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Twilight Zone - Restoration
Tasks:
- Restore backglass trim and translite - Completed
- Rebuild clock using LEDs - Completed
- Disassemble playfield - In progress
- Repair rocket kicker playfield - Temporarily fixed
- Replace slot machine mylar - Removed
Cabinet & backbox
Backbox
Outside
The backbox side art is in very good shape and has no fade at all. The backbox itself does have a few nicks in the top left corner which will be easy to fix.
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Inside
Not much to say about the inside other than very clean. No battery leakage, all the boards are stock and untouched. Bloody Excellent!!
 Looking good! |
Backglass trim & translite
The game came with the side trim glued to the glass and the translite was taped to the back. Looking at the glass pane I see it is about 1mm too thick which would explain this hack. The translite was carefully removed and sprayed with 'Label Off' (Goo Gone) removing the tape and glue very easily. The translite was wiped clean with a soft cloth and looks brand new with one minor nick in it, hardly visible unless you know where to look.
New side trim has been ordered and will be installed.. hopefully I will not have to order a new pane of glass.
Cabinet
Outside
The cabinet is drilled and has a big mark after something banged into it. This will have to be repaired and repainted. Aside from these issues the cabinet is in very good shape. The cabinet back has almost no wear at all indicating that this game has not been moved around alot.
 Big mark in cabinet front |
 Scratching around the plunger |
Inside
The inside of the cabinet was very dirty as expected but otherwise looking good. No incredible hacks to be seen and everything was still stock. After a quick vacuum most of the dirt is gone and I will clean out the rest after I have removed the playfield.
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Playfield disassembly
I began removing parts from the upper playfield while regularly taking photographs of how things were assembled and where. My memory good but short so I need all the help I can get, besides a project of this complexity demands pictures (never trust a pinball manual).
 A view of the upper playfield with the plastic ramp removed |
 Detail of the clock, you can also spot the green 'Lock' insert |
 Detail of the power field |
 This is what you find under the power field |
 Shaky picture of the dirt around the pop bumpers |
 Detail of the gumball |
 Detailed view while removing gumball assembly |
 The playfield almost completely disassembled |
When then top of the playfield was clean I began removing what was still attached to the underside like the subway. I also cleaned all the inserts using a rotating brush attached to a Dremel, the dirt was litterally blown away revealing real crisp inserts.
To clean the underside I used a mix of magic eraser, brush and alcohol.
 Underside of the playfield before disassebly |
 Thick layer of black dust on the inserts |
 Nice and clean ready to shine! |
 It is easy to spot where the subway used to be |
 Almost finished cleaning the underside |
Rocket kicker, nail in playfield
While disassembling the playfield I discovered someone had driven a 3cm nail into it next to the rocket kicker. My guess this was a typical McGyver hack to stop the ball from bouncing out without triggering. Pulling the nail out was pretty straight forward and did not do more damage.
I intend to fill the hole with silicone and cover with acrylic paint. More details on that will follow.
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Slot machine
Slot machine scoop
As with most TZ games this one has a broken slot machine scoop and the welding has cracked open. This was repaired by a skilled welder and looks stunning! Working on a fix for the greed target so it will not bend back again..
Slot machine mylar
The mylar in front of the slot machine is worn down and has cracked where the balls land after being launched out. This will have to be removed, not sure if I will replace it again.
Toys
Gumball
The gumball was just very very dirty. Completely disassembled and cleaned using ethanol and then polished using a "Scratch remover" paste. I then finished it up by waxing up a very nice shine so that nothing will ever stick to it again.
 Disassembled and waxed gumball assembly |
Clock
The clock housing has not been drilled and looks as new! The clock board however has been slightly cooked, but not as bad as many other I've seen, and I think one of the optos is damaged.
Lamps have been desoldered and replaced with bright blue LEDs. If you do this mod make sure to install the LEDs so that two have their poles reversed. This way the clock wont be flickering with the current, at least it will not be so obvious.
I will have to look into the potentially failed optos later when reassembling the playfield.
 Desoldered the jumper resistors and lamp sockets |
 Added new resistors for the LEDs |
 New resistors and LEDs installed |