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Thread: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

  1. #1
    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Default Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Completed one of my pinball projects so I'm turning my attention to the Zodiac. So far I've removed just about all of the parts off the back and a few from the front. As suspected it's very dirty and a few cracks are present on the plastic frame that the rest of the rear components attach to. I'll make braces with 1" lengths of plexi and epoxy them in place. Once reassembled they'll be hidden.
    Later this weekend I'll finish the tear down, remove the cell, cut it into quarters and scan it in to the computer to start the digital clean up. I'm going to research printing the new cel out on high quality paper stock as per the original then laminate and mylar it.
    In the pics are the machine and some of the removed parts,
    a pic of the spinners that light up using two mini bulbs each,
    and a handy set of compartments to put parts in. They have clear lids that you could mark on or place a piece of tape on with what's inside. I use a grease pen and write on the bottom since it won't mark on the lids. Comes in a padded case and was about 10 bucks from micro mark.
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    Eye Shooter TilionMtl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    look like a pretty nice machine

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  5. #3
    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Have the machine completely disassembled and am just about finished prepping the cel backboard. I sanded and filled in the low areas with wood putty, resanded, applied wood sealer and sanded again down to 2000 grit. All that's left is to apply a base layer of adhesive vinyl to ensure a perfectly smooth surface before the artwork goes on.
    This was the first pachinko I've seen that didn't use thru and thru flat wire to secure the metal rails. It does use the wire but about 1/8" of each end has been flattened out. Then this was somehow pressed or hammered into the wood but they do not extend out to the rear. I'm not about to reuse these rusty fasteners so I'll just drill the existing holes all the way thru and attach the rails the traditional way.
    the pics are of the board ready for the vinyl and the original cel quartered for scanning.
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    So the latest is that I"ve finished prepping the wooden backboard with the final prep step being the addition of the adhesive vinyl left over from my power flash project. I've also redone the tulips and I still have to do some final paint tweaking on them. They are not in the color that I received them though. The only other machine like this that I know of is Sharmoni's and his has a tulip color scheme that I prefer so I matched it. It's not original to my machine but it is still original to what the Taiyo factory offered.
    Pics:
    refinished tulips
    original tulip
    prepped backboard
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    Fever Hunter ACMech's Avatar
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Nice color choice. Very nice restoration work

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    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    The latest:
    prepped all the plastic trim/decorative parts today. basically it consists of cleaning with soap/comet, and water, repairing any damage and/or cracks, sanding with 400-600 grit to remove the gloss for adhesion, filling in low spots with plastic filler, and then sanding again.
    as can be seen the area around the ashtray was heavily pitted and misshapen from cigarette burns. i used an x-acto knife to trim the plastic where needed, filled with plastic filler, and then sanded till perfectly smooth and the original contour was obtained.
    some before and after prep pics. the green material in the 2nd pic is the plastic filler which will cure overnight and then i'll paint the parts tomorrow.
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    Fever Hunter ACMech's Avatar
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    What are you using for plastic filler? Is it something as simple as bondo, or is there a better product? I'm enjoying watching the progress!!!

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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    I get it from Micro mark and it's called Green Putty. Comes in a 2.3 oz tube. More convenient than a huge tub of Bondo. It's geared toward the hobby market and I'd designed for plastics. Dries in 30 minutes and can then be sanded, etc.
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Some before and after pics. All of the plastic trim pieces are being redone but these two had the most damage. The after pic shows them after the base coat. What's next is to paint the various decorative recessed areas to duplicate the originals and then finish with a clear.
    Quite a difference already.
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    Last edited by emmadog; 02-27-2011 at 10:16 AM.
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    A before pic and the final product.
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  20. #11
    Stuey - The RADministrator MrGneiss's Avatar
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Amazing work!!

    "Blowing smoke rings at the moon."

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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Latest:
    Painted the remainder of the parts either white or brick red. They'll cure for a couple of days and then get the trim colors applied and any paint fine tuning (cleaning up overspray, ensuring sharp edges), more curing, then a matte clear.
    The before pics show the extensive yellowing that has occurred in the last 30+ years.
    The other pic shows the parts as they are now, curing and with the masking tape removed from the roundish part with the original dark red paint and from the part with the game play rules. The rules decal is masked for obvious reasons and I mask prepainted areas only when those areas are textured whether with fine lines or stippling, etc. If not, the texture gets filled in and obscured by primer and subsequent layers of paint.
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  24. #13
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Hard for me to stay away from pinball machines. I'll be working on this Taiyo but thinking about an issue with one of my pins so I stop and go fiddle with it. Anyway, I'll be away from this restoration process for awhile due to work although I'll be able to work on the cel cleanup on the computer. It's my least favorite of the entire refurb process in part due to the time it takes. But it's arguably the most important-sorta like the backglass on a pinball.
    So one pic is of course a "before" one once again and the other is of the two finished coin tray pieces together minus the ashtray, which still needs work..
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  26. #14
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Picked up the new cel from the printshop after a couple of trial runs to get the red the right color. I used the auto vinyl product once again and had them laminate it as well. So this is a pic of it applied to the back board with the original tax/license stamp temporarily in place. I still have to do complete my normal cel refurb process which is to put a sheet of adhesive mylar over it and then I'll mylar the tax sticker to protect it and lastly place the sticker on the cel. I also stuck a few still-unfinished components on there just to see how it will look overall. I hope to have all the nails in the cel, the guide rails and the upper left and right trim pieces that go on the cel done by the weekend.
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Still a lot left to do but I'd say I'm about half way there.
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  30. #16
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    here she is sans ashtray but with most of the rest of the trim pieces installed.
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  32. #17
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    here's the 99% finished machine. the small meteor looking plastic part (not pictured) that goes over the play field ball bumper needs to be repaired but i'll get to that later. it's not high on my list of projects and i wanted to get everything else assembled and make sure everything works, which it does and here's a pic. i'll make a vid as soon as i can find the charger for my camera. in this pic the spring loaded tulips are being held open. they wouldn't normally be open with the number combo shown and when they do, it's too quick to try to get a picture taken. the spinners also flash red when the tulips open but i couldn't replicate that.
    And a before pic of the original auction photo for this machine which shows a pretty banged up and yellowed machine but in person it was considerably worse.
    i may redo the lower plastic part that both hides and numbers the ball pockets. it too was originally white.
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    Last edited by emmadog; 04-02-2011 at 11:08 AM.
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Finally have a video for this machine and it's uploading now. I'll post the link asap.
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  36. #19
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

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  38. #20
    Stuey - The RADministrator MrGneiss's Avatar
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    Default Re: Taiyo Zodiac Restoration

    Very nice!!

    "Blowing smoke rings at the moon."

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