Terminator 2 Restoration

[turbo27]

This is my second attempt at a pinball restoration. This is going to challenge me! The previous was IJ (also shared here on AP), bad cabinet but good playfield.
I was able to pick up this machine here in Adelaide, my listed 'wanted T2' on Gumtree worked a treat.
Machine was bought into Australia from Germany over 10 years ago by the current owner. Has not been used in ages, as you can see by the state of it.

Good Parts - 99% of the boards look great, with only the Power driver board needing a fix at J115 with a new header. Ironically my ST TNG started resetting the week I purchased T2, so I repaired the board and swapped it into ST! Now all I have to do is gain the courage to repair the ST board (not pretty)

T2 has a really good structural cabinet, solid as. Cabinet will be stripped, patched and resprayed, with a new complete set of decals coming from Mr Pinball.
New chrome legs, new flipper buttons and a repaint of the coin door. Who puts stickers on a pinball machine

Bad Parts  - the repairs to the playfield scares me. I have been reading up on as many repairs guides as I can find. Pretty sure going to need advice along the way!
My aim is to patch up areas with an air brush and would like to clear coat the playfield. Want to use automotive 2 pac, and plan on seeing local car repair services for a quote.

Then re-assemble the playfield with lots of new parts

Before Pictures

[turbo27]

more

[turbo27]

Started stripping down the playfield.

Lots of photos detailing as much as possible, hopefully help me put this back together.

Almost as dirty as Nino's current project.

[turbo27]

Playfield empty.
I have never removed all of the rear components before.
I cut away flippers, shooter and kickback components. The rest I carefully unscrewed everything leaving it in its current location.
I then used another sheet of board (roughly the size of the playfield) and with the help of my wife, slipped it in between the components and playfield. Closely mirroring where they are located on the playfield. I cling wrapped all the components to this board for attention later!

And remember  - lots of photos, from the top and all sides, going to help massively when I go to replace everything!

5 minute clean and here's what I've got

[Sinbad79]

Excellent - good to see Adelaide members getting into the restorations too.
Good Job

I'd also like to get my hands on something of this era as well.....

[Tank01]

Hey Turbo, project is looking great.
You may want to check Mr Pinball for decals as I am pretty sure you can only buy coin door and head box decals. Will be watching with great interest as I plan on doing the same in the near future.

Cheers

[turbo27]

Thanks guys

Mr Pinball does have 5 piece decal set, but not listed on ebay for his website. Just give Wayne a call and order over the phone 

Just finished cleaning the playfield and now starting to stress over the repairs needed!

Sinbad79, was talking to Boots over the weekend, any suggestions for where to go for a clear coat. Cheers

[Sinbad79]

you're going to have to take it to a crash shop somewhere, or even better, someone who paints cabinets for 2 pack kitchens.
I have a friend who i use but he really only does it to help me out - he runs a crash shop, so im not sure he's really keen to do this on a regular basis unfortunately.

[Tank01]

Thanks Turbo, PM sent.

[Boots]

Playfield empty.
I have never removed all of the rear components before.
I cut away flippers, shooter and kickback components. The rest I carefully unscrewed everything leaving it in its current location.
I then used another sheet of board (roughly the size of the playfield) and with the help of my wife, slipped it in between the components and playfield. Closely mirroring where they are located on the playfield. I cling wrapped all the components to this board for attention later!

And remember  - lots of photos, from the top and all sides, going to help massively when I go to replace everything!

5 minute clean and here's what I've got

I am sure this will turn out as good as IJ did - or better

[Strangeways]

Playfield empty.
I have never removed all of the rear components before.
I cut away flippers, shooter and kickback components. The rest I carefully unscrewed everything leaving it in its current location.
I then used another sheet of board (roughly the size of the playfield) and with the help of my wife, slipped it in between the components and playfield. Closely mirroring where they are located on the playfield. I cling wrapped all the components to this board for attention later!

And remember  - lots of photos, from the top and all sides, going to help massively when I go to replace everything!

5 minute clean and here's what I've got

This is a vital step of any reconditioning or restoration job. ALL the components need to be removed - including posts, metal guides and most importantly, the pop bumpers. Take heaps of photos, and don't be surprised if the parts you removed were not part of the factory game.

[turbo27]

These are the 3 main areas needing attention.

The 250,000 insert is slightly raised, not enough to catch your finger nail but enough to feel the bump. With the playfield being 2 pac clear coated, do I need to fix this? or will the clear coat mask the issue.
If I have to fix, prefer not to remove the insert. Can I apply pressure from the top with a clamp and heat up the bottom? Hopefully re-seating the insert and then apply an amount of glue to re-fix.

The CPU area. Red insert must come out and be re-levelled. Then I will air brush the black areas.

The pop bumpers. Do I need to remove the 3 bolts going thru the playfield for each of the bumpers. Or just leave as is, repair the art work and clear over the top?

More pictures to come when I attack the playfield with the air brush.

[MartyJ]

The 250k insert be careful with.  The aftermarket inset decals do not fit or even come close.  If it's a small depression the clear should cover it,  but depends on how many coats...
Remove all t-nut and the nails for pop bumpers for clear.

[Strangeways]

Level the CPU insert by removing and re inserting. You can airbrush the black area but prime the exposed wood area. build up the area with paint - don't go heavy with one coat, do several thin coats. When the clearcoat is done, the playfield will need to be block sanded to level out any low areas. Better to fill with paint than clear, block sand, clear, block sand - just to build one area up.

[turbo27]

Thanks for the info guys.

Airbrush and paints arrived today, so will see how I go over the weekend. 39 deg here so definitely  NO painting today.