I seem to be on a display board kick lately, so figured I'd work on the one for STARS while I'm at it.

Some D bag took a grinder & opened up the outside edge of most of the front socket holes I assume to give them more access for getting to the bulbs with their fingers.... So that will all have to be fixed.

The last Stars I restored had a nice wood display board, this one has cheap particle board. Interesting to see the variations of build even on same game.

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I do like my zip ties LOL. Just bought 2 more bags last week. I actually buy bags of 800 from Lowes. They used to be like $13 a bag which was cheapest I could find them for anywhere, the other day they were almost $20. You can find cheaper ones elsewhere but I've found over the years you get what you pay for on zip ties. The ultra cheap ones sometimes just rip apart when being pulled tight. These ones I will get 800 good ones out of a bag of 800. The cheap ones about 1/3 of them will be useless.

Got the STARS cabinet sanded down & bottom removed. This was actually a pretty decent "players" condition game that the owner paid pretty good $ for. Had really nice non faded cab paint etc, but even on a "nice" players game, once you tear into them, the true condition shows through.

Had couple extra large bolt holes bored in the front I assume for some type of coin box lock etc. All sorts of fun stuff to repair. Overall not a bad cabinet to work with, but the wood is a bit soft.

The factory alignment on the rear of the backbox support where it met the back of the cab was a disaster, so I will straighten that out (no pun intended)

Fiberglass resin repairs have commenced.

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Rob's FG getting it's Gold stripes.....

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Rob's side stripes

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And assembled some displays & a new rectifier for my Dracula.

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Rob's FG cab has been touched up & is ready for clear tonight.

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Built up a new rectifier for my Dracula.....

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Putting a HT on a High Speed for Customer of Tom's..... Never saw a Star Rollover that determined to stay in the PF. Luckily I'm fairly good at repairing things... & I was a machinist in a previous life. So I fully filled in the affected area with resin & hand machined out the hole & counterbore that the insert sits on. Just bunch of extra work & frustration to remind me why I don't like Williams games.

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Got the rest of the PF prepped for clear, sanded shooter lane etc.

I found good tool to put in the lamp sockets is old .300 Weatherby shell casings.

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Rob's cab got cleared. Now onto making new bottom for it & beginning re-assembly.

Yes it looks a bit different than when you dropped it off.

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This weekend was High Speed weekend...... Got the Hardtop installed, installed all the mechs back on the bottom on Saturday & worked on topside Sunday.

Still need to re-paint the spinners & some other small odds & ends but it's fairly close. The Ramps should'nt take too long to install & little bit of lamp wiring left.

This game really needs a new plastic set & few other things but that stuff is out of my hands, I'm not dealing direct with customer on this one, so they can work on upgrading feature lights & plastics in future. I was just contracted to install Hardtop & polish up the topside. I probably have already installed more new parts than I should have, but it's tough for me to install damaged old components onto a fresh HT. I have to make the thing look pretty respectable if I'm going to put my name on it, even if that means eating into labor profits here & there.

Amazing how good the inserts came out on this one. This PF had really nasty deeply scored inserts in places. Sanded with 220/320/800/1500/2000 & then cleared them. Look like glass sitting underneath the HT.

Just put in a Marco order for some more small stuff to finish this one off this week.

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Hope to have HS finished up tonight.

Like I said before, it needs new plastics desperately & new pop caps etc. But That's simple stuff owners can do down the road when they want to sink more $ into it.

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Yes, it's an Outside Edge Hardtop. It looks great, fit was pretty darn good & I'm sure the fitment issues were more to do with the PF variations from Williams rather than the HT. These Williams games are absolute JUNK in my opinion. The build quality & engineering of how stuff was made is pathetic compared to older Pinball machines. & I'm not even talking about their over complicated wiring.... I'm talking about simple design stuff like the plastics, how the ball guides are mounted to the PF etc.

Everything about this game just feels "Chincy" & like it can fall apart at any moment. Screws they used here & there are woefully inadequate, wood is all soft etc. Diode manufacturers in Chicago back the day must have loved Williams.

I will never work on another one of these era Williams games again. (Other than I have to put lamp sockets & ground braid on the Mirco Sorcerer I clear coated for a Friend & after that, he is on his own for re-assembling it)

Other people can have fun working on this crap. I'll go back to my Early Solid States & be happy.

Took this one as far as I'm going to last night & It's ready for pickup. Turned out pretty nice for what it is, & I'm sure owner will enjoy it, I guess that's all that really matters. Williams Games are damn fun, Sorcerer is actually one of my Favorite games from the '80s to play, but I will never like their design flaws.

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Back to some more normal stuff.......

Parts trickling in for STARS & moving along with populating PF. Lot's of hole drilling & polishing.

I never really noticed the knot in the wood in the shooter lane on this PF until this weekend. Some people may hate the look of that, but I actually really like it, it gives the wood a lot of Character. I also collect Weatherby hunting rifles (Hence my username, WeatherbyMAG = Weatherby Magnum) & the stocks on those are mostly walnut, but also some have custom Maple stocks & the woodgrain & sometime knots in the wood can increase the value to the gun due to the increased character/individualization of the wood.

& Yesterday I bought Maple plywood to make new bottoms for Rob's FG & My EK. Similar deal, I went through & picked out wood with a lot of pretty grain, so that it will look better when cleared.

Tom graciously dropped off his router & some hole saws over the weekend so I can make the speaker mount for the FG. That should be tonight's project.

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Rob's Flash Gordon.

Handmade maple bottom. I chamfered the speaker holes for his Pinsound speakers, if anyone is wondering why the top of the speaker holes are routered.

I did not stain it, I did some testing with Minwax gloss spar urethane that I used on knotty pine paneling in my house on some scraps before I finished the bottom & it gave the maple a nice color to it & helped give the grain more definition. It's not too light & it's not too dark, I think looks just right IMO. It's glossy to match the cab, but it's not so glossy like a sheet of glass. I'm pretty darn happy with it.

This is the 1st new bottom I have made for any of the games I have restored, so I'm working on my techniques etc. But I think this came out very nice. I will talk to Rob to see if he wants a coin box support made & installed, but I think it looks cleaner without that & I doubt anyone is ever going to put a coin box in this game ever again. Also I am not planning on putting any support "triangles" of wood blocks in the corners, as this bottom was built way stronger than the factory job that had supports glued in. Again, I think it just looks so much cleaner of an installation without them, that they don't need to be there.

The Cab should get populated this weekend.

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Stars PF getting wiring populated.

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Making a new Maple tilt board for Rob's FG as well to match the bottom panel. Could'nt put an old flakeboard tilt board in this cabinet.

I almost forgot I had removed the original PF guides/holders, so I had to make a new set of them. Still need to clear them before installing as well.

But it's looking fairly spiffy.

It needs a new rectifier.. I noticed multiple burn marks underneath the original & it has a bunch of damaged diodes. I wouldn't put that thing back into my worst enemies Pinball Machine, just a fire waiting to happen. So I'll get a new one ordered for it.

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Evel Knievel getting closer

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Stars getting closer

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Tom's FG got the Oak bottom panel he made installed.

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Working through the target banks on STARS, & finishing up the wiring.

Flipper rebuild parts should be here this week from PBL.

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Made a new Maple tilt board for Rob's FG to match the bottom. Game was missing tilt bob when I got it, I'll pirate one from one of my other games for now to get it finished.

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Got Rob's rectifier installed

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Made new oak rails for Stars & Evel Knievel.....

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Got drop targets done & flippers rebuilt on Stars.

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My EK PF getting little closer. New Oak rails installed.... Just down to spinners & some decals for the dead pops. The Upper rail & arch stuff has to wait until it comes off the rotisserie to be installed.

The Flippers are not aligned yet, figure I'll do that after the Blue Titan Rubbers come in for them.

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Freshened up Rob's coin door. Ultrasonic cleaned the wiring, new lamp holders, polished the coin entry's, new diodes on switches etc.

I need to get new coin entry plates for it as the originals are pretty scratched up, but from a distance look ok.

Coin doors are my least favorite part of restoring a pinball machine. Very time consuming for all they are, just to make them look nice.

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EK is now white...... will let cure for 48 hours & begin stenciling Thursday night.

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EK is off the rotisserie so I can finish up the ends that you can't get to on a traditional rotisserie.

Pretty much just down to the Apron, dead pop bumper cap decals & flipper rubber & alignment at this point.

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While I'm waiting on finishing the painting on the EK cabinet, started working on stuff to go inside the cabinet..... New maple tilt/chime board. & Began restoring the chimes.

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Since EK is off of one of my 3 Rotisseries, EBD LE is ready to go on. Installed the Hard Top (best fitment of any to date) & gave the bottom side a fresh coat of grey.

Populating will commence this week.

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