Pinball shed stash

[robm]

Guys, i posted this on another forum a few weeks back, so the Xmas project thread reminded me to throw it up here....enjoy

Well, an adventure may have started, or come to an abrupt end, depending on whether old mate is willing to do a deal....anyway lets start at the start.

So i got a contact that there is a stash of a number of machines in a shed, rang the dude that owned them ( he doesn't live there, but 100s of km away and is renting the place out) who told me that they are all collectors items and worth a fair bit. 

Anyway, went for a lap today to inspect them.  Now these aren't on the mainland, but on an island so transport is going to be a killer.

So we borrowed a mate's Moke (no brakes) to drive to the shed from the Ferry terminal, and half way there it runs out of fuel.....

So we turned it around and rolled down the hill and pulled up at a bus stop. Luckily, the next bus was only 3 mins away, so we jumped on it and got dropped off at the shed.

The bloke renting the place was a good fella and took us around the back to a shed that is open on one end and this is what we were greeted by:



The stench was pretty good with plenty of possum pee and all sorts of other native and 'natural' type smells.  So straight away i gave away any thought of going through each machine as they just would be too much work to pull out.

1st step was to move the 1st one (Party Zone) so i could find out the other titles.  So the first challenge was moving party zone when it didn't actually have a base!!!!  Anyway, we got it down, pulled the backglass off and opened the (water damaged) backbox to find this....



Absolutely scared the crap out of me seeing a possum INSIDE the backbox - we tried to prod him out with a pole and he proceeded to take a filthy liquid dump inside the backbox...... Also, batteries have not been removed in any, so acid damage will be present on all CPU boards - and the few i looked at were pretty nasty.



So i clambered over the top of getaway (base of its cabinet is completely bowed and about to fall out). So the full list of machines is

Party Zone
Getaway
Creature
Dracula
Addams
Twilight
Terminator
Fishtales
Twilight
Dr Who
Unknown - could only see the top of the backbox
Lethal Enforcers arcade machine

The 2nd twilight and Lethal Enforcers are in another shed that is full to the brim with junk.  The pic below of the TZ is all i could see, and i had to lean in about 1m over a pile of junk to get that pic!!


As you can see, the creature cabinet is rooted, as is Dracula and all are in really poor condition with all bases requiring replacing and all have absorbed moisture in the back of the backbox. Most cabinets have varying degrees of delamination, so a LOT of hours needed in stripping, bogging and redecalling where they are available.

All legs are completely brown with rust

Most lockdown bars, siderails have a combination of rust, possum crap and a black oily substance over them.



I would have to assume at least 1/2 the displays don't work
All CPUs will need serious acid work (maybe replacement in many cases)
Assume driver boards will need work

The translites seem OK on the couple i looked at, as well as the playfields were filthy but did not have large obvious wear.  All will obviously need to be completely stripped and shopped.  On some that i could see there were a couple of bits floating around not attached on the top of the playfield.










Some of my big fears are:

Getting rid of the stench
Rebuilding all/most of the cabinets
Could possums have chewed wiring??????
Pretty sure there will be other natives and/or reptiles in some machines

So the big question is what do you guys reckon they are worth?
Transport from the island to the mainland may cripple it, but i'll do some investigating there

At the moment i'm starting to think max $200 per machine - yes there are a couple of decent ones in there, but by the time you start replacing bits it adds up really quick eg:

Legs
Lockdown Bar
Side Rails
DMD Display
Flipper kits, balls , rubbers
LEDs
Replace cab base
Strip cabinet, redecall where they can be obtained
coin door
CPU board
Other board work
Misc mechanisms/plastics/other parts prob at least an extra $150-$200/machine

The stuff above could easily add up to 1000-1200 plus transformer missing on some, plus the huge amount of time to do the cabinets, for a machine that is worth $2000-$2500

Without the cabinet work they are going to be pretty ugly and significantly less value, and thats assuming the wiring harnesses are intact and i can get rid of the smell

Some are past it (eg Party Zone with no base at all)   

So to cap the adventure off, the guy renting the place took us for a drive in his prime mover with a jerry can to top the Moke up, and of course we nearly ran the battery flat starting it again, but just got it going on its final crank....So fun times were had, but whether old mate realizes these are not worth $2000 each or not remains to be seen.  Be interested in other peoples ideas of value - keeping in mind this bloke has no way of moving them himself as far as i know since he lives 100s of k's away, and on the mainland.

[robm]

So, the adventure did continue.....

After old mate came back with an offer of $6k, i decided not to go down the path of the previously suggested email (as funny as it would have been) and take the polite route.

I pointed out that none of the pins were worth over $5k, unless i went all out with a TZ or Addams, and even then it would be top $$$ and you would have to put almost that into them.  I also pointed out some local recent sales showing as well as my Monster Bash restoration to show that i was actually capable and interested in the hobby.  A day later he came back to me with a much reduced price, although a bit higher than my initial offer. He also wanted one machine left there which was Dracula. This is definitely not a way to make a quick buck, but i reckon i should recoup my costs over time, plus get a machine or two and/or a heap of spares out of it.  The other big motivating factors were:

1. If/when i get one the machines going that many would consider past it, it will be simply a feeling of satisfaction of bringing one back from the dead!
2. I have long service leave starting this week until mid Jan, so have some time on my hands
3. I'm always up for a challenge


So, i contacted a bloke down the road who had bought a fishtales off me a few years back as he had a 4.6m trailer and he was more than happy to loan it to me (for a few repairs to a jukebox he has).

So grabbed a mate (stalker on this forum) and we headed off to Maggie Island on the Barge 1st thing in the morning.  The first unnerving bit was pulling off the barge where the guy reckoned we wouldn't get back as the tides were dropping and with the car/trailer being pretty low, we wouldn't get back on.  We did not want to be stuck over there for 10 hours as we had a gluttonous traditional Thanksgiving feast to attend at some friends place (which was mighty fine i must add!).

Anyway, we cruised around to the place and simply hooked in.  Got a couple of the front machines out onto the lawn to properly reveal the others



It was a fair effort with only two of us to get the top ones off, particularly the TZ at the back of the shed, which had no base and was wedged back against the wall.  With lots of effort (and sweat, it was about 85% humidity) we finally got it off.  You will also notice to the right of the TZ and Dr Who is the unknown on top (Getaway), but also a Black Rose which we didn't see last visit!



We managed to remove one possum from Party Zone, as well as another crawled/bolted out of Getaway as we lifted it.  That was not an enjoyable experience.

So then we had to attack the other storage room with the 2nd TZ in it.  This is the doorway, and there was junk piled pretty much to the roof - and of course the TZ was right at the far back corner.



So again we just hooked in and pulled all the crap out and this is what we found




A 2nd Dr Who under the TZ that was impossible to see the previous week!

Both this TZ and Dr Who are in pretty good condition (note - this is a very relative term!!!!) - cabs are pretty soild, as are bases.  Boards are all good with no acid damage, and from peering through the glass, the playfields are filthy but cant see any obvious wear and insert issues.

So then we loaded them all (12) onto the trailer - had about 10mm overhang of the backbox - it was the perfect size! We tarped the load up to stop any dodgy bases flying off in the trip home and headed back to the barge.  All up it took just under 3 hours to move a heap of junk and load them onto the trailer.



Getting back onto the barge was not a problem, so that was a big relief........until we tried to get off. The car would not get out of park (auto), tried pushing hard on the brake, park brake on/off, rocking the car all to no avail.  Anyway, the barge attendants started to get toey and started to organise a tilt tray to move me off, but they would have to send me back to the island and back again as there were other vehicles needing transport over.  I could just see the $$$s adding up in a real hurry - another $360 trip for the barge, $500 for tilt tray etc etc.  Anyway, my mate very quickly googled 'maxima stuck in park' and all i needed to do was push in the shift lock button (very obvious now!) and get it out - apprently this is for tow truck guys to override a stuck gearbox.  So cruised off with a big sigh of relief as i thought the deal might have got a whole lot more expensive.  Afterwards, another mate deduced the problem without even looking at it - a short in the trailer caused the brake light fuse to blow, so the car didn't think the brake pedal was on, so wouldn't let it out of park! new fuse, and all fixed.

So we got the load home safely, and started to unpack. the dog was pretty excited as she could smell a possum somewhere...



Sure enough, wedged inside one of the backboxes was another festy little critter



We got them all unloaded and scattered throughout the shed, and i have the fans cranking to try and get some airflow happening





Haven't taken any glass off yet, but 1st glance is that Addams, TZ and Dr Who are OK with faded but straight enough cabs.  Peering inside the coin doors, the playfields from the bottom also look OK with all of the internals still there bar a few transformers/speakers in those machines with bases missing.  All translites bar one TZ are intact.

So, it was a day of great fun, with a few panic moments thrown in to liven things up.

At the moment, not really sure where i'm going to start = whether try to work on the Addams or TZ, or open them all up and give a good vacuum, scrub and airing.  Fun times ahead!

[robm]

Thanks for all the comments - glad you guys appreciate it and hopefully it encourages others to keep their eyes and ears open all the time to save some more machines.

So i had a day putting them all on legs and having a quick run over most of them.

Negatives:

Missing a few transformers
About 8 cabinet bases need replacing
About 6 cabinets need replacing
A few boards and DMD's missing, but not too many
Creature ramps have all completely melted, must have been in the sun
A few translites missing
They stink


So i decided to get into them - remembering this is what they all looked like....



So imagine my surprise when i took the translites off and saw this on a few of them



Some of the boards look fantastic - many have acid damage on the CPU, but some don't, and all the rest of the boards look to be very clean.

So pulled the glass off - this was a big effort on most as years of possum crap and other substances had 'glued' the glass in the siderails - had to drill all the locks out as well









The playfields are filthy but in VERY VERY good condition - Dr Who has no wear or insert outlining at all, Addams has minor wear on a couple of mansion inserts, both the TZs are pretty much spot on as well.

I am absolutely stoked with this, as well as the fact that all playfield components seem to be intact and ramp flaps seem to be the worst for rust.  A couple of the machines are worse with rust on the habitrails and other parts, but most have minimal surface rust on the internal metal bits. Can't see any signs of moisture on the playfields or warping either.

So i reckon i've done pretty well - but also have a lot of work ahead.  In order to get some of them functioning, it will require a new or donor cabinet - if anyone has plans for cabinets, please let me know!!

I'll do resto threads where i can, but i did tinker with Addams today and after a lot of testing, repairing boards and checking got it to fire up and start a game with no obvious errors, so pretty happy there!

[robm]

First one back alive now




Just needs a new set of legs i am waiting on.  Works 100% at the moment and an having great fun playing it.  Might have a bit of time playing before i tackle the next project (will will be a lot more work probably...)

[The pinballist formally known as Dean Morgan]

Great story and pics. Wow what a project, great to see these saved, don't look like they would have been around in a few years if you hadn't came along.  Keep us posted, very interested to see your progress

[Olivia_jason]

 

[bossninja17]

Love reading this post.

[pinnies4me]

Fascinating stuff, I would love a barn find (sans possums though!!)

Bowls of bicarb inside the machines will do wonders to remove the last of the stench after the clean up. I had one Euro import with that odd stench that comes with them. Added a bowl of bicarb, next time I opened the game I saw it there (had forgotten about it) but it smelled nice in there!!

[Mr Pinbologist]

That was a GREAT read!! Thanks for sharing  

Man i would LOVE to find a shed full of games like that.. must've been like an early xmas present for you.. even with the crap you had to deal with,, possum shit n piss and all  

[Caveoftreasures]

RobM,.......Mate, ONE OF THE BEST EVER THREADS/POSTS I HAVE EVER SEEN ON AUSSIE PINBALL EVER !

CONGRATULATIONS X 1 MILLION.
The only thing I am confused about is did u end up with 12 machines total, and was the final cost 5 grand...is that what the end result was ? 

[robm]

RobM,.......Mate, ONE OF THE BEST EVER THREADS/POSTS I HAVE EVER SEEN ON AUSSIE PINBALL EVER !

CONGRATULATIONS X 1 MILLION.
The only thing I am confused about is did u end up with 12 machines total, and was the final cost 5 grand...is that what the end result was ? 

Cost of purchase was under $5k - many people thought they were past it and close to worthless, but with TAF going now, i only need to sell one or two machines to cover the cost plus some repairs.  That said, most of the other machines require serious cash dropped in them, plus many many hours as well as fairly significant board work/wiring in many cases - some have no cab base or transformer and cables just hanging there.

If anyone has plans drawn up for CNC cutting of cabinets i would be most grateful, or a source that can do them cheap as i will prob need at least 6 new cabs.

[pinnies4me]

If anyone has plans drawn up for CNC cutting of cabinets i would be most grateful, or a source that can do them cheap as i will prob need at least 6 new cabs.

These are being done now, should be available in the new year.

[goodolddays]

Great story Rob . Be interesting to hear how many hours and $$ you end up putting into these.

Good to hear you should be able to cover your initial investment too

[Caveoftreasures]

RobM,.......Mate, ONE OF THE BEST EVER THREADS/POSTS I HAVE EVER SEEN ON AUSSIE PINBALL EVER !

CONGRATULATIONS X 1 MILLION.
The only thing I am confused about is did u end up with 12 machines total, and was the final cost 5 grand...is that what the end result was ? 

Cost of purchase was under $5k - many people thought they were past it and close to worthless, but with TAF going now, i only need to sell one or two machines to cover the cost plus some repairs.  That said, most of the other machines require serious cash dropped in them, plus many many hours as well as fairly significant board work/wiring in many cases - some have no cab base or transformer and cables just hanging there.

If anyone has plans drawn up for CNC cutting of cabinets i would be most grateful, or a source that can do them cheap as i will prob need at least 6 new cabs.

I know up here in QLD, I once took a pinball cabinet to a kitchen manufacturing company and said can u guys make me a identical wooden cabinet....and if u dont want to screw n glue it together, just pull my example cabinet apart, copy each wooden piece and keep the dimensions n sizes etc in memory for next time....they make anything and everything and have 20 types of wood...kitchen places are the absolute best places to get a cabinet made/copied for not too much money....

try a kitchen place to get 6 x cabinets made and u can put the flatpack pieces together yourself to save on labour.....normal woodworking/cabinet maker places want far too much labour and charge too much for the wood...kitchen places are high volume cutting/high volume wood stockists, and are accustomed to doing weird n wonderful jobs very quickly for tight deadlines....hope it helps.

[Strangeways]

Great thread - I've enjoyed reading every word and looking at every picture. If you sold the Addams, you would have already broken even. I'm glad you are looking at replacing cabinets etc. Most would part these out and try to make $$ that way. So I'm stoked you have them, and that they will be restored.

I look forward to the restoration threads and if you need anything - Just ask !