I picked up a basket case Doctor Who in October of 2013. I had a lot of other things that had to get done before I could work on it, so I folded it up and stuck it in the garage. Today I got it back out, it is time to get it working.
My first thought after setting it up was that I’d forgotten how bad it is. My heart sank a little. When I bought it it would not stay powered on and kept resetting. The sound went out as I was looking at it. It basically died in front of me. It is a reimport. Don’t get me wrong, reimport games can be fine. I own another reimport that is a great game. But this one fulfills all the dire warnings about buying a reimport game. Water damage, rust, dirt and grime, a few hacks.
I’ll share some pics of what I have waiting for me. I won’t be restoring this, my intent is to get it playable and cleaned up as much as I can so it will be in Pizza West for the Barry Oursler benefit tournament on April 13th.
We’ll start on the outside. The coin door is trash. I have a replacement.
Electrical tape, silicone caulk at the coin return helping secure the coin mech to the door.
No, the diagnostic buttons don’t work.
Playfield support. The other side of the cabinet is the same. How’d they manage to lose both carriage bolts for the playfield supports?
A few nails to hold the cabinet together.
Silver spray paint on top of rust. There, that’s all better.
Somebody’s butt got wet:
At least it has Lightning flippers, mismatched though.
Okay, we’re now on to about the only good part of the game. The playfield is pretty nice. NBA Fastbreak slingshot plastics are a nice touch:
More playfield:
I have no idea if the motor for the Time Expander works. The whole thing was frozen and would not move. Fingers crossed.
That’s electrical tape at the entrance to the Tim Expander, not a metal strip as it is supposed to be. Cliffy will be getting an email soon.
Now we head inside where a unique smell awaits:
Somebody liberally greased the Time Expander.
Mold:
Here’s how you fix problems with the general illumination:
That’s it. I’ll be tearing into it and trying to get it done.
Update, It’s done!