1980 Bally Space Invaders Cleanup

[Jango]

Another update on the machine....... the coin door has been reassembled.  Took me hours to do this.  Thankfully I had lots of reference pics to assist me.

Here are some of the before shots.  As you can see its pretty dirty























Here are some shots after the cleanup.  The door and parts polished up quite well.  I replaced the light sockets with new ones.  I also put in a new Bally door sticker.  The coin inserts are not the best and are burnt from the original globes.  I will probably replace with new ones in time.  For the middle one I thought I'd try something a little different.  It may only be temporary, but I scanned the decals I have for the alien spinner as a high res image and printed it onto good quality cardboard and fitted it into the place of a coin insert.  Looks not too bad and may only be a temp until I get proper inserts or a stainless steel blank.















Here are the pics as installed in the cabinet

[ddstoys]

Thats come up really well mate 

[Retropin]

decal in the centre looks bloody great.... id say its a keeper!

[Jango]

The coin door was something that I was really dreading as there were bits everywhere, most parts needed a good clean and I had never touched a coin door before.  What really helped also was Nino's restore thread where he also had some good reference pics.  I really relied on these allot.

[Strangeways]

Looking great, Jase !

One thing I'd like to mention (and I hope I'm not sounding critical or anything). you might want to re route the wires behind the coin chutes as per your original photos. Otherwise, you have the risk of the wires being caught in the door when closing it ?

The Spacies artwork on the middle coin slot looks great !

Keep up the good work - the results will be amazing !

[goodolddays]

Door looks excellent now . Guess I am just too lazy .. I've done 3 doors now and none come even close to that

[Jango]

Good point re the cabling Nino - I was thinking that and will give it a go soon

[Scotty]

I remember bieng hooked on this machine in 1984, gerringong  nsw 2534 milk bar, milk bar isnt there anymore but have some fine memories. Would love (one day) to have one of them restored. good luck and all the best, im sure it will turn out fantastic  . watchin with interest

[Jango]

A small update on progress on the Spacies machine... I have completely stripped the playfield (not in the pics but its now done) and I have removed all of the clear contact that had been placed on the machine.  It all came off very easily using a hairdryer and going very slowly and carefully.  The artwork under the clear contact is just superb and the colours are extremely vibrant.  Quite amazed how its been protected.

Here are some pics taken whilst removing the clear contact.










Here are some pics taken whilst tearing down the playfield.  As you can see the playfield is very dirty but its actually had the affect of preserving the artwork etc.  I will also remove the black wooden siderails and clean those and repaint with some Whiteknight satin black






























Once the playfield was stripped, I hit it with my treasurecove cleaning kit.  It has come up absolutely beautifully.  I have only done the clean so far and have not done the wax as yet.  I have also started on the underside, taking a tonne of pics to aid me when I need to do reassembly.  I have purchased a tonne of new parts from the US including new switch targets, all new coils for the entire machine, pop bumper caps and assemblies, finned red posts, switches etc etc and have been busy preparing bits and pieces (soldering new diodes and capacitors to target switches etc).  I've taken some time to really have a good look at the underside and noted that the flipper assemblies had wires that had come loose etc.  I have all new rebuild kits for those as per Nino's specs from his install.

I am also thinking of installing red Cointaker leds in the playfield

Also here are a few pics of the newly rebuild boards installed into the headbox.  Again, I have cleaned the wiring basically wire by wire with Nifty, babywipes and an old towel and they have come up magic.








I am in the home stretch now with this recondition of this machine.  I have all new insert decals so I am thinking of maybe removing the inserts and reapplying etc.  I also have a new apron decal from the US

[Strangeways]

Some great progress, Jase. Well done ! That playfield should look really good after the Treasurecove polishing kit has done it's magic.

Were you able to source all the bumper caps - especially the passive caps ? They are VERY hard to find !

[Jango]

Hi Nino
I got the 50's static caps from PBR and they were really quite cheap I thought at $5 each.  The Space Invaders branded caps cost me USD$18 for the set of 3 from memory from a guy in the US who is using the same heatstamp method as the original (there's a youtube video of the process he uses).  From memory it was Classic Arcades Inc.  I took a pic of the old vs new caps).  You will note the pic on the left is the original cap that is burnt from the globe, and the repro one on the right looks superb.  They really look great and I was happy to spend $18 on that set.  I also got the insert decal sheet and apron decal from those guys.






I had read previously that it was extremely hard to find these anywhere and NOS ones were going for crazy prices.  I stumbled on these ones on Ebay.  I also got the custom drop targets (pics below) that I think look great.  Again they are hot stamped

[Retropin]

I sat it again....... you thought this MIGHT NOT be a restore??

Holy cow..... gonna be the best SI there is!
REALLY looking forward to the finished pics

[Jango]

Thanks Gav.... Problem is that I already have a Super Mario Bros in incredibly good condition with full leds, new cliffy hole protectors, basically the entire playfield has been stripped and cleaned piece by piece and has cleaned up a treat etc.  I know its not the best title out there but I bought it for the kids and its quite addictive.

Plus I have el-timbo doing my T2 for me as a complete restoration under his new hot rodded pin build specs which I am sure will be UNBELIEVABLE and has a very very unique and one off custom mod for it.  

Therefore I'm not sure I will really have much room for 3 pins (unless I keep the Spacies in the garage etc).  I am really hoping the gameplay will be as good as I think I remembered it as a 13 year old kid... however everyone says its not a great player....

I can say that I have learnt a tonne about the mechs and workings of a pinball machine.  But it does take alot of time doing this type of work............

[Strangeways]

Thanks Gav.... Problem is that I already have a Super Mario Bros in incredibly good condition with full leds, new cliffy hole protectors, basically the entire playfield has been stripped and cleaned piece by piece and has cleaned up a treat etc.  I know its not the best title out there but I bought it for the kids and its quite addictive.

Plus I have el-timbo doing my T2 for me as a complete restoration under his new hot rodded pin build specs which I am sure will be UNBELIEVABLE and has a very very unique and one off custom mod for it.  

Therefore I'm not sure I will really have much room for 3 pins (unless I keep the Spacies in the garage etc).  I am really hoping the gameplay will be as good as I think I remembered it as a 13 year old kid... however everyone says its not a great player....

I can say that I have learnt a tonne about the mechs and workings of a pinball machine.  But it does take alot of time doing this type of work............

"Spacies in the garage" = 

The Spacies will look great with the other two pins, and you HAVE to do a great job on it as it will be next to Timbo's restored T2 - You might go blind from all the Bling !

[Jango]

A small update on the progress of upgrading and cleaning the underside of the playfield.  I removed the single and 3 bank drop target assemblies, completely dismantled these and cleaned with Nifty and a scotch brite.

Here are a few "before' pics of the single drop target assembly











And here are a few pics after the single bank drop target was reassembled with the new custom Spacies drop target.  I also installed a new coil.  Although it does not have a Bally wrapper, I'd asked for a Bally coil and it was purchased from PBR











Here are a few "before' pics of the 3 bank drop target assembly



























And here are a few pics after the 3 bank bank drop target was reassembled with the new custom Spacies drop target.  Again, I also installed a new coil.  They have both cleaned up really well and the custom drop targets look great