The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Restorations => Topic started by: Pauly540 on January 29, 2013, 09:34:27 PM
-
My Williams 1984 ‘Space Shuttle’ is my second project/restoration. It has been patently waiting for me for over 6 months, whilst I finished my EM GTB ‘Hit The Deck’.
I’m only doing these projects for my own amusement/satisfaction, now I have the bug. @@^
Luckily someone had previously done the battery mod and after installing some new ones, she fires up and works well. $#$
As there is a huge amount of information on this game, especially from Ed Cheung’s web page, I’m a bit more confident after working on an EM, but I'm not that naive enough to understand that SS opens a whole new world of problems and lots of research ahead of me!! Just jiggling around connectors, I have sound, lights and some function issues. Time to switch her off and start from scratch.
From the pictures, you can see the RED has totally faded and there is heavy damage on the sides. I just received a new set of stencils from the US (Ebay), so I’m prepared.
The playfield has suffered over the years. (Which appears to be common) !!! I plan on a complete Mylar removal (I remember counting four pieces of Mylar in one spot!), touch-up and clear coating myself. (I might chicken out and get my spray painter mate to clear coat for me) I know I can purchase a reproduction playfield, but think it would be more fun ‘having a crack at it’. The pop bumper bodies are completely shot. Thank god replacements are cheap.
RTBB supplied me with a new ramp and shuttle toy.
I've already handmade my own rotisserie and will post some pictures, once I get my camera working again.
-
The back glass has some issues. Apart from the standard flaking at the bottom (from research) I’m not sure what to do about the ‘leopard spot’ effect on the shuttle image. I know how to triple thick, but not sure if glade wrap and weight will elevate this problem.
Can someone give me any advice?
Thanks,
Paul.
-
IF its a keeper, I'd seriously consider a CPR playfield:
http://www.classicplayfields.com/photo96.html
They look outstanding and not bad for the price.
-
Thanks MartyJ,
It defiantly a keeper.
Iv'e been looking. US$599 + US$189 shipping + taxes !!!
From my previous experience, I value my labour at a 10 cents per hour &^& (just a hobby)
Unless someone has a new one collecting dust in the shed $!&
-
P.s MartyJ,
I just discovered a Cirqus Voltaire at the Campsie Hotel NSW. Boy, is that game fantastic. Maybe in my next life :D
-
Good to see the resto bug has bitten!
Good luck with this one, very fun game and worth the effort to bring back to life.
-
I am not at all suprised to see you are diving into your second resto *.*.
My only advice would be careful not to do too many in too short a space of time .
I did 4 in about 2 years and burnt myself out .
I am seriously thinking of getting hold of a Space Shuttle pin sooner rather than later so looking forward to seeing how yours turns out .
I know where theres one about 15 mins from me but the owner wants too much for it .
-
Thanks MartyJ,
It defiantly a keeper.
Iv'e been looking. US$599 + US$189 shipping + taxes !!!
From my previous experience, I value my labour at a 10 cents per hour &^& (just a hobby)
Unless someone has a new one collecting dust in the shed $!&
No taxes due as the total invoice inc shipping is less than $1000. As a keeper game, I'd be looking at a repro playfield. They are simply amazing quality.
-
Thanks MartyJ,
It defiantly a keeper.
Iv'e been looking. US$599 + US$189 shipping + taxes !!!
From my previous experience, I value my labour at a 10 cents per hour &^& (just a hobby)
Unless someone has a new one collecting dust in the shed $!&
Space shuttle is a great game and if a keeper,it needs a new playfield. Even if you can get your old one clear coated,touch up ect it would still be worth the extra couple of hundred dollars to get a new one.Got two machine myself and one day they will get the treatment.
-
Finally got the playfield out and into my home-made rotisserie.
I searched all the usual hardware places for pipe unions that everyone else seems to have sourced, but no luck !!!
I had some 25mm & 30mm tubular pipe off cuts spare and went to a steel fabricator for some 50mm wide flat steel. (Off cut cost me $2) The meccano style strips were from an old basketball board support.
After a couple of hours cutting to size, a mig welder and couple of old poker machine bases (good for parts storage underneath) this is what I came up with !@)
I’m thinking this thing does not need to go over 0.1RPM and the welded nut and securing bolt allows me to fix the playfield at any angle.
-
Sorry, my camera just won’t focus properly.
After removing some of the ‘easier to get to’ mylar strips, it became apparent that this playfield is beyond saving. Someone had applied mylar after the wear had already be done and you can see the blue/white has horrible cracking. It didn’t matter how careful I was removing the mylar, paint is pulling up everywhere.
My stencils have arrived, so think I should move onto the cabinet, whilst waiting for a new repo playfield.
-
Good job on rigging up your rotisserie .
I doubt you will regret purchasing a new playfield
-
Took everyone’s advice and decided to order a CPR playfield. $%$
I’m not a fan of PayPal plus CPR did not have a set of plastics available, so I order both from Planetary who take visa card at checkout. (They also stock old CPR’s plastics)
Planetary worked out a bit cheaper, especially shipping via FedEx, so I 'almost' got the plastics for free. :D
My box arrived 7 working days later (with an apology email for the shipping ‘delay ‘3 days in).
I was shocked how fantastic a job CPR had done. The white and blue colours are outstanding. I must have been dreaming, thinking I could get anywhere close touching up and clear coating myself, plus the endless hours and paint supplies $$.
Now I have many weeks ahead of me, cleaning and re-populating. Will buy a new camera on the weekend, sorry about the focus.
P.S 'Wonder'
The new playfield ‘blue’ is slightly lighter, but when I opened the plastics, they have colour matched the blue the same as the PF.
-
Great stuff.
You are 100% correct in that you will NEVER get a playfield repaired / touched up to look as good as a freshly screened one.
If none are available (or not made) then restoration is often the only way but I think you made the right choice and going by your other work this machine will be a cracker when finished.
-
Stencils look good... seems to be the same spray mask i use.. its slightly absorbant to deter leeching and the tack is good for acrylic and lacquer.. applies and lifts very nicely.
Clear application tape also..
Seems i am being copied!
-
Not sure Retropin,
These stencils are available from 'Classic Arcade Amusements' via Ebay US and state they are under contract from 'Planetary Pinball Supplies'.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SPACE-SHUTTLE-Pinball-Machine-Stencil-Kit-LICENSED-/300764873866?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4606fbc48a&_uhb=1#ht_8908wt_1037
I hope they have not copied your work! They don't have any registration marks, so that could be fun *!@
I figure the playfield will keep me busy for a few months. So keep checking to see if these stencils work out.
Paul.
-
The registration crosses on mine are a newish addition.. i tried them out a couple of years back and didnt get good feedback as restorers didnt want a cross, even if its under the siderail.
Ive put them back in as in all honesty, better results are achieved by having them.. it makes life a lot easier for the end user and seeing as the stencil is an opaque yellow, it gives the user confidence that once the last colour is removed it will all align correctly.
Before the registration crosses, the last colour was an act of faith.
Jeffs product used to be either the blue or grey stencil mask.. its very high tack and often lifts paint when removed. This type of mask is ONLY to be used if the repaint is done with household acrylics.. even then, theres no guarantee it wont lift paint.
The light blue version is very low tack and is only to be used for acrylic lacquers etc.
The yellow is from a different manufacturer.. comes in yellow or white and has a different adhesive.. its a porous vinyl that acts to prevent leeching... by far a better product but you lose the semi transparency of the blue or grey... hence the now standard registration crosses on my stencils.
Clear application tape also.. no more using the paper stuff which they used to.
So, on the surface, it appears we are using the same product... wether Classic A is using the yellow because they cant get hold of the cheaper blue/grey we'll wait and see.
But the stencils you have are a better product than the Ebay listed pictures where the stencils are hung over a window so you can see the shapes... this is blue/grey mask with a paper application tape.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Williams-HIGH-SPEED-Pinball-Machine-Stencil-Kit-/230924815305?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c4310bc9
-
Gav,
You answered so many questions, that haven't even come into my head yet. #(& (Blue, Grey, Yellow mask)
With my first 'traced' homemade Gottlieb stencils, even with endless hours double/triple checking, the final colour was off by a millimeter in places. ^&^
It's taken 3-4 weekends work. Base, first, second colour down and then D'oh. Completely start again. &^&
This machines artwork does not have any original over spray, so the tack level of the stencil was a worry, but you have put my mind at rest.
My 20+ year old 'SATA' spray gun won't let me down. I still don't understand why someone would spend hours++++ stripping down and prepping a cabinet and then apply a stencil with an aerosol can. !!!
Following Nino's '8 Ball' tread, I'm thinking an automotive acrylic paint, but I can't make my mind up. !@#
Cheers,
Paul.
-
Gav,
You answered so many questions, that haven't even come into my head yet. #(& (Blue, Grey, Yellow mask)
With my first 'traced' homemade Gottlieb stencils, even with endless hours double/triple checking, the final colour was off by a millimeter in places. ^&^
It's taken 3-4 weekends work. Base, first, second colour down and then D'oh. Completely start again. &^&
This machines artwork does not have any original over spray, so the tack level of the stencil was a worry, but you have put my mind at rest.
My 20+ year old 'SATA' spray gun won't let me down. I still don't understand why someone would spend hours++++ stripping down and prepping a cabinet and then apply a stencil with an aerosol can. !!!
Following Nino's '8 Ball' tread, I'm thinking an automotive acrylic paint, but I can't make my mind up. !@#
Cheers,
Paul.
I've seen and experienced issues with the stencils from overseas. Thankfully it looks like they have changed their mask as the previous material was that 'sticky' would lift up base and was a nightmare to put on. There are also issues with registration from one colour to the other, so be mindful you may need to modify yours to work.
Best of luck, I don't think you can go wrong with acrylic or 2k.
-
Glad i could help.
Im thinking that you could make your own registration before using the stencils.
If you tape the first stencil down over a window ( or any strong light source) and then align the second over the top.. you can punch a few registration marks along the top edge.. standard hole punch will do.
... i can see that working so long as its properly algned
-
Going at a slow pace. The cleaning and hand polishing took a lot longer than expected.
As I don’t expect to be doing many playfield swaps, I just couldn't bring myself to buying a tumbler. It was fun to start with, but hand polishing with wire wheels and the smell of old Brasso rags, was starting to take its toll.
Anyway. The CPR playfield is coming along.
-
I re-used the old GI braid, but installed new lamp holders. My local $2 shop had a special. $6 for a hand staple gun including X500 6mm staples. #*#
The three pop bumpers and flippers all had different coils/springs. So I installed new ones. (Will install pop diodes, when harness goes back)
-
New pop bodies/rings, as the old ones had slight wear #@#
-
Whilst re-building the flippers, the right one’s switch stack just didn’t look right; all contacts were bent down at an extreme angle. After researching Ed Cheung’s site, I found the correct switch configuration. I’m finding lots of debate about whether to use the 2.2K capacitors across the E.O.S switches. I put them on, as in the picture; the old one was suffering.
-
The new CPR playfield is 500% better that the old one. Apart from the dimples being slightly out (I did check before drilling), for some reason two ball wire lane guide holes were completely missing and in the next picture, you can see the lower right side wood rail (held with three screws), the pre-drilled holes are also different to the original. The main issue I have is that the last screw hole (far right) is way off (it’s too high, should be on the black line). If I use that pre-drilled hole, the screw would most likely push through the wood rail. I will drill a new hole through the playfield, when I get up the courage.
-
This is where I’m up too. I’m yet to install the ball wire guides, just need to find the correct size drill. I’ve read somewhere that when installing wire guides, use an old rebound rubber as a height reference?
I can see a few problems ahead of me, installing the new main ramp, as after initial test fits; the thicker plastic is giving some alignment issues. !!!
-
Looks fantastic, your doing a great job! ^^^
-
Looking good !
You will find subtle differences from playfield to playfield. Holes in the wrong spot with the timber guide is not a big issue. I often "reverse" them if the wear to one side is too great. You can always predrill new holes in the timber guide rather than the playfield !
-
Coming along well. That playfield is going to look great when finished .
-
I’ve made some progress on this playfield swap.
The other project Gottlieb sys 80, has been chewing up sooooo much dam time!!!
I bought a new ramp and shuttle toy from RTBB. The old ramp was completely smashed/cracked and the toy was completely missing the spinner.
I’ve had this ramp tucked away for six months or so, so was disappointed that the ramp metal flaps had started to rust.
I’ve tried WD40, Silvo and cutting compound, but it won’t budge.
The (semi original) toy seemed to be the correct type, including stickers, but completely missing the spinner mechanism.
-
RTBB again, for a micro switch with a long actuator. A bit of a homemade effort on the switch mounting bracket/harness.
I made the spinner out of an old coat hanger and after many, many attempts/coat hangers, managed to get a spinner working. Thanks to Ed’s link for measurements. http://www.edcheung.com/dropbox/ss_wire.jpg Sorry forgot to take a pic of my final spinner.
After a few switch/contact adjustments the playfield powered up fine and is now fully operational.
-
The bulls eye targets need to be touched up, but I just couldn’t wait any longer to get back to having a few games under my belt. With the new flipper coils and rubbers, the ball fly’s at an amazing rate.
Next step is to completely strip the cabinet and re-stencil. As the weather is a bit cool at the moment, I’ll leave it alone for a while and get back to getting the Gottlieb up and running.
The back glass has some ‘Leopard spots’, so when the weather picks up, I’m hoping arrest with triple thick.
-
Looks great ^^^
-
Great work! ^^^
-
That's a lot of effort and expense but it came up really nice. You should be pleased! Well done.
-
wow!fantastic work!! :Dthe last part you need to shine its your lock down bar.
-
I know the feeling sometimes temptation is too great and you just gotta play it. Your game has come up very nice indeed