Indiana Jones Restoration..."Finished"

[koolmoecraig]

I recently picked up a Williams Indiana Jones(not the inferior IJ4 by Stern).  This machine has been a holy grail of mine since I first played one.  Yes, that horrible pun was intended.

It was in good shape with the normal cabinet fading.  I was just gonna live with it but decided what the hell, why not do a complete restoration down to the last nut and bolt?

I have stripped the entire cabinet bare and I am in the middle of sanding and prepping the sides for new decals.  The original decals came off pretty easily with the help of a heat gun....









I have been patching holes and sanding like crazy.  I'm trying to get the sides as smooth as glass for the decals.

[koolmoecraig]

Here is the underside of the playfield before stripping everything from it.  Yeah, I'm pretty screwed with getting this thing back together.  Hopefully it looks worse than it is...



I took tons of pictures of the disassembly but something tells me I am going to have some questions during the reassembly.

 

[koolmoecraig]

The playfield is in great shape with hardly any wear at all.  Since I am going overboard on this restoration, I begged Chris Hutchins at "High End Pins" to restore and clearcoat the playfield for me.  He finally agreed to squeeze it in for me.

Before clearcoat:

[koolmoecraig]

I went ahead and bought a Berry's tumbler for the metal parts.  This thing is pretty awesome.  Throw in the parts along with some walnut shell media and metal polish, let it run for a day or so and the parts come out looking almost like they've been chromed.

http://www.berrysmfg.com/82.php

[pinballwizard79]

after you successfully reassemble that machine I am going to have even more questions for you 

[Wade]

Enjoy the process while it's interesting.  I have only done a few 90's pin shop jobs, but I'm not looking forward to ever doing one again.  The end result is nice and something to be proud of, but the time involved is ridiculous unless you really just love to do it.  I could do so many bigger, more useful things in the same amount of time.  About halfway through, the fun and excitement is over and I just want it to be finished.  I guess it was good while I found it interesting, but now it's just a chore.  There's my downer for the day.

This should end up really nice.  The clearcoat will look awesome.  I've never gone that far with a restoration but I see the appeal in the finished product.

Wade

[koolmoecraig]

Enjoy the process while it's interesting.  I have only done a few 90's pin shop jobs, but I'm not looking forward to ever doing one again.  The end result is nice and something to be proud of, but the time involved is ridiculous unless you really just love to do it.  I could do so many bigger, more useful things in the same amount of time.  About halfway through, the fun and excitement is over and I just want it to be finished.  I guess it was good while I found it interesting, but now it's just a chore.  There's my downer for the day.

This should end up really nice.  The clearcoat will look awesome.  I've never gone that far with a restoration but I see the appeal in the finished product.

Wade

You nailed it right on the head.  I'm already over it.  I thought posting my progress on here might make it fun again!

I doubt I will ever do one again.  The fact that I'm doing this in my 2 bedroom condo without a garage makes it even worse.

[koolmoecraig]

Next time do a machine that didn't already start off "fairly new" and "in nice shape".

 

This one was actually "The best one I've ever seen!"

[Wade]

Enjoy the process while it's interesting.  I have only done a few 90's pin shop jobs, but I'm not looking forward to ever doing one again.  The end result is nice and something to be proud of, but the time involved is ridiculous unless you really just love to do it.  I could do so many bigger, more useful things in the same amount of time.  About halfway through, the fun and excitement is over and I just want it to be finished.  I guess it was good while I found it interesting, but now it's just a chore.  There's my downer for the day.

This should end up really nice.  The clearcoat will look awesome.  I've never gone that far with a restoration but I see the appeal in the finished product.

Wade

You nailed it right on the head.  I'm already over it.  I thought posting my progress on here might make it fun again!

I doubt I will ever do one again.  The fact that I'm doing this in my 2 bedroom condo without a garage makes it even worse.

But on the other hand...  You'll have a super nice pin, if you can just keep it and be happy with it and don't sell/trade it for something else that needs work then you'd probably end up happier in the long run.  That's part of my problem, I tend to give up good games and pick up more projects.  I've decided the best thing would be to just keep 1 or 2 super nice pins and be happy.  Fix what breaks and wipe them down occasionally.  Get "new game" kicks by playing other collectors games or going to shows/arcades.

Wade

[koolmoecraig]

After tackling this project, the $2-$3000 that High End Pins charges for a complete restoration is flat out cheap.

[koolmoecraig]

I just got finished with the shooter gun assembly.

I always thought having the gun plated looked lame so I had the gun powder coated satin black.  I then masked off everything but the handle with liquid mask.  Finally I shot it with brown Krylon. I think it turned out pretty damn sweet.

[solid187]

Easy  ...I'm one of those idiots.  I actually bought my machine restored and the rails, lockdown, and gun were alreadybrass z-plated.  But I agree, the gun above looks tits.  Nice job.

[koolmoecraig]

I am getting the side rails and lockdown bar brass plated.  Gives it that Ark look.

[pinballwizard79]

He said it looks tits, haven't heard that in so long............gonna work that into my vocabulary tomorrow somehow for sure. 

I have never played a clear coated machine, does it play different than factory "diamond plated" machines?

[StephenH]

Here is some technical restoration info for your Pinball System:

http://www.pinrepair.com/wpc/index1.htm#list

[koolmoecraig]

I installed the front and right side decal tonight.  They turned out really well.  The only trouble I had was right near the start button.  A piece of my dogs hair got under there and I had to slice the decal to get it out. Luckily it's barely noticeable.

Everything all primed and ready to go.  I didn't paint it black underneath like some people cause I think that the black paint can have a dulling effect under the decal.  I used Kilz primer sanded smooth with 400 grit.



First I measured and marked the center on the cabinet.  The center coin door bolt holes are dead-center so I just marked straight down from the middle of them.  I put a little mark with a pencil on the bottom of the cab.





Next I trimmed down the bottom and sides of the decal.  Trimming the side before install doesn't really matter but it's much easier to center when you have the bottom perfectly set how its going to be by cutting it with a t-square beforehand.



Front decal lined up and clamped.



Decal installed.



Side decal clamped.



Installed.



I'm really happy with everything so far.  I will never do one of these again though.  It takes so damn long and it's a bottomless money pit.  Being close to done with the tedious cabinet work is something to look forward to.

[koolmoecraig]

He said it looks tits, haven't heard that in so long............gonna work that into my vocabulary tomorrow somehow for sure. 

I have never played a clear coated machine, does it play different than factory "diamond plated" machines?

I've never played a clear coated pin either.  It will be fun finding out.

[StephenH]

Here is some technical info for your Pinball:

http://www.pinrepair.com/wpc/index1.htm#list

[koolmoecraig]

Here is some technical info for your Pinball:

http://www.pinrepair.com/wpc/index1.htm#list

Yeah, you said that already.

[koolmoecraig]

Made some progress...

I finally got the cabinet up on it's legs.



As you can see, I painted the inside of the cabinet a satin black.

The legs are brass plated, highly polished legs from Pinball Life.  The finish is awesome.  I used some clear "Pincab" protectors to keep the legs from damaging the new decals.



Yummy...


Installed the shooter gun...





I installed all new grounding braid as well...







After installing the wiring harness I installed some side board decals from Treasure Cove.





The quality of the decals is is great.  A little pricey though...





Also installed a Pinball Pro Subwoofer...



I went a little crazy and got all of the carriage bolts brass plated.  They turned out incredible!







After the Bears beat the undefeated Titans today, I will be installing the backboard head decals.  My playfield is coming back from clearcoat next week.  All of the cabinet work has been time consuming and nerve wracking.  I am looking forward to repopulating the playfield. 




 

[koolmoecraig]

OK, so maybe the Bears couldn't handle the Titans today...

[koolmoecraig]

Had the lockdown latch brass plated and installed new "shop out" decals.



I used Plasti Dip to redo the handle.

[shardian]

Wow, this thing is looking incredibly sharp! Since they are from treasure Cove, I am assuming those side skirt decals are completely aftermarket created? Either way they are really neat.

[koolmoecraig]

Wow, this thing is looking incredibly sharp! Since they are from treasure Cove, I am assuming those side skirt decals are completely aftermarket created? Either way they are really neat.

Thank you.

Yeah they are custom made.  Here is a pic of them installed.  Pretty sweet.

[koolmoecraig]

I got the playfield back from HEP today and it is simply stunning.  It was touched up around some of the inserts, minor repairs to the eject and saucer holes and clearcoated.







Perfection!







Shooter lane is perfect.

[koolmoecraig]

Needs an Inspected by J. E. Santiago sticker

Definitely.

Have a source for any?

[SirPeale]

Holy carp...I can't believe how shiny that is.

[koolmoecraig]

It took a long time but I finally finished polishing all of metal for my playfield.  It's not brushed like stock but all of the older machines used to use highly polished pieces and it looks incredible.  The mirror-like reflections really give the playfield an open feeling.  Plus they probably only stopped using it because of cost.













I'm waiting on my rotisserie.  Once that arrives I can begin reassembly.

[JeepMonkey]

Beautiful work so far.      I myself have only attempted a topside playfield teardown, clean, and reassemble.  This looks like a fun, albeit difficult, project.

Was the bronzing or clear coating expensive?

[shardian]

That clearcoat is amazing. I'm working on buffing a clearcoat right now. While mine may be shiny, it is not even close to the same league as that perfection your is.

[koolmoecraig]

Beautiful work so far.      I myself have only attempted a topside playfield teardown, clean, and reassemble.  This looks like a fun, albeit difficult, project.

Was the bronzing or clear coating expensive?

It really is a pain in the ass.  So much to do and the costs keep adding up.

The clearcoating wasnt cheap.  For the playfield touch up and clear it was about $600.

The brass plating wasn't too bad.  I used a local place.

[2PacMan]

Wow, this looks great so far.  I think i'd be too scared to even play the thing when it is all finished.

[Mauzy]

AWESOME!! I would love to do something like this, but my luck says I would spend all this money on clear coating, brass plating, and decals only to blow up the board set putting the thing back together.

[shardian]

AWESOME!! I would love to do something like this, but my luck says I would spend all this money on clear coating, brass plating, and decals only to blow up the board set putting the thing back together.

My luck would have me drop that restored playfield and ruin it.

[koolmoecraig]

I decided to go with blue bumper skirts instead of the red or yellow that everyone usually uses.  I think it picks up with the rest of the blue nicely...

[koolmoecraig]

The polished metal parts REALLY "extend" the playfield.  Of course, most of them wont be visible when everything is installed but they sure look pretty now!  The ones that are visible are gonna look great with light bouncing off of them.

[koolmoecraig]

Check out the ceiling fan reflection

[Hockeyboy]

Your pinball machine just keeps looking better and better! Thanks for the update.

Man, I loved playing IJ pinball too...but there's no way I could devote the time you have to a project such as this...

[koolmoecraig]

Your pinball machine just keeps looking better and better! Thanks for the update.

Man, I loved playing IJ pinball too...but there's no way I could devote the time you have to a project such as this...

I hear that.  This has taken quite a while.  I started in May.

[koolmoecraig]