Mitch's next project.. Zaccaria Universe

[ddstoys]

Again you do great things that looks a million dollars     

[SPURR]

This job is better than the original !

[Mr Pinbologist]

Thanks guys

well she's starting to go back together finally. This afternoon i bolted the new legs on... yeah i know they should be plain legs and not ribbed ones, but they were readily available and the right size (28 1/2"). they were bought from one of the pinball parts suppliers in Melbourne that some people seem to not like anyway i buy my bits n pieces from whoever has them when i need them.

I bought my first lot of parts from PSP this week (ordered them online last weekend and they arrived today) just a small order, some chrome leg bolts and a couple of boxes of lamps... would've bought the legs from them as well had i not already bought them a few weeks ago.

Any just a few pics of the cab with the new legs bolted on. I made some cabinet protectors to go under the legs from mylar.. same as i did on Dracula.



EDIT... the side rails were yet to be polished when i took these pics.. they have since been polished up with Autosol and look heaps nicer now!!

[Mr Pinbologist]

I will be starting the clean up/polishing etc this weekend starting tomorrow of all of the bits n pieces that bolt onto the cabinet, then fitting them to the cabinet.

also i still have to remove all of the lamps etc from the light board out of the backbox and give it a tidy up coat of paint.. will hopefully get that done too this weekend.

[Ford Fairlane]

Man that looks awesome!!!!!!! one question though and im sorry if i missed it, but how do you peel the contact off? i would have thought that once that stuck, you would remove paint (base) to get it off? any tips on that?

Thanks! and well done!!

[Mr Pinbologist]

Man that looks awesome!!!!!!! one question though and im sorry if i missed it, but how do you peel the contact off? i would have thought that once that stuck, you would remove paint (base) to get it off? any tips on that?

Thanks! and well done!!

Contact comes off easy peasy. So long as the basecoat is allowed to dry thoroughly, and the cab was prepped properly in the first place, there is no danger of removing basecoat paint. another thing to remember is not to cut too deep with the scalpel when cutting out the shapes, it isnt necessary to put a lot of pressure on the blade when cutting, otherwise if you cut too deep tiny bit of basecoat can come off where the blade cuts are. This DID happen to me on a couple of sections of this cab.. very minimal though, and was easily touched up. The blade also needs to be super sharp too, this makes a BIG difference and makes the job much easier.

[Mr Pinbologist]

Just a quick update on what i got done today.. The chime unit was totally dismantled, cleaned and polished up as best as i could do. In the first pic are two of the plungers, one polished up (left) and the other as it was removed. To do these i just placed them in my electric drill to spin them, first sanding them with 800 grit wet/dry paper and windex, then polished them with Autosol polish and rag. All of the metal was sanded, again with 800 grit and windex before polishing with Autosol. On some of the pieces i had to first sand them with 400 grit, then 800 to get them to a point where i was happy with them. the chime bars also got the same treatment. What screws that weren't replaced with new ones had the heads polished up with Autosol (i spun them in the drill while polishing them). some of the screws i first sanded with 800 grit before polishing.

The tilt board was also dismantled for polishing of all of its components. While the tilt unit was apart, i also decided to remove all of the wiring as well and give the board a quick sandpapering and a few coats of clear lacquer... something i've NEVER bothered with before!! Last pic is of the tilt unit back in the game, minus the ball roll tilt assembly, which will be polished and installed tomorrow. 

[Ford Fairlane]

Truly inspirational work you do.. there is no way that looks to be 30+ yr old machine.

[goodolddays]

Wow  I'm speechless

[Mr Pinbologist]

Next i fitted a new power switch to replace the crappy looking original one which wasnt hooked up anyway! But first i had to clean up the rusty switch mounting plate. I used a Clean n Strip disc in the electric drill to do this... made short work of it!! The i gave it a couple of coats of hammertone finish paint on both sides and let it dry before refitting. I soldered in the new switch, and encased it in heatshrink, as a safety measure in case anyone decides to stick their hand in there! Another mod i intend on doing is to ground the switch plate, the side rails and all exposed metal on the cab.. something i always do on EM games.. stops that tingly feeling when you touch or rub your hand on the metalwork on the game.

the replay knocker was missing when i got the game so im using a Gtb EM knocker assembly to replace the missing original. This is a new assembly from PBR that Cam (big dog) got for me in one of his PBR orders (thanks Cam)

Stay tuned for more updates!!

[Strangeways]

Truly inspirational work, Mitch. Your attention to detail is outstanding.

Just the "little things" like the rubber boot over the power switch and the two cable ties - 

[Mr Pinbologist]

Time for another update;

I've been busy with polishing and assembilng cabinet hardware. 1st pic shows a couple of the coin door bolts, before and after polishing. These i simply spun them in my electric drill while holding 120 grit sandpaper on a rubbing block against the bolt heads while spinning to remove the crappy looking surface, then 400 grit and then finally Auto sol polish and rag to get the shine you see here. The ball shooter rod copped the same treatment (2nd pic)

The coin door i regrained with 400 grit wet/dry paper and windex, then 800 grit and then finally Autosol polish.

The lockdown bar clamp was disassembled and cleaned up with a clean n strip disc in an electric drill, then sprayed with hammertone paint, same as i did with the Dracula lockdown bar assembly.

[Mr Pinbologist]

More reassembly pics. Also shown here is the backbox pedestal after repainting and refitted to the cabinet. Before the relay board was fitted into the cabinet i fitted a new power lead. Rather than tie a knot in the cord (this is illegal to do)  where it slots into the backbox pedestal i used a couple of zip ties to help prevent the cord from being pulled out.

[Mr Pinbologist]

Before fitting the backbox light board back into the backbox, i removed the reel assembly brackets and gave the light board a lick of fresh paint to brighten it up a bit. While the score reels were out i gave the mounting brackets an cleanup before refitting them.

One mod i did here was to space the lightboard back a few mm from the glass, by adding aluminium strips to either side where the mounting screws are. the main reason i did this was because the chipboard surrounding the lights had swelled a bit, making it very difficult to remove the backglass as the lift channel on the glass was catching on the chipboard. When i brought the game home i had a hell of a time removing the glass, until i worked out what was stopping it coming out. Eventually i worked out that by loosening the lightboard screws the glass could be safely removed. The aluminium strips fixed problem completely. Also i spaced the reel brackets out closer to the glass, with washers under the mounting screws to compensate for spacing the lightboard back. Moving the lightboard back also spaces the lightbulbs back from the glass, which might help save the backglass paint from heat. I'm also using #47 bulbs behind the glass.

[Mr Pinbologist]

Here are some of the grounding mods that are being done on the game. Before the backbox was bolted on, I drilled and fitted two screws into the siderails at the back of the cab, beneath the backbox, not real pretty but practical, and wont be too noticeable being at the back. On the inside of the cab i ran some wires from these screws to the ground connection on the transformer. In these pics the side rails, power switch plate and front right leg bolt plate have all been grounded. I still have the metal ball shooter assembly to do, coin door frame and lock down bar.