Williams Big Deal Restore

[Strangeways]

Williams Big Deal Restore

Something different - an EM restore that I did around 7 years ago. I enjoy working on EMs in between my favorite SS machines.

Background

This was another of the machines that was left over from the route days. You can see in some of the initial pictures the line up of machines that were also in storage for 10 years or more. It was removed from a Social Club along with a few other machines. When it was picked up, the front door was wide open. Obviously the site didn't care about the machine even to the point of stealing their own takings...

Condition

Playfield - 7/10. Mylar installed. Very dirty, but there were patches of mylar raised that were hiding a VERY nice and colorful playfield.
Backglass - 7/10. Not bad, but some of the white areas around the score windows were very flaky.
Electrics - 7/10. Most of the steppers were clogged up with lube. A couple of relays were toast, as were a few playfield coils. Chimes unit was not good
Cabinet - 8/10. In great condition for its age

Objective

Have the machine restored to the best condition possible. The playfield has potential and the cabinet did not require a repaint. All the moving parts would be rebuilt. It should look like an 8 - 9/10, but mechanically be perfect.

That objective was met - The new owner has never called for a service call !

Initial Pictures

Here is the only "before" picture that I have. Playfield looks very good, thanks to Dad for laying contact in the old days. Plastics and targets are good and original. The registration sticker is still on the Apron - dated 1993.





The head without the backglass is rather uninteresting. There is a couple of neat "fixes" I did to improve the game. Notice the "zero" on the score reels ? (Fake). I made a nice improvement there.





Under the bonnet - Not bad at all. A few burnt coils, but overall I was pleased. There's a Sky Jump to the right and a Hot Hand and a Smart Set on the left. Also the cleaning kit included the Nifti and rags !





Stripped Playfield - I didnt take any pictures of the plyfield other than the one above. Here's a picture of the playfield after I removed the contact. The colors are really nice. ZERO wear.





Again - This is a restore I completed around 6 - 7 years ago and it was sold to a collector while I was still working on it. I will cover work on the steppers and a couple of improvements I made.

Updates soon !

 

[Ford Fairlane]

wow such a beautiful playfield. Please tell us what you had to do to it!!

[Strangeways]

wow such a beautiful playfield. Please tell us what you had to do to it!!

All in good time !

The playfield glass is in the machine which may explain why it looks so nice.

Many hours still went into the playfield - I will cover that in detail later.

[Skybeaux]

From the photo's it looks like it has potential to come up pretty nice
I'm sure you'll go all out on it Nino 

[illawarra_steelers]

You were even using Nifty back then to clean the playfields 

This game looked like she was in pretty good nick to start with and is actually a pretty cool game for a Williams 70s EM

[Strangeways]

Update - Strip the machine


As mentioned by a few of you - the game was already in great condition. Which is true - But have a look under the bonnet ! There are metal shards all over the place, and all the fuses are blown or blown off the fuse panel. Very ugly. It would be stupid to try and get the game working prior to removing any conductive material from the baseboard.

Question - From the pictures of the baseboard - any idea as to WHAT may have happened ?

Have a close look - there is a clue or two








Right - So the baseboard has to be removed and cleaned with an air compressor. In the end, I opted to remove each stepper unit and rebuild them (covered a bit later on in the thread). The playfield and baseboard are removed for attention. The rest of the machine is stripped completely, and each section will be cleaned. Theres not much fade in the cabinet, so I was VERY pleased with that.

BTW - These initial pictures are from the storage building that all the machines were stored in when I had them given to me. I might have a look if I can find some VERY early pictures shortly after I dusted all of them down. There was an original BALLY box (paragon, Spacies, KISS ???) that the machine came in.. Very interesting.





Playfield


The playfield was stripped early on and the contact was removed in a very short time. I removed the contact with a hair dryer set to low and I took my time. Not one speck of paint was raised. The adhesive residue was removed with Shellite (bunnings). The first clean was dome with Nifti on a rag, then Novus 2. Funny story with Novus - NO ONE sold it in Australia except Novus windscreens. I had to get it specially ordered in ! But as you can see, the results were stunning for a machine produced in 1977. I was VERY pleased !





Theres a scratch near the horseshoe - the only noticeable blemish on the playfield.





Thats one impressive playfield !





First Problem


Have a look at the below picture of the horseshoe area. The plastic guide is missing a section - in fact it is broken right off and is missing ! It should travel vertically and join the post near the wooden guide. This needs to be fixed / modified. I went to a great deal of trouble with this repair - but I learn a lot in the process !






Next Update - Fix the Horseshoe !

 

[Mr Pinbologist]

That is one SWEEET lookn playfield... bloody awesome for its age

[Skybeaux]

Jesus!....that's really come up nice , i'd be pleased too

[Creech]

Very nice indeed.

[Strangeways]

Very nice indeed.

Its already sold Tony. No - You cannot have it   

[Creech]

I guess I'll just have to prise that Night Rider from you then. 

[Pinball Fixers]

WOW! That playfield came up a treat Nino!

[Strangeways]

Horse shoe Repair


Common problem with the Dig Deals I've seen is the plastic horseshoe guide. Almost always broken or chipped. Over time, this can prevent the ball from it's normal "flow" and we have issues with broken plastics and wear areas that should not be there. So rather than repair the broken guide, I thought I'd make my own out of perspex.

Here's a picture of my challenge;





Notice that the bottom of the guide is broken off and missing. So I have to guess what it should look like, which in the end was fairly simple. I traced the area with tracing paper, matching the leftover piece. I used a piece of perspex that was cut out ti just over the size of the curved area. My Bench grinder was a stone wheel that dad the EXACT diameter that I needed (How's that for a stroke of luck).. So I simply followed my outline by placing the curved section on the stone wheel and gently "grinding" away. This method was hugely successful !

I used a file and 180 grit, then 600 grit to have the surface the ball contacts "super smooth". I used 180 Grit to prepare the larger plastic to be glued to a smaller piece to provide more support and surface area for the ball.

I then used araldite to glue the pieces together;





I had to make my own posts for it which were simply some old Arcade Board stand-ups cut to size and glued on "square" ;





Here is the "old" next to the "New"





The finished product - installed in the game ;





I did trial a metal guide at one stage, but the guide has to be transparent for the light to shine through. I was really happy with the repair. It probably took me a day to sort it out. Small price to pay to have the game in working order !

 

[ddstoys]

Hey Nino
             Any chance of some plastic scans???? I have this playfield in the cupboard waiting to hang on the wall once i can make up some of the missing plastics?

[illawarra_steelers]

Hey Nino
             Any chance of some plastic scans???? I have this playfield in the cupboard waiting to hang on the wall once i can make up some of the missing plastics?

Daniel,

Nino sold this game 7 years ago