The Aussie Pinball Arcade

Aussie Pinball Forums => Restorations => Topic started by: turbo27 on July 16, 2015, 04:38:27 PM

Title: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 16, 2015, 04:38:27 PM
Next on my restoration cue is Doctor Who.
If I have played this game it was a long time ago and only a few times at best.

It's going to be a full re-decal and replace of broken parts (that I can source), everything cleaned and rebuilt.

I purchased the game partially dis-assembled. The strip down of the playfield had started, parts have been labelled but it's going to be a big ask for me to put it all back to together without the reference of pulling it apart.
Cabinet is actually really good, removed a few rogue screws from the underside, and re-glued and clamped.
The headboard was a little rougher. After removing the corner brackets she almost few to pieces. Lots of glue and clamps.
Electronics look pretty good. Both power driver and sound board have been used for testing, so a least I know I'm on a winner there. The rest is unknown.

The before pictures
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 16, 2015, 04:39:45 PM
Cabinet was as expected very dirty.

The box of hopefully all the playfield components.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 16, 2015, 04:42:18 PM
Playfield removed and cleaned, big difference
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 16, 2015, 04:46:50 PM
Overall the playfield is really nice.
Removed the mylar around the bumpers, and really just a jolly good scrub.

The main point of damage is on the 15 red inserts in front of the mini playfield.

Removed with a heat gun and gentle use of a rubber hammer and socket.

Cleaned, wet sanded on 400 then 1500, followed my novus 2 and buff.

Question - what type of glue are people using to re-fix the inserts.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 16, 2015, 04:51:41 PM
Cabinet was stripped using a heat gun and scrapper.
To remove the glue residue, soak white spirits and then scrap with a blade - comes off in balls
Glued and clamped where needed.

Body filler applied.

Sorry for the amount of posts - with only 4 photos per post it's difficult to show everything
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: McKie1 on July 16, 2015, 06:05:14 PM
Cool write up. Thank you as we will have to re-decal our DW at some stage soon :)
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: ddstoys on July 16, 2015, 06:27:56 PM
Keep me in mind I have a few new Dr who parts
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 16, 2015, 06:38:44 PM
Keep me in mind I have a few new Dr who parts

Sweet will do, cheers
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Boots on July 16, 2015, 07:26:25 PM
Should come up nicely
Those red inserts look a lot better, not a fun job though
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Strangeways on July 16, 2015, 08:27:22 PM
Rare to find a DR Who with almost all the insert decals intact. It is a tough job removing the 15 red inserts. Make sure you use a green scotchbrite to rough up the areas that sit against the playfield. I used super Glue Gel. Dispense the glue in the playfield cavity and drop each insert in the hole. Never apply glue to the insert as any surplus glue will gather on the playfield surface. Tedious and time consuming - but you do need to be careful.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 16, 2015, 09:12:40 PM
 ^^^thank you for the advice, truly appreciate it
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: pinnies4me on July 17, 2015, 08:46:35 AM


Nice work, thanks for sharing - a mate of mine has a Dr Who which I do enjoy to play when I am there.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 17, 2015, 03:49:36 PM
Small update, continued to sand and apply body filler.
Back box picture shows the 'balls' of glue after scrapping. If you don't do this step your sand paper continually blocks up and you end up wasting heaps of paper and time.

Cleaned lock down mechanism and gave it a polish - new decals applied.
Re-grained the lock down bar with 400 grit wet and dry and a spray of WD40. Followed by the polishing wheel
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: ddstoys on July 18, 2015, 05:07:17 PM
Looking good mate
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Crashramp on July 18, 2015, 09:36:45 PM
Looking good mate

+1 nice work. She'll be looking like new in no time.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 24, 2015, 11:58:05 AM
Excellent day in Adelaide yesterday, was able to finish off filling and sanding of the cabinet, and apply a fill/prime coat.
Yet to sand flat, not sure if it will need another application
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 24, 2015, 12:02:00 PM
Between cabinet prep and painting, was able to start on re-build and clean of all parts.

The 5 targets on the mini playfield I honest thought would have to be replaced. But nifty, then Novus 3/2/1 and looks pretty good.

Same with the ramps, very dirty, but have cleaned up a treat. A few some cracks patched with 2 part epoxy.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 24, 2015, 12:04:20 PM
Lower section of the mini playfield, all parts dis assembled and cleaned and polished.

White rubber to be added once ordered.

More cleaning and polishing.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: andypinboy on July 24, 2015, 01:00:45 PM
Nice job you are doing Turbo! Thanks for taking the time to post pics etc - enjoyable thread to follow. Cheers.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Slash on July 24, 2015, 02:28:04 PM
It's amazing how well some stuff can clean up.  The difference with those targets and ramps after a clean is dramatic, they look virtually like new again.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on July 31, 2015, 11:47:30 AM
Red inserts glued back into the playfield.
As suggested I used Super glue Gel.

Before I glued, I used a small brush with black acrylic around the top of each insert hole on the playfield. This was to reduce the likely hood of the timber showing bare.

Applied the gel to the playfield ONLY, and gently tapped the inserts into the playfield. Wow the glue went off really fast and left little time to adjust.

Overall, I'm pretty happy, some are better than others, my advice is LESS is MORE. To much glue and it comes out the top of the playfield and adheres to everything.

The picture was taken after a clean and polish,  a little residue it evident around the inserts.


Re-populate started of the playfield. This is a complete jigsaw puzzle as I did not strip this field - if you see something out of place, please do not hesitate to tell me -thanks
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Boots on July 31, 2015, 12:32:56 PM
That's a huge transformation, coming along nicely
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Crashramp on July 31, 2015, 04:17:10 PM
That's a huge transformation, coming along nicely

+1 great work!
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Strangeways on August 03, 2015, 11:15:10 PM
Very nice. Would be GREAT if they made a repro plastics set for this game.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Doug.H on August 04, 2015, 12:50:50 PM

Its great to see threads showing machines coming back to life. Well ^^^ done
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on August 14, 2015, 12:41:23 PM
Small update. Busy with work so not a huge amount of progress over the last week or so.

Playfield is being re-populated top and bottom. Everything is being stripped and cleaned, replacing anything needed.

Parts order in progress for things like sleeves, post, rubbers etc.

Mini playfield started, was rather dirty and as you can see, when I removed the mylar, no matter how carefully I was, one 'lock' decal exploded and the other just lifted off like it was never stuck.

Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on August 14, 2015, 12:43:52 PM
Thanks to my Dad, photo shop of the scanned decal is underway. Going to try a water slide decal printed from home and then I will re-mylar over the top.

Update soon.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Brettski on August 14, 2015, 08:54:08 PM
Love your work and dedication.. It is certainly paying off!
Good luck with the waterslide decals, I have had success with them and think they are a great idea..

Look forward to more..

Cheers: Brettski... :)
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on September 03, 2015, 12:39:56 PM
Absolutely brilliant weekend weather wise in Adelaide saw cabinet prep and prime finished and top coat applied.

Used same as I did for T2, automotive quick dry black enamel. 2 cabinets completed (one for a mate), now a good 3 weeks to allow it to cure completely.

Part orders have arrived and playfield is starting to come together.

Water slide decals have been printed - photo's once applied.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Brettski on September 03, 2015, 06:53:47 PM
This is going to look so awesome!! That black cabinet paint job is just superb and the colours coming from the playfield are outstanding.
The work is paying off, bet you can't wait to see it finished and standing back with that stunned look of awe on your face for a good half hour.  $#$

Keep the pics coming!

Cheers: Brettski... :)

Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on September 03, 2015, 08:26:26 PM
This is going to look so awesome!! That black cabinet paint job is just superb and the colours coming from the playfield are outstanding.
The work is paying off, bet you can't wait to see it finished and standing back with that stunned look of awe on your face for a good half hour.  $#$

Keep the pics coming!

Cheers: Brettski... :)


Gee cheers, appreciate the kind words. I really enjoy the restoration process, but work and life are going to slow my progress over the next few weeks, but keen as to finish it off.
Plenty of updates to follow.
 ^^^
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on October 29, 2015, 03:35:41 PM
Finished project.
Unfortunately I got way behind on any updates. Progress was consistent.
The largest issue I occurred was with the mini playfield and the 5 button targets. It seems the opto and IR boards associated with these targets are prone to problems. Ended up replacing all 5 IR leds and 1 opto receiver. Even after this I was getting intermittent failures on one of the targets. Took me a while but eventually found a wire with a break in it. Plastic sheath over the break was un-marked.
Ramps polished back to life using Novus 3,2,1.
Flippers completely rebuilt with new bats. All mechanisms overhauled and parts/sleeves replaced.
All new bumper kits and caps, and new rubbers and led's throughout.
Speaker upgrade, with Lpad and low frequency crossover for the sub. BIG improvement!
Brackets, bolts,coin door and legs resprayed with the same automotive enamel black paint as I used on the cabinet.

Pretty happy with the results, and game play (touch wood) is without fault.

Thanks to everyone who followed my progress.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on October 29, 2015, 03:36:54 PM
more
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on October 29, 2015, 03:38:10 PM
more
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: DSB on October 29, 2015, 05:10:08 PM
Great job! Looks awesome. Enjoyed this pin the few times I've played it
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: McKie1 on October 29, 2015, 05:14:13 PM
Amazing job.
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: pinball god on October 29, 2015, 09:31:18 PM
Great work, looks mint
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Strangeways on October 29, 2015, 09:43:55 PM
Absolutely brilliant !

The legs look a bit "strange" to me being black - but I suppose it is a personal thing more than anything else. It does not detract from such a marvelous restoration that you no doubt are SUPER proud of  ^^^
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: Crashramp on October 29, 2015, 11:33:05 PM
Fantastic work, it looks fantastic!  @@*
Title: Re: Doctor Who Restore
Post by: turbo27 on October 30, 2015, 02:13:13 PM
Thank you for the comments of praise  :D

As for the legs, the machine had black legs when it arrived, so it just became 'easier' to continue the theme and stick to the black for respray.