(Topic ID: 115810)

1978 Atari Space Riders Restoration

By peclark

9 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 63 posts
  • 21 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by peclark
  • Topic is favorited by 9 Pinsiders

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There are 63 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 2.
#51 9 years ago

Houston Pinball is amazing. I sent my board off and a replacement was back in less than a week. Cesar ended up giving me a replacement board in exchange for mine. The new board is in good shape and works great. No more reset issue.

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As I was putting things back together I was cleaning and adjusting the flipper buttons and I realized the left flipper switch screws were stripped and I couldn't tighten it down as a result. I removed the switch to fix the holes with toothpicks and woodglue.
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I cleaned and re-waxed the playfield, adjusted some switches, re-attached a couple of cable ties, and replaced the coin box.

Pretty much done. I ordered some higher wattage lightbulbs for the backbox because the 7.5 frosted appliance bulbs just don't light it up enough. I found these bulbs on Amazon and am going to give them a try. http://amzn.com/B00435F6DO These are only 15 watt, so I think they will be brighter, but not too bright nor too hot. I didn't do anything to the outside of the cabinet. I may do a little touch up, or perhaps when it warms up I might make templates and repaint it.

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Here's a short video of it in play.

#52 9 years ago
Quoted from PinBiohazard:

this machine is very 80's, It's cool how the scoring is in the apron, will you be LEDing the machine? I think it would look uber cool with the right LED's in it

all lamps inserts and GI are computer controlled and all have a warming voltage so you can not LED it at all!

#53 9 years ago

Great work. This really makes me want to revisit the idea of restoring one of these. How is the gameplay? is it fun?

#54 9 years ago
Quoted from Gorno:

How is the gameplay? is it fun?

It's really pretty good I think. The drop targets with the captive balls behind them are pretty challenging. It can be pretty challenging because the kick-out holes reset the drop targets. It can be hard to get all three before you end up resetting them.

The spinners are really difficult to get much action out of and I'm still working on those shots. Getting the rollover switches can be challenging (spelling BIKE CITY), but getting them all really starts racking up the points. The super wide body can make the play seem kind of slow sometimes, but I did notice after I re-waxed it the play is much faster now. I don't know if you can tell from the video, but the ball was moving pretty good.

It's definitely 70's style pinball fun, so it's not going to compete with newer style machines, but if you like machines like Tri-Zone, Gorgar, etc... I think it holds up pretty well.

I have to say I think my Gottlieb Volcano widebody is more fun and sometimes plays faster, but this isn't too far behind that in terms of fun.

#55 9 years ago

I have a soft spot for the 70-80s widebody games. I love my Hotdoggin'.

#56 9 years ago
Quoted from Gorno:

I love my Hotdoggin

I've never seen that game before, but it does look like a lot of fun. I especially like the layout and the colors.

#57 9 years ago

I got the new light bulbs. Here's how they compare.
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And some comparisons in the game:
With lights off:
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Old bulbs:
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New bulbs:
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Turned out exactly as I had hoped. Looks much better!

#58 9 years ago

I thought I was done, but there were still a few more things I decided to do. A new piece of glass (the one on the machine was very scratched up - not just the normal scratched up - it was scratched like someone went at it with a scraper or razor blade to get some stickers off!). A cover for the MPU so stuff dropping out of the playfield doesn't land on it and short it out, and fixing a problem with the flipper bat not holding tight enough with the set screws.

Nice new clear sheet of glass. I had to order this custom as this is a really wide body machine. I've been buying a few custom pieces of glass from http://www.dullesglassandmirror.com/ lately. They have a nice website and the packaging is impeccable (or completely peccable, bad joke based on my avatar - sorry).

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When I ordered the glass I also ordered a rectangular piece of plexiglass for the MPU cover. You can barely see it because it's so clean, but it'll do the trick - just had to mark and drill 4 holes for the holders it snaps on to.
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I used some heavy duty bolts to replace the stripped set screws for the flipper - these are holding great now.

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#59 9 years ago

Congratulations on your restoration really nice work. There is something intriguing about the Atari machines great to see one up and working. Really enjoyed reading your thread, your neighbours must have thought ET had landed when you had your spray booth set up.

#60 9 years ago

Love the baking soda box in the cabinet. I have a couple of games with questionable past history where some baking soda has made a huge difference over time.

Nice work!

#61 9 years ago

Nice work! Great looking machine!

#62 9 years ago
Quoted from nasco62:

Really enjoyed reading your thread, your neighbours must have thought ET had landed when you had your spray booth set up.

My poor neighbors. I'm sure they are just shaking their heads watching me do all the weird stuff I do around here. I remember one time I was cleaning out my shop vac. I was banging out the filter with a bunch of dust, drywall dust, and who knows what else. The clouds it was producing were immense, truly impressive really. I wasn't really paying attention until I looked up and realized it was floating over my neighbors pool and they were all out there swimming... whoops...

#63 9 years ago
Quoted from RCA1:

Love the baking soda box in the cabinet. I have a couple of games with questionable past history where some baking soda has made a huge difference over time.

I wish I could place the smell this thing has, it's unique. I need some kind of smell-o-meter. It took about 3 months here before I could bring it in the house.

There are 63 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 2.

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