Firepower Mission 1 Accomplished

[TUF-427]

Hi All,

As some of you know I was chasing down a Williams Firepower,

and actually sealed the deal about a month ago for one out of the recently landed container in Melbourne,

But have only recieved this week as I was overseas..

I bought it as is (yeah I know!) mainly as I like a bit of a challenge and this one has one of the best playfields Ive ever seen,

with the whole lower half of the playfield Mylared from near new I would suspect,only slight wear in the lanes and between pop bumpers.

I would rate

Playfield      8.5 to 9
Backglass    7
cabinet       6
electronics  0  (at the moment as it has some issues for another topic!)

Had some sort of flipper upgrade in its travels and a non genuine target swap (prob beaten to death with the non std flippers)

And has a huge 35v transformer in the cabinet to run the solenoids and flippers,I will probably revert these mods back to stock..

Couple of as is pics to get started,

Peter..

[TUF-427]

couple more pics

[Steevsee]

Well done Peter and thanks for posting the pics.

Lots of help here with any electronic issues if needed. 

You should have it up and running in no time.

[Strangeways]

Always a great feeling to score a favorite pinball to the collection !

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I look forward to a resto thread 

[goodolddays]

Looks like you have a very good start with that one, Peter. Thks for the pics

[pinnies4me]

Congrats, one of the truly great games.

The flipper mod is the same as was done to mine - Gottlieb flippers making the game a Frankenfirepower as I called mine.

The round tipped Gottlieb flippers, while head and shoulders above what Williams used at the time, are not precise enough for this game - great for target based stuff that Gottlieb did where precision shots weren't quite as important.

When you are ready to swap these back to Williams, you can get a fully built up and coil installed unit from www.pinballlife.com although they are on break at the moment. There's also the upgrade to later model WPC flipper parts that gives you the advantage of being able to replace the coil stop (the originals have a plate and coil stop single unit). Details here http://www.pinrepair.com/sys37/index3.htm#flip

Have fun!!

[deadlydave]

Looks great Peter, no doubt you have found Firepower.com
A great resource ! Also can highly recommend Ken Shipley for
Any board repairs.
Cheers
Dave

[ddstoys]

Looks good Peter.   Hopefully you get it up and running very soon.   I'll dig them targets out for you when I next get a chance 

[TUF-427]

Guys thanks for the tips and comments,

I am pretty stoked to find one with this good a playfield,being my holy Grail pinball,

Interesting to hear its not the only one to be FrankenFirepowered with Gottileib flippers,

but I suppose unless the Original flippers are absolutely perfect its hard to make the top Lock shot..

But also fitting a seperate 35v Ac Transformer ( which Id swear is probably about a 30a current capacity ) is definatly overkill!

While I was in the States I did grab a couple of the Later generation (Wpc i Think) Removable stop Flipper mechs and suitable coils so thats soon on the agenda .

Standard trans still seems to be putting out 28vAc no load so when I can get Cpu operational will have to see if it runs the Flippers and Solenoids ok...

I think a full resto is somewhat down the track as I really just want to get it going and play it to death,

Ive given it a good clean and in the process of fitting new rubbers lamps etc its coming up well I think..

No rush on the Targets Daniel and thanks for your advice and help so far its been invaluable..

Cheers Peter..

[scozza]

Machine looks fab Peter.  I see what you mean about the tranny, must be good for 30A or more by the looks of it (-:  Keep us posted on your progress, this is such a great game to play!

Cheers,

Scott.

[TUF-427]

Update,

It lives!!!!!!!

Finally sorted all the electrical and electronic gremlins and have a fully functioning Firepower,

Just waiting on a couple of EOS swithes for the Wpc Flipper mechs and will be enjoying my first game..

Problems wer many but really just the usual sys 3-7 issues, prob make a good thread.....

[markc]

well done Peter

looks much better , you have done a great job
sorry I could meet you when you came down was a little busy ...

glad the EOS turned up

always good to see a someone do the hard yards and bring a old pin back to life

mark

[TUF-427]

Hi Mark,

Cheers for the positive comments,

Yeah I think your missus going into labour the day I turned up to look at the machine,

qualifies as a decent excuse not to meet!

Was appreciated you also organised somebody else to be there in your place etc..

yep thanks for the Eos switches installed and working well,

Been playing the machine all weekend over a few beers,

its super fast With the WPC flippers and new rubbers etc,

can easily make the top shots and seems geometrically correct with them full range of angles left and right..

Im very happy to have an unrestored FP in such great condition...Cheers

[ddstoys]

I got them firepower targets in the post today 

[TUF-427]

Daniel thanks heaps for the 1-6 targets,

fitted up and look awesome,much better than the multicoloured multishaped things that were there before...

Cheers Peter..