Greetings all, I'm back with a bit more on restoring the Queen Of Diamonds ... (and restoring generally). The part I haven't mentioned is all the 'mechanical' side of things, which is my favourite part of the whole deal.....Flippers, pop bumpers, kicking rubber mechanisms, roto target assembly (in the 'head'), score reels, 0-9 units (for tens of thousands), 100,000 point score assembly etc.
First, let me say that when I do a machine, I try to clean and check EVERY part, and piece of the machine. I clean things like the motor board, and all wiring in the cabinet and head. I also dis-assemble, clean, adjust etc all relays, re-set coils, connectors. I believe that dirt is the enemy of the pinball machine. Solenoids are designed to work dry and clean. Basically, if it's on the machine, I clean it.
My favourite cleaner is Eucalyptus oil, ...it really gets out grease from fine lines on the playfield, and is gentle to them, BUT it will remove oil based paint real fast so..........
I use tissues and cotton buds for cleaning. Nothing is ever 'wet' but more 'damp' and as soon as the tissue shows any grime or dirt, I throw it away and get a new one. This way, you only have to get the dirt off once. I'm not a lover of using rags for this type of cleaning. I also have a can of Furniture polish (Farmland, or the cheap Coles kind are my favourites), Brasso or a metal cleaner, and oil. Oil is only used sparingly for the score motor, the 'contact' parts (with the little springs) of a 0-9 unit, and stuff like the roto target cogs.
I've mentioned before how a good restoration can be better than original in many ways.......Eg: why not get a set of felt cabinet protectors from mark c. Why put a wooden cabinet through the stress that a metal leg can put on it, when you don't have to. Before I bought these from Mark I used to put a couple of layers of clear 'Contact' onto the inside of the legs, so that the metal would not be touching the cabinet. Simple, but better than original.
Adjustment of contact blades is essential to get the best from flippers, pop bumpers and kicking rubbers but here's one thing that works for me........ On all these units, I brasso, or metal polish (by hand) the barrel of the solenoid. If you work backwards and forwards, you can feel when the little bumps etc go, and the surface becomes smooth. Then I clean it off, and then do the same thing with the furniture polish....put in on the clean barrel, and then wipe it dry. I also wipe the inside of the plastic coil sleeve with furniture polish, and then wipe that dry.....this makes the surface of both the barrel and the inside of the sleeve REALLY smooth....End result is that all these components WILL work faster and smoother than they did when new. I know this sounds a bit far fetched but it's true. Of course,all the rest like having good coil stops, barrels without burrs or uneven wear etc is essential too, but if all the parts are fine, then they can be made to work at their optimum...Pop bumper contact points can be set much closer than factory specs (they were set so that the bumper would never 'repeat' from contacts being too close, as this would result in the coil burning out, and the machine not making any money.) ...and you know if any of these things are too close, as the bumper will 'repeat' or work from surrounding vibration only, and the kicking rubber will rat-tat-tat too much. ..somewhere between 1.5-3 mm, I guess, for the pop bumper contact points under the playfield.
The last thing I'd say is that after all the work I did on this machine, I took it to Colin Smith so he could fix the creative wiring changes, and generally put the machine through its paces. It had a lot wrong with it and Col did a great job as he methodically went over the machine. ... I have taken all of my machines to Col at some stage, and he is just a master at pinball. He knows these machines like his own hand, and really understands them and all their peculiarities. I salute you Col.
So that's about it briefly, in terms of the Queen Of Diamonds. It's a great game to play and a beauty to look at, even when it's switched off. It was worth the time and effort that me and my wife Kerrie spent on it. It took about a year to do all this stuff. It easier to write about it than it is to do! Happy Trails, Mark
