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I honestly don't know where to start or the order in which to display this playfield strip as there was a LOT to it and a lot I could show you. I pretty much replaced everything on this playfield or repaired parts or added bits, there has been no stone left unturned , I want you to try and take notice of the little things I changed like the playfield rubber posts, the target colours etc. All ramps apart from one were replaced, 4 of the 5 replacements are brand new ramps and the only ramp not being remade is the Insanity Falls ramp which I managed to find a NICE second hand one in Canada which I had mailed out. Also look for the 1%er's that I added - like where ramps normally join with self tapping screws I changed that to small nuts / bolts and spring washers to try and help prevent future splitting or things like the 'donuts' I added under the washers on the boulders to try and help the mountains cope with ball hits a little better. Don't get me wrong, the playfield surface itself was / is in outstanding condition with no wear apart from the two common area's but overall the surface is FANTASTIC, it was just that everything bolted to it needed attention.
So I will start these pages with random photos of 'ordinary' sections of the old playfield and throughout these pages that follow you can see this machine evolve into the REALLY nice example it has become today. Enjoy
This game is predominantly " blue " and is 'water themed' but the stock version has green targets, white targets, blue targets, red targets, yellow posts, black posts etc etc .....so I knew when I restored this game I wanted to ' lose ' some of those colours and make it more " blue " oriented. Below is the entrance to No Way Out where you shoot the ball to get to the top playfield and also to lock the balls for Multiball, here is just a few of the problems I saw in this area alone that I wanted to fix or change. The 2 targets in shot cop an absolute belting on WH20 and the ramp entrys behind the red target and the yellow post were also busted up, I wanted to install Cliffy's protectors for my new ramps when I re-built this area as well. You may spot wear around the 2nd LOCK and at the Wet Willie insert as well.
Next is some examples of the beautiful clean ramps that were on the game, not only were they all cracked at the entries they had the nice black look to them. And ( to me ) those red targets had to go, I know they are on the game to match the playfield inserts colours relative to the target but I didn't want them.
Apart from the muddy ramps and the crappy 'screw job' holding them together there isnt really 'faults in this next picture, just wanted to highlight another thing I noticed and wanted to change. The bare timber under the 'upper to lower' ramp really stood out so I decided to paint this black when I stripped the playfield so it would blend in/ not be so noticeable. Now you will get the idea of the filth I discovered underneath the top playfield and the condition of the ramps. Here is the top playfield stripped - notice the spot where the ball drops back onto the playfield and the general grime. Lucky for me there was a small piece of mylar there which I was able to remove, then clean this right up and colour match a paint that I used to fix this area up even though it isn't visible to the player Righteo then - now here is the experts way of fixing a busted ramp where a switch is normally installed, you take some cable ties and snap off a piece of black plastic in a random shape from 'somewhere' then you use all of that to tie it to anywhere you can so that the switch sits too low....on the wrong angle .....blocks the ball path .......and doesnt work - yeah that's it !
And below is just to give you an overall idea of the upper playfield ball marks and dirt trails You may have seen my broken mountains at my Mountain Repair page - but if not - then here they are There is a complete Boulder missing - I didn't even realise that at first and then had to hunt one down.
Below is the Whirlpool area stripped, it was just dirty and the plastics needed the Novus treatment. This dirty piece of mylar will be removed. So follow the 'playfield' links below to see these areas all fixed up OR you can go back to my Main WH20 Page via the link below where you will find individual pages on all of the repairs that I carried out.
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