The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Restorations => Topic started by: vinito on January 12, 2009, 03:32:32 PM
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I didn't take much for "before" pictures, but you can imagine 15 years of recent dust and 10 more or so years of nicotine bar scene piled inside and out.
First order of business was to make the electronics work. The MPU was corroded pretty bad, but the rebuild kit from Great Plains electronics contained most of what I needed. Just a half-dozen more simple components beyond the kit and I had what I needed. I reinforced many degraded traces so it's not visually pretty, but it solid now and has a remote battery. Had the wrong sound ROM installed so got a new one from John Wart and the sounds are much better now.
Rebuilt the rectifier board and reinforced grounds & such as per Clay's guide. Replaced some components on the voltage regulator area too.
Did a thorough shop job. Removed everything off the playfield so it was totally bare on top. Cleaned all the posts with a toothbrush & novus, polished all the metal parts and screw heads, polished all the plastics & pop caps. Replaced the skirts, bodies and spoons and most of the flipper parts. There were several loose things on the playfield that are now solid again. All new sleeves and a couple coil stops. Cleaned & waxed the playfield and installed all new rubber of course. New slingshot plastic hook thingies (don't know what they're called, but it's the white piece that contacts the sling rubber).
There were a couple switches that had the diode clipped leaving them open and dead, so that's fixed now. Half a dozen feature lamps had broken crimp connectors at the plug end so replaced those. Replaced all the bulbs.
Cleaned the back side of the backglass. Man that was grungy, but it cleaned up nice. Looks like new again.
Cleaned up the cabinet with a good cleaner.
I guess it's done! Plays very snappy now and it's pretty fun.
It was interesting and entertaining, but I tend to get obsessive near the end of a shop job and other important things get put off, so I'm extremely glad this project is done.
Woohoooooo!
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Looks great Vinito ^^^
Always loved the artwork on NGS, guess it helps that I love drag racing, especially the Top Fuelers something that you have to see (feel) to believe.
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nicely done mate!! $#$
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A really nice looking pinball !
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Thanks for the kudos
something that you have to see (feel) to believe.
Indeed. I always thought this detail of the backglass captured the moment.
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First rate old chap!
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Great work Vinito!
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... first maintenance call.
When I hauled the game to my brother's place, he was of course excited about having a pin in his apartment (which is fairly spacious so it fits in nicely). He was blown away by how vibrant it looked after some TLC and a few new parts. I played it for several days just to make sure it was solid, but of course within just a few minutes the displays started freaking out, and by the time I left a few globes were already burned out. I left him a couple boxes of bulbs but he didn't feel comfortable digging in and replacing them himself yet.
So last night I went over finally to fix things up. Just one broken crimp connector was causing the display problem, so that was an easy fix. I walked him through bulb replacement so he feels OK doing that himself now. One of the flipper solenoid wires had broken loose shortly after delivery too, so I soldered that back up and the thing was good to go again.
I brought everything I needed with me and the pin was rock solid by the time I left. Hell, I felt like I knew what I was doing or something. That was actually pretty cool. At first I set the table angle pretty steep like I always do, but he thought it was too fast so we slowed it down, and he was right! The game is still plenty challenging but the slower ball speed really makes the game much more random and funner to play. I like it!
My Sharpshooter is on loan at a cousin's house and it needs some work too. I'm honestly looking forward to making that call now. A little success makes me feel like Superman. I'm sure I'll be stumped and humbled soon enough, but I was relieved and pleased that my first maintenance call went so smoothly.
p.s. My brother is jazzed enough that he'd like me to go ahead and replace the burned player #3 and 4 display glass now. I guess once you see a game get minted out a bit, the expense of a couple display glasses become worth taking it up a notch. I guess I get to have a little more soldering practice, hehe.
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Nice one Vi! I had a similar thing with a Joker Poker I had just finished, but had no time to trest well, took it to a buddy's place and all seemed well. Few days later it had a couple of issues, went back and fixed. It's been over a year now, gets played by the whole family daily, never a problem since! Welcome to the "Tech Club"!
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Once the repair bug starts, it does not stop. But it means that there is one more technical person that can assist others with their pins. I think there a many people itching to have a pinball at home but they are hesitant as they are concerned about "what to do" if they have problems.
After Sales Service is so important these days @@*
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Well done, mate, it is a great feeling to be able to get a pin working again.
I am not afraid to get my hands dirty or the soldering iron warm, so I am not expecting to ever have to pay a tech to look at my pins. Not when we have a forum like this available.
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Nice job,A Nitro is on my shopping list to go next to my mates Corvette.
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Never seen this pin before love the artwork. Great job