sanded it with 320:

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And finally with green Scotch Brite pads. The entire regraining process took about an hour:

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The gates were soaked in CLR and rinsed. Then I treated them with gun blue multiple times, but as you can see, it didn't do shit:

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I started repopulating the topside of the playfield. The rear popper was sanded down with a Scotch Brite pad soaked in lacquer thinner, then repainted.

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And now, I'd like to tell everybody that Bill Ung is a genius...

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...and I'm an idiot:

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Note to self: The Bill Ung mods, while awesome, are pretty tough mods to install when you read the directions. Sadly, I forgot to read the directions and use the supplied low-profile phillips head screws, and in attempting to install the LEDs, killed three of them. Bill is awesome and sold me a replacement and didn't make fun of me. But I'm sure Skypilot will.

It was time to hook the playfield up and test everything out before adding plastics and ramps, and my problems and suggestions for others doing this install will be in the next post...

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Meanwhile, yzfguy sent me this picture of his son's school project, and I pointed out that his looks quite a bit better than mine.

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Interlude: Troubleshooting sucks.

So here's when you should definitely NOT work on a restoration:

1. When you're overtired.
2. When you're sick.
3. When you're medicated.
4. When you've left your glasses upstairs and are too lazy to go get them.
5. When you're in a rush.
6. When you're pissed off and want to start a dumpster fire with your restoration.

I learned all of these lessons with this machine, and it's a wonder it turned out as well as it did.

Here were the problems when I powered it up, and what the causes were:

1. I blew fuses 112 and 102. 102 controls solenoids 6-12 (or something like that) and 112 controls the upper half of the GI. (I might have gotten that backwards....I'm tired!)

When I disassembled and cleaned all the coils, I did them in groups sorted by size/power. So when I cleaned all the 1200s and replaced them, I was careful to solder the wires onto the original leads where they were before, even though it didn't matter which lead I soldered it to because there are no diodes on AFM coils, right? Wrong. Some momo in the past put a diode on one of the coils and when I wired it differently that it was (since I put that coil in a different position than it originally was), it blew out a transistor and a fuse.

So even though people busted my balls for overlabelling, the irony here is that I didn't label each coil specifically enough. It would have avoided that problem. Or I could have just cut the diode and forgot about it.

2. The GI problem was caused because of the rotisserie I used. AFM has EVERYTHING going on in the back of the playfield, and normal rotisseries can't hold the playfield properly without doing damage to something in the back 3 inches on the bottom. My rotisserie had bent one tab on a GI socket and created a short which blew the fuse.

NOTE TO ANYBODY DOING AN AFM RESTORATION: Do yourself a HUGE favor and build Skypilot's rotisserie, found here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sky-pilots-rotisserie-plans

It allows for all that stuff in the back of the playfield and makes it easy to attach the back panel without having to completely remove the PF from the rotisserie, as I had to do. Building that is my next project. Hey...the guy knows his shit!

I also have to re-pin the backbox connector because the lights are buggy and the connection is borked. Not a big deal.

But the greatest illustration of my frustration comes with this problem, which puts how I feel about this restoration in a nutshell:

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Yes...the f**king ball doesn't fit down the lane. Why? Because I ordered the wrong lane plastics. So now I've reordered new ones and have to wait to put them in and install the ramps. Which brings me to the next update...

Day 11: Finishing up (Who gives a shit how many hours? This thing's already taken too long!)

Spent quite some time installing the mods: LEDs in the plexi backboard (which don't work) and all the Bill Ung stuff, which I'm still assembling. Also had to drill out old rivets and re-rivet everything.

Do yourself a favor if you plan to do more than one machine. Get this riveter from pinrestore.com and get yourself one extra long die for getting into those hard to reach places on ramps. It's well worth the money:

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Spent some time assembling the ramps as well, and they're all set to be put in after I get the new lane plastics:

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The main UFO has been cleaned, painted, and assembled as well with the Pinbits strobe. All small UFOs have been painted as well and Bill Ung mods installed. Pictures of all of that will be up with my final update.

And that's where I'm at. The PF is in the game and everything is ready to be finished up. All switches, coils and lights work, and I'm just waiting on the parts. The machine will be done and moved to the game room in time for Memorial Day.

It's okay. I deserved it and he was really nice about the whole thing.

Well...not really. This one REALLY pissed me off. I was on the phone with Skypilot at one point and he was telling me "just walk away for 10 minutes." I said I'd still be pissed in 10 minutes. He told me he was kidding and I should just pack it in for the day. He's right, of course.

I'm starting my next restoration in June, but it's my first EM, which will be linked at the end of this thread. I'm hoping the EM community can talk me through that one, so I'm setting it up as a wiki-type thing where everybody can chime in with suggestions (and abuse, of course). Looking forward to figuring out how to fix one of those up.

After that, I'm really taking a break and just enjoying my pins until mid-2017 at least. I need to focus on other, more important, things in life.

Thanks very much. I know of three problems just now (not to go off topic in my own thread or anything!). The targets don't reset (I think it's a switch problem or one of the coils isn't lifting that reset rod), the ball number stepper in the backbox isn't advancing, and one score reel struggles to reset and move. Since I'll be ripping everything apart and cleaning/rebuilding it, I'm hoping those problems get corrected. I'll list these in the initial post of that restoration thread. But I'll certainly be needing the help of guys like you to push me through. And yes...it'll be my first playfield repaint/restoration as well. Cross your fingers!

The cabinet I'm excited about: No decals, no HVLP sprayer (except perhaps for the spatters), and no warning screens. Should be a lot of fun!

Those look beautiful. I'll know that for next time. Maybe I was just impatient with them, but I figured nobody ever actually sees them buried under all those ramps. I'll have to try that out in the future - nice job! (Or since I'm waiting for the lane plastics, I'll just do them again now...)

First of all, Yzfguy is a dick.

Yes...it's a Mirco. I'm only putting mylar down where the ball drops in the inlanes. Nothing for the pops. I didn't do any on Funhouse and after a year of pretty heavy home use, there's really no evidence that I made the wrong choice. Just gotta use fresh balls and wax from time to time.

Game is done minus some ornery mods. I'll try to post some pics soon. The thing plays faster than shit, so I'm pretty happy.

Don't congratulate me yet. I've got a strobe that won't work, some switches that are out, and I swear that targets are registering twice on the motor bank and when you hit the drop target. It's way too easy to beat the mothership. Have to realign the plunger so the ball fires up the lane smoother and doesn't rattle around on the walls, and as I said, I still have tons of mod stuff to do (don't even have the small UFOs/flashers in yet!). Man it's fast (the ball flew off the right ramp once), but I'll be happy when it's completely working.

I installed the Laseriffic topper today. That thing is so cool AND it's really funny. Now I just wish Tilt Graphics would get the apron back in stock.

You're a dork. Your FACE is a dork.

I win.

No shit...that already happened.

As I've said in another thread, I'm trying to get my Pinbits strobe to work. I'm going to document my travails here as well since it's part of the troubleshooting process. But I had to try to find the old strobe, which I was sure I threw out, so that I could test it to see if it was a strobe issue or a board/voltage issue.

So here's The Boob's riddle of the day:

Q: What's worse than dumpster diving on Memorial Day weekend for a strobe you threw out?
A: Going through the entire trash and not finding it, only to realize you were smart enough to save the old part in the first place (but dumb enough not to remember).

God, I hate being blonde.