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Stern Quicksilver restoration


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Hi folks,

 

Undertaking my 3rd restoration, a Classic Stern Quicksilver. Previous resto’s have been a Williams Funhouse and Williams Taxi both turning out really well. I’m following a similar method this time, but will ramp it up an extra notch or two, paying more attention to fine detail.

 

The pin was picked up on a random Gumtree advertisement “video game wanted”. They wanted to trade but luckily accepted my offer.

 

It came in non working condition but looked pretty solid. It had been living under cover on their back veranda for years, the cab looked pretty dry and faded, but otherwise fine (Geoff may say otherwise). The playfield has some wear, but minimal compared to most Quicksilvers. Backglass a few blemishes but otherwise good. Overall a really good starting point.

 

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Edited by flynnyfalcon
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First step was to try and get it going. It wouldn’t power up properly, rectifier board was found to be cooked. No point trying to rebuild the board, modern replacements are relatively cheap. Some minor hacks were also noticed and will be cleaned up later. New connectors and pins and we’ve now got solid voltages.

 

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It powered up though wouldn’t boot. Some more fiddling had it boot half way but fail. Boards were removed and inspected. Some corrosion and hacks were discovered, nothing too serious but it seems beyond my board expertise. All boards sent off to Ken (skybeau) to receive the once over.

 

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Stern Quicksilver restoration

 

The power side and boards now working, she fired up, bang!

 

Flippers definitely weak, a number of rubbers missing but she plays.

 

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—-> fast forward x3 months of solid playing. Awesome pin!! Even with shitty flippers it plays fast and furious.

Edited by flynnyfalcon
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The playfield was a very good starting point, but previous restos have always used a repro and I’m doing the same here. I like having the original as the reference next to the new playfield as I work on it.

 

New playfield is a Mirco. Excellent copy of the original but the clearcoat leaves a lot to be desired. Soft and brittle after months of curing meant it needed some attention if it was going to last the test of time... and the test of steel balls bouncing all over it.

 

Not easy to see here, but a fingernail imprint could be made with only moderate pressure. Something the manufacturer didn’t seem to be bothered by.

 

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Stern Quicksilver restoration

 

I’ve restored and re-decaled cabs before, but never re-stencilled. So I’m leaving this to the experts, Geoff @ Pinball Perfection. Geoff did an amazing job on my Taxi cab, sadly the bugger has moved interstate so Bill had to haul it up.

 

I’ve received regular updates, more so recently as it’s started to take shape. Really happy with how it looks so far.

 

Geoff is ultra fussy which is fine by me :) further clearcoats, sanding and a final satin clearcoat are still to come.

 

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Edited by flynnyfalcon
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Stern Quicksilver restoration

 

Coin door dismantled and sent off for powdercoating. Many simply repaint and I possibly should too, but what the hell! Legs to be done also. The plan is to try and clean up/polish the coin door parts, otherwise I’ll re-plate.

 

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Not happy with the colour upon first inspection. Compared to the cab silver, it appears a little green. Possibly hard to tell in photos but I’m not happy with it. Back to the powdercoaters.

Edited by flynnyfalcon
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Stern Quicksilver restoration

 

Received the powdercoating back yesterday. Straight away, the colour looked more in line with what I was after. The green was gone and it’s now more neutral. Silver sample in picture is the cab.

 

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I’ve decided to steer away slightly from the factory silvery/light grey coloured coin door, and going for something a little darker. I’m using a Pinsiders Quicksilver as a loose reference. I like the extra contrast, gives it a slightly modern twist.

 

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The cab had quite a bit of planking thoughout and some pretty rough edges.

Silver metallic shows every imperfection so a lot of time was spent on preparation. The silver itself if not applied properly can look very uneven. Pretty happy with it so far and only a satin clear to go.

 

Sent from my SM-G960F using Aussie Arcade mobile app

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What a beaut, congrats on the purchase :023:

 

Great colours, great sound, great gameplay and a biased comment as it's a personal favourite of mine.

Not so easy to spell QUICKSILVER.

And I like when you spell QUICK that the flashing letters change making it tricky to get extra ball.

 

Don't think they knew of the term cock n' balls back then..........as there is one on the playfield :blink:

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Don't think they knew of the term cock n' balls back then..........as there is one on the playfield :blink:

 

Just the one? :laugh:

 

Nice work Chris, one hell of a collection you are building there mate.

 

Thanks for sharing.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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Picked up some re-chromed metal work today, really happy how it’s come up. Geoff @ Pinball Perfection has finished the cabinet, playfield and apron and it’s currently on board the Bill Express. Should have it back within the week and the next phase will begin...

Edited by flynnyfalcon
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Bill turned up yesterday with my freshly restored cab, clearcoated playfield and restored apron.

 

Geoff @ Pinball Perfection did a fantastic job. Sadly no time to start tinkering so she’s been covered up and popped in the shed. Would like to mount the legs first and need to order some hardware. 12dd7fec8ac8f657bcf322564e86e823.jpg

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Slow progress of late. Last night I installed some Stern style cab protectors, new bolts and the new powdercoated legs. It’s the first time I’ve seen the powdercoat colour next to the cab. I was hoping it’ll be considerably darker but I’m satisfied enough given it looks quite similar to factory.

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  • 1 month later...

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Most of my spare time is being used elsewhere recently, but put in a few hours yesterday. Wiring loom popped into the dishwasher for cleaning, some polishing of cab parts, door installed, boards installed and most of the cab wiring (not shown here).

 

Will be doing a zinc run in the next few days, most of the larger metal pieces are looking worse for wear. Also need to buy some new ground wiring as the original is pretty dirty looking. Otherwise cab is getting there. Some smaller parts like flipper switches will be replaced but this won’t be till a later parts order.

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IMG_20200301_094702.thumb.jpg.7dd1fbd3a9c38a86e779c3cf7fe69331.jpg looking good. Can I suggest while you have the loom out to replace some of it.... See where I've circled, that corrosion is exactly what I had on my quicksilver that caused all sorts of display issues. All 5 displays had 2 wires with it. I replaced them in the machine but it will be way easier with the loom out.
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Hey Rob, you mean the connector? I didn’t have a close look but did notice it and assumed it was drawn on. I’ve already replaced some connectors and had planned on doing them all. Will definitely take a closer look. Thanks for picking that up.
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Yeah, replace the connector but also the whole wire that is corroded. I found that corrosion was right through the whole wire. It appears to be a reaction between the wire and insulation, whether there was a dodgy batch back in the day? I've heard a few quicksilvers have had the same issue
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I’ve had some corrosion at the board end (fixed by skybeau) but hadn’t noticed any at the part end... you might be right regarding the wire being effected also. Thanks for the tip.

 

Feel free to share any other Quicksilver bullet proofing tips 😀👌

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  • 3 weeks later...

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