Complete Theatre of magic shop log

[elrikos]

Hi all.

I thought that a shop log for my theatre of magic would be nice so here it is! First the story behind getting it. I bought it from a company near reading. When I first spotted it it was in the bar at reading police station (yes a bar in the police station!!). It was looking very sorry for itself and wouldn't even turn on. There was clear wear on the playfield, but popping the security screws off the backbox lock showed that the boards were in good condition ( with the exception of the go connector which was toast). I made a cheeky offer and was quickly knocked back. A bit more negotiating and I found myself picking her up on Saturday. Cue photo of her just before leaving.



Got it home and had a good look. The playfield was worse than I imagined, all the illusion inserts had moved, as had all the theatre ones, in fact they'd ALL moved! Couple that with some wear by the trapdoor and you had a pretty knackered playfield. Here's some photos!!





In addition to the wear, the main ramp was broken. The owner had decided that the best course of action was to make something out of aluminium and screw it to the playfield. Nice!!



Having removed it it could have been worse. Still a hole that needed filling

The trapdoor didn't work either. Traced this to a broken wire and blown fuse. One problem I have yet to fix is that one of the playfield sliders has broken and gouges the cabinet when moving the playfield. If anyone has a spare, pleAse let me know"

So big decision needed. The playfield was never going to be as good as I wanted it to be so I either learned how to touch up a playfield really well or farmed it out to someone.

Cue pinball dreams. Ive been emailing Henrik for the last week or so and have now come to an agreement on price. When e playfield is stripped it will be sent to Henrik in Germany for the full works to be carried out. He's agreed to update pinballinfo withe every step so you can see the process he's gone through. I'll give an honest opinion of the progress too.

Now to stripping her down!! Obviously I'll be posting a log as I go. In addition to playfield touch ups I'll be replacing the backbox decals as they're knackered as well as replacing a few chewed wires ( from the broken slider that has caught and chewed the wires). I'll be having the lockdown bar and side rails brass plated (details of the tradesman used to follow as he is very good and reasonable in his pricing).

If anyone wants to give suggestions or critique I'd be grateful to receive it.

 

[Spandangler]

Nice one. Look forward to seeing the results. Did you have to strip the underside of the pf too? I'm guessing you probably did!!

Wish there was a pin in my police station!

 

[elrikos]

It's going to be stripped to a bare piece of wood. If nothing else it'll save on shipping as postage to Germany isn't cheap!

Not found any other pins in police stations. This one was unplayable and has been for a couple of years. Given how much of a swine it was to move from the third floor I can see why it's been there a while. It's being replaced with a stern Elvis in the next few weeks.

 

[ronsplooter]

Congrats on the new pin, I'm very interested to see how this progresses

 

[Judge Dreads]

Sent a pf to Germany a couple of weeks back, cost £23 all in insured.



http://www.transglobal.org.uk/



To be honest mate the playfield does not look all that bad to me (machine is deffo not a dawg and will make a nice TOM), I would tackle the pf myself but it's all down to personal preference at the end of the day, good luck with it, nice to see one getting put right.

 

[Adam]

That will clean up nicely, the inserts by the filppers almost always lift and wear on tom's, but yours seem to be in pretty good shape.

Be nice to keep an eye on this as I will be giving my Tom an overhaul and clear coat in the next few months.

I will be exchanging my cab for a brand new cab too, not that it really needs one as they are in really good shape, but I got a good deal on it so will be selling both the head and cab if your interested.



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[Rus121]

That will clean up nicely, the inserts by the filppers almost always lift and wear on tom's, but yours seem to be in pretty good shape.

Be nice to keep an eye on this as I will be giving my Tom an overhaul and clear coat in the next few months.

I will be exchanging my cab for a brand new cab too, not that it really needs one as they are in really good shape, but I got a good deal on it so will be selling both the head and cab if your interested.



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Care to elaborate on the new cab and how much you are paying for it? I have a guy locally who is reproducing one for me, for £300. Obviously if theres a better deal to be had somewhere, i would take it. Cheers.

 

[Adam]

Favor for a favor, all I've had to do is buy the decals

£300 is cheap for a cab!

 

[Paul]

:sush:

Dont get me started on Cabs and prices...

 

[elrikos]

thanks for the replies guys. I'll keep the thread updated. The playfield has some damage that can only just be seen. Its next to the spirit ring insert. I would love to learn how to touch up myself, but i figured that i have no artistic abilities at all and this probably isnt the PF to learn on!

 

[Calimori]

What are people doing with all these spare cabs? If someone wants to sell one that would be compatible for my TAF then let me know, if not £300 doesn't sound too bad for a new one.

Anyhow, give us some good playfield strip down pictures and an update on the playfield restoration. I plan to get mine done but not until I have another machine to play whilst it is being done.

 

[Eddie Twadds]

As a matter of interest how much to get the playfield touched up and CC'd from the guys in Germany?

 

[elrikos]

Next update.

The plan is to get the playfield stripped and off to Henrik as soon as I can. Got an hour in this evening. I cleaned the bottom of the cabinet. Look what I found!



Can't be bad! 90% has gone in the bin. It's clear that a transistor somewhere has burnt out in the past as there was a properly toasty coil in there. Small white one. There was also a coil called black beast. Never seen such a thing. Can anyone shed any light on that?

Anyway I decided that given the playfield hinge is knackered (still no offers of a replacement, anyone?) I'd remove the whole playfield from the cabinet to strip it. I've looked at the playfield rotisseries available but they all seemed to rely on pipe fittings that aren't available in the uk. On this basis I took the high tech view and decided to rip off Dave the taxmans idea. I've screwed a piece of aluminium pipe to my garage joists and run a ratchet strap through the playfield supports.



Fingers crossed its still there in the morning!!

On another note I see there's a used Tom ramp on eBay. Hands off everyone! I need one ;0)

I gave the illuSions inserts a quick wipe down and theyRe not as bad as first thought.



This machine had the knocker disconnected and a counter added to the cab. Hope it's not correct!!



This is the damage the hinge has done to the cab.



Right that's it for today! Off for a beer!

 

[Calimori]

What a find in the bottom, I can see several broken parts so someone must have been fixing it but not tidying up.



Enjoy that well earnt beer.

 

[Thory]

Looks like there's life in the old girl yet! Next stop 200,000 plays

 

[Sgt GrizZ]

There was also a coil called black beast. Never seen such a thing. Can anyone shed any light on that?

Data East used Black Beast coils

 

[elrikos]

Hi all

Small update as I managed to get an hour in the garage this evening.

First off I removed the trunk. Someone's been there before me as the wires in the trunk itself had been cut and resoldered. The shaft had also been lubricated which is now a nasty black paste!

The opto interrupter has cracked so that's on the list for replacement. No pictures of that as its just been removed so I can send the pf to henrik. The cleanup will take place while he's working.

Also removed the remains of the white stand ups by the ramp. Here's what was left



Next up the slingshots and flippers were removed. Both had been lubricated and so were again filthy!



That's all for today. Here's a final shot of the under playfield gutter and the top of the pf showing where I'm up to.





First impressions are that it's amazing how much has changed in terms of mechanisms since the tz I've finished. The trough assembly is much better looking and things like flash lamps are much improved. Things are much more modular which makes life easier.

 

[elrikos]

Another update.

Managed to get the play field almost completely stripped yesterday. I'm still blown away as to how much quicker it was to strip this pf down as opposed to the tz. It just flies to bits!!

Pics are below. Once it was all in bits I gave the pf a quick clean. It's actually not as bad as I thought it was! Nothing was broken, just lots of dirt. Fingers crossed I'll get the play field sent off to Henrik this week so he can start doing the interesting stuff!

The rubbish!





Almost stripped. Top side.



Bottom side





Hopefully more interesting updates next time!!

 

[replicas]

Going good.

That was one pretty filthy playfield. Can't wait to see it once its done.

Take plenty of pic's of the bad areas so you can compare when it gets back from being repaired and touched up.

D.

 

[elrikos]

Hi all

Time for another update

First things first. I ended up at reading nick today and there's a new pin in there. A stern elvis! No time for a game though!



The play field is now totally stripped and wrapped in foam and cardboard, ready to send to Henrik. Just awaiting the address to send it to. I've attached the before photos below. It's not too bad after all, but the inserts are the main issue here. The underside is also filthy!!





































Loads more in the gallery if you want to have a browse. After pictures are to follow. It may be a little while for the play field but I'll keep updating with other things im up to in the mean time.

 

[elrikos]

time for a mini update.

the playfield is currently sat at a DPD depot in Birmingham. Worryingly its been there for 24 hours and hasnt moved. fingers crossed itll be on the next plane to germany! I anticipate that Henrik will be posting lots of pictures of the restoration process for all to see. I'm hoping that his work is as good as the photos he provided.

In other news i'm starting to get to grips with the wiring harness. You've probably seen my wanted thread in the for sale section looking for some wiring harnesses. That broken playfield slide did some damage to to harness and thanks to Ivan and replicas i should be able to get it all sorted!

The harnesses are currently sat in the dishwasher getting a damn good clean (the Mrs is working so she'll never know!!)

I'll update more when Henrik has received the playfield.

 

[Calimori]

The actual harness went in the dishwasher? Braver man than me if she catches you ;-). I got caught with some engine parts in the oven once, she was too confused to be angry at first....

 

[elrikos]

Actual harness went in complete with solenoid. Came out looking sparkly clean.

I got caught a few years ago washing an inlet manifold in the dishwasher. came out clean but the dishwasher smelled of engine oil! Had to put a few empty washes through to get rid of the smell. My mrs was not happy!!

 

[Calimori]

The oven had a rocker cover, sump and exhaust manifold which were being painted but it was cold so I heated them up between coats. The new missus would kill me, I have seen it in her eyes once or twice so I know that would be going too far.

At least there is no engine oil on a harness, how does it effect the solenoids? Is this a known trick that everyone does?

If I ever do a play field swap, I would consider doing this.



Hope the playfield moves today, I know the frustration of watching the online information hoping for a positive update.

 

[elrikos]

I'm not sure if it's a well known thing? Ive used the technique before on my twilight zone with great results. No issues were caused with the water and electrics.

The solenoids come out fine. Paper Coil wrappers still firmly attached. I've found that the white coils (27 1200 I think) don't come out perfectly. The print on the coil wrappers fades to a dark purple. I'm looking to recreate these on the computer and replace them. Other wrappers are fine. Connectors are fine. The only thig the dishwasher doesn't remove is flux from the coil lugs. I have to clean them by hand.

I even dish washer the backbox boards. The only one to be careful with is the power driver board. The relay will fill with water (don't ask how I know!). Remove it before cleaning. Comes out looking brand new.

 

[Pudsey pinball]

Lol engine parts in dishwasher wow you were lucky my mrs would have been reaching for the knife draw!!!

 

[elrikos]

Mini update. Got a few hours done this evening. The coin door is now off. I forgot to document a fantastic bodge! One of the coin door buttons broke so, instead of fixing it, the operator found a different switch, made a bracket for it, screwed it to the coin door and half wired it up. You had to hold the remaining wire to earth and then the button would work. Fantastic. Pic below



I got the siderails off the cabinet. Heated them with a hot air gun and used a paint scraper. Came of really easily and did not damage to the cab art.

on that note I'm struggling to justify replacing the cab art. It's in really nice condition. The same cant be said for the backbox which is a bit rough! Does anyone have a source for a set of backbox decals. I don't really want to spend £225 on a full set just for the backbox. I've emailed phil at pinball heaven so fingers crossed. If anyone has any other ideas pleae let me know!!

 

[teachp8]

You're going great guns on this - nicely done indeed. Keep the pics coming please.

 

[elrikos]

Mini update.

It's arrived safely in Germany. I can now stop worrying!! I'll keep you up to date on progress (and henrik should start posting pics of the restoration up as he goes)

 

[elrikos]

hi all,

no updates from henrik yet. I've also only managed to spend 10 minutes in the garage this week (although i did visit Dave the Taxman last night and play his machines!). Ive spent a bit of time trying to clean up the lock bar mechinism. Someone has clearly spilt something down the machine at some point in its past and its started to rust out the bar. I've stripped it down and sanded and polished it to within an inch of its life. theres still some pitting showing on it which just won't do. I've checked the usual suspects and its the normal story. $80 for the part, $50 for the shipping. I'm going to have a think about what to do with this. I've also stuck a thread in the wanted section in case anyone has one thats in better nick than mine (i'll even give you this one on top, all polished if you're not bothered about a bit of pitting).

anyway thats all ive got for now. Hoping to hear something from Henrik shortly.