Side work: Bally Old Chicago

I was asked to get this one going for its owner. This is a pretty nice 1975 Old Chicago. There is some minor wear on the playfield, the cabinet and backglass are in pretty good shape. This is a Bally 4 player EM, which looks pretty scary because there is alot going on in this thing!! I haven't worked on one of these before but I was able to figure out the problems fairly quickly. It has a few locked on coils, no lights at all and a few other problems.....

2008-10-26: Had a stuck switch which caused a multitude of problems. 2 stepper wheels would not reset to home position, fixed and cleaned. Has a bad connector, I think I can fix it. Replaced about 20 bad bulbs. 4 players work now. Still has a few bad sockets that I can fix.

2008-10-31:

1. Fuse connection was poor and intermittent which would prevent the game from starting. Repaired.

2. Gen Illumination/switched illymination connection on connector was poor, mostly open. Getting hot. Took it apart and resoldered it that pin, hardwired it to fuse holder directly to share current load anyway...

3. Cleaned player up unit and ball advance unit, sometimes would not reset back to #1 position.

4. Cleaned score drum units, player 1 was very dirty.

5. Player one would reset to 80000 or like 06000 on occassion on game start depending on last score. Worked once it warmed up. It is cold in the garage. I cleaned the switches on the wheels on the main motor in the cabinet anyway.

6. Cleaned the playfield and playfield glass.

7. Fixed light sockets on "game over", "d","c"

8. Set game to 3 ball

9. Switches on playfield are good

10. Replaced one diode, resoldered another on the bumpers.

10. Game plays well and starts up everytime.

Pinball Repairs and Refurbishment-you supply the machine!

We can also repair and refurbish your machine for you. If you have one that needs work done send me an email and we can work something out.

Kiss Pinball Project Overlay Installation!!

Well, this winter I decided to try to tackle the Kiss playfield. It was alot of work and requires patience waiting for each stage to dry....

2008-11-15: New Playfield Overlay Installation:
Before removing the hardware, top and bottom, take alot of pictures. This will help later. I use a digital camera and keep the laptop handy so I can easily refer to it later.

I built 2 rotating stands so I could work on the playfield on the table. These stands are great for this. I then built a frame out of 2x6" boards and mounted the playfield to it, using the existing holes in the playfield. This way I could leave the majority of hardware attached to the back of the playfield.

Prepping the Playfield
I stripped it down. I used a palm sander with 400 grit and sanded the playfield almost to bare wood in most spots. I had to glue a couple of insert back in place. I then sanded it down with 600 and subsequenty 2000 grit over the lenses. I washed it all with alcohol. I put a coat of sprayed on varathane and scuffed it off. For the white, I initially used acrylic with a brush. This turned out terrible. I sanded it all off because the brush strokes were evident. I suspected this would happen. Using 1/4" wide masking tape, I masked off the areas requiring paint. Another thing to note with this is you don't want paint lines after you put down 2 coats so I had to sand the edges a bit to ensure that they wouldn't show through the mylar. A good tip is to use old bulbs in the sockets when spraying so that they don't get paint in them. I took a bunch of pieces of tracing paper and marked the holes where the metal rails were installed. This is important because they will disappear as you go forward....take more pics.

Painting the White
Once the white was down, I scuffed it with 600. I then sprayed on another 2 coats of varathane. I used spray on because I don't need it thick, it dries quick and I had it available.

Overlay Drop Down
After that I was ready for the overlay. I had the overlay that is considered the "good" one which is the partial one, with the exposed ball lane and white areas. It is 175.00 US and purchased at Arcade Shop. It is very, very nice quality. I put it down using the methods I found on line, http://www.pinballmagic.com/oldsite/overlay.htm using the spray bottle with water and soap. This was tricky and took numerous tries. I had no air bubbles at all. It worked out great.

Final Coats of Varathane, no turning back
After 2 days, I scuffed off the playfield with 800 grit, just enough to remove the shine. I used a tack rack after ALL sanding on every step above. Using the appropriate foam brush, I brushed on 4 coats of Diamond Finish Gloss Varathane. Wait 1 day at least between coats. If it goes on too thick, it will have a brown tinge to it. After the 4 coats, I gave it 3 coats of wax. It is super smooth. It looks really good.

Summary
2008-12-13: The overlay was a good experience and a learning process. This is not an easy thing to do for the average person. It is alot of work and you need to have a high level of patience. I redid the white stage 3 times...I have alot of experience with paints so that helped. It is not perfect, but very nice. I will definitely be able to do it on the next Kiss.

Some points to consider:

1. Plan your moves!!!

2. Don't use a brush to put down the white. Spray it on.

3. Mask off the area where the ball shooter lane is and around the top. Also, tape over the inserts lenses, the rollover trough slots and the bumpers as well so that the wood shows through when you put down the overlay. Lay the overlay down to get an idea of where the wood is going to show.

4. Remember to mask off the inside edges in the drop target/target slots when spraying your white as well. I also put masking tape along the outside edge of the playfield so when it is lifted later, it looks clean.

5. Don't get hung up over a spec in the clear here and there. Remember to scuff between coats and USE A TACK RAG. When complete, you can wet sand and scuff off the spots with 600 grit or even 2000 grit and polish them out.

6. Remember that it will look like crap if you don't spend time cleaning the hardware so expect alot more work later.....

7. Did I mention to take alot of pics???

8. Also, if you screw up you can just buy another overlay and start over lol :).

Pinbot project #1 For Sale $1100 *SOLD!*

I decided to sell Pinbot #1.
Obviously these are desired and collectible....
This one works pretty good but could use still use some work.
I have too much to do....!
See the other post on this machine in "Pinballs for Sale" for more info.
October 16, 2008: Sold the Pinbot #1...

More machines!

We have acquired a few more pinball machines. Stay tuned..they will be up for sale shortly....

Pinballs wanted

Interested in anything, or even trades
but I am looking specifically for the following machines:
Kiss
Black Hole
Gottlieb EM's single player preferably with a good backglass and playfield.
Or a Track and Field arcade game
Does not have to be working obviously.
Click on the links to the right to see the different sections.

Update

It has been a busy summer, but its time to get back to finishing up some of these projects. Pinball season.

These are for sale:
Alien Poker
Force 2
Pro Football will be for sale
Spin a Card will be for sale
Monte Carlo
Pinbots (one for sure)
I will be looking at the Supersonic this fall/winter

Bally Supersonic

I got this one from a fellow collector/hobbyist and a head/backglass from another hobbyist/collector. Needs alot of work! Pretty good, traditional early Solid State machine. I always liked this machine. Hope to work on this one this fall, winter.
Pics to come!

2009-01-01:

Swapped around guts from the original head to the other one I had which is in better shape. Rebuilt a power supply with new bridges, J1 connector and CR1-4 diodes. See the pics of the original, there is cigarette paper on most of the fuses, which is generally not a good thing! I will rebuld this board at a later date.

2009-02-28: Ordered playfield decals, star and SST. Plan to restore second playfield w/clearcoat application since second playfield is excellent condition everywhere else.

200--03-04: Received shooter rod assembly.

2009-03-07: Boots up reliably now. No displays. MPU has board issue still (no display driver). Repaired HV path to displays. Need to still replace some pins at display connectors. Repaired one wire that was chewed up to player 4. Repaired/replaced bad pins on J3 Solenoid driver board. Need to repair J1, J4 pins at connectors on driver board, no flipper relay enable, can jumper control and flippers are strong.

2009-03-08: Looks like I will need 2 six digit displays but I'll get the MPU done first to make sure. Played around with sound board. I suspect that the PROM is bad.

2009-03-15: 1 solenoid energizes at solenoid test. Replaced all pins at J4 solenoid driver harness. Test passes now. Repaired faulty coin door test button.

1973 Gottlieb Pro-Football EM $600 obo

I got this one on the weekend from a fellow collector/hobbyist...I like the sports themed machines, has 3 chimes (my favorite) and a bell. This one has some reset issues. Needs some fairly minor cosmetic work. Right flipper button kicks the ball out. Will go well in the rec room of some Rider fan this fall when they win the Grey Cup again! (or maybe an Esky fan, just because they like football... :)
Pics to come.

August 29, 2008: Fixed issues with relays and switches, game works good. Need to check switches on playfield and usual cosmetic work. Touched up white on cabinet and head. Waxed cabinet. Should be done this weekend.

August 30, 2008: Stripped playfield, minor touchups. Ordered new rubber kit. Replaced all head bulbs. Have new stickers for the flippers as well.
September 20, 2008: Parts are on their way.

October 5, 2008: Replaced al rubbers. Installed new flpper stickers. Installed new flipper buttons. Adjusted switches. For sale! If I don't sell it, I'm putting it downstairs.

Big Buck Hunter-Sold

I don't like to stray from pinballs much anymore, but there are only a few that I think are worthwhile. This is a kit in a Sega cabinet. It works, but the monitor needs work. It is dark and has no blue. It has the coin mechs as well.