So I am coming close to wrapping up my AFM restoration so I figured I would document this restore as well. Like my AFM, wh2o have live a long route life and it shows. I bought this game during the Texas pinball festival auction online and had it shipped from Texas. I want to get the cab done before the cold sets in so now is the time.

The boards are hacked up pretty bad. I sent them off to Clive to see what he can do.
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The cabinet has some very poor touch ups, flipper button wear, corner separation and is dirtier than my AFM. I have a long road ahead of me.

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Few more pics of how it sits now

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Sure thing. I briefly show how I repair some slight corner separation on my AFM here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/afm-restore-alien-invasion

So while I try to figure out my AFM issue, that restore is on temporary hold. I figured I would get some more work done on wh2o.

Did I mention it's filthy dirty?image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

More tear down pictures.
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I hope to get the glueing of the corner done and dry today so I can start sanding tomorrow.

Oh I forget this great previously done cab repaint
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Cabinet glueing has commenced...

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I figured I would start sanding while the glue setup. Slow going...image.jpg

So I reset the clamps to glue the rear panel/corners soo I sanded the other side today. For whatever reason, this side was adhered much more aggressively. Once the clamps are off I'll pull the rails and clean up the sides.
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The corner trued up nicely and the separation was closed. It will still require filling but it presents a nice foundation. Note the the previous owner sunk nails into the corner to try to bring the joint together.
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It's nothing really. 6 bolts for the hinges. You can leave the hinges attached to the cab. Label the wires and disconnect the harnesses. With labeling everything, it shouldn't take more than 20-25 mins to remove it.

Everything I've seen so far is insignificant enough to only warrant bondo.

Most plugs are unique enough by size and key to the plug next to it, that once a few are set, the rest fall into place. It's really not that bad. I use painters blue table and a sharpie to mark them.

Everything stripped out. What a filthy mess.

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Just started sanding the inside. A long way to go. Starting to see how it will clean up.
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Exterior decals removed and rough sanded. Finish sanding and filling up next.

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Not thay I know of or see evidence of. What makes you think that?

Oh, that is dry red powder coat material from shooting powder in my garage.

Just when I thought the glueing was done, I noticed the back wood that the rear plastic glass trim mounts to was split in half. Out come the clamps.
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Rough sanding nearly done. I still need to get the inside 90's and corners. Almost ready to fill and finish sand.

Moving along slowly. This cabinet needs a lot of tlc!

I noticed one of the vent holes in the head was misshaped and the tell tale paint flashing of bonds that wasn't primed before it was painted. image.jpgimage.jpg

Further inspection on the inside shows the extent of the damage and the half assed repair.image.jpg

Here it is in its entirety once the paint was removed. I will have to rework and reshape the bondo of this area by hand. image.jpg

The front 45 angle the light boards for the topper mount to was split so more glueing.

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Keeping with the filthy nature of the game, the head was no different.
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New oak chalks measured, cut and installed. image.jpg

Yeah, 220 is way too fine to cut the vinyl that is adhered to the cab. I use 80 or 120 depending on how well it is cutting. After the decals are off I then go to 220 to finish the cab off.

Thanks. Yep, lots of sand discs.

The head is almost done being sanded. I had to clamp and glue a few joints. Tomorrow I plan on sealing the bottom of the cab. image.jpg

Sealed bottom:
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The inside is still wet but the sealer looks blotchy in a few spots. May have to sand it and seal it again. image.jpg

Before and after comparisons:
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The repair of the vent hole is shaping up nicely. It is roughed in. I just have to fill a few low spots. You can tell how much I had to fill (darker red bondo) to get the hole back in shape.
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Thanks for posting that. I wasn't aware of the marking. I looked them up on google. Pretty interesting read.

Thanks for saying so. The long one is 5' and the short is 3'

I'm not sure. I haven't used them on a wide body. Be sure to get galvanized pipe though. It's a little more money buy doesn't have the protective urethane coating on it the smudges off and won't rust like black iron pipe will.

Ready for primer. I'm sure I will find plenty of more spots to drill once the primer is on.

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Small update. With expo last week and getting sick this week, I haven't done anything. I did get word from Clive at coinop cauldron my boards are done. The mpu was shot so no work there. I did get a replacement from Chris Hibler at expo though.

Clive's report:

Your Power Driver board went through an over four hour repair yesterday and was worse than first thought. The prior repairs had damaged the traces to every bridge and filter capacitor, xero-crossing and some of the general illumination resulting in 27 traces having to be repaired. The plate-through holes had been patched with tiny 30 gauge wire. The board is now repaired and had been on test all day with no issues. Your remaining boards are also ready.

Repair details (all new parts):

Williams WPC-89 CPU board (SN 50013 773386, Whitewater (L-3) with prior repairs): Hacked beyond repair:

Williams WPC-89 Sound board (SN 50004 854502, Whitewater. Bad logic/ROMs. Capacitors virtually open circuit/dried out. Playing wrong sounds): Removed and checked all socketed ICs from board. New/NOS U15 Sound ROM (original failed to verify). U14 and U18 ROMs removed and internal data verified (Vcc +/- 0.25v). New 5864 Static RAM IC and 28-pin socket. LM1875 amplifier and TO-220 Sil-pad. 4x 1uf/35v tantalum capacitors (C28, C29, C46, C47). 22uf/50v/105c, 5x 47uf/25v, 2x 47uf/35v/105c, 100uf/25v/105c and 2x 4700uf/35v/105c capacitors. All headers and fuses reflowed. Fuses removed and checked -- okay. Two-tier full functional testing:

Williams Dot Matrix Controller board (SN 51439101391): All components checked/measured. Fuses removed and checked. Board cleaned up. Two-tier full functional testing:

Williams WPC-3 Power Driver board (SN 52517240332. Numerous prior repairs. Wires on rear. Used parts in prior repairs. Many damaged traces. Low voltage output): Removed all prior repairs from circuit board. 7812 voltage regulator and TO-220 Sil-pad (Q2). 2N5401 transitor (Q29). TIP102 transistor (Q30). 27 damaged traces repaired. All remaining transistors checked. C2 (100uf/50v/105c), C4 (100uf/16v), C5, C6, C7, C11, C30 (5x 15000uf/25v/105c) and C8 (100uf/100v/105c) capacitors. BR1, BR2, BR3, BR4 and BR5 (5x GBPC3506) bridge rectifiers. J101, J114, J115, J120 and J121 upgraded to high temperature headers. 0.33uf/35v military grade tantalum capacitor (C9). 10k 1/2 watt resistor (R260). +5 volt boost modification (22 ohms). Fuses removed and checked, -- 3 amp (F103) and 8 amp (F114) due to incorrect ratings. Reflowed solder at various areas around board to fix suspect or cracked solder joints. Board cleaned-up. Two-tier full functional testing:

Williams Fliptronic II (no serial number): 4x 3 amp slow blow fuses (fuses installed ranged from 5 to 8 amps). Added missing 100uf/100v capacitor (C2). Replaced out of tolerance capacitor at C1 (100uf/25v/105c). All components checked. Reflow bridge rectifier, fuse holders and headers. Two-tier full functional testing:

Whitewater Lamp Sequence board: Reflow all header pins to fix cracked solder joints. Replaced failing C1 capacitor (100uf/50v/105c). Two-tier full functional testing

Haven't got around to painting the cab yet but I started stripping the playfield. I hope to make better progress once fall leaf cleanup and getting my property winter ready is done.
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Finally, primer is on. Lots of blemishes exposed. Next up, more sanding and filling.

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First base coat of color. With this deep of blue, multiple coats will be needed with sanding between coats.
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Thanks. Another coat in the books. Hopefully one more and then decals.
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Also got a little more tear down done.

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1. It is a modified polyurethane alkyd enamel.
2. It is a regional paint vendor called McCormick paints. Sherwin Williams has the same paint though.
3. Custom matched to the decals.

I haven't even begun to identify what is not stock on this game. There are tons of hacks. Thanks for the heads up on the targets.

Sanded and ready for another coat.

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Thanks. I have two transparent green ones and the ramp guards. Mantis makes them btw.

Decals tomorrow. Still wish the bottom cleaned up better but it still looks sharp. image.jpeg

And the harness is off.

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Decals on.

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Some say not to. The high sheen finish shows many imperfections that primer won't. As I apply finish coats, I'm filling minor imperfections and the sanding levels the surface. In the end, the sides getting decals get lightly sanded to knock down and irregularities and is then wiped with a tac cloth. The end result is a mirror like surface. Extra work, yes but wirth it imo.

Thank you.

Silk screens on. Also started getting the shop out decals installed. image.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpeg

Took a break from the restore to get this put together
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I have been needing blast cabinet to prep for powder coating. The damn harbor freight thing was a pia to put together. Hopefully I can start powder coating the cab metals to start getting the cab reassembled.

So I was itching to try out my blast cabinet. I tried out powder coating the cab parts a yellow that's a near match to the whitewater cab lettering. If I don't like it, I can blast it again. I don't know how I lived without a blast cabinet.

Before:
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After:
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Thank you.

I usually polish these types of parts to a high shine but on this game, the metal was in poor shape and wasn't shining well so I said what the hell. I actually have less time in powder coating versus polishing.

Another piece completed; the rear vent screen. It is just tacked up there with one screw. image.jpeg

Thank you. No shop, just do the small parts in a large toaster over in my garage. Larger parts like rails and legs get farmed out to a local shop.

Lockdown receiver done. I tried cooking the powder with the rubber handle in place and it melted so I have to buy some plasti-dip but other than that, it turned out sweet. Not perfect like a real shop would do but great for under the playfield stuff. Especially considering the shape most of the metals were/are in.

Before:
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After blasting:
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After powder coating:
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Installed:

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Thank you for all the kind words. It is appreciated.

On to the light board. The front is drying from the base coat application. Once dry, I will lightly sand it and put a couple more finish coats on it. The back side will be sealed with polyurethane.

Before:
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After:
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Slow going during the week. I was able to work on some leg plates.

Side by side comparison and mocked up in place.

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ground braid installed. I deviated a little bit in an attempt to make it look cleaner. Some of the runs could have been straighter but overall it looks good. I still need to solder lugs on the ends that attach to the service box.

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I use a standard razor blade. I hold the blade at a fat 45 degrees to cut the decal back from each face of the corner. The key is to have straight and true corners/edges. Any slight ding or impression in the corner edge causes you to nick the decal or dig into the wood. The other key for me is to make one steady consistent pull. I try to grasp both ends of the blade with both hands, index finger and thumb on each hand. My index fingers are bent at roughly 90 degrees. This allows me to run my index finger along the face of each side of the cabinet. That way the blade is stabilized and not fluctuating on the angle it is cutting. I hope that makes sense?

Thanks everyone for the compliments.

I love the booth. I have been etching mason jars for my mom. She's using them for Christmas stuff. I'm blasting everything I can find. Wish I had bought one sooner.

Run of the mill polyurethane satin. Milwax maybe?

So I have been taking a break from pinside and I have been slowly working on the restoration. The game is sold to a pinsider so I figured I would update this thread as well.

Coin door reconditioned and powder coated.image_(resized).jpegimage_(resized).jpegimage_(resized).jpegimage_(resized).jpeg

I don't have a ton of before pics on some of these because I had stopped updating this thread. I will start doing before and afters going forward.

Speaker panel was sanded, back side sealed, black repainted, new dmd bear seal (color dmd pending), new plastic overlay, repainted red Williams logo and black speaker grills, flipper fidelity speakers installed. Looks like new. image_(resized).jpegimage_(resized).jpegimage_(resized).jpegimage_(resized).jpeg

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Starting reassemble the mechs. Brackets powder coated, coils cleaned and new wrappers installed. I'm waiting on a couple replacement coils and the mechs will be done and I can switch to the top side for a bit. image_(resized).jpeg

Backbox done. The boards were serviced by Clive. My cpu was shot so I got a repaired one from Chris Hibler at expo. I just finally got around to swapping the cpu chip and roms. Light panel was painted high gloss on the front side and sealed on the backside. Ground plane panel was polished and metal brackets powder coated.

Before:
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After:
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And the moment of truth. After repairing the wiring in the service box and switching the components to the new cpu; it was time to test to see if it will boot.

Success.

Better yes, great no. Still limited to the sound quality the audio clips provide. Worth it for me at least.

Thank you. It was worth it to me. I'm still trying to justify the cost of a large oven to do rails and such. On some of the games I have restored , the metal was so bad it was either replate or powder. Powder was cheaper and easier to keep track of parts since I'm doing it in house as I go.

Another small update.

Trough switch assembly (bottom side only) powder coated.
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Also replaced the nasty diode insulating tubes
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I removed the opto board brackets and powder coated them too. image_(resized).jpeg
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I also cleaned the light pcb's, reflowed the bulb carrier pads and header pins as well.

Overall shot as she stands now.
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Most of the ball guides polished up and installed. Harnesses cleaned and drying. image_(resized).jpegimage_(resized).jpegimage_(resized).jpeg

Thank you. Mainly just a buffing wheel and green rouge. A couple of spots I had to use a dremel with a buffing wheel. In one instance the graining was so deep I had to sand them out first with 400 then 800 grit sandpaper followed by buffing.

All new micro switches and diodes. I've said it before, bending diodes sucks.

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Everything soldered in and switch harness in place.

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On to the light then coil harnesses.

All the harnesses are installed. Still need to install the wire loom brackets so I can dress the harnesses. Right now they're still separated and not bundled together. image_(resized).jpeg

Started getting posts and rubbers together on the top side but I'm done for the night.

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**I have rotated the first pic a dozen times and it keeps switching to vertical. Sorry.

Repairing the broken Bigfoot Boulder that goes over the launch wireform. The white is duct tape I used to hold it together while it setup. Once it's cured fully, I'll trim the stray fiberglass strands.
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**edit: sorry, pinside insist on attaching them out of order.

Thanks. It's actually old rubber cement from a failed repair attempt by the previous owner. Once it's cured I'll clean it off.

So summer took over and this got pushed to the back burner. Kids are back in school so I'm back at it. Big milestone. Everything is plugged back in. Everything works as it should. Obviously tweaks to switches and lamps, ect. Now that I know it's functioning as it's supposed to, I can continue putting it back together. image (resized).jpeg

Thanks. I bought it from a pinsider that had them made. I can't remember who it was. Maybe someone here can remembers who it was.

Quick update. I did a little topper test to see how everything works. Things are just temporarily tacked in place and I threw a towel over the light panel so it wouldn't washout the shot. I upgraded to the glm board so I could use led's instead of incandescents. The results were amazing. The video doesn't do it justice. The movement of the falls is fantastic. I have the glm board set on default with led's now. There is an enhanced setting I will try later. Now I'm off to painting the white of the falls bracket and then putting the dome on.

Dressing up the topper. I repaired a crack at one of the mounting holes with fiberglass and resin. Scuffered it up and put a fresh coat of white on it. I wasn't super worried about the back but I did want to get rid of the yellowing and have a consistent white. Turned out acceptably. Wish my foil was better but at least it is origonal. I also installed the tc overlay. I was surprised how "off" the size was, not covering everything it should have. *edit* pinside reordered them from completed to start for some reason.
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And back in place. IMG_1433 (resized).JPGIMG_1434 (resized).JPG

LOL. Actually, what you are seeing is the forklift portion of my escelara. I have the plate attachment and I use it as an adjustable work bench; raising or lowering the cab as needed.

Side note, all parts to big to powdercoat myself are off to the coater and I got the remaining parts in the mail yesterday. Hopefully I'll be wrapped up in the next two weeks.

Thank you.

Got the new switches installed and the ramps that have to go in before the mini. The pace will start picking up from here on out as everything starts falling into place. IMG_1443 (resized).JPGIMG_1444 (resized).JPG

Steadily moving along.

Inlane ball guide before:
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...after:

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...and installed:

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I also noticed that one of the service buttons on the coin door was working intermittently so I swapped in a new one.

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***I'm not sure why it keeps attaching the last two and duplicating the first one. I have edited it twice. Oh well, you get the idea.***

Getting closer. Everything back together. Still need to tweak the switches. IMG_0033 (resized).JPG

Polished up the service rails while I was at it.

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Powder coat parts are back. Everything is just setting in place to get a feel for how it's going to look. IMG_0036 (resized).JPG

Can anyone help me out on connectors. I connector @ j134 broke off (one wire in an 8 pin connector) and I have never ordered connectors before. Is this what I need? I think the wire is 24guage, not 22 like the bulk of the backbox. Part number:571-3-640441-8
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Location on the board: (that's a before picture btw )
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Finally got the playfield back in the cab. Got some tweaks to do and put the legs on and then she'll be done.
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Stern leg protector time.

First I put them on and put the leg bolts in to align the stern protector over the leg holes in the cabinet.

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Then I drill a small pilot hole for the set screw and other install the screw. That give me the final position of the second set screw hole. I drill that and install the last screw.
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Now that I have the protector in its final installed location I cut the decal along the perimeter roughly 1/16" away from the metal. Holding the blade at a 45 degree angle gets a consistent cut. Be careful though. The metal has burrs that will cause the blade to skip if not careful. IMG_0012 (resized).JPG
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Remove the protector and then remove the cut decal. Be careful when peeling. The decal tear easily and if you don't have your cuts scored through the decal, it will tear on you.
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Reinstall the protectors
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Put the legs on and you're done. No more wrinkles.
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Everything back together. Still have a few switches to adjust but she's 95% done. IMG_0031 (resized).JPGIMG_0026 (resized).JPGIMG_0027 (resized).JPGIMG_0028 (resized).JPG

Thank you.

A couple under the hood.

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I have a wrapper coming. That was how pps sent out the wrapper kit, 3 blue 1130 wrappers. I didn't want to leave the coil unwrapped until I got the correct one. Thanks for looking out though.

Thanks. The pinsider it went to loved it.