Creature Prototype Restoration

[johnwartjr]

On to the playfield!

Out comes a freshly restored PF.. but there's some work left to do..

The back still has lots of grungy crap from fingerprints, solenoid dust, etc - and some scorch marks here and there.



Close up



Tee nuts need to be removed. I'm going to replace them as they are about 7 cents apiece, and I want to move forward with the project tonight. I'll clean them and replenish my supply with them.

Another example of stacked S/N decals



These were hand cut - I decided to just leave them as-is. Removing material could impact the structural integrity of the playfield.



After an initial sanding with 120 grit



Inserts are still filthy, and there's some glue residue left from the inserts being glued.



Glue



Insert is dirty



A bit of a cleanup with ole Nino's favorite elixir, windex, on a terry towel



Clean those inserts on games when you shop them, it makes a HUGE difference!

A couple great cleaning tools for getting into inserts - the large swab is reuseable. Rinse it out and let it dry. The 2nd one is white cotton, much smaller, and lets you get into the tightest cracks. Some of the inserts are too small to clean with the big swab. $3 for 50 of them at a local electronics store. They don't fall apart like cheap 'q-tip' brand swabs.

After cleaning just a few inserts...



Inserts cleaned, look very nice. Mantis protectors test-fit



I like Cliffys, but on a playfield with no wear, these are a better choice.

These brushes from pinrestore.com are great for cleaning the holes in a playfield after it's been buffed out - because the compound gets *everywhere*.



You really need all 3 sizes.



One interesting thing about the protos - the 'alternate' flipper locations



European distributors decided ball times were too long. So, a template was sent out to move the flippers apart a bit. I think I'm going to use the 'original' flipper location so the proto will play like a proto.

T-nutted



Installing posts, etc, using the original plastics to make sure things are in the right places.



Through parts are starting to be installed





Unfortunately, I forgot to pull the 4 top-side t-nuts out before having the playfield cleared.. they don't look as nice as tumbled or new t-nuts, but the risk of removing them is not one I want to take - only 2 are visible once the PF is assembled, and they aren't very visible at all.

[Caveoftreasures]

I am absolutely amazed at the amount of work you go to. Again i say, very very talented.
I wish you lived just down the road from me cause I would keep giving you machines and i would book you up for a few years and would be happy to pay you whatever you wanted cause your level of professionalism is just the best.

Now, when are u moving down the road so we can utilize your talents. lol

love ya work, love ya work. 

[Caveoftreasures]

John, a question. 
What do u do with the inside of the pinball cabinet. As i like to call it "under the hood".
Alot of people do not bother under here except a wipe out. Personally, i like to see the wood brought back to new with a sand then clear applied over the top making the inside have that fresh vanilla pine wood look, with only the top part sprayed factory black. Obviously, all metal parts brought up to look like new or at least cleaned up.

I think there is nothing better than when you lift a playfield and look into a cabinet that looks very very fresh. What do you do, and do u have any before and after pictures inside a cabinet. 
kind regards, Brett

[Strangeways]

Sensational work, John and I see you have used Wndex on an area I have never tried it on - under the playfield !

[ddstoys]

John yo amaze me with your detail.   Even under the playfield WOW...


Cavey check out about page 5 there are a few photos of inside the cabinet 

[Pinfan]

Hey John,

I noticed on the left inside return lane, playfield artwork facing up, the 10 and 20 million artwork is missing the word ' million ' in the little yellow box under the 10 and 20, it shows it on the 30 million artwork....

Is this because its a proto ?? 

[Caveoftreasures]

John yo amaze me with your detail.   Even under the playfield WOW...


Cavey check out about page 5 there are a few photos of inside the cabinet 

thanks buddy, i see it now. yeh, not bad. thanks for that. 

[johnwartjr]

John, a question. 
What do u do with the inside of the pinball cabinet. As i like to call it "under the hood".
Alot of people do not bother under here except a wipe out. Personally, i like to see the wood brought back to new with a sand then clear applied over the top making the inside have that fresh vanilla pine wood look, with only the top part sprayed factory black. Obviously, all metal parts brought up to look like new or at least cleaned up.

I think there is nothing better than when you lift a playfield and look into a cabinet that looks very very fresh. What do you do, and do u have any before and after pictures inside a cabinet. 
kind regards, Brett

There seem to be at least 2 schools of thought on cabinet insides - either try to get the floor and sides clean as a whistle and repaint the inside and try to get the overspray perfect as original etc, or paint the whole works and forget about overspray.

I don't care for the 'paint the entire inside black' method, but I can see why some folks go that route. I like the floor to have the original wood look, nice and clean etc. One challenge on CFTBL is how much of the inside is painted black from the factory - I am pretty sure that has to do with the projector for the hologram.

This game had the cabinet farmed out to a good friend who is a master of all things wood. The game led a VERY rough life - basically was worn out in Germany, and then was sent to Croatia where it was abused further. The game was dropped, drilled, banged up, etc so many different ways. And equally amazing is how well the cabinet was restored, with I'd guess 97 to 98% original wood!

This was important to me, as the prototype game had some neat details - like having the transformer moved early on, because the transformer got in the way of the projector beam. Yeah, I could've put a new floor in and drilled 2 sets of transformer holes etc, but I'd know it wasn't original.

I'll make a post outlining the cabinet repairs shortly :)

[johnwartjr]

One of the original problems with this machine was the massive cabinet damage. Many people would've parted the game out for that purpose. The floor of the cabinet was held in by drywall screws. The front corner of the cab was split open by the shooter. Some nitwit replaced one flipper button with an older Bally or Gottlieb unit, and enlarged the hole and removed the flange the flipper button's PAL nut screwed up against. The cabinet was very rough.

To many prototype collectors, original = value. I could stick it in another cabinet, like my friend Ben did with his Creature - he took a BSD cab and used it to replace his CFTBL cab eith no floor - but this wasn't as smooth a transition as hoped. I could've also bought a  new cabinet, but that's a lot of $$. Plus, it wouldn't be 'original'. I don't want to do anything that is a permanent mod that will be non-reversible. This won't be mine forever, and somebody, someday, may want as original a game as possible.

You can somewhat see drywall screws holding the floor in the cabinet here:



Closeup:



Shot of the split corner:


And the enlarged flipper hole:


From the other side



And a good idea of the damage to the bottom:



The bottom panel of the cabinet fits into a routed channel in the 4 sides of the cabinet. When the bottom gets knocked out, it is often due to the channel the bottom slides into being broken. You can see where pieces are missing in the above photo.





And a picture, showing where the transformer was moved to:



So, I sent the CFTBL cab to my friend Mac in Ohio. Mac is a master woodworker. Mac began the repairs removing the floor.





How to tackle the cut out flipper button?



The identical sized area is routered out around the cut out flipper button.



Cab is roughed back together





Lower repainted and decaled



Only real flaw is a misalignment of the front decal, start button should be centered in the speaker on the front decal.





Mac did an awesome job and I don't know if I could've repaired this cabinet myself.

[johnwartjr]

Hey John,

I noticed on the left inside return lane, playfield artwork facing up, the 10 and 20 million artwork is missing the word ' million ' in the little yellow box under the 10 and 20, it shows it on the 30 million artwork....

Is this because its a proto ?? 

Correct. I asked PFR to repair it to 'original' condition, they didn't completely follow my wishes but they did a nice job in making something presentable out of nothing. I didn't want to risk shipping it again and let them have it for who knows how long to give them another shot to get it 100% original. Well, it'll never be 100% original again :)

[pinnies4me]

John, been following this thread mate, just love this game. My favourite "I don't have it" game - when a nice one with a green holo turns up, I will need to pull the trigger!

[johnwartjr]

NOS Plastic set ready to install



Note on the package indicating the set is as 'complete as they come' - I bought this before repros hit the market.



The 3 missing plastics are 1 of the playfield signs, the left slingshot plastic, and 1 ramp cover. My true NOS ramps happen to have the covers attached, so I need 1 playfield sign and the left sing. I will see how the originals will clean up. The sling won't be a problem as a repro if needed, but I'd rather clean up the original if it's in reasonable shape.

The repro sets also weren't truly complete - they don't contain the keychain plastic, the plastic that goes on the backboard, etc. At least that's my understanding of what's in the repro sets.

Plastics are test fit. This is a good test, since sometimes the proto games have posts slightly different etc. They all fit, which is a good sign.



And now, they come off, as I need a plastic protector set from pinbits before I can really install them.

All new pop bumper parts. The originals were in poor condition.



Lamp sockets installed. Will be tied to GI



I need to figure out how to route these leads and staple them down. Since the game didn't have the pops illuminated, I have to make them nice and neat myself, and figure out which GI string to attach them to. I'm not terribly worried about load - I'm going to install LEDs in these since they would be such a pain to change out. So, I'm more interested in convenience. I have some ideas, but can't run the air stapler this late at night - the compressor would wake up the kids and I'd have hell to pay.



The little washers that go under the lane divider small screws are a bugger to find! Glad I still had both the originals!

[Strangeways]

Your Cabinet dude is one hell of a professional - Great Job !

The front Decal looks like it is aligned correctly as the "3D" and the lines meet correctly centered at the bottom lip on the coin door cutting. But the speaker is not aligned with the start button as you have suggested 

[johnwartjr]

yeah, it's definately confusing. I have a 'regular' cftbl that is decaled, and its front decal is aligned on all locations



And then the proto

Proto before:



Proto after:



Mac's a great guy on many fronts - always helpful and has some great restoration techniques. Always nice to bounce ideas off him too.

[johnwartjr]

Another angle