The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Restorations => Topic started by: ddstoys on October 24, 2009, 10:06:13 PM
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This is not really a restore just a few repairs and a tidy up for the owner. Id say this machine had lived outside as anywhere there is no mylar is flaking and been used for parts then slapped backtogether with whatever was lying around at the time to sell. So hopefully i can improve its looks and atleast make it a nice playing game
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ive been playing it for the last few days and apart from a few brocken drop targets lowsy flippers and a few switch issues its all working which is a bonus .
You can see the down side in the photos below ^&^
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Wow, its amazing what a bit of UV and latent mositure will do to a playfield over time. There would be a lot of work to get that playfield back to scratch, if it at all could be done.
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Im not aiming at perfection on this one just try and improve it so ill see how i go. Good chance to practice as it really cant get any worse (I think lol)
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It has had a hard life, Daniel - But it is in "good hands" now - So just give it the treatment and it should be 100% better !
Look forward to your updates ^^^
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That playfield is not as trashed as some, but it is pretty bad!
Will be interested to see what approach you use on this one.
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she has seen better days thats for sure.
part of my pinbot playfield looks like this.
fortunatly some one put mylar on mine many moons ago. though they did leave a small hair under the mylar at least they tried.
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Well i spent the day stripping the playfield, cleaning and attempting some free hand touch ups im still not sure if im going to leave them as is ill put it together before i make a decision as most of it wont be seen
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And yes ive cheated in a few spots wasnt worth the effort in some places
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So far, a very nice improvement. Most Simpsons I've seen were pretty heavily worn - so I must assume they were heavily played!
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Its a real shame to see a playfield like this (good that it was played though).
At least the colours are flat and no fancy patterns, so if you decide to give an airbrush a go it should be straight forward.
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does bay area or marco have a new playfield for it.needs cabinet decals too.
hope the owner got it real real cheap .
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does bay area or marco have a new playfield for it.needs cabinet decals too.
hope the owner got it real real cheap .
Nope and nope.
The D.E's screenprint onto the cabs - which makes repairs not easy (whites always hard to match). I've never seen a NOS playfield for one either.
I have no doubt it will leave Daniels looking and working 1000% better.
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From the tone of the owners voice i dont think he got it cheap. He got it off ebay and thinks its not the one that was shown in the pics . im trying to assemble the top section to see if my touch ups need to be improved but every yellow post is brittle and brocken so ill have to wait until some new ones arrive.
As for new playfield and cabinet decals i dont think he really cares aslong as it goes he got me around to fix his sound problems and i asked if he wanted me to do it up as it was very sad to look at. I dont think he even realised how dirty the playfield was until i hit a small spot with novus after that he wanted it cleaned up
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Its good blokes like DDSTOYS that make this hobby/industry so great. Coming to the rescue of the Simpsons Pin with effort and energy is a top effort.
Thats what i love about pinball, there is always someone helping out.
The Simpsons will certainly look better for it. Great work DDSTOYS. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^
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Well ive just placed an order with PSP so until it arrives simpsons will sit like this...
Happy with the progress so far will look even better with new posts etc
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Looking heaps better already Daniel!
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That's a great improvement so far! Will only look better with new fittings.
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That looks a lot better.
Good work @@*
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Wow! Compared to the other pics, that looks awesome!
Adam.
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While im waiting for parts i decided to strip down the pop bumper units and im glad i did they were a right old mess
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Looks heaps better mate, shame it was so trashed
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Well ive done a few mor touch ups today and wanted a few opinions is it ready for the clearcoat????..
Remembering that i wasnt after perfection just look better than it did what are your thoughts.
This was all hand painted with a brush
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Daniel,
That looks extremely good!....Did you remove the old mylar as well if you're going to CC or just the touchup areas?
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Daniel,
That looks extremely good!....Did you remove the old mylar as well if you're going to CC or just the touchup areas?
I left the original Mylar on as the trial spot lifted ALL the paint and i mean all of it lol. Im masking up the original mylar and spraying the clear coat over everywhere not mylared ^^^
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great work daniel ^^^
it looks 100% better already
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Well i decided to give it a clear coat and see what happens
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Looking good so far.......
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Looks great mate, I would have touched up'd with brush also, I think the results are fine especially seeing Simpsons are a hand drawn cartoon, you don't need perfect crisp lines
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Well its all back together looks a lot better than it did. Still need to do under neath the playfield etc.
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That machine is looking great. Especially when you look at the condition it came in.
I really like this Pin and can see why it was obviously so popular. Nice work and well worth the effort.
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Very Nice work there Daniel ^^^ . Owner must be happier now .
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Mate - that touch up job on Bart is fantastic !
What clearcoat did you use ?
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Thanks Guys it did come up well. As for the CC i used Automotive acrylic the hardest part was masking up the original mylars as i wasnt sure how it would stick to that. I sent the owner a photo to his phone and he was wrapped
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Looks fantastic mate!
Shame the game got to be let go so far - then it's awesome you have saved it.
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Thanks Guys it did come up well. As for the CC i used Automotive acrylic the hardest part was masking up the original mylars as i wasnt sure how it would stick to that. I sent the owner a photo to his phone and he was wrapped
What make/Brand ?
How is it holding up - be interesting to see how it goes after a few 100 games.
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Thanks Guys it did come up well. As for the CC i used Automotive acrylic the hardest part was masking up the original mylars as i wasnt sure how it would stick to that. I sent the owner a photo to his phone and he was wrapped
What make/Brand ?
How is it holding up - be interesting to see how it goes after a few 100 games.
Ill keep you posted on how it holds up so far after about 20 games it still hasnt marked so fingers crossed.
The brand is PRO TEC
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Very Nice Daniel !
Looks great ! ^^^
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Great result mate *%*
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Well i figured while i had the spraygun out id have a go at repainting the Lockdown bar again not sure what there originally painted in but its tough stuff took me over an hour with a wire bruch on a grinder... I hope he likes the result. So i think its ready to go back to its owner ive tested the crap out of it with no issues so far $#$
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Another quick question what should i be charging for this type of work??? Ive spent around 30 hours on it..
Whenever i work out a price im always worried its to much or to little. I dont want to rip them of but i dont want to be ripping myself off !@#
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Yep, I agree - very tough question.
30 x $25 p/h (too cheap) = $750.00
30 x $50 p/h (reasonable) = $1500.00
I'm guessing on a machine which would have cost possibly $1500 to $2500, adds up quick.
I guess its tough for some as they might not know / appreciate how much work actually goes into a full rebuild.
Eitherway the owner has got himself a much better machine than what came through the door.
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Thats right marty.
I was going off $15 an hour plus parts and i was thinking that was to much lol.
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Well i figured while i had the spraygun out id have a go at repainting the Lockdown bar again not sure what there originally painted in but its tough stuff took me over an hour with a wire bruch on a grinder... I hope he likes the result. So i think its ready to go back to its owner ive tested the crap out of it with no issues so far $#$
as far as i know they are powder coated, but i could be wrong
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Another quick question what should i be charging for this type of work??? Ive spent around 30 hours on it..
Whenever i work out a price im always worried its to much or to little. I dont want to rip them of but i dont want to be ripping myself off !@#
This is the toughest question to answer. First of all - you are doing this because you enjoy it. If the machine was not there for you to do, what would you be doing ? If you didn't restore pins, would you be parked on the couch watching telly ?
Since you are a hobbyist, you need to be careful - you are not making a "living" out of it. You have been given 30 hours of enjoyment.
Whenever you accept this kind of work - you should set the expectations and have a list of activities or a "scope of works" either in writing or email. This is helpful as often you can immerse yourself and lose track of time and a "Shop job" turns quickly into a resto. You should only charge what is agreed upon. If you do anything above that, then you should "wear" that.
Yep, I agree - very tough question.
30 x $25 p/h (too cheap) = $750.00
30 x $50 p/h (reasonable) = $1500.00
I'm guessing on a machine which would have cost possibly $1500 to $2500, adds up quick.
I guess its tough for some as they might not know / appreciate how much work actually goes into a full rebuild.
Eitherway the owner has got himself a much better machine than what came through the door.
Workshop rates for Dealers is anywhere between $35 - $85 - depending on "Who" you are and how much you know about pinball #@#.
I think if you are a hobbyist - $35 per hour is reasonable - $45 is probably "top end".
You may want to consider charging a flat rate labor figure -
Shop Job = $250-$500
Recondition = $500-750
Restore = $1000 up
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Another quick question what should i be charging for this type of work??? Ive spent around 30 hours on it..
Whenever i work out a price im always worried its to much or to little. I dont want to rip them of but i dont want to be ripping myself off !@#
This is the toughest question to answer. First of all - you are doing this because you enjoy it. If the machine was not there for you to do, what would you be doing ? If you didn't restore pins, would you be parked on the couch watching telly ?
Since you are a hobbyist, you need to be careful - you are not making a "living" out of it. You have been given 30 hours of enjoyment.
Whenever you accept this kind of work - you should set the expectations and have a list of activities or a "scope of works" either in writing or email. This is helpful as often you can immerse yourself and lose track of time and a "Shop job" turns quickly into a resto. You should only charge what is agreed upon. If you do anything above that, then you should "wear" that.
Yep, I agree - very tough question.
30 x $25 p/h (too cheap) = $750.00
30 x $50 p/h (reasonable) = $1500.00
I'm guessing on a machine which would have cost possibly $1500 to $2500, adds up quick.
I guess its tough for some as they might not know / appreciate how much work actually goes into a full rebuild.
Eitherway the owner has got himself a much better machine than what came through the door.
Workshop rates for Dealers is anywhere between $35 - $85 - depending on "Who" you are and how much you know about pinball #@#.
I think if you are a hobbyist - $35 per hour is reasonable - $45 is probably "top end".
You may want to consider charging a flat rate labor figure -
Shop Job = $250-$500
Recondition = $500-750
Restore = $1000 up
Thanks Nino
And your spot on about enjoying it i would be happy to do it for nothing but everyone else keeps saying make sure you charge these people... And i have to keep the wife happy.
Your break up of prices is a big help i was thinking $500 was to much to charge and that was including parts (about $150) not including bits i already had. Which works out at $11 an hour which is fine with me but id get laughed at if i told the wife or my family
Thanks again Guys ^^^
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I face the same challenges when some of my customers bring in games they want repaired.
They want the game working at the least possible cost, as quickly as possible. When it comes to me, it costs them money and isn't on their route making them money.
I can see a lot of potential future problems popping up, and some of my customers haul games in 3-4 hours each direction. If I just fix the primary problem, and they bring it back a month later because something else pops up, they end up paying me twice. But, they only want to pay the absolute minimum the first time it comes in.
Don't want to oversell, don't want to undersell. It's a slippery slope.
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I face the same challenges when some of my customers bring in games they want repaired.
They want the game working at the least possible cost, as quickly as possible. When it comes to me, it costs them money and isn't on their route making them money.
I can see a lot of potential future problems popping up, and some of my customers haul games in 3-4 hours each direction. If I just fix the primary problem, and they bring it back a month later because something else pops up, they end up paying me twice. But, they only want to pay the absolute minimum the first time it comes in.
Don't want to oversell, don't want to undersell. It's a slippery slope.
That's the main reason I don't do repair work. Most of the time, it is not just the one problem. Or the problem potential re occurs because the symptom is addressed - not the cause. I often find many additional problems on machines I am asked to repair. I find it hard to turn a "blind eye". Often the machine "was just repaired" by a "repair center" and I end up going over their band aid repairs. Rubber bands, super glue and nails must have been tools of the trade a while ago. so I stick to reconditioning or restoration. That way, I know that there is a better chance the machine is in a working condition after it has been properly attended to.
:2cents:
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After many months of searching, I've now purchased a Data East Simpsons. Playfield and backglass are amazing, cabinet needs some re-painting. My father used to be a signwriter,so he's going to help out.
Was wondering what paint was used on this playfield touch-up? The only obvious wear on my machine is on the books where the ball drops onto repeatedly.
Also, what paint do people suggest for cabinet touch ups on this machine? Glossy? My dad has asked me if there's any colour references on the net for this machine?
Will create a thread when my restoration gets uderway. This thread will really help. Loving the pinball community!
Cheers!
Adam.
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Hi Adam
For the playfield touchups i used water based acrylics followed by an Automotive acrylic Clear. As for the cabinet colors will all be different depending on how badly the cabinet has faded so best to color match to your machine