Ever since I finished my Mata Hari all I could think about is what my next project could be. Well Deez helped me figure it out today. I got a 1947 Bally Rocket from him and I’m ready to dive in with this one!
First of all its a flipperless however someone added flippers so those will be removed. Secondly I’m gonna need any help possible on where to get replacement playfield parts.
Lets see how this goes!

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The placement of the flipers is terrible. Someone put them up by the white 10000 bumpers. I would think if youre gonna sacrifice the playfield at least put them in the normal location. Im looking forward to getting her back to normal though. And i agree this game would be sweet with flippers

Decided to see what i could do with the bumper caps while watching The Browns game. Got one done. 9 more to go.

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I need to call Steve Young and tell him I'm new to the hobby and ask him for parts without a part-number first, then I'll be able to proceed.

Thanks for following, as for the back glass it is a repo that Matt ( Deez ) had done before I got it from him.

Got the PF cleared time to clean
Gonna use naphtha and novus to clean it up then ill wax. Ive decided not to touch up and piant/clear this one. I think itll ruin the character of being 71 years old if its too clean.

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Wow! Half way done and the colors and shine hiding under the dirt is amazing.

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Cant wait to replace these nasty bodies. I love the old school look of them though.

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Here is one i cleaned up and repainted the cap. Still waiting on a new body though.

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Could someone confirm this bulb size? I think they are 50’s but im not certain.

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Finished all the caps with white paint and moved on to blue. I’m liking the way they are turning out but im not sure ill ever do this again. My eyes are killing me.

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whats cool with this game is the kickout holes fire right into the next and it does this figure 8 of sorts around the playfield, little nudges here and there make a huge difference. Cant wait to get this playfield completed so I can play it some more before I do the cabinet.

Yes this is Rocket 2. Im not sure about Rocket 1’s theme from 1933

Ok Deco caps are touched up. Even though they are a little warped I’m happy with them. I tried to heat them up and flatten them out but its not working and I’m not gonna over do it to avoid snapping them or warping them more. Even though my OCD about them keeps me up at night.
Cant wait to get the replacement bodies that boilerman found for me!

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Thanks Yves! Pretty excited about this project. Honestly my favorite thing so far is the help im getting from other pinsiders hunting for parts. boilerman with bumper bodies, patblote reached out with a great list of parts and that was a pleasant surprise, ballbaron with new pinballs, bluespin with a ton of leads.
I hope i don’t disappoint when its all said and done!

Got my bumper bodies today from @boilerman. They are perfect!

The remaining parts that im getting from patblote should be here Monday then this playfield will be back in business.

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This is the stuff that makes me smile
Metal... I used to play it on my guitar now I just wet sand it...

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Yes Yves, as soon as i pulled one off to clean, the first thing that came to mind was our girl Mata Hari!

Not the happiest about this fix but its working. The body of the slide coin mech was snapped in half. I tried to weld it back together, and that was short lived. So a paper clip and coat hanger strategically placed and bent to hold actually works. After cleaning it up and lubricating, this is working again. Accepts nickels, and doesnt slide if one is not inserted. Also I found if i put the game on free play, a coil underneath the coin mech activates pushing up on a latch on the bottom of the mech and allows the coin mech to push in and start a game without coin. Fascinating to see this old technology in action, All and all it works properly (for the moment)
My wife found a site for me that sells refurbed mechs for $65. Not sure im ready to go that route.

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patblote s package came today! Got exactly what i needed and then some! Thanks again man this helps so much.

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Another great piece of help provided from Dan at Main St Amusements!!!
The score cards sent to me in a pdf. This is a screenshot of what was given. Arcane I’ll definitely be finding the most aged looking card stock possible to print these on. Dont want to go pure white like i did for my backbox instruction cards on the Mata Hari

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If I didn't have to run your pinball league tonight I'd finish the last few things needed to have it playable again.

I say new balls should be installed and plunged by Wednesday night. Bring a roll of nickels and some dollars to bet with.

Hahaha Luckily for me I am rich, famous, and kidless!! Thanks for stopping by Brian.

Ok after getting a file earlier this week and stumbling across a Rocket on Ebay I made some edits and created the center score card for the super special bumpers referencing what I could see....

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Playfield is back and looking great!
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Bringing the plunger and pushrod back to life.

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Thanks @pinheadpierre !

Glad to hear youre doing the caps! Good luck with everything. If you have a thread capturing your work can you send me the link? I love watching other’s progress.

Got the plunger reassembled in time before the family shows up for thanksgiving.

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Got ballbaron Ninjas. Holy shit these things are shiny!

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My eyes are up here

So I got new birch to rebuild the cab. Bought a bit to do the Rabbet Joint these old machines had. Did a test piece and my router literally caught fire and died. So that’ll set me back. However the piece i was able to route looks good. So im still excited to do this after i get a new router.

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My attempt to recreate the front panel of the cab is going slow but its going. I was able to cut out the hinge and sill for the coin box door with my Dremel Max. Tomorrow I’ll try the access door. If I can get this front piece done then this cab is definitely getting rebuilt.

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So im at a loss here. In the backbox there are 2 live wires leading to nothing. Not sure what they go to and the schematics for this machine suck. I wish i could find someone else that owns one of these so i could pick their brains.

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Not sure if this has anything to do with the mystery wires but on the projector there apparently was some kind of switch there.

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I think youre right about the lamp mounting. The new light is higher in the pic. As for the mystery wires, it looks like another machine has the same thing. Found a pic in another backbox and they were on that machine too.

Did some work on the projector yesterday, the disc was dilapidated and warped, so I took it off and gently sandwiched it between glass and slowly heated it up to flatten. Took about 30 mins of holding up the glass and swirling a heat gun around in circles until the plastic started to soften and flatten out. After all that, and getting it back together I found that the transparent disc seems to be too small..... which baffles me, almost like someone replaced it once with the wrong size. Its about a 3/4-1" too small in diameter. So what I think im going to do is scan the disc and expand the image to the correct size and find a way to reprint it on plastic. This will be a fun challenge. I'd love to just buy a new one but I have no clue where to begin with finding one of these.

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I know this might not be too impressive but im happy that i was able to get this front panel cut properly for the doors. Once i get a new router the rest of this cabinet should come together nicely. My goal is to keep the original doors and transfer the wood rails to the new cabinet.

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Thanks!
I just scanned the wheel from the projector. Im going to enlarge it slightly until its perfect. Deez gave me a good idea, Im going to print the scan to a water slide decal and place it on new plastic. In theory it should work like a charm.

Scanned the disc. Enlarged it a half inch and its dead center and looking good. Once i print this to a water decal and apply to new plastic it’ll be like new. What you see here is just a test run that i taped to the wheel with regular paper.

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Rocket Projector Disc 7 in.pdf

Rocket Projector Disc 7 in.pdf

Along with putting the schematics back on the backbox panel im going to add these mini instruction cards for the projector spring based on Novelty or Free Plays settings. The mini cards are about 2 1/2 by 4 inches

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Spent the day in the garage cutting and routing. This cabinet is gonna work out. I wanted to make sure all my cuts and routes were correct so i stood everything up. Here you see it standing just from the weight of the glass. Still need to route the groove for the bottom panel to slide in, then cut out the access for the power and jones plugs in the back and drill out holes for the plunger in the front. Then itll be gluing time. Making progress.

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Transfered over the water slide decal to a sheet of plastic.
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The first attempt worked fine but the image seemed too transparent so i bit the bullet and slid a second decal over the first. What a pain lining everything up perfectly.
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After that i was able to cut the disc out with a dremel and drill out the center and adjustment grooves.
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After significant fine tuning its working again!
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Shes playing like a dream tonight. Getting some amazing scores and for the first time since owning this machine I FINALLY got super-special to light! It only paid out 2 free plays but im still glad it actually lit. Loving this flipperless game!

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Small update, got a 5v 89 Flasher LED from CoinTaker for the projector. Hot Damn this thing is bright for 5vs! It projects so good now.

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Replaced the back panel that was painted over, water damaged, and drilled out. Also installed the spring setting visual cards for freeplay and novelty play. Havent decided if ill keep the panel as is or paint it blue to match the cab when i get to that point.

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Major mystery for me has been solved thanks to some help from several people.
So first of all I reached out to every person on pinside that owns or ever owned a Bally Rocket that i could find. Like a weird detective.
Bob Drain1 was a major help with my projector. He emailed me about 30 pics of the backbox and rest of the machine which are going to be a major help with this project. The pic that puzzled me was originally taken to show where the zero stop bracket was.(blue circle) But i noticed an arm of sorts coming off of the 1000 point stepper.(red circle)
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2nd i pulled up the pics from the pinside game page and reached out to stepside who posted the pics because in his pics there was a bell attached to the stepper unit. stepside let me know he sold the game to a guy named Eric in florida and gave me his contact info. I reached out to eric who also sold the game but was able to have the new owner send me a ton of pics.
Bell.

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After comparing several pics i was able to find on my machine, that there indeed was a hammer attached to the 1000 point stepper that rang a bell. And my machine is missing both.
Where the arm used to be.
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Now Im wracking my brain with ideas of how to recreate this hammer. Also in the market for a 2.5 inch bell.
I think there are about 8 of these machines left and i have hunted down every single owner.

Was able to fix the bell clamper, just need a 3” bell and the 1000 point stepper will be back in action.

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Finally got this thing done. The first attempt to fix the bell clapper on the 1000 point stepper failed so I tapped into Deez s toolbox for some steel to be grinded and welded to the arm. That thing isnt ever coming off now! Now every piece of this machine is working like its supposed to. So happy to hear it ringing like it was intended. Makes the 10,000 point bell so much more gratifying. ding ding ding ding DINGGGG instead of chug chug chug chug Ding. Love it.

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So i took the 10,000 point bell off today and wet sanded it from 600-2000 grit and now im tempted to take every piece of metal apart back here and do the same. Its so shiny.
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Final cuts made and holes drilled. Time to glue.

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Installed the playfield supports and dropped the playfield in just to make sure all my measurements paid off.

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Decided to sand the pieces of metal on the sides of the cab. Blown away by how shiny they turned out.

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Needed to clean up the ball lift. The springs were coated in what looked like axel grease and the metal was oxidized pretty bad. Now i can touch this thing without getting dirty grease on me.

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Quite a bit of progress this weekend. Was able to finish building the cabinet. Doesnt seem like much but it was a really fun somewhat challenging puzzle to get everything back together. After I get the rails transfered to the new I’ll be able to paint.

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My favorite thing about this rebuild was trying to find a way to recreate the “clear credits” switch that came through the bottom. It looked like there was a longer thin piece of plastic attached to the switch that came out of the bottom, but had broke off. So i made a button salvaging one of the Retro-fit flipper buttons that were installed on this game when I got it. Alone it looks like some cartoonish Acme style detonator but I love the way it turned out on the new cabinet.

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I need to pull the rails off the old cabinet and transfer them to the new. Anyone ever do this before? Im looking for suggestions on how to remove them without prying on 72 year old wood.

I might use a dremel and somewhat surgically remove them by cutting the old nails out.

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Since I can’t actually paint at the moment I figured I should try to get things ready with the extra time. Traced the rocket and cut out templates to create stencils.
Debating on what material to use.

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Transfered the template to poster board. Exacto knifed it out.

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So far all I have done is just wet sanded everything. I usually start at 400 and go up from there. The highest Ive gone is 2000 with this and that’s for the side rails. They are reflective and look really clean but not over the top.

I don’t have a tumbler so everything gets sanded. Should probably just get a tumbler and save my hands and water bill.

I’m torn on how to set up this playfield. I referenced dozens of pics online and personally reached out to owners of this machine for references on the set up. This is what I have seen on pretty much every machine. The diamond shaped bumper on the lower left of the playfield.
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However according to the flyer the set up shows a sling stretched between 2 posts.
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My playfield has been altered quite a bit in its 72 year journey and you can see where someone drilled an extra hole for a post and where the old diamond bumper ate up the playfield.
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Do I just leave it with the diamond to hide the blemishes or go back to 2 posts and a sling to match the flyer? (Which means filling the hole and painting the worn areas.)
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I do not want to clear coat this playfield so I hate to think Im limited to staying with the diamond shape bumper, I wonder if this was a second set up option available for everyone, like that post came with the game. So many of these games have that post there. Was everyone just copying a pic they saw like I did or was this an alternate set up?

Being that this game is flipperless and the ball isn't traveling at any aggressive speed, would a glossy acrylic fill the gouges and hold, and also not look like crap?

This is a great idea but i feel like im missing how to do it. Found your spin out thread. How did you match the color and what is the product you used and how did you print it? I need to download your brain!

Thanks Yves, Im considering the decal approach manitouguy has done with several of his EMs, however I don't have the tech and tools needed or a relationship with any local print shops. I considering doing some minor touch ups anywhere the ball is not able to access to help clean it up. For the most part Ive decided to go with the original set up with the slings, I know this machine isn't going to be 100% original but I'm trying to get as close as possible with a few tasteful differences.

Getting into the stir crazy months of winter and all I want to do is finish my cabinet. I’m starting to think I’m not going to finish in time for the Ohio show and it’s bumming me out. So to keep my mind occupied I started taking things apart that didn’t need it and did some cleaning. I got a tumbler finally to help me clean the smaller metal pieces. Some parts turned out great, the others not so much. I wet sanded the main gear and main housing by hand. I should really look into getting a buffer. Also I decided to add the red paint back to the arms.
Before:
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I really love the copper housing for the lens. Has a steam punk look to it
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The feel is really different than playing with flippers. The trick is timing slight nudges. For example when the ball fires out of the right kick out towards the bottom hole, I found that if I nudge to the right just as it fires I’m more likely to get it in the hole otherwise it’ll loop about half the time. Then im in defense to bounce off of other posts to keep it in play.

Specific scores light the red special bumpers up top, usually 3 times in between 100k-150k. Each hit of the red is a free credit which makes the projector advance 1 number and engages the coil under the slide mech so a nickel isnt needed.

Now the real trick is getting the Green Super Specials. They rarely light but ive had them lit legitimately 3 times when the game lands on 315k exactly. The payout is sporadic. From 1 to 50 free games. Highest I’ve gotten manually testing it is 5 free games. Not sure how the game knows when to give different payouts but it does. Amazing for such old technology.

Other than lighting specials, if your score hits the high score on the cards you get free games too.

Due to weather this projects been on hold. The temps were not too bad yesterday so I sawed the old rails of the original cab with the dremel and glued them to the new cab.

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Little bit of progress this weekend. Got the legs primed and painted.

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Backbox is ready for the white spatters on the sides.
The temps are still a little too low to be painting but I’m REALLY trying to get this thing done for the Ohio show

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Feels good to be able to work on this game again! Little bit of progress.

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Did some splatter work to create the outer space starry sky

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And one of the Rockets stenciled

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My god that was nerve wracking but HOT DAMN!!!!

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Added some space dust and the yellow stencil to the other side. One more color to go!

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Ok right side is done. Cant wait to get this thing finished! Felt so good pulling the tape off the old rails. The soft edges are so sexy.
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Added a little felt in the notches behind the legs so the glossy paint doesnt stick together.

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And she is standing again!

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I love the old style coin door. I decided to keep the original doors.

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Nailed the metal back on the sides and dropped the playfield in and played a game. Won 5 free games the first nickel! Man is she pretty!!!

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Thanks!

Yeah I love it, I have the tilt set pretty sensitive and the level is at 3°, so just slight nudges go a long way. Especially near the bottom. A tiny bump will help the ball bounce back up in the bottom kicked out and it starts firing around the field again. So great especially when it felt certain the ball was about to drain.

Thanks George!

Let’s be honest here. The best part of this project is the key chain

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I’d honestly love to attend something like that. I really have no clue how to read a schematic or what I’m doing really. I usually figure out how to do things by drinking a few beers and watching YouTube. All the knowledge I’ve obtained outside of just trial and error I owe to the help I get on Pinside or a few friends that I’ll pester.

As for restoration I’d definitely share any advice I have!

Came across a label used on these old flipperless games. Turned out nice for the Rocket

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Took a break from my Firepower project to revisit the Rocket. Changed out the sockets from 50s to 44/47 so I can add LEDs. I love the older style bulbs but they were just way to dim. Plus if someone other than myself ends up with this game that prefers incandescent bulbs then they can easily change them out.

I left the shooter lane socket original since you can see that bulb from an angle.

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Thanks!
Camera doesn’t do it justice but in person it’s such an improvement.
Especially next to the other games in the line up, the original bulbs gave it this sickly old dying machine look. Now it holds its own and shines proud.

Went down to play this old friend on lunch today. Still plays great, these old timers are tanks!