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Firepower 2 (Here's to you Dazza)


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The next one coming off the resto queue is Firepower 2. I thought I would share some history on this one before getting into the restore. This is THE one. This is the machine that got me into pins. Growing up in a small country town there were no pins to speak of really, only arcade games. Around 20 years ago my father in law picked this up at a garage sale for $90 not working. He took it to Rockhampton and got it going for another $600 I believe. So this was at his place of which I spent a lot of time. Darryl was a huge car buff, in particular XY falcons. He paid a record price at auction for a Phase 3 XY Falcon. There were higher prices paid in private sales but the auction record stood until only recently. He owned several GT Falcons, Falcon utes, a couple of minty Californian Mokes and two Monaros. The very last Monaro and the very first CV8 off the production line. Sadly Darryl passed away last year from a brain tumour. Originally when I got this machine it was to be restored and sold to fund more. Since he passed we had a massive change of heart and it will be staying with us as it is one of the most treasured things my wife has of his. Hence the title this restore will be a tribute to the old fella.

 

 

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Back to the resto. I find I am hopeless at taking before shots of machines, mainly because there is a lack of space in my room.

 

 

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The plan is for a ground up restore with a red theme as that was Darryl's favourite colour. I will also try my hand at designing my own cab decals to replace the boring cab artwork. The playfield has been a work in progress for some years. I took it out years ago with the intention of removing the mylar which had bubbled and looked horrible and cleaning and repopulating. It turned out to be one of the horror stories where the mylar pulled up a heap of artwork. It has been waiting until now when I finally have the skill and knowledge to repair it properly. I don't have any photos of before the teardown unfortunately.

 

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I did try to paint the black but it looked terrible and I could never match the colours elsewhere. While scrolling the firepower club thread on pinside a guy posted that he had a scan of firepower 2 for his digital table. I reached out to him and he very generously offered it plus scans of the plastics. It took a couple of test prints to get the sizing correct.

 

3lSaYAth.jpg

 

While it is not a perfect recreation it still looks amazing. Over the weekend the harness was removed and the playfield sanded in preparation for repairs and a coat of clear.

 

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This is always scary...the point of no return.

 

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That's it for today but I will try to give a detailed thread as we go on this one.

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Will follow with interest. I recently stripped, cleaned, fixed up mine as much as possible without classifying it as restore. Wasn’t too complicated but still time consuming. All the best.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Aussie Arcade

Thanks mate. Did you need any parts for yours? There is not a whole lot available for this title I have found, not as popular I guess

 

Sent from my SM-G920I using Aussie Arcade mobile app

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Firepower 2 (Here's to you Dazza)

 

Thanks mate. Did you need any parts for yours? There is not a whole lot available for this title I have found, not as popular I guess

 

Sent from my SM-G920I using Aussie Arcade mobile app

 

Luckily not many unique parts. I rebuilt the flippers to wpc style with the external spring and capacitors. As a noob on Sys 7 it took me ages to work about some parts online as there’s no diagrams or parts lists in the manual. I am currently getting all the boards serviced as I’m taking it to Pinfest next month. My playfield has wear and planking so I just covered it with a playfield protector. I put in LEDs and some LED spotlights. I have some spare (free) standup target stickers I got made up if you need some.

@MamePatrol made them for me.

 

Target decal fabrication

https://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php?t=92474

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  • 4 weeks later...

Have been tinkering on the playfield over the weekend. It's actually in really good shape. With all the artwork sanded off there was no lifted or sunken inserts to repair. The only minor repair was the shooter lane had delaminated a bit.

 

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Clamped down with some wood glue.

 

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I thought about repairing with some builders putty but the damage is not visible at all once the side rail is on. There is a little damage as the ball exits the trough. I sanded that smooth and all the crud out of the shooter lane until it was nice and smooth. And that's it, decided to leave it at that, will come up real nice. As it's been so long since the teardown with no pictures I assembled sections loosely. This way I could clean out the screw holes and determine what was missing. Using pinball arcade on my ipad and pinball database as a reference I discovered there was a few bits and pieces that were missing from the beginning. Could be difficult to track down for this title unfortunately. I really need a full set of plastics or may have to make most of them.

 

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Once I was happy with all the placements and holes were cleaned out it was time for a coat of clear. First coat of clear with kbs clearcoat.

 

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I'll give it a light sand and a second coat today hopefully.

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Firepower 2 (Here's to you Dazza)

 

Nice. Let me know if you have trouble finding any parts as I may have found some while fixing up mine. Here’s some plastics on USA ebay.

 

They’re a bit rough but an option.

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F292680561019

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Aussie Arcade

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And an apron if yours is wrecked. Although someone in Aust might have one. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F292680558944

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Aussie Arcade

Cheers mate. My apron is actually really good. I also found a set of used plastics on pinside but thinking a new skill wouldn't be bad. Sense of achievement sort of. Maybe even help someone else.

 

Sent from my SM-G920I using Aussie Arcade mobile app

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  • 2 weeks later...

Second coat of clear earlier in the week. The timber soaked a good amount of the first coat and left it a little hairy. After a light sand and a second coat it came up super nice.

 

 

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Picked up the finished decal today. Started by trimming the white edges off.

 

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Gave the playfield a light sand as a key for the decal to stick to. I apply these with the wet method just like cabinet decals, hence one of the reasons for the clearcoat. Bottom section applied with weight on top section keeping it in place.

 

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And with the weight moved and remainder applied.

 

HCGuQ3ih.jpg

 

The applied decal before any trimming of bumper areas etc.

 

MjnRZpmh.jpg

 

And finally with the major bare areas trimmed.

 

rEDeFuph.jpg

 

fYsSXljh.jpg

 

uwfbNZGh.jpg

 

PkQmJavh.jpg

 

UXXEZ8ch.jpg

 

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The blues have printed dark again. I had the same issue with a Batman overlay done last year. I think it is either how my computer interprets the data from the net or how the printer interprets the data from my computer. While it's a bit disappointing it does give an edgier feel to it just like the Batman one. Some more fiddly trimming to come plus a few little other decals to be printed at the ramp entrance.

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  • 2 years later...
I'm still restoring mine :) I reconnected where the buzzers go on the coin door, only that it caused a short, but nothing that a new fuse could not solve, really my firepower 2 step from serving you nothing to serving you everything, I knew almost nothing about pinball and then Even so I fixed it, I learned a lot with this pinball as I already fixed it electrically now, why not aesthetically? :)
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  • 1 year later...

I am also rebuilding a Firepower 2. I am having a very difficult time finding a Hardtop or play surface. Do you think you  could assist me and tell me where you got your playsurface decal? I cant seem to find anyone that makes them. 

Thank you for all your assistance and have a wonderful day.

Donnie Wilson,

Nixa MO, USA

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  • 4 months later...
On 22/09/2018 at 1:37 AM, pingun said:

Second coat of clear earlier in the week. The timber soaked a good amount of the first coat and left it a little hairy. After a light sand and a second coat it came up super nice.

 

 

DlPQbq4h.jpg

 

sCRdnSph.jpg

 

b6ihdN9h.jpg

 

Picked up the finished decal today. Started by trimming the white edges off.

 

ICTMsB6h.jpg

 

Gave the playfield a light sand as a key for the decal to stick to. I apply these with the wet method just like cabinet decals, hence one of the reasons for the clearcoat. Bottom section applied with weight on top section keeping it in place.

 

bxKMGiNh.jpg

 

And with the weight moved and remainder applied.

 

HCGuQ3ih.jpg

 

The applied decal before any trimming of bumper areas etc.

 

MjnRZpmh.jpg

 

And finally with the major bare areas trimmed.

 

rEDeFuph.jpg

 

fYsSXljh.jpg

 

uwfbNZGh.jpg

 

PkQmJavh.jpg

 

UXXEZ8ch.jpg

 

ie1Cavoh.jpg

 

The blues have printed dark again. I had the same issue with a Batman overlay done last year. I think it is either how my computer interprets the data from the net or how the printer interprets the data from my computer. While it's a bit disappointing it does give an edgier feel to it just like the Batman one. Some more fiddly trimming to come plus a few little other decals to be printed at the ramp entrance.

what would you charge me to print me a set of decals for a Firepower2? I have been looking for a while now and cannot find anyone that prints the graphics. I will send pictures of my before restoration and during if that if that helps. I have the playfield stripped and ready to sand and build back up but did not want to take that step if I could not find the decals. thank you for all your assistance. 

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