Don't do it! Put it between your pretty games!

Money? $250-$300-ish. Yes. Worth it.

Time? Depends on how you value your time. It will take A LOT of time.

The time problem depends on space,tools and experience. It's always worth it on a faded cab though, IMHO.

Totally up to you and what you're willing to put into it.

Money, yeah, decals are around $300ish shipped.

Time...depends on what you've got. Depends on how nuts you are going to go with it, your access to space, tools, etc. For me I don't do decal jobs any more. I've got a buddy who does.

I don't have a lot of space to work, so I'm stuck on relying on weather to permit me to work outside.

But if you go full-bore on it, you're going to be totally removing every bit of hardware from the cabinet, pulling the ground braid, sanding inside and out, filling imperfections, prepping...

But the outcome is a gorgeous cabinet that looks and feels like it just came from the factory...

Took me 50 hours for my first attempt plus running around gathering the tools, paint etc.
Glad I did it but would only do it for a keeper.

decals are fragile. but if the cabinet is trashed you don't have to many choices. Do you want to sacrifice durability over color? Maybe you can paint the color back in. many have been successful.

+1 on what Neo says - in my experience the replacement silk-screened cabinet artwork is nowhere near as robust as the original artwork process: it's too easy for a minor scratch to result in an ugly white line across the artwork. I'm beginning to think some form of clear coat over post-applied artwork is the only way to get a cabinet that can survive outside of a museum.

Or a PinShield.

Plus, you also have to worry about the legs pushing up the artwork on the corners. I'm not sure if leg protectors prevent that or not.

I've seen a few very, very badly faded decals, far worse than the originals usually are and in a shorter amount of time. Just something to keep in mind.

You have to know what a real leg protector is.

These plastic pieces of shit. are not Protectors, they are leg destroyers.shitty protectors.jpg These will destroy your art. They are ment to cover up your already destroyed, crinkled , trashed corners. That's all. Over time they will make the damage go beyond even these, which there is no turning back.

On the other hand. These are a saving grace. awesome protectors.jpg They keep your legs from touching the cabinet, and you will never have crinkle with these on your games.

I rounded ALL the edges of the "awesome" protectors with a fine metal file to remove any burrs and sharp edges, and also drilled out the countersunk areas on the screw holes so the screws sit flush with the surface of the protector before I installed them.

They are "awesome" though when it comes to protecting the cabinet artwork.

Greg

yup, and pinball life has the metal protectors on sale right now. They used to be 18.95 a set. www.pinballlife.com

I put them on all my games. Even the screened old school ones. keeps the legs from making dents in the sides.

in my opinion, original in good shape>original faded or minor damage>re-decaled/painted> original physically heavily damaged.