Shop Jobs

The subject of POTC, and how to make $$$ to get one came up on RGP and this was the following conversation quoted from icetre

I’m going to be pretty in the hole when POTC comes in, and some have
inquired about my restore services. Rather than reply individually, I
figured I’d post my rates and descriptions directly.
Obviously since I’m in the hole, I prefer CASH, but I will consider
trades, and much like I’m doing for Marcus, I’m willing to talk about
working on multiple machines, for a trade worth more than a single
service being rendered. IE, I’ll decent restore 3 machines for your
demo man.

Prices are estimates: But this isn’t a real business for me, so you can
be pretty sure it’s going to be whatever I tell you. IE decent restore
of a Cirqus, I’ll estimate at $500, and that’s the price you’ll pay. If
it is going to change for some reason, I will call and inform you of
the problem, the reason for the change in price, and change in price. But
within reason, I’m pretty fair, and if I said 500, and it takes an
extra hour, oh well.

If you’ve been to Marcus’s house, you’ve seen some examples of my work.

His getaway (no cab work was done) is a fairly decent shop, and the
Whodunnit, was a spot clean.

Obviously, the better the starting platform, the better (and cheaper)
the results will be. I in no way claim, I can take that auction
junkyard dog, you’ve purchased, and turn it in to HUO. I’m a hard worker, and a
talented engineer. But I’m no miracle worker. ;)

I usually charge 500 for a decent restore. If you want the CH
treatment, without clearcoating, I charge 1k, and with clear tack
another 500 (hey it’s a *LOT* of work to get all those parts off the
board so you can spray.)

For a Spot clean, and shop, I’d have to see what the deal with the
table was, but I’d go 150~200 for something average. Figure 35-50 for parts
depending on what all you want done.

The decent restore is a fairly decent deal for you, it’s a terrible
deal for me, considering in my main line of business I make $50/hour, and in
this sideline I make like $2/hour. ;)

Usually included in a decent restore:

Ball shooter and kickout lanes sanded clean, and repaired, refinished
to a nice butter soft shine using a 30 coat process (usually 40-50 before
I’m satisfied.)
average repair on upkicker holes (spider hole, slot machine, etc) is
included, but as this requires art repair, and the art repair is best
effort
All mechanics repaired (parts extra)
All topside hardware tumbled
Flame polish ramps
Full teardown, of the playfield, and cleaning of every topside part, 3
step polish of the playfield to a mirror like shine, rebuild.
Small cabinet problems, (ie chips, delamination at the corners, etc)
repaired, but major carpentry is extra.
Ball trough, cleaned and burrs filed

Also much like CH, I take pictures, and usually for my convience, it’s
just easier to put them up on my website, which you can access from
home, giving you the benefit of seeing the progress on your pin as it
is restored. These pictures remain on the website, but are also burned to
cd-rom, and you recieve with your finished pin. This is a great asset,
as if you ever need to know what color a wire leading to the 3rd
flipper coil lug is red or orange, you have a reference.

*Also I have some general policies*

Any part that ends up in my hand, ends up disassembled and cleaned
any part that remains on the board untouched does not. (pop bumpers are
a usual example, they almost never get totally rebuilt, cause they
don’t usually need it.)

EVERY part on the topside is disassembled and cleaned in a restore,
always.

This is a best effort service, and I as such can not be held
responsible, if say a part that’s irreplaceable falls apart in my
hands. (never happened before on big stuff though I have lost for instance, a
pop bumper spoon, and I’ve cracked a plastic once. Just making sure I
limit my liability. I mean, this is 10 year old PET plastic we’re
talking about here, it can be very brittle in many cases.)

I don’t transport the tables, you bring them to me, in my shop in
I’m willing to transport but that’s extra and best effort
(never hurt a table, yet…) .

I don’t regrain metal ramps. If it fits in the polisher great if not it
gets cleaned and that’s it

I don’t do EM’s

I don’t take any responsibility for mylar removal. I’ll do it, but you
sign a contract that I’m not responsible no matter what happens mylar
removal and cleanup is extra. It can be a lot of work also (TZ full
mylar takes about 5 nerve wracking hours to 1 to pull and about 4
scraping every surface with a pool of goo gone and a plastic razor
blade)

Decent restore is can be applied to most pins, except TZ. TZ is the
biggest nightmare of a shop job I’ve ever done. Seriously. It was like
3 in one. I’ll only do it as a Full restore, but then you get sanding,
interior cab repainting, and pretty much every surface cleaned, wire
loom cleaning, all parts, top and bottom clean and repaired, boards
cleaned, etc etc etc.

Insert Leveling is extra Again, no liability, best effort.

I’ll do minor PF touchups, but I’m no artist.. If your really picky,
you might be better off sending the board to a restorer/clearcoater, such
as Bill Davis. I feel I do a serviceable job in most cases, but I can’t
repair major problems, Only minor spots. I’ll tell you if I can do it
on a case by case basis. I have examples of what I can do. Once again,
best effort.

Cab Decals are extra $300 plus the label for the whole cab, quote for
single pieces

Cab stenciling is 500 plus the stencil

So what does your shop job entail?