'Getaway' you festy possum

[robm]

Well now that Fishtales is done and being enjoyed by a new owner, its time to move on to the next possum pin (see http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=9757.msg126624#msg126624for details of the find)

Originally when i looked at this machine once i got it home, i thought the cabinet was totally stuffed....maybe it is in most other's opinion, but the sides are very sturdy with only a few small chunks and scrapes, its the MDF base and chipboard back of the headbox that have made it look so bad (plus the inch of possum crap and urine....).  So the plan is to bog up the dings in the sides, and replace the base and rear panel.  A possum had actually chewed through the base of this machine and quite possibly had a possum rave party inside, as there are chunks of the base spread through the whole cabinet....

A few pics that tell most of the story


Note the bowed base


As with Fishtales, the playfield is reasonably good - no wear, just filthy



Has some serious issues here




Note secret possum entrance hole on the left side of the base




As with the previous machines, i was a bit nervous about the electronics, so only had the transformer wired up, and straight away blew the main fuse in the machine.  Replaced the line filter, and it fired up no worries.

Tested all the outputs of the transformer, and they were all good.

I then connected the boards up (after cleaning some minor corrosion on the CPU and installing a remote battery pack) and fired it up.  Solid 5.03V, and 12V which is great!  CPU boots no worries, display board needs some work on the high voltage section as the difference between the two outputs is too great (should be 12V difference, but this one is -96V and -122V), so will look at that later.  I'm getting no sound at all from the machine.  Sound board has correct input and output voltages, speakers are not blown (tested with a 9V battery and got them to pull in), so is probably a wiring issue somewhere that will be easier to track down once clean.

Since the machine is 80% working (a couple of solenoids won't fire, put you can start a game and most switches test OK), i hooked straight into the stripping process.

Picture of the base of the cab partially stripped



Close up of the 'seedy end of town'....



With absolutely everything out of the cab and siderails removed, i started stripping the cabinet decals.  I've found that the best way seems to be peeling the decals off by hand - with a scraper to help start.  This way, all the adhesive comes off.  If you use a heatgun, the adhesive remains, and it take longer and is more work getting rid of it all.  That said, its still a slow process.  The side pictured below took me about 45 mins to get what you can see done.  Note how the original decal outline has transferred to the cabinet!

[Caveoftreasures]

I have no doubt that u will make this machine a pearler again. Look forward to this thread, as do alot of other members I am sure.

Its amazing the possum didnt chew a thousand wires on the underside of the playfield. In a way u are lucky there was a possum to scare away the rats, cause the rats would have chewed every siingle wire for sure.

It must be chineese year of the possum !    It certainly has been good luck for you Rob.

A big congrats in advance on what will be a great resto !

[howzat]

Hi Rob
Im really enjoying your post and seeing great results    Who ever got F?T would have a nice game.       I hope your wearing gloves while cleaning up the possum crap  

Looking fwd to the rest of your post               Howzat         

[Crashramp]

Great effort bringing these machines back to life Rob. Good luck with your latest project. 
Looking forward to your next updates. 

[ktm450]

Great to see your restorations, these machines are in need of some serious loving 

[Strangeways]

That will be a challenge for you Rob. But given your efforts on Fishtales, I think you will have similar results 

[pinnies4me]

Gee, that will be a big job, but we've seen you are up to it with FS. I can imagine the possum stench - had a few in the roof at my last house - not pleasant!

[goodolddays]

Another awesome project there Rob. !
You know you set the bar with Fishtales don't you 

Looking forward to seeing how you progress with this one 

[dendoc]

As others have said, thanks for sharing this adventure.

Love to know the backgournd of the chap you bought them off - why did he have to many machines in the first place, and why over on Maggie Island?

Lived in T'ville myself many years ago - maybe I played them when they were happier.

keep up the great work.

[robm]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Dendoc - the bloke used to have them in a Cafe on the Island, then put them in a shed (one end open) and they sat there stacked on top of one another for about 7 or 8 years from what i can gather - attracting moisture, rodents, possums and all sorts of other nasties!  He had ideas of getting them going, but i doubt he would have.  All the machines so far have problems in the 240V section, most boards have issues and you can see the resto work that needs doing!

Have put quite a few hours in today and afternoons the last week.  Finished stripping the cabinet decals and headbox.  Knocked the base out as it was all swollen, as was the rear of the headbox

The first job was to clean up the possum mess and crud.  While it looks disgusting, its not that hard to remove with the right stuff.  First hit was with orange stain remover, let it sit for a few minutes, then used a cabinet scraper (in the left of photo) to scrape the bulk up.



After this, i then sprayed it with Nifti, and then wiped off with a rag.  Honestly, Nifti is one of the best cleaners i have ever come across - the area in front of the bottle is what the rest was like before spraying with Nifti and wiping off!



Then went to work with builders bog.

There was a lot of areas where the cabinet was delaminating - just a few mm on the bottom edge, so its no point going to the effort of doing work and leaving stuff that will get worse in time to come.  So i chipped back the areas where it was delaminating, then filled with bog, and sanded.  Its a fairly time consuming process as i never seem to get it all done in one or two batches.  The stuff goes of very quickly (normally within a few minutes its not really workable), so it means you have to go quick, but the beauty is that it can be sanded within 30 mins (20 mins if you add a bit more hardener).  I use a round random orbital sander and it makes life a lot easier than the old 1/3 sheet rectangular one i had, due to the fact this one rotates as well as vibrates - makes things heaps quicker. I used 80 grit paper to level the bog, then 120 and 240.

A couple of shots of the cabinet and headbox, all sanded and bogged and ready to be hit with spray putty.  I use this to fill in any wood grain or small dings that get missed with the builders bog.  Talking to a bloke in the paint shop, he reckons its probably overkill, and i could get away with a cheaper (and easier to use) car primier undercoat that has reasonable build properties, but i've got 4L of spray putty, so will use it first, then try the other stuff with later machines.

[Steevsee]

As many have said, amazing find and story.

Thanks for taking the time to share Rob.

[ddstoys]

Wow what a mess good to see your saving it

[elkor-alish]

Great that you are restoring this.
Most people would have written it off for parts or just junked it.

Getaway is one of my favourite games, so I can't wait to see how this one turns out.

[The pinballist formally known as Dean Morgan]

Love your patience, well done. On this, FT and AF

[Strangeways]

I remember when I was a child - School holidays were spent cleaning pinball machines as they were brought in and reconditioned for their next route. This was around 1975-76. NIFTI was sprayed liberally on the cabinet and an old paint brush was used to scrub the dirt and grime. Every time I see NIFTI at Coles, I buy the entire shelf - sometimes 20 bottles. It is the best pinball cleaner out there !