Looking good Nino!

Steve Kirk made three games for Stern: Stars, Meteor and Nine Ball.  I still have the latter two, and fixed and sold a Stars.  All three are highly addictive games with a single pop bumper.

Those lamp sockets were the worst design ever, with the two notches on the bend making the perfect place to break once they have been bent a few times to replace lamps

Hope you are going to rebuild that CPU - no cheating

cheers
Ian

I knew you would like this game, Ian. I think "Stars" and "Magic" are two underrated Sterns from this era. The CPU is certainly repairable, but by the time I address the corrosion zone and replace the 40 pin and 28 pin sockets, the labour cost alone would be more than half the cost of an Altek from PBR. Altek's have a lifetime warranty, and I've seen many Bally -35 and Stern 200 have a lot of work put into them and then potential issues surface. Not worth the risk.

Did you clear coat the playfield? or is it just cleaned and waxed?

Simon.

Cleaned and waxed. But I was fortunate that the operator was smart enough to install contact to protect the playfield.

Just noticed in between spluttering with the second round of the flu, is that solder wire connecting the globes? Are you replacing it with braid?

The GI return braid is soldered to the bases of the globes. The individual wires from the lamp drivers are soldered to the tab of the globe socket. I might replace some sections if I think they are compromised.