Apply side art + being lazy

jonathan1138

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Hi all. New to vids, but restored pins before.

Thinking of being lazy and seeing what the group thinks.

When i restore a Pin with new decals, I removed Everything - since shifting the cab is pretty tough with the playfield and head attached. It is time consuming but worth it.


I have a couple of vids on order - one has a beat up front panel (decal around coin door). Can i just lay the machine on its back carefully, sand down that area (front area - remove coin door), apply the decal (no problems there) WITH the monitor and everything else inside? What if i wanted to hit the side art - can i just flip the thing over with everything in it or is it strongly advised i remove the internals first?

Being new to vids and never handling one in person, just wondering if i need to be on the lookout for anything...
Thanks for the advice in advance.
 
well technically since I have put many games on either their back or side in a truck and driven 100 miles or more I would have to guess your game would survive. personally I would pull the monitor, board and any glass parts at the very least. It's your call though. The biggest issue would likely be the dust from sanding that gets into everything. Getting that on the board, coin door, monitor and just about everything else might kinda suck.
 
Thats a good point (forgot about that). Will need to remove everything.

Is removing the innards of a video a time consuming process? Again, i dont think it would be as complex as a pin.

I am also nervous about handling that monitor - any advice on taking the hulk out?
 
There's usually not too much inside a video game. Although it depends on the game. Most games the control panel simply unhooks from the cab and a quick disconnect allows the wiring to come apart easily. Although no in all games. With the cp off the bezel usually comes right out of most games. In some cases there might be a bracket screwed in but many just need the cp off or opened. The marquee may have regular or security screws. The monitor is usually held in by 4 bolts although in some cases it's mounted to a wood frame that can be removed with the monitor attached. You will of course have to disconnect the power and the video signal to the monitor before removing. If you are concerned you can discharge the monitor before you remove it but most of the time I just make it a point to only handle the monitor by the frame if I'm only pulling it and not working on it. You will have a main PCB and power supply they are most likely screwed in place. Other than that there is the wiring and marquee light, and coin door. Some games may have more but that's generally it. My lazy version is pulling everything but the marquee light and wiring. I usually tape them off though.
 
Sounds good. Getting the Fromm books so i can learn a little more - but sounds much easier than a Pin. For a Pin:

Remove all wiring from head (a mess of wires - 50 - 100 connectors depends on game). Label, mark and pictures.
Remove the head along with backglass door.
Remove playfield (heavy) and connectors
Remove coin door, lockdown bar, all cab hardware.

This can take hours. Looking forward to working on the vids as they seem less intense.
 
I'll just toss in my two cents.

You'll be just fine laying it down.

If you are just applying decals... removing everything is probably overkill.

What I've done in the past with great success is just covering areas you don't want dust on with newspaper and painters tape.

I left all of the internals in my Scramble cabinet when I completely restored it. That was a full on strip/sand/bondo/paint/stencil job.

For the sanding portion, just covered up the monitor area with newspaper, taped it off and went to town. Same for the hole for the coin door.

If you want to get familiar with the inner workings of a game, pulling everything out is fine... but if you want to cut a little time off. Just paper/mask off the areas where you don't want dust.
 
...although I have to say, if you're use to stripping down pinball machines all the time, then you will find videos a walk in the park. If you decide to go nuts and strip it all the way down, at least leave the wiring harnesses in place. The monitor has always been the trickiest part to take out/put back in by myself (duh! it's heavy :p).

My first pinball playfield breakdown and rebuild was a nightmare compared to anything I had to do with vids. :p At least with vids there is no question where things go (monitor goes in the big gaping hole...).
 
One indispensable tool I have for working with vids is a twin sized memory foam mattress topper. It's about 3" thick and big enough to protect the side of the video game. There is nothing more frustrating than laying a freshly painted game down so you can put decals on it and finding out you scratched the down side on the floor. I think I got it at a garage sale for $10.

ken
 
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