Theater of Magic Reconditioning !

[pinball god]

Looking good Nino. What do you do with the documented information you compile? Do you file it for any future work on the game or for say another ToM you may strip down I the future?

[ktm450]

Nice work so far mate, that PF looks fantastic 

[Strangeways]

Looking good Nino. What do you do with the documented information you compile? Do you file it for any future work on the game or for say another ToM you may strip down I the future?

I have thousands of pictures that I use for future reference, and I enjoy documenting the process here. Occasionally I refer back to an old restoration if I've forgotten something on a similar title.

[indazone gav]

Looking good, fantasic playfield
A good idea while you have the playfield out and can easily acess the transformer, put some rubber between the bracket and the cabinet to get rid of the bloody annoying hum on these side mounted transformers. Works a treat

[Strangeways]

Looking good, fantasic playfield
A good idea while you have the playfield out and can easily acess the transformer, put some rubber between the bracket and the cabinet to get rid of the bloody annoying hum on these side mounted transformers. Works a treat

I might have to try that, but I can't recall if this game had the hum ?

The Front Door is OK, but it needs to be refreshed a little. These doors are originally powdercoated, but they can be repainted easily. I use a White Knight Satin Black, it is a perfect match.





Dismantle, clean and repaint !





I also repaint the carriage bolts using the same paint and then a quick clear to give them some shine. They look much better when they are at least a semi gloss than an ugly matt finish. Here's the finished door and front of the cabinet. I still have to fill the holes where the security bar was installed.





Next Update - Playfield !

[Strangeways]

As with all metal playfield parts, they are initially washed and cleaned before being placed in the tumbler with Flitz. I tumble the parts for no longer than 4 hours - Flitz gives the best results in half the time of other products.








Playfield Re assembly

Most of the underside mechanisms can be refitted. I have one assembly that needs to be re welded - more on that later. For now, the process is simply to rebuild all the mechanisms, cleaning and re polishing them. Inserts and cleaned with windex. All the coil sleeves are replaced. Wiring is tidied up and LEDs are installed !








While fitting the underside, new parts are installed topside. This includes pop bumper parts, posts, targets and some plastic parts. New flipper bats are installed at the time I fit the flipper rebuild kit.








Adding more and more parts !














Moving along nicely !

[Strangeways]

More Playfield work

Time to work on the Trunk. These are always a problem and this one is no different. The plastic opto interruptor is ALWAYS loose or broken, so I pre ordered a new opto interruptor, Trunk, and Trunk decal (in fact the entire decal set that was on Curly's site  ).
I remove the Trunk assembly from the game, and clean everything. Considering this part of the machine is the "centrepiece" for the game, I want it working perfectly.




The gearbox itself is sluggish and has some "play". You can move the main shaft by hand before it engages properly. Ususally this indicates a new gearbox and motor need to be purchased, which is an expensive excersize. So the idea is to remove the 5 screws that hold the gearbox together, and move the casing apart. This is where you need to be carful, as the cogs may fall out. You will notice there are two set screws on the shaft. Tighten both with an Allen Key, and close the casing. It is that easy ! It took me 5 minutes and there was no need to replace the gearbox.











Refit the assembly under the playfield, and fit the top of the Trunk on the playfield





You can raise the level of the Trunk AWAY from the playfield by simply adding a washer. I did this to ensure the edges of the assembly will never scratch the playfield.








New Decal installed and some more playfield hardware in place. I'm just waiting for more LEDs to arrive  and I can continue. In the meantime, I have to polish up the habitrails on the buffing wheel. Here's a bling shot of the polished habittrail ;








Next Update - NEW Ramp !

 

[Pinfan]

That is one nice TOM Nino ! 

[GORGAR 1]

Wow Nino its a beauty and no wear around the trap door flap that's rare-when you say there was play in the motor does that mean the truck would move abit to the right or left when the ball hits it as mine does that but only a little and it never did that until a ball got stuck between the trunk and the rhs ramp so maybe as the ball was stopping the trunk from moving the shaft may have moved abit, I had to remove glass and retrive the ball, the trunks fine and it all operates perfect but has a little play. Keep up the great resto its coming along nice.

Peter

[Strangeways]

Wow Nino its a beauty and no wear around the trap door flap that's rare-when you say there was play in the motor does that mean the truck would move abit to the right or left when the ball hits it as mine does that but only a little and it never did that until a ball got stuck between the trunk and the rhs ramp so maybe as the ball was stopping the trunk from moving the shaft may have moved abit, I had to remove glass and retrive the ball, the trunks fine and it all operates perfect but has a little play. Keep up the great resto its coming along nice.

Peter

Yes Pete - You have the same issue with your Trunk Gearbox. Although not as bad. It certainly can be fixed using the method I've described, and as I found out, it seems to be very common. The gearboxes are not readily available, and they are very expensive when you find them - US$300. It would take around 30 minutes or so to fix a ToM Gearbox.

The playfield has not wear - none whatsoever. The only place I can find is near the Trunk, but that is completely obscured by the Trunk anyway.

[Strangeways]

A decision made early on was to "kit" this game out with LEDs. Most would agree that this title SHOULD look great, so Greg (RTBB) and I decided we would try a FULL LED kit on this game. No expense spared, this was going to be a very nice Theater of Magic.

I bought a new ramp from RTBB, and these ramps are simply awesome. Not only do they look great, but they are slightly thicker than the original and they have improvements such as the thickness near the entrance to the ramp. The original ramp was broken, so it was a good excuse to install a new one. I also invested in a ramp protector for the left hand side of the ramp - so both ramps have protectors. Here's a picture of the new ramp with the decal installed and the protector about to be installed ;




The first LED test that we tried on Saturday yielded these results. Now this took 4 hours until we were both happy with the results. I installed the new ramp and took a few pictures ;








It might seem easy to blend in the LEDs with the inserts, but it took an hour just to work out the correct LEDs. Very pleased with the results ;





The second ramp is in really good condition (thanks to factory protectors). That will be installed soon. I just have to pick up an assembly that needs to be TIG welded and it will be ready to test.

[GORGAR 1]

Coming along nice Nino and yep this title needs LED's it made such a difference to mine it blows me away the change, my GI's are also LED's and its looks great a SOFT look which suits the theme I reckon. Did you add the clock mod? or was it already there I've often thought about that mod is it very bright and does it just blend in.

Peter

[Strangeways]

Coming along nice Nino and yep this title needs LED's it made such a difference to mine it blows me away the change, my GI's are also LED's and its looks great a SOFT look which suits the theme I reckon. Did you add the clock mod? or was it already there I've often thought about that mod is it very bright and does it just blend in.

Peter

The clock mod is an addition. Takes 5 minutes to install and looks great 

[indazone gav]

Simply beautiful LEDs look great in this game. Try a purple LED flasher in the basement, really has a great effect. Are you going with the Gold Spinning saw?
Cheers Gav

[ktm450]

The LEDs look great in your machine mate, well worth the time working out what colours compliment each other