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Bride of Pinbot (2.0)- Williams - 1991 - Repair & Service Log


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Welcome to a new Repair & Service log series. I'm still working away on machines for other people, but it feels good to also be making time to work on a game of my own again. This time I'll be going through a Bride of Pinbot, which has the 2.0 upgrade kit from Dutch Pinball installed. Originally released by Williams in early 1991 and over 8000 machines made, it's a game I've been wanting to own for awhile. The kit from Dutch Pinball was released in late 2014 and updates the machine to a colour display with an entirely new rule set. It also allows you to switch to the original game rule set too - which basically means it's two games in one. It runs the original game under emulation though and as a result there is some sound quality issues on a couple of the original speech sounds. I'm told this is due to the quality of the original speech clips being played out of the updated sound system. All up though both games are a hell of a lot of fun to play. I plan to do my usual clean and rebuild of the game, with additional plans in the future for a playfield swap (game came with a clear coated playfield) and new cabinet decals (to be purchased later). For now I'm keen to tackle it in small doses to keep the game in a playable state as much as possible.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_day_1_start.jpg

 

The first issue to sort out was one of the brides face plates not screwed in. The previous owner had mentioned to me the mouth coil was not popping the ball out 100% of the time and would look at it before the machine was shipped down to me. He must not have screwed the face plate back on as it arrived like this.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_face_screw_missing.jpg

 

Thankfully I'm overflowing with spare parts and so finding a suitable screw to attach the plate was easy enough to fix it. The next issue was not so straight forward.

 

After a couple of games, I noticed some issues with a few of the switches. Most notably was the left outlane, which would trigger a tilt warning. Putting the game into the original BoP ruleset, switch issues became more obvious as the face is used more and I was seeing strange behavior around the eye and mouth switches. Putting the game into test mode, a pattern was seen. All 7 switches on row 5 would activate the switch above it in row 4 (and only the row 4 switch - none of the row 5 switches appeared on the display during testing).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_switch_matrix_issue.jpg

 

Interestingly, activating row 4 switches did not activate row 5, so they were not shorting. With the game in switch levels test mode, only 1 switch would activate per switch. I inspected each of the switches on row 5 and found an issue with the right trough switch. Looking at the right trough switch, I noticed that some soldering had been done to it at some point in recent weeks/months/year (not sure how exactly how recent) - and the switch wire (white+green) is connected to the banded side of the diode. I believe this should be connected to the non banded side as per the other switches across the machine. The switch itself looked like a replacement as the activating arm was far longer than the shorter one seen on older machines.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_trough_switch_wiring_wrong.jpg

 

Thinking that this switch was causing some sort of short, I disconnected the wire from the trough switch and then tried the other switches on row 5, but then none of them would register. They only register (all be it incorrectly) when the trough switch is engaged (as a side note, the trough switch (25) would be activating switch 24 - which is marked in the manual as "Always closed" which would explain why there is no 'missing ball' error preventing a game from starting).

 

I moved the wire to the correct switch lug on the right trough switch. This resulted in no switches on row 5 working. I ran through all switches on the machine again and marked them off on the switch matrix to confirm that only the row 5 switches were failing and there were no cases where multiple switches were being reported.

 

On the P-ROC board, there are a series of LM339 chips which are in charge of the direct and matrix switches on the game. Looking at the P-ROC schematics I found which chip was responsible for row 5. I replaced this chip and booted the game back up.

 

At this point, the switches in row 5 started to register correctly. That is, until I activated the right trough switch again. At this point, the switches on row 5 became intermittent until they stopped registering entirely and was again left with row 5 not working (but all other switches fine).

 

I replaced the LM339 chip again and this time also replaced the right trough switch. Booting the game back up and testing the switches again, row 5 now registered correctly and the right trough switch worked correctly. I tested the switches on row 5 on repeat for a few minutes, with a heavy focus on the right trough switch and no more failures or intermittent behaviour was seen.

 

So from what I can tell, the right trough switch was the cause - not just the incorrectly wired lug, but the switch itself. I don't quite understand why the switch was causing the LM339 chip grief, but it's removal from the machine was necessary. Thinking maybe the diode was shorted or open, it was removed and tested, but it tested fine. Since fixing, I've played a number of games on both BoP and Bop 2.0 modes and both have run without any of the switch issues that were there.

 

Now to look at the next on arrival issue with the game. A number of bulbs on the headbox GI were not working. They are located mostly on the left side of the headbox, although a couple do extend out to the upper and lower corners on the right side.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_headbox_gi_not_working.jpg

 

At first I thought it was probably just a number of bad bulbs. Some owners aren't fussed about it so never bother to replace them. I found that after replacing a few of the non working bulbs with brand new ones, they still didn't work. Swinging the headbox door open, I had a look at the reverse side of the sockets. I soon saw a pattern indicating something more sinister was up. All but three of the non working globes were running off the same circuit, connected by a brown wire. None of the bulbs on the brown wire were working.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_headbox_gi_not_working_2.jpg

 

The couple of non working bulbs running off the green wire were replaced and this got them lighting up again. Since none running off the brown wire were working, there was an issue up stream to look at. My first thought was a fuse. I had a look at the fuse chart inside the headbox to see which fuses were allocated to the headbox GI so I could inspect. But when looking at the fuse block on the PCB, I could see the burnt GI connector (located just below the fuse block) was where the issue lay. Where the brown wire should join the connector, it had burnt away. Someone had attempted to repair it in the past and just simply soldered the wire to the header pin - not very well though as the wire had come loose and was hanging down at the base of the headbox.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_headbox_gi_not_working_burnt_connector.jpg

 

Another connector in the area (sitting just to the left of the fuse block) also caught my eye, and it too is part of the GI circuit. This one too had bad signs of burning across at least two of the connector pins.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_burnt_gi_connector_in.jpg

 

Let's fix these properly. To do this, i'll need to get the board out of the machine. First, photos were taken of all the connectors around the board to ensure everything went back on correctly. It's important here as a couple of them are the same size, keyed the same and also sit next to/above each other so can easily be put back in the opposite spots. When removing the board, one of the burnt connectors began to crumble.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_burnt_gi_connector_in_2.jpg

 

With the board removed, the plastic on the old connector was cut into several smaller pieces and then pulled off the board. Then the solder on each pin was heated up and the pin gently removed from the PCB. Excess solder was cleared away and I installed the new pin headers on both connectors that had been burnt. I find this approach the easiest method for replacing header pins. Once done, the burnt connectors in the headbox needed to be replaced also. I have a tool that makes replacing the IDC plugs easy and each wire was transferred from the old connector to the new one.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_connector_replacement_tool.jpg

 

You should always replace both the header pins on the board and the connector. Both connectors and header pins are now in a much better state and as I switch across to LED's, there will be less draw through the connectors which should prevent it from happening again.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_headbox_gi_not_working_fixed_connector.jpg

 

Now that the connector and header pins had been replaced, I also swapped out a lot of the old bulbs from the headbox GI with spare LED's I had. I plan to play around with the colour combination and type of LED's at a future date. For now though I mainly wanted to ease how much power was being drawn by the headbox GI, so this layout will do for the time being. The replacement header pins and connectors did the trick though to sort the issue out and the LEDs sitting on the brown GI circuit were now working.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_headbox_gi_fixed.jpg

 

On arrival, there was trouble getting the front right leg installed as the bolts wouldn't screw in. It was found that that leg plate that sits inside the cabinet was missing. The previous owner had not mentioned this and had left the nuts inside the cabinet for transport, having them bounce around on the long journey down. The machine was transported on it's back, but luckily one nut was found laying around in the base of the cabinet just inside the coin door. This allowed for the leg to be attached with 1 bolt. With the game set up, the playfield was lifted and the second nut found at the very rear of the machine and the second leg bolt installed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_leg_plate_missing.jpg

 

I have several containers of spare parts and was pretty sure I had picked up one as part of my junk parts purchases awhile back. I dug through the containers and found a secondhand leg plate, which I could install to do the job properly.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_leg_plate.jpg

 

The plate was screwed into position on the corner of the cabinet, with the earth braid attached. The leg bolts were then installed again. This is the reason I only throw out spare parts when they are faulty / failing as the most random parts come in handy at times.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_leg_plate_installed.jpg

 

The next issue to sort out was the "Live" account. This one didn't really bother me much, but it was something I was keen to get working as it's a neat feature of 2.0. One of the core components on the 2.0 kit is a small NUC style computer which is installed into the headbox. It runs Windows 7 and has networking capabilities (both physical and WiFi). A keyboard and mouse can be connected up to access it.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_20_computer.jpg

 

The network features allow you to connect your game online, which communicates with the Dutch Pinball "Live" page where your machine profiles are synced and it can stream the DMD display, allowing people to watch your display online during play. You can set up a profile for each individual player which will track their initials, own top 25 scores, stats and also trophies (achievement like things from Playstation and XBox console games - I love this feature!).

 

I hooked up a mouse and keyboard, then connected my BoP 2.0 up to my WiFi network. To test, I brought up Internet Explorer (shudder - I hate IE, but to test that the WiFi was connected, it was necessary). So there I was, browsing google via my BoP 2.0 display, connected to my network. I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of surfing the web from my pinball machine. I then went to the Live page account that was provided with the machine, but it could not detect my game being online. There is a setting in the service menu which needs to be enabled for it to communicate, so I confirmed that was enabled. After double checking the network settings and also the service menu settings on the machine, I did some googling for similar issues. Not having any luck, I decided to contact the DP support email to see if they could help. Just over 24 hours later, I had an email reply with the corrected account details and my BoP 2.0 was now online with the profiles synced and DMD streaming enabled. Now my profiles sync and when ever my game is switched on, the DMD is streamed for people to watch.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_live_page.jpg

 

 

After playing a few games, I decided to update the game software. The machine was currently running 1.16, but could be updated to 1.19. Looking at the version change log, I saw a number of features and fixes that had been added to the game, so decided to do it. The software was downloaded to a USB stick and then inserted to the NUC in the headbox. From the service menu, you can install the software or revert to a previous version. This is handy as it allows you to easily revert if you find the current version is causing problems. The software was updated to bring the game up to the latest version.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_software_update.jpg

 

Another issue that was present on arrival was the ball serve. It would often take 3 or more attempts to kick the ball out into the shooter lane. A quick visual inspection of the assembly showed it to be quite filthy, so I suspect a service will sort this out. It could simply need a clean or there could be a worn part in need of replacement. I'll find out when I get the parts out. Rather than just rebuild the single assembly though, I may as well remove the apron and service the whole area. It's always my starting point for a rebuild, so let's dive in.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_apron_start.jpg

 

The apron was removed to find the area in a reasonable state. A thin layer of dust sits along the surface and the trough needs a clean. But no nasty surprises and will clean up fine.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_apron_start_2.jpg

 

The ball guides and out hole assembly were removed for cleaning. There was the usual collection of crap in the ball trough, but this will clean out fine.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_apron_dirty.jpg

 

The last of the ball trough pieces were removed. The playfield area was cleaned and then polished with Novus.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_apron_clean.jpg

 

The metal parts from the apron area were cleaned up. Any small pieces went through the tumbler, while the larger pieces were cleaned by hand. The switch arms from the trough plate were removed for cleaning too.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_apron_metal_parts_clean.jpg

 

There are two assemblies that make up the apron. The first is the outhole kicker, which sends a drained ball into the trough. The second is the ball serve, which kicks a ball out into the shooter lane. Both assemblies were dismantled and cleaned. New coil sleeves were sourced and the shooter lane guard was also removed and cleaned too.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_apron_assemblies_clean.jpg

 

The mounting bracket for the eject arm had been worked on before, with visible weld signs. The pin was also quite loose, so this will be replaced. It could well be the cause of the constant failed ball serve attempts.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_ball_serve_broken_pin.jpg

 

The assemblies were the put back together and installed back on to the playfield. The metal rails and apron clips were then installed too, leaving the area looking visibly better than before. The kicker and ball serve assemblies also had much nicer movement after cleaning.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_apron_reassembled.jpg

 

To complete the work on the apron, new instruction cards were printed up onto glossy photo paper and then laminated. Both the apron and shooter housing were cleaned, along with the metal bar that attaches to the apron. The ball serve assembly was tested across a few games and it was much better now, no longer needing multiple attempts to kick a ball out into the shooter lane. Another issue that can be marked off as fixed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_apron_top_clean.jpg

 

Now that I had the apron area cleaned up and the ball serve assembly serviced, I wanted to add a little something to my machine. One of the first upgrades/mods I wanted to make to my BoP was back lit flipper buttons. I've done this on some of my other games (X-Files, LAH and Pinbot) and it's pretty easy to do. You can buy premade kits, but I do the kits up myself as they are quite easy and cheap to make. I connect them together with IDC plugs so they can easily be removed from the machine and also if I need to remove the coin door (which I will when freshening it up in a later update), I can just disconnect the mod in seconds. All up it costs about $12 in parts. The tired old red buttons were removed, ready for the kit to be installed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backlit_buttons_1.jpg

 

The power for the button LED's comes from one of the sockets on the coin door. I have swapped the three globes on the coin door pricing plates to orange LED's too. I plan to spend more time cleaning up the coin door at a later date. The wires run along with the coin door wiring to just inside the coin door, connected to via IDC to a Z header pin for easy disconnect.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backlit_buttons_3.jpg

 

Inside the cabinet, the sockets and LED's are installed beside the flipper buttons. I find using the bendy style LED's offers a bit more flexibility in terms of angling and position around the flipper switches.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backlit_buttons_2.jpg

 

Outside, the buttons glow nicely and give off a really cool effect. I plan to add more purple across the game in terms of lighting, so purple lit flipper buttons should fit in nicely.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backlit_buttons_4.jpg

 

While I was in the zone of creating LED sockets, I decided to add two new ones under the apron. One to shine a LED from the outhole and the other to shine into the shooter lane. For now, I've used 4+1 LED's in cool white, but may switch to another colour (or a combination) once I start settling on what colours I want to use where on the playfield. The LEDs draw their power from the right return lane globe under the playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_apron_lighting_1.jpg

 

It adds some extra lighting around the outhole and shooter lane. I'll get a better idea of how it looks once I start switching the lower playfield area across to LED's. I'm not a fan of mixing LED's and bulbs - I prefer it to be all of one style. For now though, I can live with the mix as I continue to work through the machine.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_apron_lighting_2.jpg

 

The shot which leads up to the pop bumpers should have a one way gate across the entrance. The gate takes up about a third of the opening, which helps prevent certain drains when the ball comes down on the left side of that path. This gate was missing on my machine.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_one_way_gate_missing.jpg

 

Turns out that buying the gate isn't so easy. After looking at several parts suppliers locally and overseas, I came up empty handed. However I was able to purchase the wire for the gate locally. After a quick dig through my parts box, I came up with a secondhand gate frame, which would fit perfectly. The frame needs a bit of a clean, but for now I'll put it on the game so I kill off those nasty ball drains. When I'm going through cleaning this area of the playfield, I'll run it through the tumbler.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_one_way_gate_replaced.jpg

 

Next on my hit list is the translite trim. The right side is badly broken and flaps around. The top piece is not as bad, but split in a similar fashion. These will be replaced.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_translite_trim_broken.jpg

 

The reverse side of the translite is in pretty good condition. The gaps are an intentional part of its design. There are some dirty marks across it though and these will be cleaned up.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_translite_dirty.jpg

 

The glass was also cleaned up both sides and then the translite installed again with the new trim set, ready to go back into the machine.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_translite_cleaned.jpg

 

Now that the translite was cleaned and the trim replaced, I wanted to address one small item to close out this update. The lock for the translite had been removed at some point in the past and left out of the machine. The lock, plate and key arrived with the machine, but in a bag. I wanted to install this once again. The screws were missing however, so a new set were ordered.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_translite_lock_missing.jpg

 

I cleaned the lock plate and then sprayed with satin black to freshen it up.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_translite_lock_painted.jpg

 

The lock and translite were then installed back into the machine. That's it for the first update on the repair & service of my BoP 2.0. I was disappointed about some of the issues the game arrived with, like the burnt GI connectors and especially the switch matrix issue that the seller never mentioned even when directly asked about any existing switch/coil issues before purchase. Next up I'll be doing more work in the lower playfield area by rebuilding the flippers and servicing the sling shots. I will swap the insert bulbs across to LED's too. Still a lot of work to be done to get the machine to a level I'm happy with. Bigger tasks for next year will be the playfield swap and cabinet redecal, but all in good time.

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Over the last two weeks I've been waiting on the arrival of a parts order from Marcospec so I can continue on with my work on Funhouse. The upside to the wait is it allows me to get more done on my BoP 2.0 until that arrives. This update will be focusing mainly on the lower playfield area, with a few extra things thrown in. So assemblies like the flippers and sling shots will be rebuilt. The playfield area will also be cleaned up and any metal parts like the ball guides and mini posts will head to the tumbler. I have coloured Titan rubbers to install and also LED's from Pinball Life. Let's get started.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_lower_playfield_start.jpg

 

The first step was to start getting the plastics and return lane ball guides off the playfield. The game is well overdue for a clean and there are plenty of ball swirl and trail marks. Thankfully the plastics are not broken, but I'm considering purchasing a CPR set soon. The screws that attach the return lane parts to the playfield connect to T-nuts which are installed under the playfield. Three of the T-nuts were missing and the screws attached by a lock nut instead. I'll be fixing this properly as I have some spare T-nuts from my work awhile back on Pinbot that I can use when I'm ready to get the parts back on to the playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_lower_playfield_dirty_1.jpg

 

With all the playfield parts removed for cleaning, next up was to get the sling shot assemblies off the playfield. The assemblies were quite dirty and overdue for a service.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_slingshots_dirty.jpg

 

The sling shot assemblies were disassembled and each component cleaned up. New coil sleeves were purchased to replace the old filthy ones.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_slingshot_assemblies_clean.jpg

 

One of the sling shot plunger links had a nice crack across the top of it. This will be replaced with another one.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_slingshot_link_broken.jpg

 

Next step was to remove the flipper assemblies for a service. The flippers weren't too weak, but I'm keen to rebuild them anyway so they are 100% and won't have to touch them for along time to come.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_flippers_dirty.jpg

 

The flipper assemblies were disassembled for cleaning. A flipper rebuild kit was purchased to replace many of the old parts. New bushings and rubber grommets were also purchased, along with transparent purple flipper bats (with the Williams logo) and purple Titan flipper rubbers. Both assemblies were now ready to be rebuilt and installed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_flipper_assemblies_cleaned.jpg

 

Since the flipper and sling shot assemblies were off the playfield, now was a good time to clean the lower playfield area. I removed as much of the swirl and trail marks removed as possible. After cleaning the surface, it was then polished with Novus. The switch contacts on the sling shot blade switches were cleaned. These will need some adjusting as they were not sensitive enough before - but i'll do that once the posts and rubbers are installed. Two small mylar patches were installed where the ball drops back to the playfield from the wireform and heart beat ramp.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_lower_playfield_cleaned.jpg

 

Since I had already started converting the GI across to LED's, I was keen to switch the inserts to LED's too. I don't think LED's suit all games, but for a title like BoP, LED's will transform it. I really like the flicker free LED's from Pinball Life. I've used them on some of my other pins and decided to use them here also.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_insert_leds.jpg

 

The old star posts had seen better days, some of them not worth saving.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_old_starposts.jpg

 

The slingshot and return lane plastics were cleaned and polished. The metal parts went into the tumbler for a clean and polish also. I've purchased purple star posts and purple Titan rubbers to install, along with frosted cool white and purple LED's for the GI. The old lock nuts will be replaced with new ones and the 6 screws for the return lanes were replaced with new ones too.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_returnlane_plastic_parts_clean.jpg

 

The slingshot and flippers assemblies were installed back onto the playfield, along with the metal rails. Clear lexan washers will be installed under the plastics and new lock nuts on top. The flippers were adjusted into the correct position and then the assembly tightened. The metal switch arms were also cleaned. Lit up - the lower playfield area looks transformed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_lower_playfield_rebuilt_1.jpg

 

A little further up on the left side of the playfield is a stand up target and power charge plastic which I want to clean. Since I had easy access to it, I decided to do it now.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_powercharge_start.jpg

 

The GI bulbs are burnt, although still light up. They will be replaced with LED's. The three lower star posts should have a single rubber on each instead of a singel rubber across them.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_powercharge_dirty.jpg

 

The plastic piece had some warping which I wanted to straighten out.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_powercharge_plastic_warped.jpg

 

The piece was heated up and then sandwiched until cool to remove the warping.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_powercharge_plastic_flat.jpg

 

New purple starposts and rubbers were purchased. New lock nuts and clear lexan washers will be installed. The metal posts were cleaned up and everything was ready to install.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_powercharge_parts_clean.jpg

 

The stand up target was removed under the playfield and then cleaned and polished. The playfield area was cleaned and polished. The new star posts, rubbers and LED's were then installed. There is a metal ball rail that sits above the target - I will it later for a clean as I need to remove the shuttle ramp to be able to get it off the playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_powercharge_new_posts.jpg

 

The wire form that runs from the ball lock to the left in lane was removed and cleaned. The arms on the ball lock switches were cleaned, along with the plastic housing.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_wireform_clean.jpg

 

The last thing to look at for this update is the disappear post assembly, which acts as the ball lock on the wireform. The assembly was removed from the playfield for a well overdue clean.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_disappear_post_dirty.jpg

 

The disappear post assembly was disassembled and each piece cleaned. A new coil sleeve and insulator square were source to replace the old ones.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_disappear_post_clean.jpg

 

Last step was to get the plastics back on to the playfield. I also swapped the globes on the skill shot to LED's too. It's coming along nicely. I'm considering adding LED strips along the apron to light up the flipper bats more and perhaps one on the shooter lane. I've not used strips before on my other machines, but there are a few dark areas on this game I'd love to light up more.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_lowerplayfield_progress.jpg

 

That's it for another update. Having put several games in after the work done, the rebuilt flippers feel a lot better and the sling shots way more responsive. The switch to LED's has made a huge visual improvement too. In the next update I will be taking the heart beat ramp off and cleaning through the mid right section of the playfield. I'm still waiting on a parts order to arrive from the US, which will let me rebuild the shooter assembly and then the remaining assemblies on the upper playfield. That will probably arrive in the new few days. I'm absolutely loving both the BoP and BoP 2.0 rule sets. Still a lot of work to do, but it's coming alone nice so far :)

 

 

 

 

Always enjoy reading your repair logs. Keep up the good work :023:

 

I had fun restoring my BoP 1.0, gets played most days :slamtilt:

 

If you’re not installing new ramps, these are a must for this particular game, if you didn’t already know.

 

http://www.passionforpinball.com/bop_ramps.htm

 

Thanks Pauly - I remember following your BoP thread, you did a great job with yours!

 

I had planned to search for some sort of ramp protection as I am keen to replace the ramps. Those are exactly what I need!! Thanks for that link!

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  • 1 month later...

With four weeks off over the Christmas break, it is the perfect opportunity to continue with the overhaul of my Bride of Pinbot 2.0. The plan was to try and do the next few phases of the overhaul in smaller chunks, avoiding the downside of having the game off line for long periods. But this update turned out to be much bigger than expected and has been split into two updates. This happened mainly because getting the top layers off the playfield was a pain and having to put them back on only to remove a few days later for the next phase would create a whole heap of extra work. So once I realised I was in up to my elbows, I decided to keep going. Starting off small though, the first assembly on my hit list for this update is the shooter rod.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shooter_rod_start.jpg

 

The shooter rod assembly was removed from the game to be cleaned and rebuilt. The barrel spring is in need of replacement and there was a lot of stickiness in the movement of the rod. It didn't feel good when launching the ball. This stickiness restricts the movement of the rod, but I had become use to it and could comfortably dial up a Super skill shot in 2.0. After the clean, I'm going to have to adjust my ball launch to dial that skill shot in again, but it will at least be in a much better state and move freely.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shooter_rod_assembly_removed.jpg

 

The assembly was stripped down and the metal housing cleaned and polished. The rest of the assembly was replaced. I opted to go with a clear handle, to work in with the clear (purple lit) flipper buttons. I'd love to get a transparent purple shooter rod handle as I think it would look great, but couldn't source one. I know the shape of the handle isn't a match for the original, but I don't mind changing some things where I feel the presentation of the game is improved. I had ordered a purple shooter tip from Titan Pinball, but my order arrived with a red one. I'll install it with a red one for now, but include a purple tip on my next order. Swapping the rubber tip over is a 5 second job in the future anyway, so it's not an issue I'm worried about.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shooter_rod_assembly_cleaned.jpg

 

The shooter assembly was rebuilt and installed back into the game. The position of the assembly was tweaked a few times, to ensure it made sweet contact with the ball for the skill shot. The movement of the rod was so much better now and it felt and sounded nice when launching the ball. A small issue I noticed that had worked its way into the game was the skill shot flasher no longer worked. This flasher sits just below the kicker, that launches the ball back into play after the skill shot is complete. A quick inspection of the socket revealed the issue. One of the wire tabs had snapped off. It sits right next to where the playfield support arm rests, so most likely got caught at some point when the playfield was lifted.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shooter_flasher_broken.jpg

 

There was still enough of the tab remaining on the socket, so I was able to resolder the wire onto it to get the flasher working again. A nice simple issue to sort out. Now to move onto something larger - the right side of the playfield. This is a much bigger task as I will look at the skill shot assembly, right loop, heart beat ramp, mini playfield and pop bumpers. That's a lot to get through. One small issue I was aware of on this side was the 50K skill shot lamp. At times, this lamp stops working and then is fine a few minutes later. I know the LED is good - so when I get the lamp board out, i'll take a look and see if there is an issue there or with the connector.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_right_loop_start.jpg

 

Getting access to everything on this side isn't so easy though. You have to remove the clear plastic at the top rear, followed by the helmet. Getting the helmet out wasn't so straight forward as there are a couple of large IDC connected to it, which need to be pushed out a gap at the back of the playfield and then moved around a few playfield pieces. With the helmet removed though, I had better access to everything. My plan was to complete the skill shot and heart beat ramp and then put the helmet back on, but decided to hold off and work my way through the entire top playfield section. It means the game will be in pieces for a few weeks, but once done I don't have to have the game offline until the playfield swap & cabinet decal phases (planned for later this year). The upper playfield area is in dire need of a clean.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_head_helmet_removed.jpg

 

With the brides helmet removed, I figured I'd work on it now. An issue I found on arrival was the two flashers did not work. I suspected it was most likely blown bulbs as they aren't the easiest to get at and swap. The helmet has some cracks around where it connects to the playfield. I'd love to replace it, but sourcing a new one isn't so easy. I believe someone (or a company) did a run of them in the last few years, so I will keep my eyes out for one.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_head_helment_removed_2.jpg

 

Someone has been here in the past though as there has been some work done on one of the lamp boards. All lamps on the brides helmet are working though, which is good.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_head_helment_repairs.jpg

 

The helmet was dismantled and cleaned. New red flasher domes were purchased, along with new red #906 LED flashers. New LEDs for the CPU controlled lamps were also purchased and i'll be going with purple, blue and green to add some colour around the helmet.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_head_helment_cleaned.jpg

 

The brides helmet was rebuilt and set aside with other parts to be installed when ready. Now I will focus on getting everything off the right side of the playfield. The heart beat ramp was removed and set aside. It has some serious cracks I wasn't made aware off and also some small metal posts installed where the ramp plastic should be (but has broken off) to prevent the ball getting behind the ramp. I'm in two minds about replacing the ramp completely as the entry gate has had to be moved previously due to damage and is screwed into one of the playfield plastics to support it (which i'm also considering replacing after finding some other 'fixes' on the left playfield side). The cliffy protectors also won't install on this ramp without additional modifications, which is forcing my decision - lots of hackery on this "tidy" game.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_heartbeat_ramp_removed.jpg

 

The plastics were removed and set aside. Everything here needs a good clean.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_right_side_plastics_removed.jpg

 

The skill shot assembly and lamp board were removed, along with the metal rails, star posts, lamps and spacers.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_right_side_rails_removed.jpg

 

As mentioned earlier, a small problem I noticed with the game from arrival was the 50K skill shot lamp. Another problem I wasn't told about. During the skill shot (and attract mode), this lamp would sometimes not light up. It happened quite frequently and was noticeable, especially during the skill shot where the lamps cycle for the super skill shot award. I was confident it wasn't an issue with the globe or LED. Now that I had the lamp board removed, I could inspect the connector pins and socket. Tracing the track from the 50K socket to the connector pins, I found the header pin had a cracked solder joint. Just the sort of problem that can result in intermittent lamp issues.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_skill_shot_lamps_cracked_joints_1.jpg

 

I reflowed fresh solder across all header pins, which should resolve this issue. Looking at the other sockets on the skill shot lamp board, I noticed two more cracked solder joints. No issues had shown (yet) with these two lamps, but better to fix those joints now.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_skill_shot_lamps_cracked_joints_2.jpg

 

Again, the joints were heated and fresh solder applied. The lamp board was set aside with other parts, ready to be installed back onto the playfield when the time was right. With all the parts off the right side of the playfield, it was time for cleaning. Any small metal parts that could go through the tumbler did so. Larger metal parts were cleaned by hand. Purple rubbers and post sleeves were sourced to go with the purple theme I'm using across the game. The old worn spinner decals were removed and new spinner decals purchased to install.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_right_side_metal_parts_cleaned.jpg

 

The plastics were cleaned up and the red flasher dome replaced with a purple one.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_right_side_plastics_cleaned.jpg

 

Now to look at the skill shot assembly. This was dismantled for cleaning. I'd have loved to replace the 5 rubber wheels, but they are no longer in stock anywhere.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_skill_shot_assembly_dirty.jpg

 

The kicker arm assembly that launches the ball back into play after the skill shot it complete was removed for cleaning.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_skill_shot_assembly_dirty_2.jpg

 

Any small metal parts went into the tumbler, while the larger parts were cleaned by hand.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_skill_shot_assembly_cleaned.jpg

 

The skill shot assembly was rebuilt and set aside until I was ready to install it. Now to look at the mini playfield. The post configuration here is wrong and it's incredibly easy to get the ball down the right exit and have it return to the shooter lane.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_mini_playfield_start.jpg

 

The mini playfield was removed and set aside so I could access the pop bumpers. Lots of filth here, ready to be cleaned away.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_mini_playfield_removed_1.jpg

 

The pop bumper assemblies were removed from the playfield to be rebuilt. One of the metal yokes had snapped in half, so i'm glad to be working on this now before the issue became larger. These assemblies are filthy.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_popbumpers_old_parts.jpg

 

The playfield area had a lot of built up crap from years of use. There is the original mylar patch over the playfield section, so playfield wear has been kept to a minimum.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_popbumpers_playfield_dirty.jpg

 

There were a few marks around the base of two pop bumpers I couldn't remove, the rest cleaned up OK though.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_popbumpers_playfield_cleaned.jpg

 

The pop bumper assemblies were cleaned up. I'm going with purple skirts and LEDs. I want to use clear pop bumper caps (instead of red) to give the area a brighter, cleaner feel. Purple star posts and titan rubber will be used on the sling shot assembly that makes up the pop bumpers. All metal parts were cleaned up and new bodies, sleeves, lamp sockets and yokes were purchased for the rebuild.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_popbumpers_parts_cleaned.jpg

 

Other small metal pieces in the area went through the tumbler. The values plastic was removed and cleaned. New purple star posts and rubbers were purchased. LED's were purchased for the values sign.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_popbumpers_metal_parts_cleaned.jpg

 

The ball guides, posts, sleeves and star posts were installed around the right loop. The two red targets were cleaned up and new foam padding installed. The old bulbs were replaced with frosted LED's, leaving the right side looking so much better.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_right_playfield_rebuilt.jpg

 

I wanted to add a bit more light around the pop bumper area, so purchased a few LED strips in various colours. It's much cheaper to make your own and really easy to do. The wires then run to one of the GI sockets under the playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_led_strips.jpg

 

The pop bumper assemblies were installed onto the playfield, along with the star posts and rubbers. New lock nuts and clear washers were also added. I added a white strip to the back panel behind the pop bumpers and also a purple strip behind the sling shot. The white turned out a bit too bright. I used 9 LEDs on the strip, so I think i'll cut this back to 6 or 3.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_popbumpers_playfield_rebuilt_1.jpg

 

Plastics were installed back on to the right side of the playfield, with new washers and lock nuts to secure them.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_popbumpers_playfield_rebuilt_2.jpg

 

Now onto the mini playfield that had been set aside earlier. Many of the mini red star posts were missing and a couple were broken.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_mini_playfield_removed_3.jpg

 

I purchased a new mini playfield to install as the old one was average. The new mini playfield was rebuilt with new red mini star posts and red titan rubbers. The layout was corrected, which will make getting the ball down the right exit (which returns it to the shooter lane) more of a challenge. An interesting thing to note was one star post hole was missing on the reproduction mini playfield (the one at the very lower right). The position was lined up with the original mini playfield and a hole marked and drilled.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_mini_playfield_rebuilt.jpg

 

The mini playfield was installed back into the game. I'm still of the opinion 9 LEDs is too bright on the strip at the back, so i'll trim that back and may change its position slightly. When the brides helmet is installed again it will dampen some of the brightness too. To test, i'll put some black tape over the LEDs and see how the change in brightness appears before trimming. I'm thinking though that 3 will be enough. Otherwise though, I'm happy with how much clearer and cleaner this area is.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_mini_playfield_complete.jpg

 

That's it for another update. Having the game in parts (and an unplayable state) for the next few weeks wasn't the initial plan when I started on this update. But it's a pain to get the brides helmet on and off, so I may as well do it all now. Next up I'll be working my way through the left side of the upper playfield and also the assemblies inside the brides head (eyes & mouth). I've ordered a set of Cliffy protectors for the ramp entrances, along with a new heartbeat ramp as the existing one had some hacks I wasn't aware of and I'd like to get rid of them. Plus I dont want to create my own hacks to get the cliffys on the ramp. The shuttle ramp has some damage too, but the cliffys can be installed successfully and will cover it, so may not bother swapping it over (at least for now). Still more to come though, so stay tuned :)

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Just before I was finishing up the previous Bride of Pinbot post, an important parcel arrived from the USA. It contained the BoP ramp entry protector set from Cliffy! Due to the issues with the heart beat ramp, I was in some ways forced to replace the ramp (or leave the various hacks that had been put in place for it). I had no intention of putting the new ramp in until the protectors arrived - so I was glad to see these.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cliffy_ramp_set.jpg

 

Now, on with the left side of the upper playfield. The shuttle ramp is also smashed around the entrance on both sides, although at least the gate is still attached correctly. The Cliffy protectors will install properly over the damage, so I'm less worried about replacing this ramp right now. I do plan to in the future, simply because of all the work gone into the game to bring it up to a tidy state. If I don't install it until the playfield swap, I'm not too worried.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shuttle_ramp_start.jpg

 

The ramp removed easily enough and was set aside. Underneath there is a small amount of wear at the saucer exit, which isn't really surprising considering how fast the ball shoots out of there.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shuttle_ramp_removed.jpg

 

This is the sort of hack fix I hate. The plastic that the flasher dome connects to has broken in half sometime in the past. It's an easy piece to break as it's not that strong and a careless knock could easily snap the thin section around the flasher. It's been glued back together with a cut out piece attached below - which is fine as I've done that myself and does give strength to support the broken section. The problem here though is the glue has stuck it firm to the metal post. It was impossible to get the plastic and flasher socket off the post without the plastic breaking again. A new hole had been cut through the plastic with a support post added - which really could have just used the existing hole in the plastic where the flasher dome attaches.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_hacked_left_loop_plastic.jpg

 

I continued on and removed everything off the left side of the upper playfield. There is a heavy amount of ball trails around the loop and the usual filth in the areas you can't get to clean.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_left_playfield_stripped.jpg

 

With a little effort, the playfield was cleaned. There was a small amount of playfield wear in the area under the ball trails as this section isn't covered by mylar. It's not terrible though and I think the playfield would make a great candidate for repair and clear coat in the future.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_left_playfield_cleaned.jpg

 

Meanwhile, the large metal pieces were all cleaned up by hand and the smaller ones sent through the tumbler. A purple flasher dome will replace the red one, along with purple sleeves, rubbers and star posts.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_left_playfield_parts_cleaned.jpg

 

The next assembly to deal with is the scoop kicker. I was surprised how large this thing was to be honest.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_scoop_assembly_start.jpg

 

The entire assembly was removed and cleaned. A new coil sleeve and rubber grommet were purchased.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_scoop_assembly_cleaned.jpg

 

Now to look at the brides head. There are 3 small assemblies inside the face - left eye, right eye and mouth. Originally there were globes here, but I had replaced them with LEDs a few weeks back. The switch arms and kickers need a really good clean. I also plan to swap the roller switch that sits at the top of the brides head assembly. This allows the game to track which face is currently selected. The main reason for wanting to swap this over is the switch gets a lot of use and I had noticed during 2.0 play, the head would sometime rotate when it shouldn't. It's not common, but has been seen a few times - enough for me to look in to it.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_face_assemblies_start.jpg

 

To get the assemblies out, it's not as simple as it should be. You have to remove the face panel from under the playfield too so you can undo the assemblies from the top and then feed them down below the playfield where you can remove them. You're best to remove the face plate below the playfield first as the assemblies, although small, have weight and when the drop through could easily smash the brides face plate.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_face_assemblies_start_2.jpg

 

The three assemblies were removed from the head and each was cleaned up. A new coil sleeve and rubber grommet was purchased for each. The kicker heads are a lot cleaner now and ready to install back into the game. I also swapped over the roller switch in the brides head now, which I hope will fix that random rotation during play.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_face_assemblies_cleaned.jpg

 

I had been considering getting a replacement plastic set for the game, but then was more inclined to just replace a handful of pieces since it would/should work out cheaper. I was looking at replacing the sling shots, flipper return, triangle piece (sits below rail - this one had screw holes added as a hack to help fix the heart beat ramp) and the broken again left loop plastic. As it worked out, with postage added to the pieces I could get overseas, there was less of a difference between a complete brand new set locally than I had thought. So a new set it is.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cpr_plastic_set.jpg

 

It wasn't until I lined up the new plastic against the old that the difference really stood out. It's an added cost to the overhaul, but there is a noticeable difference making it worthwhile in my eyes.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_slingshot_plastic_compare.jpg

 

As part of the CPR plastic set, you get a small 3D desk display, which is pretty cool - although could be dropped in order to lower the cost of the set in all honesty. It comes in several pieces which you assemble.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_plastic_topper_1.jpg

 

I'm considering having this as a topper on the completed game. Maybe adding a small amount of lighting - not sure yet. But it's too good to waste on my desk and I love seeing toppers on games.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_plastic_topper_2.jpg

 

The metal rails, posts and lamps were all installed back on to the left side of the playfield. New washers and lock nuts were installed on the plastics. I also went back through other areas of the game and swapped in the new CPR plastic pieces. I also added a red LED at the entrance of the scoop and a white LED strip at the back. Just like on the right side, I think this one is too long also and I'll be cutting it back to probably 3 LEDs on the strip and moving it lower. It's all a bit of experimenting to work out what works well and what doesn't. The key thing for me is to light up the rear of the playfield more. The strips are also reusable, so when I cut off a section, I can then solder wires to it and use it in another spot or machine.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_left_playfield_rebuilt.jpg

 

Time to work on the shuttle ramp. It's quite filthy, but nothing I can't clean up.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shuttle_ramp_start_2.jpg

 

One thing I noticed was a lamp socket at the top of the ramp was busted, with a section of the plastic broken off and the metal prongs exposed. I will be replacing this.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shuttle_ramp_broken_socket.jpg

 

The ramp was completely disassembled. All small metal pieces went through the tumbler. The large metal piece sits under the ramp entrance and it looks like some sort of after market or home made bit to help support the damage at the ramp entrance. This sort of fix is something I like as it's completely removable and installs without any permanent changes required. Although I'm installing the cliffys, I'll be keeping this installed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shuttle_ramp_cleaned.jpg

 

The ramp was put back together, ready to go back into the machine. I also cut up 2 small 3 LED purple strips, which I plan to install on the left and right of the lower exit on the this ramp. I want to create might lighting around the brides face and I think this will work well.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shuttle_ramp_cleaned_2.jpg

 

The two white LED strips at the read of the playfield were cut back to 3 LEDs and repositioned, which I think allows them to give off enough light, but not too much. I also added to small 3 LED strips to the apron, giving off a nice purple glow at the drain hole.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_shuttle_ramp_installed.jpg

 

Before I went any further, now was a good time to look at an intermittent issue I had noticed for weeks. It was to do with one insert on the left loop. It would sometimes work, and other times not. Seeing the issue with the skill shot lamps (cracked solder joints), I suspected it would be a similar issue here. I had put off looking at it until it next occurred - which was now.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_left_loop_insert_not_working.jpg

 

With the playfield lifted up, I gently pressed on the connector and found the LED lit up. Removing my finger, the LED switched off. I disconnected the IDC, removed the lamp board and flowed fresh solder across the header pins. The problem went away and has not come back.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_left_loop_insert_not_working_board.jpg

 

Next up, the heart beat ramp. This thing is filthy and falling apart in multiple places.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_heart_beat_ramp_start.jpg

 

The entrance has been smashed with various repairs done. The gate is screwed on from the left into one of the playfield plastics and the right side is broken and reattached. Someone had also installed two mini posts on the playfield to guard where the ramp was broken.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_heart_beat_ramp_start_2.jpg

 

The ramp was disassembled and the small metal pieces sent to the tumbler. Other parts were cleaned up, ready to go on the new ramp.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_heart_beat_ramp_replacement.jpg

 

One of the last things to do was the skill shot plastic. I had originally not planned on replacing this, but because there was this lovely crystal clear heart beat ramp now installed, having a weathered skill shot plastic above it would look wrong. It's pretty cheap to replace, so went for it. I'm glad I did as the difference is noticeable.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_skill_shot_plastic_replacement.jpg

 

Before I install the helmet, I wanted to clean the face panels. They were removed in pairs for cleaning, with the ball guides removed and cleaned too. The metal pieces were put through the tumbler. For some reason I only took a photo of these panels and not the other two. Both received the same treatment. You can buy repro panels with new clear ball guides - but I've got no plans to do it at this point as there isn't any damage on these.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_face_panels_cleaned.jpg

 

The face panels were installed back onto the head assembly. The helmet was also installed along with the final clear plastic pieces to complete work on servicing the playfield. Looking back at a day one photo for comparison, you can see how far the game has come.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_day_1_compare.jpg

 

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_rebuild_complete_3.jpg

 

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_rebuild_complete_1.jpg

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_rebuild_complete_2.jpg

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_rebuild_complete_4.jpg

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_rebuild_complete_5.jpg

 

It's good to have the game back in a playable state again. I've missed playing both BoP 2.0 and original BoP over the last few weeks. The game is playing really nicely right now. I'm not done yet though. I still want to do some clean up and improvement to the coin door and also clean the knocker assembly. Later in the year, I'll be doing a playfield swap and I also have plans for new decals on the cabinet. I'll probably do the coin door at some point over the next few weeks just to get it out of the way, but the larger tasks will wait.

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  • 5 months later...
Awesome job one of the most underrated games probably because most machines have been to hell and back but restored they are great game planning a full rebuild on mine including the 2.0 upgrade thanks for your post great information
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I've been so busy lately working on other peoples machines, I decided to set aside a few hours this week to work through a few "to do" items on my own games. Normally I like to do much longer updates, but time is limited, so here is a nice quickie:) One of the things I've been really looking forward to doing is installing the Aux flipper switch upgrade board to my BoP 2.0. What is this? At present, when you're in the profile menus or video mode, where the flippers would be disabled in modern DMD games, they are still enabled in BoP 2.0. So as you play the video mode, the flippers are still flipping away when you press the buttons. Scott Danesi created a small upgrade board which hooks in to two extra switches on the P-ROC board (CPU board supplied with the BoP 2.0 kit) and allows the flippers to be disabled while still registering presses. The kit is really straight forward and can be installed by anyone.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_aux_flipper_upgrade_parts.jpg

 

The first step is to disconnect the 18 pin IDC plug from the coin door interface board. The upgrade board plugs directly in to where this connector was and then the 18 pin connector plugs in on top of the upgrade board.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_aux_flipper_upgrade_installed_1.jpg

 

The next step is to install the switches next to the existing flipper switches. It comes with a small actuator that presses in when the flipper button is pressed and activates the aux switch. This switch is checked by the P-ROC board and will allow the flipper to register without having to power the flippers normally. When the feature is activated in the sortware, the developers can enable/disable power to the flippers as certain points of the game (in the video mode for example), but still read these additional switches to know the player is pressing the flipper buttons. I had to relocate the flipper LED to the other side to make way for the new switch.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_aux_flipper_upgrade_installed_2.jpg

 

The same actuator bit and switch are also installed on the other side of the cabinet. Just like with the other side, I had to relocate my back lit flipper LED.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_aux_flipper_upgrade_installed_3.jpg

 

Once the upgrade is physically installed, the last step is to activate it in the game. Jumping into the menu, there is an option to enable this.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_aux_flipper_upgrade_activated.jpg

 

That's all there is to it. At the start of the game, I entered the profile select screen and the flippers no longer activate when the flipper buttons are pressed. Same with video mode, now the flippers no longer activate while playing it. It's a really nice little mod and helps bring BoP 2.0 even close to a modern DMD game. You can read more about the mod from the website - http://www.danesidesigns.com/products/aux-flipper-switch-hookup-board

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  • 4 months later...

Something that has been on my to do list for the last 8 months is take a backup (drive mirror) of the hard drive in my Bride of Pinbot 2.0 machine. At the very heart of the 2.0 upgrade kit is a mini PC running Windows on a solid state drive (SSD). Solid state drives are very reliable, but like any computer - it's at risk of failure over time. If your BoP 2.0 hard drive becomes corrupt or the drive dies - there's no install CD to run and get it up again. The mini PC hardware can be replaced - but what's on that drive can't. Small SSD's are cheap now (the one I purchased for this backup here was $35AU) and because it is just a Windows computer, you can mirror the drive with a full backup should some disaster occur. I thought I would put together this post as a solid reference for any other BoP 2.0 owners wanting to mirror their drive so it's easy to restore if a new HDD / computer is needed. There's a good video tutorial for backing up your BoP 2.0 on YouTube (Search for "Bride of Pinbot 2.0 Backup And Restore"), which uses a different method to what I cover here. Both methods work though, so go with what you're more comfortable with :)

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_minipcs_start.jpg

 

To do the drive mirror, I need to get the hard drive out of the machine. The Mini PC is mounted to the rear of the headbox. To remove it from the mount, simply slide the computer up. To get access to the hard drive, you need to undo 4 screws at the base of the mini PC.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_minipc_screws.jpg

 

The base then pulls away, with the hard drive attached. I've blacked out the account and BoP 2.0 serial numbers which are printed on a label attached to the hard drive. These will be different for each BoP 2.0 kit. I'll include a small note at the end of the post about the serial number which is important if you were using a backup from someone else. Be careful when removing the base as the hard drive has a cable running to the main board, which will need to be disconnected. You don't want to be too rough and damage the wiring when pulling the base away.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_removing_old_drive.jpg

 

The hard drive is installed on to the base panel of the computer via a caddy. Undoing a few screws will have it out in seconds. Now I can go about taking a mirror of the drive for a backup. The first step is to get the hard drive mounted on my PC. I use an external hard drive dock that the hard drive plugs in to and connects to the computer via a USB cable. This then allows the computer to see it as if connected up internally. Again, I've blacked out the BoP serial number.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_mounting_drive.jpg

 

After a few moments, Windows will recognise the drive and allow you to view it via Windows Explorer. The Bop 2.0 setup runs on a cut down (+ slightly modified) version of Windows 7 Home Basic and is installed on a small 30 GB SSD drive. There are actually two partitions on the drive mapped to F: and G: (System Reserved and Local Disk). Both of these need to be included in the backup. The smaller partition (System Reserved) contains boot information, while the larger partition has Windows, applications and Dutch Pinball software.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_source_drive_mounted.jpg

 

To perform the backup, I'll be using a software package called Acronis True Image. This will take a complete copy of the drive, which I can then restore to a new brand new drive and simply plug it in to my BoP computer. That way I don't have to worry about any installing or configuring. To begin the process, I started up the Acronis software and selected "Create New Backup".

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_acronis_new_backup.jpg

 

I don't want to backup the entire PC, only the BoP drive. So I click "Disks and Partitions" so I can specify just the drives I want.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_acronis_select_source_drive.jpg

 

Here I select the F: and G: drives from the BoP hard drive and press OK.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_acronis_select_source_drive_2.jpg

 

Now I need to set the target for the drive image to be backed up to. Press "Browse" and create a folder on another hard drive - I called mine "Bride of Pinbot". The drive your backing up to will need about 15 GB of spare space for the image to be written to. It depends though on how much space you have used on your BoP 2.0 drive. For example, the more firmware versions you have installed, the more space it will required. You can actually delete out old firmware versions (if desired) via Windows explorer before running the backup as they are no longer needed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_acronis_select_target_folder.jpg

 

Before starting the backup though, we need to change one of the advanced settings. Click "options" and then the advanced tab. Make sure "Back up sector-by-sector" is ticked. Failing to tick this will not get the desired results (which i'll show further down the tutorial below).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_acronis_advanced_settings.jpg

 

With the source and target now set, along with the advance options, press "Backup Now" to begin.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_acronis_begin_backup.jpg

 

Acronis will start the backup process. This took around 15 minutes to do. The BoP drive is only 30 GB in size and roughly two thirds of that is used. Each firmware update is around 800 MB in size, so depending on how many firmware versions you have installed, the size of the data to copy will vary. On mine I have 3 versions (1.13, 1.16 & 1.19). I should probably delete out 1.13 and 1.16.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_acronis_running_backup.jpg

 

Once the backup process is complete in Acronis, I can confirm the backup file was created by using Windows Explorer to browse to the backup folder. There I could see the .tib file created by Acronis.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_acronis_file_created.jpg

 

It's no good having a backup and not knowing if it works or not. So my next step is to restore that backup .tib file to a new hard drive and install it back in the game. I purchased a 120 GB SSD from a local PC store for $35AU. BoP 2.0 only uses a 30 GB drive, but the 120 GB was the smallest drive they had. So i'll be left with plenty of empty space.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_new_drive.jpg

 

The source BoP drive was unmounted and removed from the dock. The new drive was then installed into the dock. At this point I had to use Windows Disk Manager to initialise the new drive. Windows wouldn't recognise the new drive until I did so. I did a quick format on it and the new drive was ready to use. You don't need to worry about setting up partitions, the restore will wipe the drive anyway and create the two partitions. There are a few ways to open up the Disk Management application, one is to press Windows Key + R (Run) and then enter diskmgmt.msc and press enter.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_init_new_drive.jpg

 

Back to Acronis, I select restore on the BoP backup and the drive I want to restore to. Before starting the restore though, we want to again go into options, select the advanced tab and make sure "Restore sector-by-sector" is ticked, since our backup was created using this method. Now press "Recover Now".

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_acronis_restore_backup.jpg

 

The restore process then applies the backup to the new drive. Once complete, I used Windows Explorer to view the contents of the new drive. There I could see Windows and the Dutch Pinball files. So it looks like the restore has worked.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_target_drive_restore_mounted.jpg

 

There are two partitions that need to be restored though, and it's important to make sure they were restored correctly. Going back to the Disk Management tool, I can see that there are two patitions and the System Reserved partition is there. It's also important to make sure that Reserved partition has the "Active" flag set on it. During my attempts to mirror the drive, I had a few failed results, where two partitions were restored, but not correctly configured. In this case, the Reserved partition was there but did not look correct. Instead of saying "System Reserved" it has "EFI System Partition". This is due to Acronis changing the partition type on the new drive to GPT - when it needs to be MBR (as per the original hard drive).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_disk_manager_fail.jpg

 

When restored correctly, both partitions should be visible. I found updating to Acronis 2019 fixed this and the restore process retains the partition type as MBR. It's vital as the small system partition contains boot information and without it, the game will not boot into Windows. Now the partitions look correct.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_disk_manager_success.jpg

 

If you're restoring a backup from someone else's BoP 2.0 game, you will need to set up your serial key. The only time you would be doing this is if you didn't make your own backup and were relying on someone else to give you a backup that you can restore from. I believe this is used for connection with the BoP 2.0 Live server when updating profiles and scores. There's a file called "serial" under the Dutch Pinball\brideofpinbot folder and it's just a text file with the 20 character serial number (with dashes so XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX). The serial number should be printed on a label attached to the original BoP hard drive (as shown blacked out earlier). You can edit the file in Notepad and save.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_target_drive_restore_key_file.jpg

 

With the backup drive ready, it's now time to test that the drive was mirrored successfully and the game boots and plays correctly. The mini PC was opened up again and the new SSD was installed into my BoP 2.0. The connectors were put back in to the mini PC and the machine powered on to boot.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_successfull.jpg

 

The game booted up successfully and several games were enjoyed to ensure everything worked as expected. That's all there is to it. At least - sort of. I had a few failed attempts with the recovery process, which did restore files to the new hard drive, but it was not in a bootable form. When installed back in to the BoP 2.0 computer, the machine would switch on but then sit at a blank screen or report an error about needing bootable media. I wish I had documented the failures and learning journey to explain and help others solve if they ran in to similar situations while trying to do this. In the end though, the disk cloning and boot issues are Windows / computer related issues (not Pinball) and there is a wealth of information out there that's helpful. I spent time googling for information which gave me leads and possible solutions to follow. I believe the main issue I faced was the restore by Acronis, which was changing (forcing) the drive partition type on the new Hard Drive to GPT. The BoP 2.0 computer wanted the MBR partition type - which is what the original hard drive was set up with. I found switching to Acronis True Image 2019 (from the 2016 version I started with) sorted the issue out. There were some interesting lessons learnt along the way :)

 

At the cost of a new SSD ($35AU), my BoP 2.0 HDD is backed up in case of failure. I'm leaving the new drive in the game and keeping the original as the backup. What I love about this method is the back up drives are plug and play - so I can very easily get the game running again in case of a hard drive failure / Windows meltdown. I also copied the .tib file from Acronis on to two USB sticks as I can use this file to restore from again if both drives were to ever fail. It's an extra level of protection. For 2.0 owners, a backup is well worth doing (even mandatory) as there's no simple way to get your game up and running again if the HDD becomes corrupt or dies. There was a post from Scott (Danesi) on Pinside a few years ago saying that DP do have original mirrors for restoring a BoP 2.0 hard drive if needed (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/just-pre-ordered-bop-20-kit/page/8) - This is good to hear, but don't risk relying on someone else. Play it safe - and do your back up!

Edited by Jesder
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  • 1 month later...

When it comes to my Bride of Pinbot 2.0, I can't help myself. I'm always looking to add upgrades and improvements as it's my favorite game. With a four week break coming up, I have plans for a playfield swap and new decals over the Xmas holidays. Before I get to that however, there are a couple of smaller things I want to get done. The first is replacing the board that controls the lamps on the brides helmet with an upgraded version. When switching to LED's, you lose the fade effect that would normally be present as part of the lamp sequence that plays out. As a result the different chase sequences that play out on the brides helmet are not smooth. Luckily, a pinside member created a new board to solve this. It can be used in a standard BoP and also a 2.0 machine.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_helmet_led_board_start.jpg

 

The board is not only an upgrade, but can also be used as a drop in replacement for the original if need be. To apply the fade effect the board uses Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), which achieves an analog result from digital input. Although the board is a drop in replacement, to use the PWM feature, you need to make one small change to the game. Normally, the helmet receives power from a wire that runs from the headbox. We need to instead run a new wire from one of the unused pins on the new board to that power wire leading to the helmet instead. I dug out some spare wire from an old harness and also some new connectors from Jaycar. Having to source your own connector is the only downside about the upgrade and stops it from being a simple plug and play package. It would be a complete package if one was provided, but for most people it won't be an issue.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_helmet_led_board_wire.jpg

 

If you wanted to use the board as a replacement and not use the PWM feature, you don't need to worry about the new wire and instead just add a small jumper between these two pins on the board itself (something like this -https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/PS-2012J-CR) You can then install it directly as a replacement for the current board.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_helmet_led_board_pwm_jumper.jpg

 

The old control board is attached under the playfield. There are three connectors, two of which run to the helmet, while the third (smallest one) is an input. We will need to pilfer the 4 screws and PCB legs for the replacement board.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_helmet_led_board_old_board.jpg

 

The original board was removed and the upgrade installed in its place. Next up the new wire was installed to the top pin of the left connector, which will need to connect up to the power wire that runs to the helmet.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_helmet_led_board_installed.jpg

 

The new wire was connected up, which will run power to the helmet. The old wire (thick orange/white) which runs to the headbox can be left free. It's probably a good idea to tag it so when you (or a future owner) come to the machine, it's clear what the loose wire is for. I used a brown / white wire here, but a better solution would be to stick with orange / white (I seemed to have every other colour combination but this).*

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_helmet_led_board_wire_connected.jpg

 

With the replacement board installed, the game was switched on. The LED's show me the board is now powered and running.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_helmet_led_board_running.jpg

 

To give you an idea of how the LED's appear before the upgrade, here's a short video. The flickering can be resolved with non ghosting LED's, but the lack of fade is noticeable. There are a few different sequences that animate through during attract and gameplay, this is just one of them (and probably the least harsh).

 

 

With the upgrade board installed, the flickering is gone and the LED's now fade out as part of the animation sequence. Overall it's a lot smoother and quite noticeable across the various sequences uesd to animate the LED's during play. There's one LED on the left I need to adjust as it's not making good contact in the socket. I've never been fully happy with this style of LED on the helmet and have ordered some of the style I like from Pinball Life.

 

[video=youtube;-fvWtig88Us]

 

Overall I'm happy with the upgrade. The board is high quality is only let down by the missing wire, which would make it a complete plug and play upgrade that anyone could install. The pinside member (pellew) was excellent to deal with when purchasing the board and for anyone interested in sourcing the upgrade, I highly recommend him. You can see the original thread he created on pinside about the board here - https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bop-helmet-control-for-use-with-leds

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  • 3 weeks later...

Who likes self punishment? I do, it seems. My BoP 2.0 machine came with a touched up and clear coated playfield when I purchased it 14 months ago and it's a task I knew I would get to at some point. But when you're having fun playing a game, it's hard to take it offline for some major changes. Playfield swaps are a time consuming process, so it's not something I've been looking forward to. I gained some excellent experience when I did my Pinbot CPR playfield a couple of years ago and I'll be rolling that knowledge in to how I approach this one. The up side here is the replacement playfield is an existing playfield, so all screw holes (both sides) are already there. New playfields have (most) screw holes dimpled, but can be up to 1mm out in any direction (according to CPR - not sure if that also applies to other playfield makers). On my Pinbot playfield, I found many dimples missing on the underside. This can be a pain for assemblies under the playfield that are made up of 2 or 3 components, consisting of up to 12 screws, which all need to line up in order for it to operate smoothly. The current playfield in my game isn't bad by any stretch as mylar across the central playfield and pop bumper areas has protected most of it. I actually think it would make a great drop in replacement for someone who has a trashed playfield or someone who wants to touch up and clear coat one for themselves. Time to begin the process.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_new_playfield.jpg

 

First step is to take a series of photos of the playfield from many angles. Having done a lot of work on my BoP already, I'm pretty familiar with how the playfield should be and where things go. But my memory isn't photographic and if I'm putting things back and something isn't quite right, the photos come to the rescue. Something I learnt last time was to take more photos that you think you'll need - better to have too many reference photos than not enough!

 

Stripping the top of the playfield is the next step. I again take a lot of photos during the process and I group parts in to bags to make reassembly easier. For example there will be a bag for the left sling shot parts and separate bag for the right sling shot parts. This is repeated all the way up the playfield and things are grouped to make it obvious where they go. It also helps ensure parts don't get mixed up or go missing as the bags are sealed.

 

Where there are similar parts like metal posts, some of which are similar sizes, I tag them with numbers, take a photo and then remove them. This helps ensure the correct posts go back in to the correct spots. I use this with the pop bumpers too as this means I get lamp wiring back in the correct way.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_number_posts.jpg

 

I continued to remove the remaining parts on top of the playfield until everything (except the flippers) were off. The top of the playfield was now stripped and it was ready to be removed. This makes the playfield a lot lighter and easier to get out of the cabinet. The stand up targets and sling shot parts that stick above the playfield will be undone from below in the next phase of the swap.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_playfield_stripped.jpg

 

Before I remove the playfield though, I tag all the connectors in the headbox so I know exactly what board and position they go back in to. Photos are also taken of the boards before the tagging is done, so I can clearly see which connectors go where.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_cables_tagged.jpg

 

The parts from the top of the playfield were set aside in two boxes and put in to a safe place, ready for rebuilding shortly.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_playfield_stripped_2.jpg

 

With the playfield ready to be removed, I next need to do some prep work on the replacement playfield. Whoever clear coated the playfield decided to leave the pop bumper shanks in. This isn't a bad idea.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_prep_pops.jpg

 

...Except when they decide to cut off the tips of the shanks. There are two approaches here that would have been far better. Leave the pop bumper shanks in as is and clear over the tops. The down side to that is you have 9 shanks exposed while transporting the playfield. Or secondly, remove them and apply the clear. It's much easier (and safer) to use a brad tipped drill piece to scrap away the clear around the hold edge before installing the shanks again, then having to carefully pick away at the clear around the screws here and then remove what's left. Using a needle tipped scraping tool (not sure what the correct term for it is), the clear over the heads was carefully removed so the old shanks could be removed and those from my original playfield installed in their place. The staple and pop bumper lamp leg remnants were removed also.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_prep_pops_2.jpg

 

Across several areas of the underside of the clear coated playfield were sticky patches, probably from some sort of tape. I wanted to clean this away before transferring the parts across. Eucalyptus oil was used to clear away the residue.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_prep_sticky.jpg

 

A number of the inserts had a white substance across the underside of them.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_prep_inserts.jpg

 

This was cleaned up to get the inserts clear, allowing as much light through from the LED's as possible.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_prep_inserts_2.jpg

 

The old playfield was removed from the cabinet and set down, ready to have all screws removed from the underside so parts could be transferred to the new playfield. I don't have a rotisserie, which would make the next couple of phases much easier. Some saw horses will have to do. At this point I took another series of photos all the way up the playfield and from different angles. These will be used as reference when screwing everything back in to place on the new playfield. Because I'm transferring to an existing playfield, many things will be obvious as to where they go. That makes the reassembly task easier than going to a brand new playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_playfield_removed.jpg

 

I split the playfield up in to 3 sections: lower, middle and top. As I work my way up, I undo all the screws in a section, take more photos so I can clearly see which screws go where and then bag them up separately. The plan here is I can then take the screw bag for the lower section and reassemble the parts. Before moving to the next section, I should have no remaining screws and everything in that section should be screwed back in place. There are two different length screws used and it's important to make sure they go back in the correct spot. You don't want to use a long screw where a short one is required and find you end up with damage on the top side. After all three sections are complete, a tangled mess is left and ready to transfer across.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_transfer.jpg

 

I grabbed a large cardboad box from Bunnings and cut it into shape to fit the length and width of the playfield. All parts from the old playfield were lifted and the cardboard slid under until everything was resting on top of the cardboard sheet. I could then just slide the cardboard across to the new playfield in one motion. Finally the cardboard is carefully removed, leaving the parts transferred, roughly in the spots they need to go.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_transfer_2.jpg

 

The rear panel of the playfield had been removed and before I install it again, I want to give it a fresh coat of gloss black.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_rear_panel_start.jpg

 

After a clean and two coats of gloss black, the brackets, screws and rear panel were looking nicer and ready to go.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_rear_panel_ready.jpg

 

A small mod I made to my machine awhile back was to install two small LED strips on the rear panel. I was never really happy with the result of them, as they were too bright. For GI, I much prefer the frosted dome LED's and decided to replace the strips with a series of #555's along the rear panel. I can then angle these as desired.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_rear_panel_lights.jpg

 

Back to the playfield, I slowly chipped away at screwing everything back in to place. All the reference photos came in handy here and I'm glad I took extra shots from multiple angles as you can easily miss things with just a single shot. As mentioned earlier, the playfield had been split in to 3 sections: lower, middle and top. I started with the lower section and used the labeled screw pack. Once complete, I moved to the middle and then finally the top. This was a good way to ensure the correct screws went in to the correct locations and none were missed. It's always a good feeling to have nothing left over and everything attached at the end :)

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_transfer_complete.jpg

 

The playfield was flipped over and I began the process of installing parts again. Because the parts bags were grouped and labelled, it made installing them straight forward. I started with the pop bumpers, posts, trough and several ball guides. A brad tipped drill piece was used to scrape away some of the clear around the screw holes before screwing parts back in. This is the phase where a rotisserie really would make the job easier, but I'll get through it. Hard to justify buying / making one that's used once every 2 years.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_rebuild_1.jpg

 

One of the challenges I faced with this playfield is that while many of the screw holes were still obvious and only needed some of the clear coat removed (using the brad tipped drill bits), there were holes that had been completely covered. In this section on the left, 4 holes were no longer visible. By rubbing my finger over the area, I managed to find very small traces of where the holes once were and they were carefully drilled. This also applied to several spots where wire forms are installed into the playfield (return lanes for example). The holes here had been completely filled in. Thankfully those holes go all the way through the playfield, so I could find their correct location from under the playfield, and these had to be carefully drilled from the bottom up first, and then a brad tipped piece used to remove some of the clear for the wire form to be installed. I don't understand why this was done, but it's just one of the unique challenges you face while doing this sort of thing.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_no_holes.jpg

 

When I purchased the CPR plastic set 12 months ago, I never got around to replacing the PinBot values sign at the rear of the playfield. It's a pain to remove on its own, so I left it until it was time to do the playfield swap. That time has come. The original one looks fine and you don't really notice the colour improvement until you have both old and new side by side. Then it becomes clear how nice the new one looks!

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_sign_plastic.jpg

 

Bit by bit, I worked my way through the tub of parts bags, getting the playfield back together. The return lanes and sling shots were installed, along with more ball rails, posts and rubbers.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_rebuild_2.jpg

 

The brides head is made up of 3 parts: the motor, the face box and the assembly plate. The switches needed a small adjustment before putting the head back into the playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_bride_head.jpg

 

The brides head was installed back into the playfield, along with the skill shot parts and many of the plastics. The playfield was now starting to take shape again.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_rebuild_3.jpg

 

Another part I purchased awhile back, but didn't get in time for my previous work on the game was a new shuttle ramp from RTBB. This is the perfect time to get the new ramp in. I'll disassemble the old ramp and transfer the parts across to the new one. The old ramp isn't in terrible condition, but does have some damage around the entry. A cliffy set I purchased worked wonders for it, but since I had replaced the heart beat ramp, I was keen to replace this one too. With all the work put in to the machine, it felt like a disservice to not replace this ramp.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_new_shuttle_ramp.jpg

 

In one of my parts orders many months ago, I included a new plastic housing for the ball lock. The old one isn't terrible, but cleaner plastic and fresh decals add some subtle improvement that probably only I care about ;)

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_new_lock_plastic.jpg

 

The ramps were installed back on to the playfield, along with the mini playfield, rails and helmet. Doing all this with the playfield out of the cabinet made things easier, especially around the face and helmet area as feeding the connectors through while the playfield is in the cabinet can painful and the ultimate endurance test in patience. As I went, the vacuum was used to suck up lose dust and surfaces were wiped down to have the playfield as clean as possible. While not working on it, I left the playfield covered. Finally, the playfield was back together again. No spare screws or parts - if this was an Xbox / Playstation game, there would be a gold medal achievement unlocked for this feat ;) I also added a few small mylar patches where the ball can drop - directly below the mini playfield and also in each return lane. A metal ball against clear coat - the ball will win - so this should add some protection.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_rebuild_4.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_rebuild_5.jpg

 

Before putting the playfield back in to the cabinet, I wanted to spend 20 minutes tidying up the wiring a bit. One issue I get every time I lift the playfield is the white power board always gets in the way. The power board is part of the BoP 2.0 kit, and is used to provide power to the Amp, LCD display and computer. After untangling the cables and wires, everything was organised to keep the power board at the back, away from the rear of the playfield.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_prep_cabinet.jpg

 

One last step before installing the playfield back into the cabinet was to tie some rope to the cables, which will make feeding them up to the headbox simple.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_cable_rope_1.jpg

 

The playfield was installed back into the cabinet. It's a lot heavier with all the parts attached and more awkward to get back in. So while keeping it out made reassembly easier, that made getting it back in tougher. So a bit of a trade off - but I think I went the correct path. The connectors were installed again in the headbox and the machine was now ready to power on. Now for some testing.

 

A playfield swap is obviously very invasive to the machine, so there are always likely to be a few issues to sort out. The first issue I found before even switching the machine on. There is a small one way gate on the ramp that runs between the out hole and ball trough. I installed the gate in the wrong direction, so no balls could be fed through to the trough. I removed the apron to swap it around to how it should be. From there I booted the game up and found the display not working. This was due to the power connector not sitting right on the display. Once the game booted I observed the CPU controlled lights and found all were working. I then printed off the switch matrix and coil list and entered test mode to ensure everything was working.

 

I found that I had installed the left and right pop bumper coils in the wrong assemblies. The easiest fix here was to simply get the soldering iron out and swap the wires over. It's much less hassle then removing two pop bumper assemblies to get the coils corrected. All other coils fired correctly.

 

I found a switch on the shuttle ramp not working quite right - the head entry switch. This just needed some adjustment as the switch itself did register, but it was not sensitive enough when the ball passed through it. The two right lane switches registered fine when activated with my finger, but not when the ball passed over them. This was a simple adjustment also. That was the last issues to resolve. The game was now ready to play.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_complete_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_complete_3.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_complete_2.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_complete_4.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_complete_0.jpg

 

The old playfield has done a fine job and held up well over the years (it's now 28 years old!).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_playfield_swap_old_playfield_retired.jpg

 

The BoP playfield swap was now complete. I played several games, observing behavior to see if any additional issues presented themselves. So far, the only thing I will do is adjust the position of the left return wire form as it's not quite central to the return lane. Otherwise, the game is holding up great so far. It plays differently now with the clear coated playfield and will take some adjusting. But it plays nicely, which is all important and makes all the work worth it!

 

There were some further valuable lessons learned here that I can use to improve the process next time I decide to do a playfield swap. However, I feel as I did after my Pinbot playfield swap - I won't be rushing in to do another any time soon. It's a slow stop / start process, which I spread it out across a couple of weeks, allowing me to take my time. All up I would have spent close to 45 hours from the moment I started to the moment it was ready to play. I'm not quite done on my BoP just yet though, as there is one more task to complete on my beloved machine. New cabinet decals. This had been planned as a Christmas holidays project for me, but a hold up on the decal delivery looks like it will be pushed back until late January / early February. So there are still a couple more posts left for me to do on this machine - stay tuned :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Towards the end of last year, family were asking what I wanted for my birthday. BoP decals was my reply. My big project for the Xmas break was indented to be the cabinet decals on my BoP.

 

But due to some delivery difficulties, this didn't happen. Naturally though, the first day back at work, the decals parcel arrived!

 

For months I knew it was going to be my end of year project and realised I had a decision to make - install new BoP decals or go with a 2.0 decal make over. After some deliberation on what I wanted to do, I went with 2.0 decals and also a 2.0 translite.

 

A new set were ordered from retro refurbs which arrived yesterday. This weekend, work begins on the final phase of work on my 2.0 :)

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_new_cabinet_decals_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_new_cabinet_decals_2.jpg

 

 

 

 

@gum After our chat at the pinball meet last week about the BIOS settings not being retained, I had a look through my photos I took while doing the hard drive backup and noticed the BIOS battery appearing in one. See the lower right corner of the box. Mine is a gigabyte PC while yours is Zotac, but they shouldn't be too different internally and I'd expect to see a button battery like that in yours too. Try replacing that and see if it helps with the settings.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_backup_removing_old_drive.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

My Bride of Pinbot has received a lot of loving attention since I purchased it. Now, I'm facing the final mountain before I can say - It's complete!. Doing up the cabinet was always going to be one of the final two things to be done. It was a bit of a race to see if the final challenge would be the playfield or the cabinet, with the cabinet winning (or is it losing?) that race. The plan had always been to do it around late December last year or early January this year, but that got pushed back to February - and here we are! I spent quite a bit of time last year deciding what path to take with the new decals. Do I keep it original with new BoP decals from PPS? Or now that it's a 2.0 machine, go with 2.0 decals from Retro Refurbs. In the end, after much deliberation and weighing pros and cons, I went with a 2.0 make over. Some may hold back tears while proclaiming - "But it's not original anymore!". Meh. This is a 2.0 machine now. It will remain a 2.0 machine. I love 2.0. There are not many 2.0 machines in the world and very few that are done up in this manor. So new 2.0 decals were purchased to bring this cabinet back to life. Naturally they arrived the day I started back at work (after 4 weeks of leave), which means the process will take longer to get done. The decal set includes the head box, cabinet sides, coin door and a 2.0 translite. The art is heavily based on the original, but with a more modern look (and some 2.0 branding).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_new_cabinet_decals_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_new_cabinet_decals_2.jpg

 

Before starting on big tasks like this, I tend to put a lot of thought and planning in to the process. I've done decals on two other machines now and have a good idea of what's involved. Each time I've found things that work and where I could do better next time. I've started using a checklist phone app to help plan out big tasks like this as it lets me get my head around it all and have a clear plan before actually starting. Previously, I would write it all down in a notebook and cross things off as I went, which works - but the checklist app makes things easier since I can edit, shuffle, indent and group as new things come to mind and planning changes. I often have my phone with me, so can update while I'm out walking or at my desk to ensure the task isn't forgotten about. I like to try and break tasks down to much smaller tasks as it means I can keep doing small bits even on busy days where I only get small windows of free time. This allows momentum to continue when time is limited. This process also helps me identify any potential issues before they arise.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_checklist.jpg

 

With the planning done and a clear path to follow, it's time to kick off the final phase for my BoP 2.0's transformation. The first step is to get the headbox off the cabinet. I had all the connectors labeled from when I did the playfield swap recently, so that step was already complete. I went over each connector to confirm the label was still attached and then removed each one. A couple of the labels had fallen off, so these were replaced before disconnecting the connector. All power and display connectors were removed too and then fed down into the cabinet. The display panel was removed from the headbox and bolts attaching the headbox to the arms were undone. The headbox was then removed and set down.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_headbox_removed.jpg

 

Next up was getting the playfield out of the cabinet. The wires were grouped together and the playfield carefully lifted out.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_playfield_removed.jpg

 

Now it was time to remove various other pieces from the cabinet like the side rails, coin door, shooter rod, start button, flipper buttons and so on. The legs were also removed at this point too.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_stripped.jpg

 

The original artwork on the headbox is screen printed. I find it interesting they went with screen printing for the headbox but then used decals for the cabinet. I'm not sure what the reason for this is. There are various chips around the edges of the headbox to be repaired.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_headbox_damage_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_headbox_damage_2.jpg

 

The lower right rear corner of the headbox is the worst hit, with a nice chunk missing.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_headbox_damage_3.jpg

 

The cabinet art is looking faded and tired. Got to love the black paint outlines where someone decided to brush paint the coin door without removing it...

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_cab_damage_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_cab_damage_2.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_cab_damage_3.jpg

 

With my heat gun and scraper, I proceeded to remove the cabinet art from the front and side panels. A silhouette of the front panel art remained on the wood once the decal was removed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_front_panel_stripped.jpg

 

The process took longer than I expected, but finally the cabinet art was completely removed. The headbox GI door was removed, along with the components panel that houses all the boards and mini PC. The headbox was now ready for some sanding.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_all_panels_stripped.jpg

 

There were two old and faded stickers on top of the headbox. Once removed you can see how much the colour has changed over the years.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_headbox_colour_fade.jpg

 

The headbox was completely sanded to remove the old artwork and now ready for some damage repair. Right about now is where it hits you that there is no going back. You're too far along to bail.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_headbox_stripped.jpg

 

Before patching the cabinet, I had to remove the left over goo. This process also took awhile, but finally it came off. The main damage to the cabinet that required repair was on the corners from the legs. There were a few small divots in the cabinet sides which needed to be filled too. These areas were bogged up and sanded.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_patching_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_patching_2.jpg

 

After sanding, the surfaces were then cleaned. The edges were spray painted with gloss black. I didn't bother painting everything as it's all going to be covered by decals anyway. The standard BoP headbox has black on the panels facing the player and purple on top and back. I decided to leave it all black since this is a 2.0 make over and the darker colours in the new artwork allow for it.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_painted.jpg

 

After removing several of the metal parts from the cabinet, I dropped them off to be powder coated. I decided awhile back that I wanted to do something a bit fancier with this game and felt powder coating on some of the pieces would really enhance the presentation of the game. After seeing how affordable it was, I had no excuses not to do it. I ended up getting 10 pieces done in total - 4 legs, 2 side rails, 2 headbox arms, lockdown bar and shooter housing. A massive thanks to @Glenn70 for his help with this!

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_metal_parts_powder_coated_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_metal_parts_powder_coated_2.jpg

 

Normally I spray the bolt heads with gloss black to freshen them up. But for this game, I wanted to do something different. I decided to go with purple, which I think will work well with the new artwork and also compliment the purple powder coating on the metal parts. The colour is a little darker than the powder coating, but I don't think it will matter as it still works well with the colours on the new decals. All bolts were sanded and cleaned before receiving two coats of gloss purple.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_bolts_painted.jpg

 

Since I had the grills from the headbox and cabient removed for painting, I decided to use up left over chrome spray paint I had and freshen them up. The black channel that the display panel sits in was given a fresh coat of gloss black. I did have some thoughts about doing these in purple too, but felt it might be a bit too much.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_mesh_sprayed.jpg

 

I allowed 7 days for the paint to cure on the headbox and cabinet before installing decals. Both headbox sides were done and the painted bolts installed. The purple bolts work well with the art.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_headbox_decal_installed_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_headbox_decal_installed_2.jpg

 

The new 2.0 decal set came with an updated translite as well. This was installed on to the glass. I plan to create a frame for the old translite as it will look great on the wall.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_new_translite_ready.jpg

 

New gliders were installed on the rear of the cabinet and the painted grills installed again too.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_rear_complete.jpg

 

Now to do the cabinet decals. I use the dry method for installing them, along with a second pair of hands (my lovely Wife) to help. The vinyl used by Retro Refurbs is good quality and really nice and easy to work with. The decals went on without a hitch. The front panel was done first, followed by the sides.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_new_coin_decal.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_new_cabinet_decal.jpg

 

After each decal was installed, the holes were cut out and edges trimmed. I use a really neat spring loaded ruler and cutting disc which made edge timming easy. Once the clear acrylic is lined up, you press down and small rubber feet prevent it from moving. I trim off about 1 - 2mm around the edge of the cabinet to help prevent the decal getting caught and pealing if something (or someone) brushes past it.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_decal_trim_tool.jpg

 

Before installing the side rails, I decided to trim a section of the top decal where the double sided tape would stick to the cabinet. The decal will still sit around 1cm under the side rail, so won't look weird. This means the tape will stick directly to the cabinet and not the decal. The reason for doing this is so the rails can be removed in the future (if needed) without damaging the new decals. The double sided tape was purchased from Bunnings (Bear brand) and applied to the side rails.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_rail_decal_trim.jpg

 

Happy with how the side rails would be sitting, they were then installed on both sides of the cabinet. The flipper buttons, start button and switches were also installed again.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_side_rails_installed_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_side_rails_installed_2.jpg

 

 

Aussie Arcade has an image limit per post, so I've had to split the final update in to two sections to get all the progress images in with the write up. Part 2 will be up shortly.

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At this point, I decided to clamp the side rails for 24 hours to ensure the double sided tape took hold and would keep the side rails in place. The next day the clamps were removed and the lock down bar receiver and coin door installed. New decals were made up for the lockdown bar receiver (install 3 balls + caution). I'm holding off installing the shooter rod until the playfield is in. That way I can align it without risking damage to the front panel artwork. The headbox arms were installed back on to the cabinet, followed by the headbox. At this point the game was starting to take shape again and seeing results for all the hard work is really satisfying.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_headbox_installed.jpg

 

The legs were also installed, with felt cabinet protectors and nylon washers to protect the cabinet and legs. New leg levelers were also installed.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_legs_installed.jpg

 

Next step was to hook up all the wires that I could from the cabinet and do a general tidy up of the wiring before getting the playfield back in. This included vacuuming the surface to remove anything loose. The playfield was then installed back into the cabinet. Now that the playfield was in, the shooter rod was rebuilt using the powder coated housing and installed back on to the cabinet and aligned correctly. All wiring for the playfield was connected back up in the headbox and the game was now ready to switch on and test.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_playfield_shooter_installed.jpg

 

A last minute decision was made to install some mirror blades, which I think will improve the final result even more. A massive thanks to @FLAIMBOY for hooking me up with a set of his finest blades :D

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_mirror_blades_installed.jpg

 

With everything now back in place, the transformation was complete and the game ready for testing. It's been a long road getting here, with the machine fully rebuilt, followed by a playfield swap and then finally a cabinet restore. Many, many hours of work have been poured in to the game - but it's well worth it as the result is something I'm VERY happy with. The new CPR plastic set I purchased 12 months ago came with a small desk stand, which I decided to place on top of the headbox as a topper. You'll have to forgive my finger in the top left corner on some photos - I didn't pick this up until resizing them for the write up.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_complete_1.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_complete_2.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_complete_3.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_complete_4.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_complete_5.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_complete_6.jpg

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_cabinet_complete_7.jpg

 

For comparison, this is how it looked on arrival (which was the first photo in the original post before I began any work).

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_day_1_start.jpg

 

The game was put through some testing and a couple of issues needed to be looked at. These were intermittent things that had been around in some form for awhile, but became more constant after the playfield swap and cabinet restore. Given how intrusive those processes are, I'm feeling good that nothing else showed up. Both issues (one was a connector and the other the lock post) were sorted and the game playing well once again. At this point, my work on the Bride is done. I may return and do up the apron with some new paint and decals or add the chaser light mod to the shuttle ramp. We'll see. There aren't many BoP 2.0's in the world and very few looking like this - so for now, I'm happy :)

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Truly an amazing transformation and enhancement of a classic title. You should be very happy with how this turned out. I bet this will never leave the collection! The sense of great satisfaction and achievement cannot be underestimated when doing this work. Simply a top job mate. You can now just sit back, relax and admire this work of art. And play it occasionally..........
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I should give a shout out to @Dirty daz too who came over yesterday for some play testing and problem solving on the lock post.

 

Our final game on it was a classic (at least for me ;) ). Poor Daz. Had to watch his insurmountable lead on the final ball obliterated as I turned my 2 million score into an 80mil+ score.

 

 

 

Wow! Came up looking sensational mate.

May have to come visit you again. :cool:

 

You guys are more than welcome to drop in. Just let me know when you're out this way next :023:

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Well, yesterday I said I was done. That didn't last long :lol

 

The topper was looking a little dark once the machine was moved back in to position.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_topper_dark.jpg

 

I decided I would add a couple of LED strips to brighten it up. I had some purple and white strips, which were cut to size and wired up to a connector. I had a large clear piece of acrylic that was purchased awhile back, and added some double sided tape to help keep the topper in place.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_topper_wires.jpg

 

The LED's were then wired into the game GI, making the topper much brighter.

 

http://www.enteryourinitials.com/images/bop/bop_topper_light.jpg

 

OK, now I'm done**.

 

 

 

**At least until tomorrow..

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