White Water pin restoration

BGOllie

So I thought I might as well make a whole thread for it since it's going to be a full restoration job.

So the game starts and runs but the cab is in dire conditions. I'll post a vid on the first overlook in a few days but here's the a vid of the game running at least :

https://www.facebook.com/olonguet/videos/10157392813603276/

The playfield is fine, no signs of warping. but the head box has suffered from water damage . the back is swollen and warped as is the light board (both made from that wood aggregate chip board thing) so I'll have to remake these.



The Head box

I've already stripped the entire head box and and fixing some cracks in the ply.
all the metal has rust damage so I've removed all metal parts and they're soaking in vinegar before getting sanded and re-polished.

The PCB board will need cleaning too and there's a couple of mods to be done on the boards too I believe.

The top cover is missing but I think there's repros around. The artwork on the topper is there but crumpled... I think I can straighten it easily though.

The artwork is chipping and too far gone. But I've replacement art on the way.

This'll be the first part of the project. Before I move on to the body and then the playfield maintenance after that.

beejee

A major job, but im sure it will be the difference between day and night by the time youre finished

marcddsa

Super impressed dude.... I see you don't wait around but dive straight into it.. Going to follow this with interest :-)

BGOllie

work on the pin continues:
remade a back for the head box, Waiting for the glue to set . Sanded the inside and should be able to apply a primer paint on the inside tomorrow.
The outside will be sanded too and repainted. The artwork is chipping badly so there's no way I can keep it. I've replacement decals on order .



I made a small trolley on wheels too for the main box so I can move it around easily :



started cleaning the old rusty metal parts . Dipped them in vinegar overnight, some sanding and finished with a wire wheel polish before coating them in wd40 overnight before I apply a clear coat to them tomorrow. I still have the bolts and screws and nuts tomorrow

BGOllie

making some progress on this. I'll post a few photos later.
but I've manage to put a vid together of the original state I got it in...

BGOllie

Right so ...
Head box rebuilt and primed . Now waiting on the side art so I can colour match the blue on on rest of the head box & body.



Cleaned the pcbs and back plate (this was heavily rusted) . Screws and spacers were badly rusted but cleaned up nice.




Made an new light panel (old was was completely warped ) and fitted the lights back .


All metal parts, bolts & screws are now rust free and polished back .



In the meantime I still have to work on the led display and topper

Good job,
That back plate is really important because it's a common ground between the pcbs.
Bad connections to ground causes mayham with them.

BGOllie

I figured it's the reason there was a metal plate
I sprayed it with a metal primer/protector paint but sanded where those metal spacers touch so it doesn't break continuity

eddhorse

Made quick work on that

BGOllie

oh also :
I spent a lot of time cleaning the screws and bolts. The temptation would be to replace them with newer parts but... imperial vs metric measurements means you'll spend a lot of money ordering them online to match the bolts or spend a ton of time trying to best match the width / length of the original. Chances are , an overnight vinegar bath and cheap wire wheel on a drill will restore the original bolts and screws to their former glossiness . not hard but it's tedious and will take time

eddhorse

I look forward to the next video.
It's in great nick part from the bending, where was it stored ?

Optimus Prime

amazing it worked considering the state of the wood !

BGOllie

So I finished the led display. cleaned the wood and resprayed both sides. touched up the Williams logo on the metal mesh and removed rust from all metals and speakers (also clear-coated them to prevent rust from coming back too quickly )
I kept the original wood, I was able to get it back straight with a bit of persuasion so I'm glad I didn't have to make a new one. All in all it cleaned up nice.





Now the last part is the topper and I thought I could get it back flat but it's too far gone in places. The craboard has crumpled pretty bad and the art is peeling off the backing in places.
Not sure what to do here, the artwork's got that metallic effect so I'm not sure if repros are even available

Jack burton

Great job Ollie.

Yeah those toppers are pretty expensive to get even if you can source one.

How's the playfield looking? Converting it to LED?

And then are you going to sell it to me?

BGOllie

yeah it'll get an led conversion too. I didn't see visible signs of warping or water damage on he playfield but it'll need a thorough clean . Underside is clean as a whistle but the screws and other metal bits show signs of rust so I'll have to at least take the top appart for a clean, de-rust etc..

Jack burton

BGOllie wrote: »

yeah it'll get an led conversion too. I didn't see visible signs of warping or water damage on he playfield but it'll need a thorough clean . Underside is clean as a whistle but the screws and other metal bits show signs of rust so I'll have to at least take the top appart for a clean, de-rust etc..

You could go the full way now and completely strip the playfield and clean and wax it? I have that treasure cove cleaning kit, meant to give an amazing finish

BGOllie

yeah prob will do that. I'll see. It's a long way away yet. I still have to put back that head box once I receive the artwork and address the main body after that

I don't like. Leds in whitewater.
Ollie have you heard of leds "ghosting" in pins?
Also the topper take 12v bulbs not the 6v ones like the rest of the machine!
If you put 6v leds up there they melt.

BGOllie

I like em & they draw much less power which is sth to keep in mind. I haven't had any issues in my Gladiator pin but yeah I hear it's a thing. I think they fit nice in GI type of places but may be an issue in other places. this'll go last though, prob will give it a try and see how it goes. it can always be reverted

CathalDublin

I put some warm white LEDs in my Whirlwind, some areas I get more flicker than others, I'm not sure why, I get ghosting on the inserts even using non ghosting LEDs, so I'll be reverting to incandesent lamps for them, the warm white GI look alright though, bit brighter than the incandecent lamps and still give a retro vibe.

BGOllie

finished the white water header resto. since no proper repro are available i glued it back as best as possible, had to repaint a lot of the artwork. but it blended well. that thing was completely falling apart
big chunks of the river metallic paint were gone so I used some silver leaf to fix it


Artwork has arrived too

BGOllie

was able to match the blue on the repro artwork pretty close to. 3 layers with a 1 day drying and light sanding back in between for me a nice finish

BGOllie

Finished rebuilding the headbox!! now I can move on to the body ...

Optimus Prime

Awesome job. Looks great

eddhorse

Wow you are trucking through this restoration, looks great so far.
Your woodwork, painting and electronics skills are making serious progress with this.

o1s1n

eddhorse wrote: »

Your woodwork, painting and electronics skills are making serious progress with this.

Yeah that's quite the triple threat of abilities isn't it? Not much you can't fix if you can cover all of that.

Really amazing progress with this, still can't believe it was going to be binned.

BGOllie

pinball work is going on...


remade this whole piece as it was completely delaminated and rotted in parts

this side required some work. 1 layer of laminate is gone in some places. cleaned it as best as I could - re-glued some places and layed down some fine surfboard fibber glass to layer up back the laminate.


Lamination done. This side so now solid and made a new bottom and is being glued back

BGOllie

wood work is now finished. and I started repopulating the inside



also started cleaning, de-rusting and re polishing all the metals

BGOllie

also put out the first vid on the restoration

TheRepentent

BGOllie wrote: »

also put out the first vid on the restoration

impressive!

Would love to have the knowledge,tools and confidence to even attempt a pinball restore.

BGOllie

All parts cleaned and back in the body. I've now started applying the new art and re-populating the body.

BGOllie

TheRepentent wrote: »

Would love to have the knowledge,tools and confidence to even attempt a pinball restore.

well I'm still making it up as I go too really. I'm kinda amazed it's working out.
...
Also I'm French , which means I've the arrogance to think I might actually pull it off

beejee

BGOllie wrote: »

well I'm still making it up as I go too really. I'm kinda amazed it's working out.
...
Also I'm French , which means I've the arrogance to think I might actually pull it off

It's amazing what you can you do when you just plunge in, fair play

I just set my whitewater (Wh2o) up after 9/10 months of being folded.
If you need any reference pics hit me up.

BGOllie

thanks I should be ok, I too pics of pretty much everything I disconnected or needed to move and I've picked up some photos of some of the missing items But you never know so I might hit you up at some point

eddhorse

Battle of the Whitewaters..

Star Lord

eddhorse wrote: »

Battle of the Whitewaters..

BGOllie

BGOllie wrote: »

thanks I should be ok, I too pics of pretty much everything I disconnected or needed to move and I've picked up some photos of some of the missing items But you never know so I might hit you up at some point

Shove it so

I'd love to do a full cabinet resto on mine.
I have a pinsound board for it and considering a colour DMD.
Are you happy with the new decals?

BGOllie

yeah , I went with that guy that had them for sale for £50 because the blue was slightly darker. When it came to sending it, he realised the glue had gone bad on it so he reprinted a new fresh set, with the right blue, for the same price. very decent.

I'm never too happy putting decals on but this went ok. It does look better than the old one anyways

BGOllie

lots of cleaning, sanding, de-rusting, re-painting, polishing on this one. But I'm almost done with the body itself. Just waiting for the final clear coat to dry properly on the coin door front panel.
When for a clear white finish on the inside , which should make things more visible for future maintenance.
Got some legs protectors on the way too. However the legs are far too gone for me to be able to restore them with what I have, so I'll have them sandblaster and powder coated black next week.

Jack burton

You're an inspiration Ollie.

Quick one for the legs, did you try diet Coke and tinfoil on them. Could be worth a shot. Wear gloves though if you do try it

BGOllie

Jack Burton : haven't tried but the issue is the legs are so pitted with deep rust it's hard to remove even with heavy sanding other than sand blasting.

that's a wrap on the body.
Coin door cleaned, de rusted and resprayed . I tied the sponge thing with the spray paint to add some texture with limited success. It doesn't show much on the photo but there's a wee bit of texture on the coin door



started taking apart and cleaning the playfield. There's a good bit of cleaning and most screws and metal parts on the top part will have to get cleaned and polished. I spotted a handful of screws missing but I think I have spares left for these and 2 of them I had to cut out as they were too rusted to be removed normally. But that should be a simple fix ... but tedious
Most of the rock formation parts have breaks or cracks in them (esp the screw whole place) . I'm confident I can fix those with resin and fiber glass and I'll colour match them then .





Got new bulbs and rubbers kits, couple of new coil springs and some rejuv kits , leg protectors from Pinball Center.
All in all, with the new wood pieces, paint, art , sand papers and other bits I'm still around a 250 budget as of now. Not bad

BGOllie

so a couple of weeks for cleaning, removing oxidation and rust on the metals, and polishing and the playfield is getting ready to be re-assembled.



had to redo some bits, like the ramp flaps (used the metal from some biscuit tins containers I had as it's the same gauge and used some gun blue to blaken em.) Also had to fix some of the plastics with, especially the rocks that had a lot of cracks and broken parts. I used some leftover fiberglass and resin and then color match them




also I don't think I'd posted it here but here's the second video for that headbox resto :

beejee

Pm sent

BGOllie

playfield is DONE! this took a while . A lot of cleaning . Every screw and botl and nut got de-rusted and re polished . Tedious work and if felt like it took for ever but nothing too complicated . Plastics (like the mountains and some parts of the ramps ) got repaired with fiberglass/resin and colour matched. Only had to replace the 2 green targets and got the extra cover for the left flipper exit ramp , which, as far as I can tell, is not in the original but looks great.



I made new ramp flaps as the 4 old ones were too rusted and pretty much gone, using ... metal from biscuit tins darkened with some gun blue gel. worked out great



Other than that, I changed the rubbers, springs on the flippers, new set of lights a couple of cone posts where the plastic had crumbled but that's about it, I was able to fix the rest myself.

I can start putting the pin back together and see if it still fires up

Looking good ollie.
Look up the "mantis" protectors for the ramp ends behind the green targets. You can make your own versions for free.
That and the missing mountain mod.
What's the left. Flipper plastic you're taking about?

BGOllie

thanks . that missing rock mod looks nice. might go that way, thanks.
For the left flipper, when I looked at photos of other pins online I don't see any plastic covering the metal above the left flipper , where the swirling ramp is :


I got one from Pinball Center but I seems this is an added mod and was missing in most of the original photos I can find :

ah yea,
I got that plastic too.

BGOllie

aaaand it's alive again :

https://www.facebook.com/olonguet/videos/10157580260568276/?permPage=1

still have a few things to fix. couple of bumpers not quite working and one of the eject coils having trouble + need new full set of lights (the few ones I have there are just random leftovers )

beejee

Looking at the start and finish...that's a proper restoration!

BGOllie

sugarman wrote: »

Fair play Ollie, you made light work of that! Looks quality.

thanks. It did take 3 months though all in all and I worked on it for a couple of hours most days. the cleaning and derusting on the wire wheel was the tedious part.