I recently discussed with Ken Layton about his recent posts on how to change early 50's Williams impulse flippers to normal flippers to improve playing the game and also updating the pop bumpers to remove the carbon ring type skirt converting to a regular spoon type arrangement.
The aim regarding the pop bumpers was to get a more 'peppy' response and access to readily available parts. The original carbon ring used has not been made for so long getting a replacement will come from a parts machine if such an animal exists from this time. I joined a topic by 'Pin-it' titled 'Tech Passive bumper skirt modify' and commented on by 'Blownfuse' and Ken Layton and this got me thinking.
I decided to make these 'temporary' modifications for my use as long as I could change them back 100% to 'as original '. This meant that I needed to plan my modifications with removal of only spatially impacted parts and not cutting any wires only unsoldering and making safe. Any parts replaced were bagged and stored in the machine cabinet immediately. I did have to make new screw holes however. I believe it would take a weekend to change back and get operating correctly again and none would be the wiser.
The modifications for the flippers were looked at first. I needed to make a sketch of the before and after work. This for me is more involved than the schematic as it needs to look at tie-ins, wire cutting and making safe and where in the game the modifications spatially are. Also if and when i screw up I can find it from the sketch. I made a set of pictures of the work and copied onto a USB with the schematics PDF's for storing in the machine also.
See below my sketch #1 of the 'as wired' per the schematic followed by the 'new as wired arrangement' sketch #2.
Sketch 2 JPG.jpgSketch 1 JPG.jpg
The following list is the parts that I used after help from Ken. First the flippers then the bumpers.
Per The Pinball Resource Part #'s for a Williams 51 Jalopy Impulse Flipper Conversion to normal Flippers upgrade to Gottlieb parts;
Kit GFLIP-01 Qty 1
A-5024 Bracket, Qty 2
A-5148 Bracket Qty 2
A-5147 Bracket Qty 2
A-5189 Bracket Qty 2
Bally AF-25-500/28-1000 50 Volt Coil Qty 2
5094-5 flipper Pair Qty 1
2 of A6888E+ Flipper Pawl Qty 2
Note I did not order the screws needed bulleted below and need to buy locally but they were brass and soft. Pinball life has these parts. Final note the wood of an old pinball playfields is hard and you need to pre-drill before putting in a new screw.
• #6-32 x 1/4" Pan Screw with Locking Washer Qty 12
• #8X 1/2" LG screws Qty 12
• #8 X 5/8" LG Screws Qty 12
Regarding the flipper conversion Ken told me that Clay from the pinball repair guide fame mentioned to him that he converted all his Williams impulse flippers to all Gottlieb flipper parts since so much of them are available (reproduced) from Pinball Resource. Clay mentioned to Ken that he uses a Bally AF-25-500/28-1000 flipper coil in these conversions because it's 50 volts and it fits the Gottlieb coil bracket perfectly. Picture below shows the Bally coil on a Gottlieb coil bracket in a Williams game. I recommend a 'coil washer' as I feel that they need additional tightness. Below is the flippers with the Bally Coil in picture #1.
The flipper Relay is redundant in this modification but as stated earlier needs to remain for converting back. See picture 2 after minimum disconnection.
Parts needed per The Pinball Resource Part #'s for a Williams 51 Jalopy Bumper Upgrade;
GTB-25A Body white Qty 6
GTB-8997 White Qty 6
1218R Skirt red Qty 6
B10432W Base white Qty 6
B8704 switch spoon and EOS Qty 6
Lamp holder #131 Qty 6
Box of Lamps LAM 0047A Qty 1
Regarding the pop bumpers Ken pointed out that the new B8704 spoon and EOS switch will work with the existing coil brackets, but you will need to add 1/8" thick spacers between the bracket and playfield in order for the new spoon switch and bumper skirt stem to clear it and not get stuck closed. Because of added the 1/8" thick spacers, Ken recommended using 5/8" long screws not 1/2". Additionally what I found was that some isolation was needed if we were minimizing any unnecessary modifications. See pictures showing spacer and paper isolation strips added to the B8704 switch. I glued some plastic strip found at a model train shop. Note model train shops are good source for small nuts and bolts, plastic and brass material as well as being a great hobby.
Here is the isolation modifications to the B8704 switch and the finished bumpers in pictures #3, 4 and 5.
Picture 5.jpgPicture 4.jpgPicture 3.jpg
Comments are welcome. If further pictures are needed to clarify other parts of the modification please ask I took a lot more than is shown here.
Regards Steve J.
Post edited by SteveinTexas : adding clearer images
Olympia, WA
