Am I nuts?
Kids are growing up, losing interest in camping, etc. Needed a new family activity, and my wife loved pinball from her teenage years.
Found a 1971 Gottlieb Roller Coaster in what I thought was playable condition. Got it home and it started acting up. Got online and found pinrepair.com, open up the machine and was HOOKED! What fun restoring an old EM machine! Even get to use my 20 year old Electrical Engineering degree for the first time in a long time!
Long story short, decided the 1966 Williams Hot Line I had seen on craigslist was too good a deal to pass up and would make a nice winter project, so I picked it up, too!
Slowly working through both machines cleaning contacts, etc. Got Roller Coaster almost running perfectly now... Player 1 tends to get an extra ball or two when going from Ball 1 to 2, and again going from Ball 4 to 5... But the wife and kids and I are having so much fun playing that I don't want to pop it open and figure out that issue. (unless someone has a quick tip for me)
Started on the Hot Line machine in earnest now. Waiting for my copy of TOP#1 to come in the mail to really get into the myriad of problems it has, but looking forward to some fun weekends of pinball diagnosis and repair, not to mention the fund playing with the wife and kids!