Hi everyone, I’ve made a ton of good progress, and I’ve posted a few more photos below. I thought it might be interesting (or phenomenally boring, ha ha) to list out every major step (lots of minor steps in between that I didn’t list) in this Atlantis pinball restoration odyssey so far.
So here’s the list of completed tasks, as well as a few things still to be done.
First, the completed list:
September 2015:
• Acquired game from Florida; determined cab and head were unusable due to termite damage; playfield and mechanicals complete and able to be restored
• Acquired back-glass from same seller (shipped separately), in good condition
• Removed bottom board, head insert board, and cabinet hardware
• (Playfield acquired with cabinet was from another Atlantis and is being used for this restoration)
• Located and acquired donor cabinet, pedestal and head from local collector, due to termite damage on original cabinet and head
• Removed existing hardware from donor cabinet/head and began process of ultra-sonic cleaning/tumbling as needed
• Stripped all paint from cabinet / head
• Sanded cabinet and head
• Applied bondo as needed, re-sanded.
October 2015:
• Painted 2 primer coats (white) to cabinet and head
• Painted base coat (antique white) to cabinet and head
• Applied speckle-paint to cabinet and head using black acrylic and flicking a tooth-brush
November 2015:
• Purchased Atlantis stencils from Pinball Pimp (Boise, Idaho)
• Painted stencils using sea-green and maroon red
• Dismantled, cleaned, serviced and reinstalled chime unit
• Dismantled, cleaned, serviced and reinstalled tilt unit
December 2015:
• Cleaned all head hardware, including Jones plugs, and reinstalled.
• Installed back-glass
• Installed new bulbs in head
• Placed large order with PBR for cabinet hardware including new legs, coin door, coin entry plate, flipper buttons, etc.
January-February 2016:
• Completely cleaned and adjusted bottom-board and mechanicals
• Installed all new cabinet hardware, including door, door receiver, coin entry plate, coin slots and legs (everything but the side-rails, for which I reinstalled the originals) and coin entry lights
• Installed bottom board and re-attached wiring for flippers, chime unit, tilt unit and coin door
• Completely cleaned and adjusted head-insert, including score reels and reinstalled in game (purchased good condition reels from ebay for inclusion on Atlantis earlier in the fall)
• Removed and completely serviced credit unit and ensured middle switch closed for free-play, reinstalled
• Completely serviced player unit and ensured proper functioning through all 5 balls and Game Over
• Temporarily put playfield back in game and started the game to ensure correct start-up sequence, balls advance 1-5 to game-over, and score reels reset to zero on startup. (100% operation confirmed)
• Removed playfield again
• Removed all playfield hardware
• Commenced work on underside of playfield: Cleaned and adjusted all playfield switches, rollovers and relays. Removed and reinstalled relay bracket, slingshot brackets, flipper brackets for cleaning
• Bent bracket that was mis-shapen on drop-target bank back into correct shape (eventually replaced with a new one; the bent one still wasn’t quite right)
• Continued ongoing process of ultra-sonic-cleaning, tumbling and hand polishing (Mother’s Metal Polish) metal parts
• Completely serviced “bonus” (sequence completed) unit and ensured 100% operation. Reapplied original “Sequence Completed Switch” decal that had come loose from game.
• Placed second large order with PBR for various playfield parts
• Tumbled all remaining metal parts, including wire guides, screws visible on playfield, etc. (liquid polish and walnut shell media in tumbler)
• Did spot touch-ups using Sharpie Markers and auto polishing compound, using process that Tim Meighan in Seattle taught me.
• After all touch-ups were complete, taped off all lights / drop targets and waxed playfield (2 coats carnauba)
• Installed new door plug and coin reject rods and retaining rings in brand new front door
• Purchased playfield protector (Bay Area Amusements) – even though I’ve sunk this cost ($119), I’m not 100% convinced I’ll go with this. Still debating.
• Put rollover switches back in place and double-checked adjustment of all switches.
• Installed new bulbs, plugged in playfield and tested sockets for needed soldering
• Removed PF again and soldered as needed, including 2 broken wires on drop-target bank
• Placed back in game and re-test lighting
• Cleaned wooden playfield guides with Murphy’s Oil Soap (wood cleaner) and reinstalled to playfield.
• Installed new PF posts
• Re-installed stand-up targets
• Removed and replaced white insert in 2 star rollovers with new ones (kept the red surrounding targets in place)
• Completely cleaned and serviced drop-target bank, replaced bent bracket and all 10 drop targets with new ones. Adjusted switches.
• Removed, cleaned and re-attached slingshot brackets and switches
• Re-Installed tumbled wireframes (re-bent two that were slightly mi-sshapen)
• Installed new rubbers
• Installed playfield protector to try it out – still unsure if I’ll go with this or not.
• Install brand-new plastics, and plastic ball guides
• Reinstall cleaned, polished and painted (white top arch) top arches
• Reinstall cleaned hardware for underneath the bottom-apron, including a new return lane to replace broken one, as well as deflector shield and other metal hardware.
• Completely rebuilt flippers and installed with new flippers and rubbers
The home stretch: Here’s what’s still to do (I can see the end!):
1. Re-service 1000s score reel (sticks between 9 and 0 occasionally) will do this weekend
2. Install drink holder! (Pin Gulp is awaiting installation!) will do this weekend (will try it out with a cold beer)
3. Rebuild bumpers on Monday evening, once bumper-skirts arrive (I forgot to order these in that last huge parts order!). I’ve already got the new switches installed, so I just need to assemble the bumper bodies, mount them to the PF, re-mount the coils/brackets, and do the soldering.
4. Install new shooter gauge and apron (I’ve acquired good ones through a collector in NY and will install once they arrive)
5. Install back-door (I’ve acquired this from the same collector I got the shooter gauge and apron from, and will install upon arrival.)
6. Replace coil on 1000s chime unit
7. Get and install new score and instruction cards (still looking for a nice set of these!)
8. “Tacks” for back? (the white plastic “tacks” that are in the back of the game for when it’s stood on end. Not sure where to get these).
9. TBD: Clear-coat backglass?
Hopefully by this time next week: Play and enjoy!
A few shots of the PF as I began de-populating it for restoration:
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Re-attached labels like this that had come off of the bottom-board and underside of the PF:
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Cleaned and serviced all of the bottom board and mechanicals:
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Another dirty playfield shot (sorry these are out of order a bit)
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Dirt-flipper helped me here. I had a wire going to the ground lug that should have gone to a different transformer lug (no wonder the game wouldn't start! That's now fixed).
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