Stern Meteor Restore

[Strangeways]

One of my favorite restores was a Stern Meteor..I completed this machine about 12 months ago and sold it. It sits in a gamesroom somewhere...trouble free !

History

Looks like this was a parts game from the old days. Obviously left in a corner for decades, and parts were stripped off it - coils, targets, flipper parts etc.... So it was exactly the way I like 'em...

Condition

Backglass - great 8.5/10 - no flaking.. which is common on Stern backglasses
Cabinet - good 7/10 - No major scratches or dints. structurally sound.
Electronics - Nothing... No boards or displays.. Not even a power supply or transformer
Playfield - good 8/10 - Well it will be ! A couple of nasty holes protruding through the playfield, and some damage near the upper flipper

Before Pictures



Where is the on/off switch, the transformer and power board ?



What you see, is what I got !



Filthy ! Missing the top target bank and plastics - later found in a spares box.

Here's some nasty damage to the top flipper - looks like something was dropped on the playfield, and then dragged near some bonus inserts..





Flipper Meltdown !!




Where to start ?

The machine is already half stripped ! So I removed everything and started on the playfield. Time to remove the mylar. The cabinet needs to be stripped and parts of it rewired. A few parts need to be ordered, and a few challenges are presented down the road...

[Retropin]

Holy crap - flipper meltdown alright!

LOL- can imagine the amount of smoke this gave off. I reckon i can move faster than any other living creature at one sniff of component burn in my games room

[Pinball Fixers]

Gotta love that distinctive smell... I can smell it a mile away 

[Strangeways]

Believe it or not - This machine did not really stink that badly - I think the flipper meltdown must of happened many moons ago !

Here's the next stage of the restoration. I usually spend time on the Cabinet during the day and the Playfield and electronics at night. I have a playfield stand on my bench in the house, so I can theoretically work on the pin at all times...  ;)

Cabinet

After a good clean, there's no need to repair anything - it was just the filth that had accumulated. The on/off switch presented a problem, but I contacted Steve from PBR and used a Gottlieb NOS switch - worked fine. The power supply board was a spare I had lying around that I previously repaired. The board has been fully upgraded - even the baseboard gets a sand ! The wiring get dropped in after a clean and a dry in the sun..




Outside of the cabinet came up great..





Playfield

Here's a picture of what appears to have been the top target bank... filthy and the targets are all crap..Time to strip it and create new decals, but first, I need to find the right targets. On my game, they were originally tombstone style, on others, they were not - they were the "in line" style.. Tombstone are the correct targets... "in line" targets are for "in line" target banks...




Heres a progress picture after the first proper clean of the playfield. The metal guide has been regrained...NOT polished. These guides were originally grained. To get the authentic and original look, it needs to be sanded with wet/dry 360 grit and windex. It always tooks great. I also use this method to do the siderails on the cabinets.

Here's a long shot..



and again -



Where's the mylar ?? = Removed.. Well it was not mylar. It was just ordinary contact, the type used on books. Removal took a few hours. I'll cover that process another day (thread)... suffice to say - the more patience you have - the better the job..

Under the playfield

HOURS spend here... All coils and mechanisms for the drop targets were sourced from Pinball Resource.. Yep - ALL coils are NEW.. Main reason was because they were all missing  ;) - But this game is FAST and everything has to be working...

ALL parts were removed and soaked in a warm bucket of water and nifti and scrubbed and cleaned for hours. Dried in the sun and then re assembled.. Great fun.. but it will look like this ;







Eventually - after HOURS of work... It will look like this ;



.. and it is not hard... Just be prepared to take plenty of pictures, and have plenty of spare time... All the coils are rewired, pop bumper cleaned and rewired... Put the time in and it will come up well..

So what am I going to do with the Targets ???

Here's a clue...




Enjoy

 ;)

[Pinball Fixers]

Geez Nino, you really do go that extra mile on your pinball restorations ;)

But, it does look bloody good!!! I'm sure whoever gets the final product will be a very happy person (if that isn't you! ;D)

May as well be a brand spanking new machine!!

[Pinfan]

Always looking forward to your updates Nino !

I actually saw and played this game and its a testiment to Nino and his work...

I like seeing Nino's start to finish restores....and playing them too...  ;D

[Strangeways]

The more time and effort put into these games, the better the final outcome will be. Being a hobbyist, time is totally irrelevant. It is all about "fun" for me. I've always enjoyed the journey from the forgotten and neglected pinball to the final working game.

The game was sold a while ago, and the only time I hear from the owner is -"Have you got another one ready... ?".

"Working" on these pins is not "work"..it is a pastime.  ;)

[Pinball Fixers]

The more time and effort put into these games, the better the final outcome will be. Being a hobbyist, time is totally irrelevant. It is all about "fun" for me. I've always enjoyed the journey from the forgotten and neglected pinball to the final working game.

The game was sold a while ago, and the only time I hear from the owner is -"Have you got another one ready... ?".

"Working" on these pins is not "work"..it is a pastime.  ;)

That's the difference between being a full time pinball tech, and a hobbyist.

[Strangeways]

Absolutely.. It is a lot easier being a hobbyist. You do the machines when you want to - at your own pace. There are times when the cogs in my head are looking to buy new projects and you just don't feel like working on games. Then you have times when you are totally immersed in a specific part of the process.

I think one of the best parts of restoring games at your own pace is that you can experiment with different techniques, and there is always scope to learn new things..

I could never be a tech on a payroll, because if I am called to fix one problem, I end up "seeing" things I don't like, and there goes the afternoon  ;D

[Pinball Fixers]

I could never be a tech on a payroll, because if I am called to fix one problem, I end up "seeing" things I don't like, and there goes the afternoon  ;D

That's something I battle with also. I learnt years ago to only repair the problems, and not go to deep when at a customer's house. It can end up either being costly for the customer, or you spend way to much time and end up loosing money yourself.

[Strangeways]

All the Target assemblies had to be stripped and cleaned. The three smaller drop target banks needed new coils, plungers and links. Luckily, Pinball Resource had everything I needed. The "METEOR" decals were redrawn by Wotto and printed on adhesive paper, which was cut out and then mylar was applied. The key to this game is speed - it is a very fast machine and the Targets must respond and each target recognized when dropped. Best they were all rebuilt...



The mylar was removed easily with no paint lift - well to be honest - it is not really mylar. It is simply "contact", and it comes off so easily. The playfield has been totally cleaned with Shellite, Novus 2 and then Meguiars Carnuba Wax..All the posts are washed, and the bumper bodies and caps are replaced with new...





In the picture below - you will see where I have filled in the hole (check the earlier pictures) just below the "WOW" - It is to the left and is black. The flash from the camera really makes it obvious. This was an early attempt at playfield repair. All I did was sand the area flat with 1200 grit and then filled it with black paint. I did paint it on, not "fill it" with blobs of paint. After the playfield was almost level, I used clear nail polish and sanded with 1200 grit.. It blended in really well. I finished it off with a mylar sheet below the drop targets..




Here you can see the touch up very prominently... But focus on the targets and the SHINE on the playfield 





The Cabinet


Time to drop the playfield into the cleaned cabinet. The door has been completed (for now) and installed. It looks much better ! The boards are being rebuilt and tested on my test bench...




 

[Creech]

How nice is that? I bet the guy who bought it was super happy!

With the black paint touch-up, did you consider masking the area off and spraying with clear?

I want to get into some air brush techniques when I get the chance.

[Strangeways]

How nice is that? I bet the guy who bought it was super happy!

With the black paint touch-up, did you consider masking the area off and spraying with clear?

I want to get into some air brush techniques when I get the chance.

The guy that owns it was very pleased at the time and he recently contacted me "demanding" another Pinball. I'm lucky if I restore a Pinball every 6 months  ;)

I have zero experience with clearcoating. I want to look at it as an option later on, but for this game, a sheet of mylar across the drop target area did the job.

I want to look at both airbrushing and clearcoating in the future.

[Ballywannabe]

Top work Nino - good to see a machine that many would have parted out restored to its former glory!  A truly classic machine, particularly if you like drop targets!

The "METEOR" decals were redrawn by Wotto and printed on adhesive paper, which was cut out and then mylar was applied.

The Meteor section on IPDB has the 'submarine' font that allows you to easily make decals in Word.  If I could work out how to post a pic I would show you how they turn out!

cheers
Ian

[Strangeways]

My favorite Classic Stern... I should have kept it, but I wanted to buy more projects !