I'll chime in with what I hope can be some encouragement.
Every pin restored doesn't have to be perfectly mint. Sure, we always want our projects to look as nice as they can. Sometimes the factor is time, other times money, and even sometimes, as this time appears, unobtainable parts.
You've shown that you have the ability to make what you can't find. That's awesome! A backglass might be outside of your area of skill, that's something I can appreciate, I can fix dang near anything on my machines, but cosmetics are the area that challenges me. Sometimes I can hire someone to repair something cosmetically for me.
I faced a similar project over a year ago. I acquired a Terminator 2 pinball that was a pre-production sample machine. I love the sample and prototype machines, because they are different than production, and quite rare. The machine was completely trashed.
This project is one that I spent 50% more money on than it would've cost to just go buy a dead mint T2. And it still looks like a beat to death route T2. Seriously, I've never seen one this beat before.
It plays very well, and it's clean enough to eat off of now - but it's still ugly, and will always be ugly. It has lots of playfield wear to the wood, and the cabinet is beat up.
I started with this
http://gallery.myhomegameroom.com/gallery/t2_sample_asrecdAnd I ended up with this
http://gallery.myhomegameroom.com/gallery/sample_t2_fsParting out a survivor - especially one of this vintage and rarity - would be a crime against pinball. Be proud of your work. Enjoy it. And consider the fact that you've given life back to the machine.
Take some time away from it, if you need to - but please don't part it out!
