So, I thought some of you might be interested in seeing this week's project for me: swapping Whirlwind playfields. I'm really grateful for a place to commune about pinball here at PInside. Many of you have helped me significantly on my Whirlwind already. Thank you.

First, a few notes about CPR. The playfield is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. These look amazing. I've read all the notes about insert crazing, but once a light in under it, forget about it. It looks great. That said, I've been very disappointed in CPR's customer service. Not only are they not sure if they can fulfill all the pre-orders (anyone seen the Seinfeld car rental episode:

), but they have done almost nothing to communicate to those who still don’t have a playfield.

I am on the pre-order list and have been patiently waiting. I've emailed with no response. I pre-ordered around August 2012 and even though the contact deadline was around May 12, I never got a response. Just another note on their website saying “pre-orders being contacted in waves.” I'm cool with waiting, but as a business owner myself, pretty firmly believe in “under-promising/over-delivering.”

Thankfully, I found a pin friend in Dayton, OH who ordered 2 (BTW: why were pre-order folks allowed to buy 2 if the whole list doesn't get a chance first?), who sold me one, along with plastics. I’m VERY pleased with the product, just not CPR’s customer service.

Here's some pics of the original playfield:

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Yep, pretty trashed. I’ve flame polished all the ramps now, repainted the cab, yada, yada. It’s going to look AMAZING. Found this Whirlwind in someone’s crazy dirty garage and bought it for a song.

Now the A/B comparison photos of mine original playfield next to CPR’s:

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First, I meticulously labelled the backside of the new playfield:

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Then, the wiring harness (what I refer to as the "rat's nest" was laid on the board. Then, every piece on the underside was positioned just right, screwed in, bolted down, etc... Several of my wires for switches and lamps were broken or missing so I had to look at the wiring matrix and repair as necessary.

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That's as far as I've gotten so far. I'll keep updating this post as I progress. I expect to finish the project within the week. I'm really pumped! Matt, I've cleaned this game up so much from those early playfield photos. TONS of work, but I love doing this. Saving 1 more game out there for the next generation I guess. If anyone has advice as I start the topside, feel free to give tips. I've got hundreds of pics prior to tear-down so I think I know where each piece goes!

A couple of notes to relay to the community while I'm swapping out playfield and plastics with CPR's ones. Overall, they did a fantastic job but I do have a few quibbles that everyone should know about (by the way, I still haven't gotten an email from them regarding my pre-ordered playfield):

1) On the playfield, there are several holes missing that should have been drilled. Most notably, the flipper alignment holes are missing! I found this odd as when I swapped a Space Shuttle CPR playfield, they were there. Bummer.
2) MANY of the holes are slightly off from where they should be. This wouldn't bother me except that this meant that there are a few post bumpers that I'm not able to insert into the playfield without drilling new holes for them. Kind of sloppy on that.
3) Some of the fonts on the plastics do not match the originals. Honestly, this doesn't bother me, but thought I'd share so the information is out there. Here's an example:

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Just for fun, some before and after pics of the cabinet. I've very pleased with how this came out, but lesson learned and something I want to share with others: if you re-decal, be absolutely SURE that the wood is completely flat. Any inconsistencies will show!

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Okay, finally got the game all in place! Will show pics soon. Have a MAJOR complaint: the holes are not in the right place! I've had numerous problems with this and have written up above but now I'm finding that the left ball guide that leads onto the left flipper is just far enough away from the flipper that it causes it to jump and hop onto the left flipper instead of a smooth plane. This is because the holes were drilled incorrectly by CPR. Going to try and drill new holes tomorrow. Not cool.

Just so everyone can get a reference, here's what I'm talking about. The 1st photo is the left flipper (notice the gap); the 2nd photo is the right (notice zero gap):

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Thanks Stu. Maybe I'll replace the metal guide if possible.

Okay, I'm DONE! Finally got everything to work. Had problems with the pop bumper lights (blown resistors), some switches (cut lines somewhere on the PF, just replaced the line), and some fuses. Honestly, the thing that scared me the most about this swap was the rivets on the plastics. No biggie whatsoever though! Simply replaced with bolts and nuts, no need for rivets. To all those out there about to do a swap, go to hardware store and buy "m3" sized bolts w/ nuts. Simply drill out the rivets and keep the brackets. No need for rivet press and all that.

First, a pic of the empty playfield in the cab, then some pics of the finished product. SO HAPPY! To all those about to attempt the PF swap, you can do it! Feel free to msg me with any questions.

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A few more... 1.jpg 2.jpg

More including some friends (the Space Shuttle was also completely restored with a CPR PF swap)...

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Up next for me: Taxi restoration. Probably not going to buy CPR repro though.

Been 7 months since I did the restore, and I can honestly say I'm so happy I did it. All in all, I got a basically dead/destroyed WW for $700, had to replace the power PCB for $100, and the display (wish I would have gone with NOS or originals as the LEDs in the new ones just don't look as cool) for $200, plastics for $100, the playfield for $700, topper for $75, and miscellaneous stuff to fix here and there for around $450. That's a $2,100 game that looks and plays almost as good as new. No problems since the original finish date, and it gets played all the time! My advice to anyone seeking to do the PF swap is make sure you don't over-spend on getting a decent shape WW to begin with! Once you do the PF swap, you'll notice all the other things (plastics, lights, topper, marque) want to be touched up.