This is a rather clever hack for the issues the left ramp's right diverter switch can have:

http://wrongcrowd.com/gallery/pinball/shadow_switch_mod

I've got mine pretty well tuned now, but it's still not 100% reliable and can occasionally trap the ball.

I'm in! I just started tearing my Shadow down for a proper shop job and found that someone had removed mylar from the playfield using a knife! Oh, the horror. What would be the best method of removing the grunge from the knife marks? How to seal the cracks until a proper clearcoat can be done?

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^ that sux bro

So frustrating... the protector set I got from Marco was missing a pre-drilled hole so I sent it back and they were going to send me a good set. Turns out all of their sets are missing the same hole. Quality on that plastic seems poor as well. Now I get to send it back a second time. One of these days I'll be able to put my new plastics on.

Wouldn't it have just been easier to drill the missing hole so you could still have used them?

I'm checking with another place now to see what they have... but the problem is the overall quality is low compared to a set I have for another game. Reason for sending back was I had to return another item anyway and was told they had a good set to re-send.

At this point poor quality may be better than nothing.

well it was fun, but i t seems im out of the club. got a great offer i couldnt refuse. i shall find another

Im in the club.....And love it!

Finally had some time to begin tearing into my Shadow today. I'm going to polish all the metal guides, clean up the playfield, give it a good waxing and install new flipper bats & plastic set. Now all I need is a good alt translite.

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Soon, I promise!

I made a little progress over the weekend.

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Looking good! I really think the Shadow looks great with more purple. I only switched the front three flasher domes to purple, looking forward to see how yours looks all together with the back ones too.

If anyone missed it and is interested I finally finished my alt translite design for The Shadow. Thread is here:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-shadow-new-original-alternate-translite-speaker-panel-cards

And with that I'm going to stop shamelessly pimping my own thread, but had to get it in the Club! For the lazy who don't want to click here's the design, translite + speaker panel (matching instruction cards are in the thread):

Translite-Plus-Speakers.jpg

Well... I really need to find some artist-type to design me a cool decal go to behind them. I'm not a fan of the big brick wall.

I have the brick wall decal on mine and I like it, but it might not go as well with the purple domes, it's true.

Just spitballing out loud here, but if you did get my alternate translite I wonder what it would look like if that back area was the sky from my design, with the blimps? Would work with the purple, and would be kind of cool to tie the translite into the playfield, never seen that. Wouldn't be that hard to make a decal that size from the art I have. I dunno, just thinking out loud really.

Edit: Hmm, now I kind of want to mock up what that might look like myself.

My plan is working perfectly!

I'll take the deluxe combo package.

Can you take some measurements for that wall? You can get back in there much better than I can with everything taken apart like you have. Doesn't have to be super precise, can just build in a little extra space to trim off.

Shared on the Bash, and thought you Shadow guys might be interested too. I finished LEDing my Shadow last night. I tried out Comet Pinball LEDs for the first time and am very satisfied. The whole machine is flat top supers. Inserts are mostly color matched outside of cool whites in yellow and orange spots, GI is mostly blue with some cool white and red in the back and backbox is an assortment of blue, cool white, green and two purples.

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Aurich, you like the purple, and I like the green, but we can agree that a matching upper left decal in your art "set" is a terrific idea!!!!! Now go get to work and make it awesome so I can hand you a bunch of cash.. ....

All this Shadow talk has gotten me excited. Picked one up cheap a couple of months ago and it's been sitting folded while I renovated.

Anyway, started tearing down TS last night. I wanted to get some parts sent off to Mike Chestnut in time for pick-up at Expo and, with any luck I'll have it all back together by the end of October (complete with new translite )

I toyed with it a bit yesterday, but I need to find some time to mess with it properly. I'll at least print a quickie concept on my inkjet and place it back there once I have my translite in, see how it feels. If it has potential I'll take it further.

I'm starting to get sucked into an Elvira restore, but no worries, I still have lots of love for The Shadow!

My shadow is getting cleared and the airbrush artist wants to repair the sanctum to look like this.

I think it will look very cool!!

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pretty cool

Hmm, not a fan of the glowing letters honestly. I'd just redo them in white or something if you want that part black. The playfield isn't about gradients and glows, keep it flat so it matches. Also, if you're getting custom work done, then get him to do an original portrait of The Shadow, instead of repeating something that's already on both the playfield and the slingshot plastic! Maybe that's just a placeholder for showing the concept, but that's what I would do if I was going the custom route. My two cents, whatever makes you happy is what you should do.

depends how anal you want to be if you want to go the whole hog and do it properly it needs to come off specialy to screen the warning txt ;0)

I got my game put back together this weekend, but still need to make a few adjustments. Unfortunately I don't have the tools to give the metal guides a proper treatment, and everything was done by hand. Here's my updated shop log.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/63zuy5bbol6ezhm/U2j5ORt2UX#/

I'm still rather new to pinball, and never gotten this deep into a game. I had a blast cleaning this up!

I'm trying to find the best place for a spotlight on the battlefield & trying to avoid the light pointing towards the player. For those of you with spotlights do you have any suggestions?

Starting to save my money now so that I can join this club, hopefully in the spring... Even on the maybe for the alt translite. Hoping prices stay sane till then...

I mounted two spots on the back corners of the battlefield, up under the back overhand pointing a little down at the playfield. From a normal player height you can't see them since they're hidden by the overhang, so they don't shine in your eyes. One has a red LED then other a yellow LED, so they're not overly harsh, just enough light that you can play the battlefield in a totally dark room if you wish.

I got my game put back together this weekend, but still need to make a few adjustments. Unfortunately I don't have the tools to give the metal guides a proper treatment, and everything was done by hand. Here's my updated shop log.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/63zuy5bbol6ezhm/U2j5ORt2UX#/
I'm still rather new to pinball, and never gotten this deep into a game. I had a blast cleaning this up!
I'm trying to find the best place for a spotlight on the battlefield & trying to avoid the light pointing towards the player. For those of you with spotlights do you have any suggestions?

I built a small board and mounted 2 white leds on it. Works great and is out of the way.

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top view

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Hey all,
Got a plating question. I am debating whether to have my ramps replated. I've seen some folks say they used brass plating, but I don't think there's a shop near me that will do that. Was planning to have the ramps get a clear powder coat after the plating to ensure longevity of the finish. Does that sound like a good idea? What else can I use other than brass? Here are the services offered by the more local company. Can I use zinc?

http://bbmetalfinishing.com/services

Most antique restoration joints offer brass plating, in fact, you can do it at home

I'm in the club! Picked mine up last weekend. Needs a lot of work and hasn't been cleaned in over 12 yrs.! I'll post pics when it's done.

One problem I'm having; The wall target wont drop, but it does register hits and says "ball locked". I see there is a small coil that puts a pin through the target, but I can't seem to activate coils or flashers in the test menu. I've only spent a small amount of time on this so far.

Getting a lot of good ideas here!

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Congrats on new machine!

Better get some limo tint for that window, or kiss all the red and yellow on your game goodby.

Use your meter and see if your coil has voltage.

I should be in the club by tomorrow

Looks like mine when it turned up a year or so ago, I'm sure it will look nice when you clean it up

Re the wall target, mine did the same - check the long switch and spring on the mechanism underneath. Also make sure coin door is closed when you check coils etc in test menu.

Good luck!

Well then you wouldn't be able to go through the test menu, right? Just messin' with ya'!

I just got done figuring out you have to hold the coin door switch in to cycle through the coil and flasher testing. Faulty switch for the wall target, amongst about 6 others. Plus the Battlefield paddle moves fine one way but drags the other, giving another error message.

I do believe it'll look good after a full teardown and cleaning. It's still fun to play even with the dirt and errors, but only a little fun.

Even with the shades always closed?

Thanks for the tips guys!

I would just use UV protecting window film

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/protecting-pins-from-uv-sunlight-fade

I swapped my normal purple flipper rubbers for the new Saturn Rings (fluorescent purple). I think I like them, need to get some more games in. I'll try and get a pic.

Purple Saturn Rings:

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Picked one up a week or so ago and Im in love. Such a fun game!

I do have a few questions though. Sometimes the sanctum magnet throws the ball upwards or it just rattles around behind the standup target and never locks. Can you adjust magnet strength? Could the sanctum wear cause the ball to fly up? Just seeing if anyone else had this issue.

Also, I haven't been able to find under playfield parts for the phurbas. Im mostly looking for the arm that attaches to the double-sided plunger. It has quite a bit of wear and causes the phurba to bash into the side of the ramp.

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Yeah, you can wrench it up and down to adjust how close to the playfield it is, which will affect the strength.

Awesome! Hopefully that has something to do with it. Its cranked up all the way to the top so Ill try adjusting it.

The arm is available through Bay Area Amusements. I bought two new ones for $35 or so.

Just got home from bringing in my new Shadow 1:30am lol

I have a lot to work on, but it should be ok. I don't have a manual, "Just ordered one". Was curious if anyone can tell me the part number for the Mongol switch "Circled in photo" need the entire switch with pad. As well, looks like someone cut the plastic frame around the battlefield. Rather than taking the plastic off to work on a switch they just F**king cut it off. Curious if that is available anyplace? If not I will clean it up and make a replacement side panel.

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CRAP! lol - so this morning I turned the machine on, added the 3 balls. It keeps saying Balls Missing and won't kick a ball up to shoot. Anyone else ever have this problem?

First thing to check is the trough optos. Might need to reflow the solder or something. Did it work previously? Or is this the first time you tried it?

The Shadow is a 5 ball game according to the user manual. I can't confirm or remember and not at home right now.