Control panel installed. This is my first look at any of the LED's that I installed, they really make the buttons pop. SDC10222.JPG SDC10223.JPG

Only the GI is lit up here. There other two buttons are for player 1 and 2 and will not light up until the game has credits which wont happen till after the coin door is reinstalled.

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Coin door refinish is done and looks pretty good. As with the cash box door I used a Satin black for the base and Semi-gloss black for the splatter coat.

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Lined up, leveled, and centered.

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Going through getting all the ground braids reattached in the proper locations. I, in my haste to disassemble the game, cut this one so it is soldered back together.

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Here I'm going through all the switches and coils making any necessary adjustments. It didn't need too much, mostly to the pop bumper, the kicker by the flipper, and a little tweak to the ramp flap. It should be said that this playfield is a complete PITA to work on! Installing LED's was a correct choice because pulling this to change light bulbs is just not practical, especially once it is in a line up and the back door is not easily accessible.

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Got the playfield back in the cabinet. The LED's look great and don't seem to have any ghosting issues.

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Ok, so I was going to just describe how I play tested the game but my wife apparently had other ideas. Basically with the mirror out you can play the game from the rear and (minus that the art is backwards) the orientation of the play is correct.

The story behind this picture is a follows: The wife comes out while I am play testing and gets huge laugh at how I'm "positioned". She then proceeds to snap a picture, you know the hey... I look up...she takes the picture I'm not ready for kind. She is then adamant that I post it because she says it shows part of the process. She for the most part cares little for pinball so for her to show so much interest in this particular moment tells me that she has skewed motives but whatever here it is.

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Thanks! The end is in sight, maybe just one more weekend.

Don't mind at all! I actually thought I had posted this back when you mentioned me doing a Youtube video. I looked back through the thread and I guess I didn't.

This is a video of the warehouse where this Varkon came out of in the Houston area back in 1998. The video is taken by the guy I got it from, the Varkon is at about 1:18.

I would be surprised if even half still remain operable or salvageable for that matter.

One step closer tonight, not much left...

Getting the score cards reproduced.

Originals are yellowed and curling, just not going to be usable.

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These were done up in Word and then printed on heavy card stock paper. The instruction card was printed at 86% of size and the pricing card at 90% of size. When printed at 100% even though the font size is correct it would print too big, once resized they are damn near perfect.

Here is an original next to the one I made.

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And both the instruction card and the pricing card redone.

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After I removed the original instruction cards there was some residue left on the front glass. I used Wildcat TR-60 to remove the residue.

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I made no attempt to remove the residue from the back of the printed art and just concentrated on the clear areas. I didn't think there was any need to risk damaging the art.

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The front glass, actually plexi, is cleaned and then hit with Novus 2.

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Not many options for mounting the cards. I used blue painters tape.

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I've run into an issue where the front glass will fit but I can't raise it up enough to actually install it because it is hitting the power supply I installed for the marquee lighting. I'm going to have to find another place for the power supply. For reference take note of the power supply mounting screw, it shows how much the glass must come up before it can be lowered into place.

Glass fits as it should once it is in the game.

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Problem being that it has to go up an additional inch to clear some stuff around the control panel to get in place.

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Fix wasn't to bad. Wires were just long enough to flip the power supply to the back side. It installs nicely now.

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And how it looks with the front glass installed. The displays and lightning bolt film are easy to see because the mirror is not yet installed.

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It is a dual cone speaker so my guess is it just a crossover for the mid range.

Thanks! If I get off my ass I can probably have it done this weekend.

The mirror retainers are painted a satin black and new foam is installed. And yes, before any one ask, if you are in my garage you are a perfect workbench...here I am using the hood of the car, it was close.

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The mirror is installed and then the mirror retainers, along with repainted hardware.

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The display driver board is easily accessible from a swing panel on the back door. It is getting ditched for new Xpin displays. Notice that I kept the incandescent bulbs for the feature lamps and the flashers. LED's were so bright that they were too prominent when viewed through the mirror, I may however experiment with some different colored LED flashers for the lightning bolts.

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The new Xpin displays are very bright, brighter than the original displays and and just as the feature lamps distracted from game play through the mirror. Luckily there is a dimming pot on the Xpin driver board so I have them running at about 60% brightness and they are just bright enough to be seen but not distracting.

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Displays are full intensity.

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Displays have been turned down to about 60% of full intensity.

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Here are the formal finished pics.

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And a few more

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I'm going to call it done at this point and give it a marquee spot in the lineup in the house. I've really enjoyed this build and all the comments along the way. This game will be at the 2013 Texas Pinball Festival so if coming to the show please stop and say hi.

Thanks,
Marc

Thanks!! I think the ability to log this on Pinside and interact with its members has made the process that much more enjoyable.

I knew nothing of it till about 4 or so years ago when I first played it...then I was hooked.