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OK, this is the last page of the Flash
cabinet re-build, once you have read through this page after reading the
previous two cabinet re-build pages you should have a good idea about what
goes in to doing a project like this one. You can then make the choice if you
want to give it a try. Look, as a worst case scenario you will spend the equivalent of about $250Australian Dollars and about 2 weekends on this job, if you stuff it up you at least have the original machine to use and you will at least have had a go and who knows.....you may discover that you are a little handier than you think, I certainly did ! I will show a few shots on this page of the playfield rests in place, how I cut and drill the holes for the leg bolts to go through and how I cut the trench for the plastic rails that hold the playfield glass in place, nothing really exciting but stuff you need to know if you take this on. I will also show you some pictures of the cabinet re-paint here, and remember that you can always email me for help.
The first important thing to do is to measure off the old cabinet the distance between the centers of the bolt holes, then simply mark them on your new cabinet, then using a Dremel Tool or similar with a tubular sanding piece attached, sand out a shape as shown in the 1st shot above, remember that this area will be hidden by the legs so a mistake here will not be visible. In the 2nd shot you can see how deep I sanded that section out to. This sanded out section will have to end up round enough to fit a 10-12mm drill bit inside it at a later step. Once you feel that you have those done properly, get a small drill bit and drill a 'pilot' hole in the dead centre of each of these spots as in the shot shown below, this is safer than just wedging a dirty big drill bit in and going for it, this way you have a spot to aim your larger drill bit into, without having it slip out and hit the plywood and possibly tearing it. try your best to drill this at the correct angle and keep it straight. After this you should be able to grab a leg bolt and it will slide straight through these holes. Obviously now all you have left to do is to nail the backing plate .
Nothing too exciting here, just copy the sizes exactly as per the old machine, remember to angle down the far ends for the playfield to slide down into place easier and do NOT try and cheat by using straight strips if the old machine had cut outs in one side then copy it exactly ( the cutouts are to allow for target assemblies to fit in place when the playfield is sitting on the rests, I found this out the hard way on my Gorgar cabinet rebuild).
This horrible job was done by me using a drill type cutting blade with the Dremel Tool, just cut a trench straight down the middle of the plywood that is about 3mm wide and about 5mm deep, it will take a steady hand and a bit of time. If you have a router with the correct blade it would be absolutely simple, but so far I have used this method without going to the expense of a router and bits. I have read of other people using "biscuit cutters" for this job. I solidly suggest a face mask and eye protection if you are contemplating this task as I was still finding woodchips in my hair about 3 weeks after this explosive event !! This groove is cut on the top of each side panel of the cabinet and is used to house the long plastic strip that your playfield glass slides into. Nowadays I own a router which can do this job and I believe that a biscuit cutter is also effective for this but I have never tried that tool.
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