Batman '89 Pinball Overhaul: Episode 4

Cary Hardy·video·11m 25s·analyzed·Oct 13, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.013

TL;DR

Batman '89 restoration ep.4: playfield rebuild, decal quality concerns, pop bumpers cleaned.

Summary

Cary Hardy continues his Batman '89 pinball restoration (Episode 4), documenting detailed playfield rebuilding work including motor lubrication, decal replacement, pop bumper reconstruction, power supply upgrade, rubber/post replacement, and ramp reassembly. He encounters a product quality issue with low-tackiness decals from a supplier (Marco), requiring improvisation with double-sided tape, and notes missing components in a Tilt Pinball kit purchase.

Key Claims

Decals provided by Marco have very low tackiness and may not adhere properly to playfield surfaces under repeated ball impact
high confidence · Cary Hardy, directly observed during decal installation work on Batman '89 restoration
Tilt Pinball all-black rubber kit was missing required slingshot rubbers for the Batman '89 game
high confidence · Cary Hardy, discovered during playfield assembly phase
Pop bumper carbon yoke was locked with Loctite (or similar), requiring the rod to be cut rather than removed
high confidence · Cary Hardy, first-time experience during pop bumper rebuild
Replacement pop bumper components in certain colors may be difficult to source; blue is more common than yellow
medium confidence · Cary Hardy, anecdotal observation during bumper repair

Notable Quotes

“There's like little to no tackiness on the back side of it. It gives me fear that if all the decals are going to be this lack of tackiness on it, it's not very tacky at all. There's no way that's going to stick to this thing and then take pinballs to it repeatedly without just falling the hell off.”
Cary Hardy @ early-mid video — Identifies a product quality/reliability concern with aftermarket decal supplier
“I had to snip him in order to get it off the damn thing I never had that happen before”
Cary Hardy @ pop bumper rebuild section — Notes unexpected manufacturing/assembly practice (Loctite) in original machine that complicated restoration
“So this is what we're going to do. We're going to be using super glue. this is going to be basically our catalyst for uh essentially welding the plastic pieces back together again”
Cary Hardy @ bumper component repair section — Restoration improvisation technique for broken plastic bumper parts
“So I took a chance and ordered just an all-black kit that someone put together, and evidently it did not have these rubbers right here in that particular kit.”
Cary Hardy @ slingshot assembly section — Experience with incomplete aftermarket kit from Titan Pinball
“if I've never said this before, I'm going to say it again which I know I have, and that is to take plenty of pictures before you go disassembling things”
Cary Hardy @ ramp reassembly section — Restoration best practice advice based on personal learning experience

Entities

Cary HardypersonBatman '89gameMarcopersonTilt Pinballcompany

Signals

?
restoration_signal: Low-tackiness decal adhesion requiring improvised double-sided tape solution; potential reliability concern if widespread across all decals in kit
high · Direct observation of decal adhesion failure requiring workaround during Batman '89 playfield restoration
?
product_concern: Titan Pinball all-black rubber kit missing slingshot rubbers; creator had to supplement from personal stock
high · Cary Hardy's discovery during playfield assembly that kit did not include all required components
?
restoration_signal: Difficulty sourcing replacement pop bumper components in desired color (yellow); blue more readily available
medium · Cary Hardy's anecdotal observation that replacement bumpers commonly found in blue, not yellow; used super-glue welding technique as alternative
?
operational_signal: Emphasis on photography before disassembly to aid complex reassembly; lack of documentation required web research and video review to reconstruct ramp assembly correctly
high · Cary Hardy's explicit commentary on importance of pre-disassembly documentation for ramp work
?
design_philosophy: Restorer choosing color schemes (yellow/black theme, gradient post colors, mirror-finish bumper rings, LED color selection) to enhance visual appeal beyond original spec
high · Multiple instances of Cary selecting orange/yellow post gradients, mirror finishes, and warm LED colors for aesthetic improvement

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.034

0:00

All right, so we've got the motor dropped. We're going to get this all cleaned up, make this look a little better, add a new coat of lubrication to this portion that goes inside here that you can't really see very well. And then we're going to be dropping this down so I can clean and replace the decal that is on this portion up here. So that'll look nice and new again. All right, so this entire area right here is pretty damn close to dry as a bone. So we're going to fix that, make it a little more smoother as it's doing its job and less likely to wear and tear on this little device. Now comes the fun part of scraping off this old stuff right here and putting on the new stuff. So this decal that Marco provides, there's like little to no tackiness on the back side of it. It gives me fear that if all the decals are going to be this lack of tackiness on it, it's not very tacky at all. There's no way that's going to stick to this thing and then take pinballs to it repeatedly without just falling the hell off. I'm trying to keep from cursing, but I'm a little upset that this is kind of a pour. It just won't stick to it. So I'm going to have to improvise here and we're going to see if maybe some double sided tape will do the job. I'm hoping it's just this one that's like this because if they're all like that, no, that's not going to work. Then we'll be getting our money back for that.

1:56

Alright, so with the assistance of double-sided tape over here, and I had to trim it with a razor blade around the edges to make sure we didn't have any loose stuff around the edges, it looks to be holding pretty good.

2:13

So, I think we should be okay. but like I said I'm hoping that this is just a one-off because if the rest of the stickers are like this and that's not gonna be good especially for the ramp so I'm rebuilding the pop bumpers and this was a first time for me but I was unable to remove the damn rod from the carbon yoke right here this thing was just lock tied it on there or something so I had to snip him in order to get it off the damn thing I never had that happen before So I got all new parts for this and we gonna get everything all cleaned up by going to the ultrasonic get all this Coil dust all wiped off and everything and make sure that these pop bumpers are nice and sensitive

6:04

This no longer has any kind of movement and dripping down or anything. Look at this door. Beautiful. All right, so here we have the new power supply. The new hotness is going to be going into this machine. And then this thing should be much more reliable. looks pretty sexy nice and clean front and back reassembly has begun we're starting with this corner over here with the museum we've got the door installed and now we've got new rubbers and new posts these are pretty dang cheap guys even on a budget I still recommend them buying all new you can clean the old ones I used to but it's just easier just to buy new so I'm going with orange yellow and clear I usually do all clear but I want to do a combination of all these I think I'm going to do more clear down near the flipper so you've got more light but up here where there's gonna be like fire and stuff like that with all the explosions coming on I'm gonna be doing the orange and yellow motif going on up there so yeah and we're swapping out with leds along the way so that's where we're at and just one ziploc bag at a time all right giving a play field update on the install right here pretty much just got this portion right here assembled around the flipper area both sides and on this side right here assembled. Yep that's what we're working on right now. So I've got clear going right here and I've got clear going over here on the posts but as we go further up I've got a yellow and basically it's gonna be kind of like a fade to the orange. So you're gonna have white that's gonna be down here and then further up in the middle of the plate it's gonna go yellow post and then up here it's gonna be orange so in my head it looks like it's gonna be okay but I guess we'll find out eventually play field update we're up to right here getting the slingshots all put together this side put together and this is something that you guys need to I mean Titan pinball they warn you that when you select a certain kit that it may not be everything that you going to need for that particular kit That's why they have a review system for you to leave reviews and say that you're missing this or whatever and stuff like that. So I took a chance and ordered just an all-black kit that someone put together, and evidently it did not have these rubbers right here in that particular kit. So I'm having to pull from my stock on a lot of things. to make it work. I mean, I decided to go with yellow right here and I don't really know yet, but we'll see how it goes. I mean, that's the colors that I think this game should have is like a yellow and black theme obviously, because you know, yellow and black. So that's where we're at. Man, we're about to start working on this area up here now. All right, here is where we are at. Play field is pretty much assembled. We just got a couple of more large objects to go, and that is, of course, the Mac Daddy ramp that spirals all the way around to here, and the Batcave entrance right here. That's the last piece of this puzzle. For now, we need to take this ramp and get it all re-decaled and everything, and then we'll put this thing back on the game. Alright guys, so if I've never said this before, I'm going to say it again which I know I have, and that is to take plenty of pictures before you go disassembling things. I evidently didn't take any pictures of this ramp before I took it all apart. So this took a lot longer than I would have liked it taken because I had to go surfing the web to find images go through my previous video recordings to figure out how to reassemble these things make sure I put the decals in the correct orientation and where they're supposed to go but uh everything's back together upgraded the LED you these are these are all sunlight or warm water think or something at sunlight so we're all back together again ready to be installed but I'm going to go about reinforcing these this entryway right here before I go and do that but everything on this ramp should be good to go