Hi Folks,

In a couple of weeks I'll be starting a full restoration on a HH.  The electronics and mechanical is no sweat for me, but I'm having a reproduction backglass made by a friend who specializes in hi rez digital illustratration.  I plan on keeping the game but am curious as to what the group thinks the effect will be on the resale value of the game.  The new backglass will look amazing, but we are going to sandwich a hi rez transparency between two pieces of plexi, so it won't be silkscreen like an original.  The original backglass is pretty bad, so for my personal taste it's a no brainer, just curious as to how the community views this approach.

Cheers,

Christopher

I have an extra HH backglass with some issues.  If you do not want to repro it, send me an e-mail.

Will probably looks good for you... as for resale, i dont think not having a real backglass for it will be a asset, people wants original parts, or at least if its a repro, they want it made the same way as the original.

i usually fix things for me, not for resale so if you like it, is all that matters  

Congrats for getting a collectable pinball!

System 80 (especially that one) needs to be redone right to work reliably (grounds & connectors, pop-bumper mods, etc.). Thankfully there are now a lot of information resources on the web, some quite opiniated, but all great info.
This game has great background organ music and sounds, in addition to the fun three levels.
Steve Young (The Pinball Resource) has repro drop targets, etc.

With regards to a backglass, if you want to keep the game, sure, all to you if you can get a decent repro 'home-made'.
However, most collectors would want to purchase an original glass in great conditions, thus the value of a machine without an original (or quality official repro) backglass would be affected, up to the price of the replacement backglass.

In my opinion, go ahead with your glass, but keep an eye on eBay and on Mr.Pinball Parts For Sale Classifieds in case a decent original Backglass turns-up.
Haunted House is a machine well-worth investing into due to its usually high resale value (when in good shape and reliably working with mods done professionally)

... just my two cents from a long-time collector/hobbyist...

Good luck!
Regards,
- Sylvain

 Are you going to be able to print it properly so the lighting bolts will show?  PB Resouce make a Reporduction back glass, but they sold out quickly, there is a chance that they may run it again, if you can wait??
I've never worried alot about moving pinball machines, but when I brought my Haunted House home I was a wreck, worring about the BG, I think that one of the most important things about a machine is the BG, playfields can be repianted, or replaced, but it's usually the BG that it the part that holds up most restorations. When I buy a machine the BG weights in heavy as a factor, if I buy the machine or not.

Dave is right the back glass is really cool with the lightning that won be easy to do if using the process you described. personally i think plexy will ruin the lighting effect completely always looks dull and may yellow with the heat in time. i would be hunting for a original better quality one and suffer with current, till a good one is found. dont want to miss out on the lightning is the best part

Thanks for the advice/opinions.  I'm a skilled technican, and I'm well aware of the Sys80 mods/problems that await me so that's the least of my problems.  I've decided to do a full restoration on this game which will involve a full cleaning and paint touch up (frisket and airbrush), as well as the usual rubbers and lamps.  It'll get a set of repro drop targets as well.

As a newbie I was under the impression that the back glass would be plexi.  If it is supposed to be glass, then I'll do the same process I described using glass.  Since this will not be good enough for resale, I'm going ahead and having the image modified by a professional illustratrator (and close personal friend) to have my wifes face put on the lady in the doorway.  He will do it so it looks original.  If she ever wants to sell the machine, we'll either include the original glass in the condition it's in, or find a good one.

Cheers

The Pinball Resource reproductions were made of plexi, as a cost cutting measure, but the originals were glass.

You are probably aware but System 80's are known to be problem children... lots of work to correct the original design flaws.  For some unknown reason, I semm to have accumulated a bunch of them in the last few months... all needing work. The first thing I did was order the "This Old Pinball" 2 DVD repair set for Haunted House/Black Hole.  It is worth every penny.

by the way, did you get the US model or the German model?  I think there are some slight differences.

I don't know if it was the german or us model, I don't have it in my possession, how can you tell?  Was the German model made in the US for Germany or was it made in Germany. I'm hoping it's the US model because I have to bring it accross the boarder and there's no duty on US made goods but I'll likely have to pay if it was made in Europe.

I'll probably order the DVD's.  I have already downloaded and printed all the repair info I can get my hands on, including the service manual, this old pinball repair info, and other bits.

Thanks for the heads up

Christopher

I believe the coin doors were different?  I don't really recall.  I just remember reading something about differences in some of the System 80 manuals.

They were all made in the USA... some were exported to Europe.  As an example, the German version of the Kiss pinball has a different backglass.

The marvin(cliff) stuff is great but it is much more enjoyable to actually see it.

I found doing the pop bumper board updates made a huge difference and made the game alot more fun.
I have a question for you.Are you going to Frisket and air brush the playfield or just the cabinet?and if so please include before and after photo`s as I am seriously consindering doing this to a spare playfield I have.

Both.  The cabinet will be a cakewalk, judging by the photo's it only needs a bit of work, and I may just tape it for the touch up.  I haven't found a source for cabinet stensils yet, but if I do, I may repaint the whole cabinet, I don't know yet.  The playfield for sure, as I'm not likely to find a mint playfield at all let alone one at a reasonable price, and again by the photo's I've seen its just the area's around the pop bumpers and the cellar exit that are in need of touch up.

When you say the pop bumber board mods made a big difference, I'm assuming you mean the driver boards?  I haven't read all the material yet, but I thought it was just to improve the reliability.  If it actully makes the pop bumpers work better, for sure I'll do the upgrade.  This is the thisoldpinball system80 modification?

Now if I could only get the game in my hands I'd be off!

Cheers,

Christopher

Yes!! I was referring to the pop bumper driver boards.I did the recommended up grades for them( Marvin3.com,Clay`s site) and ***the optional upgrades***I found them quite abit stronger making for a faster game.Its like a williams pop bumper when your done, awsome!!
If memory serves you just change a Cap and Resister to different values,but I`ll let you check it out becuase its been a couple years since I`ve done it.

 I may do stencils of mine one day... The art on mine is near perfect, but the wood itself needs a little work. I just use a large sheet of acetate (of which I have plenty...), trace it, and cut it with an x-acto knife.

 Takes a lot of time, but works pretty good. I would like to start doing some sets for different machines for the hell of it... just never got around to it. Depending on the complexity, it can take a good 4 hours to get a set done. One machine I did in the past took me 8 hours... ouch...

 And yes, the pop bumper mods are amazing!! Really worth it.

Sparky