Complete Terminator 2 Restoration

[Ant-H]

I finally got round to starting the restoration of my T2 this past weekend, and i thought I’d start a build log as it’s my first time attempting to restore a pin and thought it would be a good idea to share my build with you guys and to get some advice if and when I get stuck.

I’ve restored a few arcade machines in the past and with this being only my second pin, which I purchased at the tail end of last year, my initial intention was to do a full playfield strip down, fit some mods and basically use it as a way to learn more about the up keep of these machines and the hobby.

Overall the game was in ok playable condition when I got it. The cabinet had obviously had a hard life, and it had the usual broken plastics, damaged side rails and general heavy wear and tear. So the plan was to strip it down, install new art work, give the playfield a good clean, some powder coating and to replace the plastic/rubbers etc.

Upon closer inspection that plan has slightly evolved since then. There are a few areas on the playfield that has some heavy wear and damage to the clear coat and artwork underneath. So I thought I’d jump right in the deep end and decided I might as well do a full playfield swap as well.

Im estimating this will take me a few months and plan to keep adding updates here, on how it’s coming along and any problems , so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ant-H]

Before I started I wanted to make sure everything was working as it should and enjoy the games for a few months while I also start to a mass all the parts I’ll need.

My knowledge on the boards was very limited at the start of the year but I could tell some things just didn’t look right. There was also some issues with the canon and a few targets.

Over its life it had clearly had some “quick fixes” in order to get it working again when on location. So I asked Bob @pinballtoys to go through all the boards and fix any of the bodges.

Overall there were around 15 blown fuses that had been hot wired instead of actually fixing what was causing them to blow.

Got everything back and have been playing it daily for the past 6 months whilst also learning loads due fixing, soldering and replacing bits and bobs. Which brings me to this past weekend where I started to take it apart

 

[AlanJ]

Enjoy the journey. Take your time

 

[stumblor]

T2 is a fantastic game, and looks great with everything down in Chrome if you did decide to go down that route.

 

[CHRIS B PINBALLS]

Ant if you look back through the shop logs my T2 Chrome edition may be in there it’s some years ago now though

 

[CHRIS B PINBALLS]

3-4 years ago here are some pics

 

[Happypin]

3-4 years ago here are some pics

Chris
me and my brother still talk about this pin, it is a thing of beauty.

 

[Ant-H]

3-4 years ago here are some pics

Thanks Chris. I found your shop log when I was doing some research a couple of months back. It looks awesome.

Are those chrome aprons still available anywhere? As I couldn’t see any in stock online.

 

[CHRIS B PINBALLS]

No most of the parts are no longer available

 

[Ant-H]

T2 is a fantastic game, and looks great with everything down in Chrome if you did decide to go down that route.

I agree, T2 is a great game. It’s the one my wife always plays.

I think I’m going to go with the standard artwork but plan to Chrome quite a bit of it.

 

[Ant-H]

No most of the parts are no longer available

That’s what I thought, which is a shame, as I think the whole set up looks great.

Thats the main reason why I’ll go with the original style decals instead of the chrome edition.

 

[Ant-H]

So this past weekend I managed to disconnect the harness from the back box and remove the playfield.

It actually went better than expected, and following some advice, I took a ton of reference photos.

My plan is to work on the cabinet and back box first, then move onto the playfield swap.

 

[Ant-H]

Managed to get a bit more done today. I removed the legs, side rails and all other metal work from the cabinet, which really shows the damage to the decals. The plan is to strip all the decals this weekend so that I can start the filler work next week.

I also decided to completely strip the inside of the cabinet instead of masking it all up. I made sure I took a ton of photos so that I know how it all goes back

 

[Ant-H]

I started early today and managed to get all the decals removed from the cabinet. What a slow job!

Ive just finished sanding down the back box which actually took longer than I expected. I think this was due to the years of touch up paint all over it.

 

[Ant-H]

After I removed all the decals, it revealed past filler work on the top corners of the back box as well as some previous repairs to the corners at the front of the cabinet.

I’ve re-glued and pinned the piece of wood to the inside of the cabinet where the the rear glass rail fits as it had come away.

At some point someone has tried to pull the corners in with screws, however both sides have opened up. After doing some research, I read that it’s really important to get the corners nice and square so that when it comes to install the new side art, both sides line up with the front decal.

So I run some wood glue down each corner and countersunk 70mm screws in, which has done the trick.

Ive had enough for today though as it’s roasting, but the plan is start the filler work tomorrow.

 

[Ant-H]

I finished scraping off all the left over glue last night with a Stanley blade and white spirit followed by a quick sand over.

For the filler work, I decided to start with the back box as it had the most damage, especially to the top corners. I went pretty thick with the wood filler for the first run as I found from using it on another project it sands off nicely. I’ve been using 80, 120 then 240 grit sanding discs to get a smooth finish.

Im probably going abit OTT with it as I’m going over it with a fine tooth comb to make sure there are no little holes or nicks that will show through when the new artwork is applied.

So far I’ve done 4 rounds of filler then sanding on the back box and I’m pretty happy at the way it’s looking.

Once I’m happy with this I’ll crack on with the main cabinet.

 

[AlanJ]

what’s your filler?

 

[Ant-H]

what’s your filler?

Its Ronseal 2 part wood filler. I’ve used it before on some of my arcade restorations and I find that it doesn’t shrink or crack, you can build it nicely if needed and sands really easily.

Usually sets in about 20 to 30 minutes but with temperature today it was more like 2 to 3 minutes

 

[AlanJ]

 

[James]

That's a lot of filler, unlike this...

 

[Ant-H]

Yeah I went OTT on the back box. Those front top corners were really bad.

 

[Ant-H]

Fill, sand, repeat……..that’s been my entire day

Really pleased though with how the main cabinet is looking. The corners are now looking nice and sharpe.

I used the same method of 120 grit followed by 240 grit sand paper, then run my hand over it, and if I could feel a slight dip, I added a thin layer of filler and sanded again!

It now feels super smooth. I’m going to give both the back box and cabinet a final sand with 400 grit paper before I start painting.

The artwork has been ordered and the black paint should be here on Monday, so the plan is to get everything painted this week so that it has plenty of time to dry, and then I can crack on with the new artwork when it arrives.

 

[Ant-H]

Next job on the list was to replace the rear sliders/skid rails on the back of the cabinet as the ones I took off weren’t great but obviously served there purpose.

I found the closet sheet of timber in regards to thickness and then cut it down into 2 lengths. I then cut the same angles at either end so they matched the originals.

I glued and pinned them in place and then undercoated the areas that will be painted with a black primer.

The black topcoat paint that I ordered for the cabinet arrived this week. Ive never used this particular brand of paint before so not sure how it’s going to look.

 

[Pick Holder]

I used wudfil as it has served me well on guitar repairs. It doesnt move much even after spraying over and time sets in....

Cabinet is all prep and a couple of hours fitting the decals.

Take your time.

I would personally do the front door first then match the sides when decaling.

Again - take your time. I would recommend doing decals the wet method.

The whole pinball machine has had a hard life. The boards are hacked but a lot of operators did this - and once you start the home repairs then its not going to improve.

If you sent me those boards for repair I probably would just say buy a new DMD board (you wont need the HV section IF you put in a colordmd/pin2dmd)..... Buy a new CPU board..... Do what you can with the power driver.

Or if it all actually works - just replace the bad header pins and keep using it until it messes up and then replace.

Myself and the other engineers on here all prefer to repair boards that have not been bodged! Sometimes bad repairs cause more issues.

 

[Ant-H]

I would personally do the front door first then match the sides when decaling.

Again - take your time. I would recommend doing decals the wet method.

Thanks for the advice on doing the front door first. I really want the lines on the decals to line up as much as possible.

Yes my plan was to give the wet method a go. I’ve not done this method before but have done a previous arcade cabinet in the dry method and to be honest it was not a good experience .

 

[Ant-H]

The whole pinball machine has had a hard life. The boards are hacked but a lot of operators did this - and once you start the home repairs then its not going to improve.

If you sent me those boards for repair I probably would just say buy a new DMD board (you wont need the HV section IF you put in a colordmd/pin2dmd)..... Buy a new CPU board..... Do what you can with the power driver.

Or if it all actually works - just replace the bad header pins and keep using it until it messes up and then replace.

Myself and the other engineers on here all prefer to repair boards that have not been bodged! Sometimes bad repairs cause more issues.

Yes the machine had clearly had a hard life.

I know what you mean about boards being butchered. As you can see below my Judge Dredd cpu had been hacked to an inch of its life and wasn’t worth fixing.


View attachment 143287
All the boards were working when I got the T2 but I sent them to pinballtoys
and Bob did a great job in sorting out the previous hacks.

Everything has been working great for the past 6 months but I’ve got a spare new cpu board should the original fail.

I’ve a pinsound board to install and the plan is to get a colour dmd as well.

Thanks again for the advice

 

[Ant-H]

I finished painting the cabinet and back box last night. The new art set was delivered as well, and the colours and quality seems really good. I suppose I won’t know for sure until I see if the sides line up with the front.

I’m going to let the paint fully dry today and then fit the new decals tomorrow.

 

[replicas]

Looks like you need the warning text screened on that back box.
Don't get to involved in getting the front decal matching up with the sides most just don't match up at all, the biggest culprit being Indy Jones.

 

[Ant-H]

Looks like you need the warning text screened on that back box.
Don't get to involved in getting the front decal matching up with the sides most just don't match up at all, the biggest culprit being Indy Jones.

Yes, my plan is to screen print the warning text on the back box, once I’ve finished the decals, though I’ve done tried it before so I’m not sure how it will go.

Thanks for the advice on lining up the decals, I didn’t know this was a common issue. As long as they are not miles out, I’ll be happy.

 

[CHRIS B PINBALLS]

Most decal don’t line up and didn’t from factory