1976 SONIC FACES REBUILD

[ddstoys]

Well i couldnt help myself said i wasnt going to do anymore until the shed was finished but too bad. 
Here is a French EM from 1976 called Faces  this was purchased from mark missing the backglass and looking really average the original plan was to swap bodies and repaint it in my own design like that BIG DICK pinball.    I had wanted to get this machine for that reason since i first seen it there but getting it down over top of $30 - $40 grand worth of machines really put me off.   So while the show room had a few holes in it we got it down.   

Once i got it home and accessed the machine its was in to good condition for me to go destroying it for something id probably never finish so i decided to keep it original and get it going

The cabinet was split apart the bottom picture shows a crack that was right through but came back together well once i tightened the brackets some one had added to hold it together

[ddstoys]

Well i started the same way i do with all my ems i removed the Base board and and playfield then cleaned and adjusted all the relay switches, rebuilt the Stepper units and checked for faults

[ddstoys]

Then the dreaded part rebuilding all the score reels, steppers and relays in the head.  Everything was going well until i rebuilt the player stepper unit. It didnt want to reset but with all those wipers i cant really blame it.  Everyhing worked when i left the wiper plate loose but it wasnt very accurate so i cut up an old stepper unit and used the notched washers to keep the disc further away from the unit but still allowing me to do it up tight.

[pinballist]

Wow how chockers is the underside of the playfield!?!  I had to look twice because it almost looks as full as the baseboard.

Looks like your shed renovation is gonna be a while Daniel ;)

[ddstoys]

Once id finished rebuilding all of the above it was time for the the new cord and the big test.   So i plugged it in and sure enough it clicked into life almost first go.  Still needed a few switch adjustments on some reels but she was going again.

So i started to rebuild the playfield here are some before shots

[MartyJ]

Awesome work Daniel.

I saw the condition of this pin before you did anything and I thought it would be parted.

Fantastic stuff!  Great to see another one saved!...

[ddstoys]

Shouldnt be to long Evro this machine is finished already hopefully ill start the shed next weekend depending on the weather

First two pics are with the plastics removed

3rd and 4th show with the rest removed.  I didnt remove the wire forms on this as they are welded to are threaded and have a bolt attached under the playfield wasnt worth the risk of snapping them.   I also left the mylar intact as it looked pretty good and also didnt want to risk doing more damage

[ddstoys]

After a quick blow down and a wet wipe it started looking pretty good there was no wear under the dust anywhere

[ddstoys]

Novus 2 doesnt show a great improvment in the photos but really cleaned up alot of builtup crud from mylar edges and around the pop bumpers

[ddstoys]

Well after a coat of wax (first 2 photos) was time to re populate the playfield.   While i was cleaning the playfield up i had the son inside cleaning the posts.

As a way to keep him interested in Pinball i got him his own little toolbox and as he learns to do something im giving him his very own tools he needs to do the jobs.  So far he has Spanners for the Leg bolts, Headbox, Acorn nuts and Playfield screws. And screw drivers

[ddstoys]

Next up was replace the globes and the polished plastics.   

  Like most globe holders of this age there stuffed so i got out the dremel with a small stone bit and cleaned out the insides of the sockets and hard wired the non working globes

[ddstoys]

Here are some ball views of the progress

[ddstoys]

Then the problem of the missing backglass .   I had a search through my backglasses and thought i had found one that would fill the hole but once inplace the digit spacing was out (ONLY JUST) So i decided to have a go at making my own.  I found a photo of what it should have looked like on IPDB and set to work resizing it in PSP then printing it out.  Once id taped all the pieces together it looked pretty good so i got 2 pieces of perspex cut to size.  On one piece i taped the picture and on the other piece i used to block out the light where i didnt want it and to create the Game over and tilt etc.

Obviously doesn't look great but at least it fills the hole and makes the game usable

The 3rd image is the IPDB picture i blew up came out pretty good fro such a small pic

[ddstoys]

And here it is Ready to go on legs.  This machine has already found a new home its amazing how easy it is to find space for a working pinball

[ajlaird]

Wow, who would have thought - the playfield was actually very nice under all that dust. And to get it working again so easily (a somewhat subjective term).

And that fake backglass works pretty well, too.

Great job.