Creature From the Black Lagoon of decay

[robm]

I've been keen to get into another restoration and had the opportunity to pick up a couple of projects a few weeks back.  Here is the first pic of the Creech as found.



Overall, it looked pretty good (well compared to some other projects i have had!), cab appeared solid, the machine did fire up, although MPU had corrosion, so switch inputs didn't work, and the DMD was completely garbled.  The playfield itself was filthy, but in reasonable condition.  SO got it home (with Whitewater and BSD!) and had a closer look.





Boards were quite clean (except for MPU)













So fired the machine up with a new MPU and DMD, and it all worked, although no sound. Swapped it out for a known working sound board, and had a quick game - everything appeared to work OK, so start the strip down process.  It doesn't take long to remove the head and rip the guys out of the main cabinet.

So i started sanding the main cabinet back, and noticed a couple of strange patches where the surface layer of ply seemed quite thin......well, it looks like Mr Termite and his 1 billion mates have been having a party here for the last few years!!



I did have thoughts have rescuing this, but there is no way i could take the risk of not cutting out EVERY bit of termite damage.  So fortunately, i had something prepared earlier....



This cabinet was destined for another machine, but may as well use it for this one!

[Strangeways]

Seems like the Creature was right at home while the game was submerged !

Will follow with interest. This is a game that really POPS when restored. Weave your magic Rob 

[intopins]

I really need to find a beater and try this sort of stuff....envy the hell outta you guys!

[swinks]

congrats, nice find,

does the replacement cabinet have the speaker in the centre or to the side? need to the side if you want to run the original holo

[DSB]

Where do you find these machines! 

[swinks]

if you ever need / want a snackbar mod just let me know.

[robm]

if you ever need / want a snackbar mod just let me know.

Thanks mate.

Had today off with the kids, so while they played in the shed, i pulled the playfield apart.

Nothing too dramatic - i tend to just chukc all the screws, nuts and bolts in one container, don't bother labelling stuff, as there are only 3 or 4 different types, and it is fairly obvious when to use a machine screw vs wood screw.  I do take a photo of every piece as i remove it, then view the photos in reverse order for reassembly.

There was some mylar around the pops, put the playfield out in out hot North Qld sun for 10 mins, and it peeled off quite nicely - two small areas of art came off, but really quite small.

The worst bit was the mongrel wood screws at the top of the inlanes.  The top was flogged out, so i cut a slot with the dremel to remove it with a flat screwdriver



So of course, then the screw snapped half way down




So then put the vise grip on what was left of the screw....and it sheared off at playfield level GGGGRRRRRRR!!!

So i guess my only option now is to try and centre punch the remaining bit, drill it out with a fine drill bit, then refill the hole

Anyway, this is what it looks like now



All stripped, with just the rails to be removed, i'm thinking this might be my first KBS Clear coat attempt!

[swinks]

just noticed you have the metal rails on yours, heard a few reasons to why some had timber and others powder coated steel ones.

that playfield should clean up real nice

[howzat]

Your getting  some very collectable and fun games Rob

I always enjoy reading your resto  post   re the possum   

I will watch with interest       Howzat

[pinnies4me]

Great game, will watch with interest.

[robm]

Got a bit more done this arvo. Playfield now completely bare on top, spent some time cleaning with Nifti, Shellite plus magic eraser, then combinations of wax and grease remover, adhesive remover and more shellite, making sure there is no residue where the mylar was removed.

Shot of the playfield with all the other parts nicely organised on the bench behind....



I spent some time also prepping the cabinet - even though it is new, still required a reasonable amount of work in terms of grain filling the ply. Used a fairly runny form of bog (comes in a soft bag), so it will run into most of the grain.  Got one go at all sides of the new cab, and sanded down to 180 grit paper, then filled a few more areas.



Fortunately the backbox was solid, and no termites present!  Sanded the artwork off, but the back MDF panel was not in particularly good condition with chunks missing at the bottom and a bit of swelling around the top. So used the trust old 'belt it with a hammer' trick, and will replace with 13mm thick sheet.

[robm]

congrats, nice find,

does the replacement cabinet have the speaker in the centre or to the side? need to the side if you want to run the original holo

The new cab has no hole at the moment - i think the safest option is to cut out a hole off to the side in case ever wanting to use an original hologram. The existing one appears cactus. I had my name down with a member here on AA (Dan was it?) that was doing a replacement video one - does anyone know if this is still happening?

Also, be interested in info on the steel vs the timber side rails story - i've only ever played one game on Creech and that was years ago, so don't really have any appreciation of gameplay, and certainly wasn't aware of different side rails - i thought it was a little unusual when i saw the steel ones!

[swinks]

2 stories I heard of the rails

1 - 2 different playfield manufacturers = 2 different styles
2 - the steel rails were used for playfields that had a little more warp than usual and these straightened it out

last I heard is Dan may do some sometime, alternatively Pinball Dreams has some new repro holos

[robm]

So i got all set up for my first attempt at using KBS diamond coat, ad was not really happy with the results. Followed a lot of advice on here, plus talked to a couple of people, and still ended up with quite a few bubbles. The playfield itself seemed to have some sort of issue where it had a few tiny pimples here and there, not sure if this exacerbated the problem.  Here is a shot after the first coat.



Colours were brilliant, however the bubbles were not!  I sanded it back, and had another go with similar results. I came to the conclusion that it is simply too humid here in Townsville at this time of year, or i stuffed something up! Anyway, i have sent the playfield down to Savage Restorations in Brisbane (actually took the opportunity to strip a WH20 at the same time to send both together, but that is a future restoration thread), for him to weave his magic.

So, the progress will go a bit slower, but it gives me plenty of time to concentrate in the cabinet and other stuff.

More time sanding and bogging, and here is the cab after a few primer coats and some black around the edges



I had previously been using a poxy Ozito random orbital sander, and @AlexMc loaned me his Makita 150mm sander - amazing the difference a good tool makes, particularly with variable speed.  Straight after using it, i went out and bought myself a decent one - after some research, it appears the Metabo SXE450 turbo is a great midrange in price, yet very good quality option. It has 2 sanding modes, where the aggressive will be great for removing old artwork.

Headbox painted



Some cabinet hardware painted



These were the legs



I am still not sure whether to go chrome, or maybe paint them green, anyway, for the moment i left them soaking in Oxalic acid for 24 hrs, then a quick hit with steel wool.

After



Then time to start applying decals. I use a 'plug' for the front door, so the decal doesn't dip down and make it difficult



Got my very capable and handy wife to assist with applying the main cab decals. We have a system worked out that is great to apply them.  Not sure if her being pregnant is part of the system, but it always seems to be that she is pregnant when we apply decals! (Woohoo, bring on bub number 4 in January).




Mmmm, shiny



Cutting the decals for the metal cabinet protectors to be installed



At this point i realised i hadn't drilled holes in the front of the cab to mount the door or lockdown bar receiver!  Not a biggie, but things i didn't think of when using a new cabinet.  I am considering just attaching the lockdown bar receiver only from the inside, so there are 2 less bolts visible on the front - will temporarily mount it and see how strong it feels.

[swinks]

looking good Rob and was wondering how many kids you are racking up, congrats

you could go with black legs as that was the original for the game.