Cleaning A Very Neglected Playfield With Extra Mylar - 1987 Williams F-14 Pinball Repair #10

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[@LyonsArcade]

Help support the channel by checking out our new Vintage T-Shirt with the new (80's?) Logo, Gotta collect 'em All :) joes-video-games.creator-spring.com/listing/the-arcade-doctor-logo-t-shirt?product=2

[@TheGnomestead]

Love it man!

[@neilwilliams2907]

13:30 - Could you cut the KILL's off the bottom and just stick those on? It would make the writing more complete. My other thought which would be harder was to use a sharp craft knife and cut around each of the shapes, peel the Mylar and original decals away and put the new ones in their place.

[@smeatr0n]

Every time I'm about to pick up a new game, I check KZbin and find your video about it to learn everything I need to know in preparation for the big day. This one is next. Thanks again for your continued dedication.

[@TheDylan10123]

Dropped a 'Like' before the video started, love watching the SS pin repairs

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you eKnxwledge!

[@pauz2175]

Me too. These are the best pinball support videos on the web. I serviced two beat machines since I started watching these videos and my thought process has changed. Ron has helped me problem solve a pile of issues.

[@binkman853]

Loving this series so far. Thanks so much. One thing i would love is a recap at the end of a play field cleaning is the total time involved.

[@Sloposse]

You have a fabulous personailty and voice you should be on tv with it lol, living in the uk I wasn't ever attracted to pinball so its not really interesting to watch but ive followed all the videos on this machine and my god its a pleasure to be a fly on your shoulder to watch you work methodically, especially the electronics and pcb work which is very interesting to me.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you for watching SmokinSlo, we appreciate you hanging out with us!

[@pl5624]

Williams knocked it out of the park with that background music..

[@cklinejr]

I was looking forward to the next F 14 video all weekend!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you for keeping the faith, Charles :)

[@Even-Steven]

Magic Eraser really is magic! Board is already a thousand times better and looks more than respectable. I didn't think it would clean up as well as it has, great job Ronnie.

[@InMyHead]

KISS??? KISS you say???? lol this one is coming together in a pretty cool way Ron, pretty cool.

[@DarthVader-ESB]

I love it 😃 as soon as you said video # 10 the attract sequence started playing you in 😅😅 Thanks for the video, I have been restoring my F14 Tomcat and so far I'm using your videos as a supplemental tutorial.. just got someone to make a new cabinet and went through the back box similar to your " beacon / backbox " video.. heading to do the playfield tonight.. 🔥🔥🔥🥇

[@pauz2175]

Make sure you research the videos from an f14 he worked on a few months ago. Cleaned up some issues on mine

[@clintevans6643]

Looking good Ron!!!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Clint, we appreciate you watching!

[@patrickfivetrick9202]

Yes Ron, well done!!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks again!

[@yowl00]

This has been a really interesting series, thanks a lot.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you yowl00 we appreciate you watching!

[@Nitrojim83]

Great series Ron looking forward to gorgar

[@LyonsArcade]

Gorgar Speaks!

[@Nitrojim83]

@@LyonsArcade mine ant speaking at the moment lol She's in bits

[@Nitrojim83]

@@LyonsArcade are you on Instagram ron

[@LyonsArcade]

I’m not on anything but Joe has Facebook for our shop you can always send us email too on our website...

[@dansledepot107]

You're absolutely right Ron...nothing wrong with getting the wood wet! 😉

[@LyonsArcade]

Ain't that the truth!

[@ruaraidhmcdonald-walker9524]

This is great, I have a Road Kings with a slightly worn playfield but with terrible bubbly tired lifting Mylar sections on it. Really need to lift them and re apply properly. Feeling more confident now! Great video series. Loving it!

[@andymouse]

Looks fabulous Ron, great work...cheers.

[@STEVSGONE]

That f 14 tomcats been through the war you are doing a damn good job repairing it though. :-)

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Steve, we appreciate it!

[@WonkoTSane]

The owner is lucky that the inserts are not all broken and lifting. This machine is infamous for the small triangle inserts lifting and becoming ramps to launch the ball as well as the wings on the chevrons breaking.

[@LyonsArcade]

I believe the mylar they added held them all down!

[@WonkoTSane]

@@LyonsArcade It is possible. I have one where the inserts deformed the mylar as they lifted. One of these days I will put the new playfield in it. Too many projects....

[@pauz2175]

Mine has only two inserts lifting under the factory Mylar. They’re on the right lock shot.

[@WonkoTSane]

@@pauz2175 You can gently heat them until the glue holding them in softens and then with a soft cloth, block of wood, and a rubber mallet tap them back flush. The correct fix is to remove them, clean them, and then reset them with new glue.

[@cthlhu]

Really enjoying this sucka getting a new lease on life! Great game and great series of videos!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you Jason!

[@MrVectrex]

This is an awesome series Ron. Thanks. I see the problems with the mylar and the worn playfield underneath. Do you anytime consider to replace it with a playfield decal? Or is that a sacrilege for you?

[@LyonsArcade]

No I think it would be an improvement in this case, but the cost would be prohibitive in my opinion... you could put the decal on, but you'd have to remove everything on the playfield, remove all the mylar, then sand the entire playfield down so that all the art was removed from the inserts, then put the decal on, then build it all back. 15 hours maybe? I don't think it would increase the value of the machine enough to pay for itself. Now, for a HOBBYIST, someone doing it themselves, yes that would be a good way to go. Because you'd only spend about $150 for the decal, and you wouldn't mind spending 15 20 hours working on your own game as a hobby.

[@MrVectrex]

@@LyonsArcade I hope that, We! Youre fans! Someday should see a person with a fat wallet walks in to your store with a totaly wreked and worned out machine and tell you: Restore this! No mater what it cost! Couse your´e the man to do it. if any one.

[@ItsaRomethingeveryday]

Looks much better now

[@Orion-cw4ji]

With the decals, you can take the letters off individually from the sheet and try to place the one at a time . And then place the boarder wherever it lines up best to cover the problems.

[@frankgagliano9677]

Great video Ron, I agree the magic eraser is a great tool to use. You said it do not press to hard do not over do it. Can you feel a height difference when you put the new sticker on? Thanks for filming it. See you on video 11

[@LyonsArcade]

The stickers are very thin so you can't really feel it... but the mylar that's on there is pretty thick, there's a little bump. I'd say the mylar is about 5 times thicker than the stickers... and at the slingshots there were two layers of mylar! Crazy!

[@danijelcar5184]

Nice and clean 😁👍

[@LyonsArcade]

It's a clean machine!

[@kingofl337]

Have you tried using freezing canned air to freeze off the mylar? Then you can use baking flower and goo-gon to get rid of the sticker material.

[@pauz2175]

Great video. Admittedly I was a little disappointed you didn’t take the Mylar off. I was curious how you’d accomplish that. I have the same decal pkg. no Mylar on on the bottom. Might have been a blessing in disguise. I can tell you that clear on the inserts is way harder to clear off that you think it is. I am going to to steal you magic eraser idea for the upper Playfield. I also have that terrible rainbow of dirt between the two pieces of factory Mylar. We’re u just using the magic eraser and water? What was the liquid.

[@LyonsArcade]

Use Rubbing Alcohol with it, works great! Yeah I wish I could have figured out a way to get the mylar off without making it much worse but I don't think I would have been able to, sometimes you have to quit while you're ahead :) Yeah I was also concerned about whether I'd be able to scrape the clear and art off the inserts without just scratching them up!

[@daveweston5158]

Hi Ron! I've been watching this series from the beginning, and it never ceases to amaze me the wonders you're capable of preforming... :-) I have a couple of questions, and I apologize if i'm jumping the gun if these are yet to be addressed in future videos; - After you fixed the beacon assembly, I noticed that it appears to be squeaking when active (it may just be that the camera mic is picking it up). Is there a way to lubricate this (Don't use WD-40... ;-p) - The playfield is looking an order of magnitude better than it was.. I imagine that those rusty pinballs cannot have been kind to all those wire ramps, though... Any advice concerning the care and/or maintenance of these parts?

[@LyonsArcade]

I’m leaving the squeaking because of the “hairy arm principle”. Lol We usually clean the ramps up with a magic eraser if it’s minor or steel wool if it’s more involved....

[@petermichaelgreen]

Could you touch up the paint on top of the existing mylar, then add another layer of mylar on top to protect it?

[@LyonsArcade]

That would probably work... but you're kind of making a crap sandwich at that point, lol I just couldn't bring myself to spend a ton of time on top of the mylar, because even if I did that you'd still have all the problems UNDER the mylar (like you can't repaint the dirt under the mylar, etc.)

[@RS2000XPACK]

blimey mate, more bulbs to change ? but looking much better

[@LyonsArcade]

It's getting there! Tons of bulbs on this one.. .

[@ryanstroh4120]

How feasible would it be to cut the mylar off the inserts and then install new decals? (Basically trace the insert with a razor)

[@LyonsArcade]

You'd have to cut it out, then you'd have to scrape all the old artwork off the insert and not get any trash under the mylar surrounding it (which is raised in some areas, and covered with adhesive) so it sounds like a mess waiting to happen :)

[@MatteoPascolini]

Could you use an exacto knife to cut around the inserts and peel them up and replace them? then put another layer of mylar over the whole thing again... :)

[@davidg-m1768]

Had never heard of the “hairy hand principle” - google is my friend and that was really interesting! As was the solution to the playfield - really about all you could do without replacing the whole PF. It’s certainly better but given how cool this game is I think I would have bitten the bullet and replaced it. Everyone’s different so I’m sure your customer was very happy with what he got.

[@LyonsArcade]

I just googled that and what I was talking about didn't readily come up, I think it should be the Hairy Arm principle, lol basically the idea is you purposefully leave 1 thing for somebody to complain about because it leaves them less to complain about in other areas, lol

[@davidg-m1768]

@@LyonsArcade Use the same technique in sales - which of these do you like, knowing they won’t like one of them and hopefully choose one of the others = sale made. The hairy palm legal case was interesting anyway www.nhmagazine.com/the-case-of-the-hairy-hand/

[@papastratman218]

Would it be possible to use a razor blade to cut the mylar around the inserts themselves, remove only that mylar (and the insert art) and then replace it with the new insert decal?

[@pauz2175]

I did that with mine but only on one insert. There’s one on the top right loop that the factory Mylar only covers half the insert. So I knew there was a ridge anyway. So I cut around the insert and devalued that one. But doing it for each decal would be very time consuming and leave you with craters all over the Playfield.

[@pauz2175]

Pretend I said decaled. Not devalued. Lol. Stupid autocorrect

[@katenunyabizness9221]

Looking great! Shame about the stickers as that flight Insuranc really bugs me more than the missing KILL ones.

[@LyonsArcade]

I’ll just try to think of it as character 😀

[@Penfold8]

You could cut the decal in a couple of pieces to match up the letters.

[@LyonsArcade]

Unfortunately they were different sizes and different fonts than the originals, you'd have to cut out each individual letter...

[@pauz2175]

And it would create too many edges for the spinning ball to be affected by and peel off. Probably only a possibility if you were going to put clear over the decals.

[@nathonbunch9349]

could you take a raser blade and scrape the mylar over the inserts to get them off to replace them

[@LyonsArcade]

You probably could but then you'd have a cut area around every insert, it'd be very hard to get it to look right...

[@nathonbunch9349]

@@LyonsArcade good point just wandering

[@barbecuebob1836]

I would use an exacto knife on the inserts to cut it out and then sand the number. Replace it with your new mylar decal...

[@naytch2003]

There's an Australian amazon link but no New Zealand?

[@LyonsArcade]

We had one but nobody used it so they shut it down :) Sorry Naytch!

[@waynegram8907]

JOE CLASSIC, what did you use to remove the Mylar?

[@LyonsArcade]

We didn't remove it!

[@waynegram8907]

@@LyonsArcade so you guys never remove the Mylar just keep it on always and just clean the dirt on the Mylar?

[@SpearM3064]

@@waynegram8907 The problem in this specific case is, on a game of this age, you almost always end up removing some of the paint with the mylar. The best option would be to remove everything from the playfield, remove the mylar, sand the table back to bare wood, and buy a reproduction vinyl wrap for the playfield... but you're looking at about 15 hours of labor and more than $1,000 USD for the reproduction playfield. If it was your own machine and you had the money, the time, and the skills to DIY... sure, you could do that. But this is a customer's machine, and the customer specifically said "my wife will kill me if it gets too expensive", so Ron is trying to keep costs down. And the best way to do that is to leave the mylar on.

[@waynegram8907]

@@SpearM3064 but what can you use to Remove the Mylar? I don't know what to use to Remove the Mylar off the playfields

[@vzwopx]

Love the printer music

[@TheGnomestead]

I checked your site. You have a hand held Mattel football game layin round?

[@LyonsArcade]

I don't Gnomie but I'll see if I can find you one if anybody brings any of them in, I've had them before...

[@TheGnomestead]

@@LyonsArcade sweet. I had one for years. In the box even with a .50 sticker in it from a garage sale. I miss that stupid lil game. Lol

[@Rejetor]

Watching this restoration since the beginning, it´s a shame that you can´t fix the playfield under the mylar. I would like to see that playfield restored.

[@GrandTheftWatto]

i kinda thought you might just try removing the mylar (somewhere inconspicuous) to see what happened. i get it though - its a bad situation!

[@LyonsArcade]

I removed some in the last pinbot we had, wasn’t pretty 😀

[@GrandTheftWatto]

@@LyonsArcade Is there ever a "good" reason to put mylar on a playfield in the first place??

[@wackyworldofwindios3476]

Good morning Joe. I watched your video on the other F-14 pinball game. That game was deadly fast, What my question is. How fast is the top speeds of that big ol ball bearing flying around the playfield ?

[@LyonsArcade]

I'm not sure how fast they get going but all of Steve Ritchies are fast as hell. To this day. The guy loves speed. He even made, "HIGH SPEED".

[@SpearM3064]

According to "How Stuff Works", on an unwaxed table, those balls get up to 90 miles per hour (145 kilometers per hour). Possibly faster on something like F14 Tomcat or High Speed.

[@nathonbunch9349]

how much would it cost to get a Williams f 14 tomcat pinball shopped

[@dmkaeding]

Agree with you about the mylar. At what point is is cost prohibitive to peel it back a millimeter at a time? Do the best you can with what you've got and still give value to the customer.

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah I wish I could have made it better but there was no good solution to this one.

[@michaelnippert945]

Is it possible to get a new Playfield for that game and replace it

[@WonkoTSane]

There were new playfields made a few years ago by a company in Europe. They had a special run of the chevron inserts made. They built as many playfields as they had inserts for. I heard rumors of them doing a second run. I do not know if it happened but I am sure there are some of the playfields out there still. They were about $1000 so I would expect to pay more than that to buy one now.

[@LyonsArcade]

Unfortunately it just doesn't make sense financially even if you could find one... it'd be a grand or so, and then you have many hours preparing it, and swapping it in, the bottom of the playfield has braiding that needs to be replaced, all the light sockets, mechanisms, switches need to be swapped, all the wiring... everything on the top has to be removed (notice we left about half the stuff on the top when we cleaned it up)... it just takes forever and would cost a fortune to hire someone (Me!) to do...

[@Newberntrains]

Not factory fresh but as bad as it started where it was basically useless in its condition other than a sloped table I’d be super happy if I owned this machine Was wondering maybe sheet vinyl to redo the whole playfield but if the Mylar pulls wood and seeing that the grain has started to check it would pull wood so this probably was the best thing other than replacing the entire playfield with new wood and rebuilding the game

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah I think when you factor in cost and time (which costs the customer) this was about the only choice....

[@GreenDemonMan]

It might be cost prohibitive for you to do it, but the customer could cut out the text that doesn't line up correctly from the new stickers and at least get the good border around the arrow lights. Overall it's looking much, much better!

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah I think they should make a set that JUST has the borders. There may not be many instances though where people can't get to the art because of mylar, and they could just repaint the borders, however, so it may not sell as well. These insert stickers are basically useless though unless someone is redoing the entire playfield and can scrape everything off.

[@Vermilicious]

The cleaning did a lot in this case. It's a real shame with the decals not matching perfectly. Personally, I think I'd just leave them off if they don't go everywhere and/or don't align. I was thinking maybe it would be possible, as precisely as possible, to cut the mylar along the insert edges and pop the inserts out and clean em up, and then possibly replace the mylar on them when you put them back in to even it out. You would get tiny gaps, but it certainly wouldn't be as bad as that ring on the top of the playfield. I'm not sure how easy it would be to cut the mylar though.

[@PlumGurly]

I'm trying to work it out in my head, and yeah, you can't get the mylar off. A heat gun might soften the adhesive, but you'd still have peeling, and then you'd have the residue. Then I thought, what about chemicals? Strong cleaners like oven cleaner or paint remover would destroy the adhesive and also the paint. Now, I know something that might help, if you are inclined, and it is something you don't like to use for lubrication or near contacts. What about WD-40 or an oil? That works with tape and glue in hair, for instance. So the oil dissolves the adhesive. And then you get into time. Of course, what would you have to do next? I mean, if you have oil, you'd need something, maybe lye, to remove the oil. They make a purple degreaser you can get at Home Depot or Lowes. That is mostly sodium hydroxide (lye). So mix a 15-20% solution of that, glove up, and gently work that into a lather (you don't need soap since lye+oil=soap), and rinse.

[@lloydwickson9921]

is there a way for me to get in touch with you to buy and sell

[@LyonsArcade]

There is Lloyd, you can email us through our website, www.LyonsArcade.com

[@808zhu]

Hrrrmmmm.... Thanks for the vidz.

[@Austin.D]

Could you use a toothbrush instead of an eraser?

[@LyonsArcade]

That may work... but from what I understand, the melamine foam (magic eraser) is smaller so gets in the cracks that other things can't, which is why it gets it so clean and why it basically acts as a sandpaper...

[@mannymasy8000]

Lo mejor es quitar el mylar y restaurar el tablero completo....hay spray de frío con el que se quita el mylar fácilmente.

[@jussikuusela7345]

On the bottom left especially, where yellow meets black, there is a really dirty edge of mylar that seems to be partially lifting. Would it be, in some cases, possible to cut carefully along the black edge and strip the mylar on the yellow paint, then retouch? Anyway, great job! Apparently this game was kinda ripoff on Top Gun?

[@LyonsArcade]

You could probably do that, but now you're kind of cutting pieces off and frankensteining it :) Same thing with putting LED's in certain inserts, yeah, you could do that but your trying to paint a band aid :)

[@STEVSGONE]

I don't know if it's a big deal or not but I'm catching a squeak squeak squeak noise when the music's playing.

[@LyonsArcade]

It's the beacons at the top, one of them is squeaking or the new belts are squeaking.

[@jimmygallo7505]

Just put in blue and red led's in the faded inserts :D

[@808zhu]

Before adding mylar: Do touch ups, and clean the PF!!!

[@LyonsArcade]

Preach !

[@808zhu]

@@LyonsArcade 😂

[@bzhmaddog]

I thought mine was dirty when I got it !! Wasn't that dirty after all

[@LyonsArcade]

Sometimes they've been sitting awhile and they get pretty dirty!

[@Jeroen_a]

@4:51 Rusty balls! :)

[@demofilm]

Its better but not perfect, we have to accept that 🤓

[@izzynutz2000]

For god sakes man,, oil that beacon shaft!!! that squeak squeak squeak is driving me nuts and I'm not even there😵😵😵🙃

[@LyonsArcade]

Awww you'll be o.k. it's actually our mice infestation!

[@westcoastronnieOC714]

All right no yacking off to this video. 🤪🤪

[@LyonsArcade]

Westcoast Ronnie is back!

[@timothyharkness8489]

Joe don't throw the pinball balls away put him in a marble bag and sell them as marbles..old school..

[@LyonsArcade]

I've wanted to do that but to be honest, I've got nightmares of somebody throwing one through the window or a backglass or something, I can't see any scenario where one of them doesnt' end up breaking something eventually, lol

[@TheGnomestead]

It looks its age. Do to much it will look like a blue hair old lady. Just ain't right! I've been messing with sodium silicate/ waterglass. Its used in tons of things. Major component in things like rainx and phone screen protector. Curious if something like that would fill the scuffs and give it protective coating....After saying that guess what? I Checked the MSDS on Novus 2 and Silica is it's main ingredient so nevermind!! 😝 That chit is in everything!

[@LyonsArcade]

Must be good Chit! Yeah we try not to 'put spinners on the hubcaps' on these things, you can do some mods and upgrade them a little bit but eventually you end up with a 1957 chevy with spinners on the hubcaps, just don't look right :)

[@ovalteen4404]

As worn as the field is, it's too bad you can't dismantle it and ship it off to be sanded down and repainted :(

[@TheGnomestead]

So what you are sayin' is the PF is 🤮🤮🤮

[@LyonsArcade]

It's got some issues :)