Williams Indiana Jones The Adventure Restoration

[turbo27]

This is my first Pinball restoration. My aim is to try and do it right, but also remembering the experience and skill levels are well.....I'm trying

The machine plays well with no known faults.

Considering the machine used to be commercially leased the playfield is in good condition. Since owning I have spent time cleaning and maintaining areas assessable. Now that the playfield is removed, I plan on not stripping, but just cleaning all over and replacing any broken plastics - and yes the sling shot covers are green - not my doing!

Cabinet is another story. Decals faded as usual, numerous chips and marks. Legs are poor.

[turbo27]

I honestly thought I was going to buy new legs - they really looked crap

But thanks to advice in AP

Rust convertor bath, with a wire brush and steel wool. Paint scrapper carefully picking off raised rubbish.

Did this about 3 times, before washing under the hose, then a good hand polish with Brasso, finally a coating of Mr Sheen

I can't believe how well they turned out

[turbo27]

It was only after removing everything from the cabinet that I realised how bad it was.

Check out the angle iron on the leg side of the cabinet picture.

The repair must have been carried out with the machine intact of playfield. Placing the straight edge along the body showed a huge bow out. Removed screws and re clamped the cabinet and glued. There was also damage to the bottom side where the base slots into. I made up a timber fillet and glued it into place. Planned off after glue dried.

Most of the corners were pretty good and sturdy. I was able to get away with injecting glue into any cracks/openings and clamp. A hypodermic syringe with a large gauge needle did the trick !

Bolt head taken back to bare metal. A wire brush in a drill chuck on the lathe made light work of it.

Cabinet filled and sanded.

Replaced the piece of timber where the glass plastic channel screws into.

[turbo27]

Gun stripped and cleaned, primed and now black acrylic top.

Same for bolts

Clear top coat to come.

[turbo27]

You may have read the issues I've had with the prime and fill of the cabinet.

Needless to say, second time more lucky. Different paint suppler

It's good but not perfect. I think more time on the spray gun will do me wonders. With the fill I found it was a fine line from over filling and making it run, to just not getting it to cover imperfections.

I used 400 grit wet n dry paper. There are still a few minor grain lines and marks I was just unable to perfect. Again practice makes perfect.

Having said that the cabinet now has a lot of primer/filler on it. What was left after the miserable results from the first low quality supply and now the SCA supply.

[turbo27]

This brings me up to date.

Yesterday I applied the semi-gloss acrylic to the cabinet. 50:50 mix of paint to thinners.

I applied two lighter coats, covering up all the undercoat and then very lightly sanded with 1500 grit. Surface air blown and felt really smooth.

Another coat all over paying particular attention to edges and corners not covered by decals.

As I posted yesterday the final result left small pimples on the surface. Now these were fine and minor with some areas feeling slight abrasive.

After advice, and still having a small amount of paint remaining, I very lightly sanded with 1500 grit, air blown and wiped with a clean rag. Surface was really smooth. I thinned the paint to maybe 40:60, ie more thinners, and applied a final coat.

Well I think I'm there, surface feels really good, and looks well.......better around the edges where it will be visible.

Decals to come soon!

[pinsanity]

Jumping in with a quick tip here. The repro artwork around the front and side edges does not line up, so the solution is to align the top section and ignore the lower section which will be hidden by the legs.

Pictorial representation to show the difference.

(The leg will cover the misaligned artwork on the lower section.)

[turbo27]

Thanks, I saw a youtube video of an installation of the Indy decals, and he highlighted exactly that prob.

I certainly have picked a difficult decal to start with 

Nice tip, appreciate it

[pinsanity]

Thanks, I saw a youtube video of an installation of the Indy decals, and he highlighted exactly that prob.

I certainly have picked a difficult decal to start with 

Nice tip, appreciate it

Yes, apparently it was like that from factory and Ballypinball never fixed it when he had the repros made.



Do the front decal first then align the sides.

You have some margin for error in applying the side decals as they can be adjusted (raised or lowered to align) a half cm or so. This is because once the siderails are applied they cover a significant portion of the top section of the artwork so you have some room to adjust up or down to suit.

[DSB]

Some great tips there! Are you going to install the decals dry or wet?

[turbo27]

99% sure I will do the dry method.

Really don't like the idea of wetting adhesive stickers, but having said that youtube posts sure seem ok

Will keep you posted and take pics as I go

[Strangeways]

Great to see a member attempt this level of work. It is great fun, and there's always something new to learn. Great tip on lining up the cabinet decals !

Just a tip on painting - Don't sand the cabinet at all inbetween topcoats. Sanding with 1500 grit will not be enough "bite" for the final coat. Just keep painting, and then sand at the very end. I mix 60:40 thinners to paint on topcoats. with a hand span distance between the gun and the surface. Never paint in direct sunlight, but to dry, put it out into the sunlight. You can lower the gun to 35 PSI if you have the pimples. Pimples can also happen on a hot day as the paint atomizes before it hits the surface.

[Retropin]

99% sure I will do the dry method.

Really don't like the idea of wetting adhesive stickers, but having said that youtube posts sure seem ok

Will keep you posted and take pics as I go

A tip on decals.. they are not a solid sheet of polymer. they are in fact slightly porous. I apply large sheets of vinyl 1200mm wide to sheets of aluminium composite panel ( has a colourbond finish) all the time. A standard sheet is 1220X2440mm. Vinyl comes in 1220mm wide or 610mm wide. To be able to put down 1220X2440 and get it exactly right so the top and bottom edges all meet, you HAVE to do this wet.. its impossible to do dry. Its also a lot easier to get air bubbles out of wet.. if dry you have no choice but prick the bubble to let the air out unless its right on the edge where you can push it out.
 The water ( with a drip of detergent) is squeezed out from centre to edge.. this can be done with a real cheap car window squeedgy from Crazy Clarks.. costs $2!.. it works perfectly.
If put out in the sun for an hour, the vinyl is completely adhered and completely dry... any retained moisture is sucked out through the vinyl...don't like the sun?.. No problems, it will still dry perfectly but will take a day or two depending on ambient conditions.
I do this for signs that go outside... nothing peels, vinyl stays on and the longer it stays on the harder it is to remove.
Your decal is a print on vinyl.. my signs are either coloured vinyl or print on vinyl with laminate finish.
You will get better results and your job will be a whole lot easier if done wet... it will also allow you to move the decal around a bit for registration.
Even the most experienced sign manufacturers will prefer the wet method for something that is 450mmX1320mm unless its "Easy Apply" which yours wont be.
Do it wet..

Gav

[robm]

Yep, I'm with Gav on this one. I don't see a lot of downside to doing it wet. I just did another set of Getaway decals yesterday arvo wet, and it was quite straightforward. I've not had any issues with the decal not adhering properly, and if an air bubble gets trapped, its really easy to squeeze out.

Here is a vid i did a year or so ago - may not be the way experts do it, but works for me (and my heavily pregnant wife!)

[turbo27]

Well done Rob, nice video and very informative.

I do agree the wet is far more forgiving and when the pros (Gav) do it that way, well who am I to say otherwise.

Re cleaning with alcohol, is white spirits a suitable alternative ? I have that already!

Re Water spray bottle, just use kitchen washing liquid and how soapy?

Re Before trimming edges, leave the decal overnight to really dry out, to avoid possible movements?

I still want to give the cabinet a few days to cure from painting, and work commitments will not allow me to start for a while.

Thanks once again for all the assistance.

Any more video's or suggestions would be great

Cheers Trent