Jacks Open - My First EM

[Pintoxicated]

Hi All,

A few weeks ago I asked what a Jacks Open machine would be worth......well I am happy to announce that the deal went through and at a pretty good price from what the general consensus was as to it's value.

As with most if not all machine that have sat around for many many years, there are a few issues with the machines, namely some score reels not working and some pop bumpers not scoring and hopefully they will be sorted sooner rather than later.

There is some flaking on the backglass which I sealed yesterday with triple thick - two flakes came off during this process which I am pretty upset about but at least it won't get any worse now.

Ball swirl as is to be expected and a bit of flipper scrape, one chipped plastic, some sunken inserts, front RHS of cabinet was repaired at some stage but overall for the price it should be a good machine.  Some small pieces of paint came off the playfield on first clean as well.    There are good things about this machine...it's not all bad.

Here are a few pics........apart from a re-rubber and quick playfield clean, the machine is pretty much as I got it in the pics.

[Extra Ball]

Thats in very good condition. Congrats!

[Strangeways]

Nice !

This machine is one of my favorite Wedgeheads and would look great next to a "High Hand". Not much wear at all - I would be very pleased with this machine - the only thing I see is the ball swirl, which is always more predominant on the yellow and white sections of this playfield. This game will come up beautifully. I restored one of these a few years ago ;

http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=820.0

If you need any "left over" spares - just let me know.

Congrats and ENJOY !

[ddstoys]

Thats a very tidy unit specially inside look at everything shine Great score 

[justwedgeheads]

That looks real sweet.You must be pleased with it.I love drop targets on em's.
                                                           Ian

[MrMaloo]

Nice pick up Blair . Jacks Open is a pretty sought after /popular EM . That looks to be in good nick especially inside the cabinet . Congrats .

[pinnies4me]

Well done, it's a game that's been on my hunt list for ages, enjoy!

[Pintoxicated]

Thanks guys.  I've been looking for an EM for a fair while now, stumbled across this one which I am pretty happy with for my first EM. 

Wifey just dosen't get it and can't understand my fascination with this machine.  Pretty amazing looking around it and slowly figuring out what makes it tick.  The sounds are an instant flashback to the old milk bars, particularly Joe's milkbar at North Cronulla beach, that always had a machine sitting in the corner. 

Funny how we always seem to gravitate back to prevalent things from our childhood days in our older years.  Hopefully my kids will look back at my machines with fondness as well and whinge about the amount of time Dad used to spend in the garage with the pinball machines over Christmas lunches when I am long gone.

I'm sure I recall that restore Nino did, it was when I first discovered the pinball forums and I remember thinking 'gotta get one of them one day' as well as being in awe of his work.  I know you're a busy man Nino but if you ever feel like doing another resto on one of these let me know.

Apart from magic eraser, is there any way of removing the ball swirl with minimal risk of damaging the playfield?

[GORGAR 1]

I need to get up the NORTH EAST soon and play pinball Blair at your joint-well done she looks the goods..

Peter

[MrMaloo]

As far as getting rid of the ball swirl Blair the Magic Erasers are about the best thing to use . I got rid of a fair bit of bad ball swirl on my Lucky 7 by cleaning it first with Shellite , then quite a few hours spent with a magic eraser and Novus 3 ( DON'T RUB TOO HARD AND / OR IN THE ONE SPOT WITH THE MAGIC ERASER OR YOU CAN DAMAGE THE ARTWORK !! ) . Once you've got rid of the ball swirl to a level that you are happy with give it a going over with Novus 2 and a soft , clean rag followed by Novus 1 . Once you have done that a bit of elbow grease with some Caranuba Wax will bring it up sweet . ( P.S - The results on my Lucky 7 can be seen in my avatar ..  )

Cheers.

[big dog]

looks good,you would have to be pleased with that buy

[Pintoxicated]

As far as getting rid of the ball swirl Blair the Magic Erasers are about the best thing to use . I got rid of a fair bit of bad ball swirl on my Lucky 7 by cleaning it first with Shellite , then quite a few hours spent with a magic eraser and Novus 3 ( DON'T RUB TOO HARD AND / OR IN THE ONE SPOT WITH THE MAGIC ERASER OR YOU CAN DAMAGE THE ARTWORK !! ) . Once you've got rid of the ball swirl to a level that you are happy with give it a going over with Novus 2 and a soft , clean rag followed by Novus 1 . Once you have done that a bit of elbow grease with some Caranuba Wax will bring it up sweet . ( P.S - The results on my Lucky 7 can be seen in my avatar ..  )

Cheers.

As you may have guessed, I haven't used magic erasers before.  Were you rubbing with the magic eraser and then polishing with novus 3 as you went or is the novus 3 on the magic eraser as well at the same time?  I really want to get rid of the ball swirl but don't want to make anything any wear worse at the same time.......gotta have a go but I think and see what happens.  There is definitely a bit of shine in the playfield already so hopefully with a thorough clean and wax it will start to sparkle like yours.

[illawarra_steelers]

Well Blair,

Welcome to the EM club and what a way to start!

All that game needs is a set of the PBR reproduction plastics (they are top shelf quality) and a tify up of the playfield and you have yourself one real nice Gottlieb wedge head!

Well done mate 

[MrMaloo]

I put the Novus 3 straight onto the playfield and then worked it with the eraser . You can actually wet the eraser first with water but then squeeze it out well . This will stop the eraser soaking up too much of the novus. It was the first time I'd used them too so I know how you feel . Give it a go in an inconspicuous area first .

Oh and forgot to add before . If the ball swirl is not that bad you may want to use Novus 2 with the eraser . I only used Novus 3 on mine as the ball swirl was pretty heavy .

[Strangeways]

I covered the ME method on the restore thread - but - I cannot stress this enough - ME is GREAT to remove Ball swirl - But please "take your time". I think I spend more time SLOWLY removing Ball Swirl than any other activity. Be observant - Even 5 extra seconds in one area is enough to scratch through the paint work.

Because you are "wearing out" the varnish (that's what they used as the CC in the old days), you need to keep the playfield clean - only use a little Novus.

VERY IMPORTANT - Wax this playfield often !