This will be interesting. I've just agreed to pick up a 1947 Ballyhoo flipperless machine. The lower cabinet is definitely a project - pretty filthy but the playfield looks good under all the grime. It will be interesting to see how it cleans up, assuming it does

The backbox looks very nice as does the glass. I'm not expecting it to be immediately playable, nor was it sold that way. In EM terms, I'm expecting it will be fairly simple electrically and mechanically and hopefully not to difficult to get running.

Anyone know of a source for information on these old machines? It will be arriving on Friday so then I'll be able to see if there are any interior schematics or other data. I'll be able to post some pictures then too.

Just took delivery of the Ballyhoo. I am, so far, pretty pleased with it. It's really grubby but I knew that. On the plus side, it has its original schematic so that's one hurdle out of the way. Here's a couple shots of the cabinet sides:

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Right_Side_(resized).JPG

An overall view of the playfield:

Playfield_As_Bought_(resized).JPG

And finally a close-up of my trial spot clean with some Novus 2. Looks promising!

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It came with the correct triangular legs, all in good shape though they'll probably need repainting and some smoothing. I'll grab some shots of the head a little later once it's all stood up and together.

No flippers - it looks like those flipper-shaped plastic bits are just used as bumpers. The playfield on the game flyer, from IPDB, looks rather different:

Flyer_(resized).jpg

Note the use of rubbers on the left and right sides rather than the plastic parts, and the posts around the top hole rather than my flipper-like pieces. The question now, I suppose, is "What's actually correct?" The one on IPDB is not helpful in that regard because it's been flipper equipped. I won't be doing that.

Very tough to find information on this thing. I found some shots of another one that had been up for an auction and it had a playfield that matches mine, so I think the one in the flyer was probably a prototype or an artist's impression.

Got the game together tonight and did some more cleaning. I think she's going to clean up pretty well.

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Inside the cabinet is simple and in really clean condition, as is the underside of the playfield.

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I've no idea what the black paint on the playfield is about. Maybe it got refinished at some point and that was someone's assembly guide? A quick glance at things on the playfield revealed no glaring issues. The power cord is a death trap and will have to go before anything else gets done. At first glance, I am also not noticing any fuses but the schematic says there should be a couple.

This thing is apparently some sort of clockwork timer. From the looks of it, the coin slide pushes that bar up when you deposit a coin. The clockwork part works fine and it runs down after about 3-4 minutes. I think it's supposed to ring that bell when it finishes but that doesn't happen.

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I cannot get the small coin box door open. I can raise the latch but it hits the bottom of the free ball return trough and I don't think it releases enough. I probably won't care but I'd like to get it off to repair its delamination and rough edges.

I'm already learning a lot, which I love, and it's still early. I've got to buy some screw-base bulbs, which I've never used before. The backbox Jones plug has a number of broken wires which will need repair and the wood rails will need refinishing. They don't look terrible but have some mold spot damage. Who knew there's supposed to be a bulb under the red ball delivery cover!

Here she is in all her glory:

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Ah, OK, thanks guys. Good to know it doesn't ring - one less thing to fix!

You're right Nick. As the bar is pushed forward by the coin slide, it will change the state of those switches. It then returns to the start position thanks to its spring, which changes the switch state again. The one that's odd is the lowest one. The metal arm on the bar is twisted and so is the switch blade. I think it is supposed to work such that it pushes the blade down as the bar moves forward and then raises it as the bar moves back. I've no idea why they wouldn't just use a Make/Break there unless they needed a pulse.

Got a lot more cleaning done today:

Cleaning_-_Day_2_(resized).JPG

I also got the new power cord wired in, which it needed badly. More cleaning tomorrow, and maybe some wiring repair.

All cleaned up! Tomorrow I will finish up cleaning the bumper caps and start on actual testing. Still need to find a few odd parts, but it's coming along nicely.

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I'm wondering if anyone knows anybody who has one of these in working condition? I am trying to answer 2 questions which are driving me insane, and for which I have some other threads going without much success.

I'd like to find out from someone with one of these if it's supposed to reset the 1,000s portion of the score and whether the clock device should be knocking the Hold Relay off when it runs down.