I was lucky enough to get hold of a NOS backglass for my Fireball as it came with a plexi repro.

I have to say the graphics on the Fireball repro plexi were superb, top notch, but I prefer an original screened on glass. Don't hesitate to buy one if your original is rough.

Apparently some of the Fireballs that were exported were shipped with plexiglass when new, does anyone have a definitive answer on this?

Some other games were produced with plexis, one reason some manufactureres may have discontinued plexis is some people were reported to have burned holes to access the credit wheel!

I guess it's possible.

They were red originally, I had a look at a photo of a Fireball playfield from the 1976 "pinball portfolio" book. You could easily see that they were definitely red. Book was published in 1976 so the pic of the playfield would have been only four years old or less when taken.

I had never noticed this when I had looked at the pic before, I will be changing mine to red to see how it looks (since they are meant to be red). May end up changing them back to amber I suspect.

What's strange is their is no pictures of Ted Zale anywhere whatsoever, none in any books or on the net.

+1, I have ordered one as well.

That playfield is in amazing condition @brenna98. I never got over missing out on a home use only Fireball from ebay for 2.5K about 7 or so years ago.

Would be interested to know what show/series this clip was from. Anyone know the show or the names of the actors?

Looks like him, but if it's him I can't find what the series is.

Thanks!

Not perfect, but a lot better than it was. Yep, definitely needed the magic eraser for most of my playfield, just cleaning with the usual stuff did nothing.

These protectors are a must.
https://beehivepinball.bigcartel.com/product/playshield-protector-classic-bally

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Thanks for the detailed pics - I will be doing mine soon. What are the parts you "greased" & "oiled?"

Got it, that confirms as well the brass cogs themselves run dry no oil/grease. Great, Thanks.

I could't remove the spinning disc from the shaft last time I tried. I removed the two locking bolts/screws but it was still stuck on. Any tips to remove the disc form the shaft?

That a good method - I will try that, thanks!

That makes sense with what happens with the locking nuts & shaft. I just remembered something similar, The early williams (system 3-6) flipper shafts have a slight recess at the end in the position where the two locking pawl bolts press against the shaft to allow for any metal distortion at the contact points. Any distortion is within the recess area allowing for easy removal.

However, fitting the later type one piece bat & shaft that does not have the recessed end in the early two bolt pawl setup will result in the metal distorting like what happend here & the pawl & shaft locking together making it extremely difficult to remove.

Your clear plastics are broken where the captive ball sits (you probably already know) which is a very common problem with Fireballs. The 2 posts in front are not original & have been added because of this.

However, you can buy replacement clear plastics from the Pinball Rescue from the link below is you want to restore the set up to original.

Pinball Rescue are closing for good on June 7, so you will need to order now if you happen to want them! I'm pretty sure you can't get them anywhere else.

http://www.pinballrescue.net/Plastics_Fireball.html

From my experience, the only cause of machine gunning sling shots I have encountered on any game is when the contacts are gapped are too close. I don't find the sling shots snappy on Fireball - maybe is is because the sling angles are different to regular slings.

You can get a protector from here:

https://www.beehivepinball.com/product/pinball-playshield-protector

I have one, looks & plays great with it.

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I purchased a NOS Fireball backglass on Ebay a few years ago, luckily I managed to get it shipped to Australia safely & still in mint condition.

As seen in the pics it was still in the original wood packing crate, complete with newspaper pages from 1971!

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That is the EM set. CPR are doing the Fireball classics which have additional text on the plastics. From the picture, this set looks like the same EM Fireball set I bought years ago - I seem to remember the X on the clear plastics coating just like the pics too. Probably from the source from years ago.

Here is how the repro set looks in my game. Only differences I found are the plastics are a slightly lighter colour & thinner plastic than original, neither matters, they look great.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/72-fireball-club-all-here-can-enter-valhalla/page/5#post-6964430

I bought red sleeves from pinball resource & used regular #47 globes which looks great. Pretty sure these are the same as the originals.

https://www.pbresource.com/lampcov/gtb-24410.jpg

I have 6 installed across the top & left side in total - I think their were 6 originally from what I could determine.

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That fix is really out there!

Looks like a Williams flipper coil has been used there for the sub.

If you ever want to explore another possibility down the track you can read here - but like you said it's working, so that's all you need!

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fireball-zipper-flipper-pull-coil-needed#post-7817761

That's great, yeah, a rewind as first option for sure.

Sounds like how mine was too when I got it. Blackened so much, including the zipper flipper assembly.

The ply is charred where the fuse is as well. At least the top side is lovely!

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Thanks, yeah I did a rebuild on a used assembly I had with parts from either Marco or Pinball Resource, the flipper pull in coil was a NOS Comar coil, the same as the original, which I picked up from ebay a few years ago.

I will get back to stripping the playfield at some point to repair the back side damage & then repaint factory gray.

Yeah, I can understand using magic eraser on old playfields like these are a risk, I did however do magic eraser & alcohol on mine. I tried a small spot & seemed all ok, so continued. Turned out great, removed most of the ball swirl/engrained dirt, finished off with Novus 2 after the eraser to a nice shine then then did some final touch ups & the protector went on, no wax used. Has been perfect for a few years now without the protector needing removal at all.

See before/after pics.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/72-fireball-club-all-here-can-enter-valhalla/page/4#post-5338065

I have the ugly bolts too from a coin door locking bar, actually the whole front is pretty rough. I still haven't decided what to do & it's been a few years now. Might remove one bolt to take a peek in case their is some woodgrain vinyl behind it!

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Agreed, I find it's always a Sunday morning with coffee, which applies to all games except Flash Gordon.

You can find a NOS housing at John’s Jukes. Must be the only place on the planet that has them!

https://flippers.com/catalog_oc/ball-shooter-housing-a-1540-5?search=%20A-1540

I picked up a NOS rubber Matt from them for my Fireball spinning disc a few years ago while they had them available & also some NOS Fireball rollover buttons too.