Capt. Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy
Bally, 1976Does anyone sell parts for the Bally drop target units ? My Captain Fantastic is fantastically worn out in this department. Lots of slop in the linkage. Targets randomly stay down. New targets, tightened springs, no change. Tons of slop in the pivot points from the coil on out. The outside reset arms are sloppy. There were over 150k pins made by Bally between 1975 and 1980, and most of them have drop targets. Really surprised there isn't a rebuild kit for this high wear item.
Here's a few things to look at in the order I'd try them, but depending on your budget you might buy the used unit early in the process.
1. Figure out exactly which metal pieces are worn
2. Call the usual suppliers and ask if the part(s) you need are available.
3. For parts that aren't available, decide if they can be repaired of fabricated.
4. Buy this used unit
ebay.com link: SS Bally NIGHT RIDER Pinball Machine 5 Bank DROP TARGET used pinball parts
Two of those target banks can be found on the 1976 Bally Night Rider (EM) that I am currently restoring. Half of the targets in a bank stayed down upon resetting due of all the slop in the mechanism. I got parts from Marco. Banks working flawless now.
Most of the slop was caused by the "reset spacer blocks", so replaced those with new ones:
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/S-2162
Replaced the coil sleeves, cut to length (50.9mm):
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-7068
Furthermore, I swapped the outside links with ones from inside the bank. These didn't have the worn center holes, which cause more slop. The links inside the bank (attached to the drop targets) were installed "upside down" so the worn edges are facing up and don't touch on anything anymore.
reset links (resized).jpgreset spacer (resized).jpgWanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
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Boulder, CO