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Bally Williams Cactus Canyon High End Restoration

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Strangeways:
Next in the Restoration queue is the highly collectible "Cactus Canyon" that will undergo the full High End Restoration. A previous attempt at a "restoration" was underwhelming to say the least, so we were approached to attend to the numerous issues, faults and poor workmanship.

Objective - To return the game to a NIB (Nearly In Box) condition.

Condition Report

As presented, the game had several faults, and was in poor shape. The "easy" work was done - rubbers were replaced if easily accessible (some white and some black) and the typical lazy "fully done up" original (broken) pop bumper skirts are still there ! The cabinet was a complete mess.

Playfield - 7/10 - typical wear around the pop bumpers. A tired playfield.
Cabinet - 2/10 - Attempted re-decal that would look GREAT on a showroom floor. Just don't remove the legs  ^.^
Electronics - 8/10 - Not part of the previous "restoration", so they are in good shape.

Before Pictures













Teardown

Everything is documented at this stage. This gives me a guide as to what needs to be replaced or upgraded. Every machine tells a story..




Fully Done Up - nice new white rubber installed - so give credit where credit is due. Typically, the pop bumper skirt is not replaced !





.. and some black rubbers. Confused ? So am I !





The underside is fully documented ;








.. And we move on to the "new" decal replacement. First lets remove the siderails.. That was easy - they simply "fell off".. !*!








The horror story begins ..











Nice Prep work prior to "installing" the "new" decals.. ::) ::) ::)


Machine fully disassembled





Time to strip the cabinet..





The prep work was rushed and in one word - "Abysmal".





Time to do the headbox - hang on a minute, there are no leg protectors here..  !@#





Thankfully, all that is behind me now...





The Festool Setup made short work of a tough job !


Now the prep work is done correctly. All the damage is fixed, and the primer / filler / undercoat is done.





Wet Sand and base applied ;





Headbox decal applied ;





Front door decal done !





Decal centralized correctly ;





Cabinet decal application completed. The playfield has gone to Timbo at HRP for a professional touch up and clearcoat !


 ^^^ ^^^

ddstoys:
. That cabinet restore is great with the ripple effect


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

4_amusement_only:
Nice write up. Did you buy that Festool sander? Aren't they close to 3 grand? How will it make the job easier?

Strangeways:

--- Quote from: 4_amusement_only on March 29, 2018, 07:58:27 AM ---Nice write up. Did you buy that Festool sander? Aren't they close to 3 grand? How will it make the job easier?

--- End quote ---

There was some change from the $3K !

Yes - The job is MUCH quicker with the Festool and the dust extractor keeps the sanding pads super clean, and there's no mess to clean up. The sander itself - with the Festool sanding pads can sand a cabinet in minutes.

Usually, I do 2-3 cabinets a year. That is mainly repaints (Embryon was the only cabinet I could do in the last 18 months).

So far, in 2018, I've done SIX - including this one (resto threads are coming..) It has paid for itself already, and my productivity is greatly increased.

pinnies4me:
Those original replacement decals were just slapped on! Awful "workmanship" to say the least. Love the chewed up pop bumper skirt, not sure how you could pass that off as a "restoration" in anyone's book. Glad to see a classic being treated like that now!

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