Hi all , Great idea for a club

I'm restoring a Catacomb atm , for a friend and it needs 1 small wireform .
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Game needed cabinet major rebuild and a full repaint , the bottom falling out and was in a bad way . A new board was made for the cab
All this work was done by another restorer who also did the Custom coin decals on the game
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Game came to me for the rest of the work , IE Put it all back together again . rebuild all the mechs .flippers, bumpers etc , 2 small touch ups on the playfield , where the ball lands from the kickout holes .
I will send a few pics through of this work later .
I had to reinstall all the earth cabling , new power switch, power cable , line filter , speaker and volume control the list goes on! and repair all the other dodgy wiring on the transformer and connectors etc .
Around 40 hours later and its getting close to start up day!

The game is missing the small wire form located on the head box Bagatelle, This stops the plastic ball from just falling straight back down again , If you know what i mean.
Have included a pic of where it fits
The wireform is just below the "B" on the "Catacomb"
I have the correct wire and a form to make this part , can any one please take a picture or a drawing with sizes? , Thanks

Here is a few pics of some of the parts used , cabinet repainted ,and the coin entry decals a friend put together .
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Yes i just need the wire form , i have the correct wire to make it , I just wanted pic of it to work from , but i'll just try make one to suit , thanks again . I do have a wire form that is close to what i think it looks like , ill work from that and see if i can bend one up to suit .

I see what you mean now , i just looked at the IPDB and yes you are right , i will put a rubber between those posts as you suggested / Below the B instead of the 2 single post rubbers i have on it atm Cheers

This is a before pic of the area before the art restoration ,DSCF0858.JPG
And a couple from during and after the art work , I will get a couple of better shots from directly above for you in a few days .
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Thanks Dotheldoo for the excellent photos, They will help me make the needed part

I made 1 good one out of the 2 that i made , very happy with the results
Thanks mate

no problem , I just sent you a PM regarding the wire form...

Thanks guys for the pics of the wire form i was missing .
here all the results ...
No 1 was a bit to short and no good , ( I then modified the design a little to stop it hitting a post rubber ) and No's 2 and 3 seem to work well .. But they may need a few tweaks when tested in a working game.
I made one for you amendes, you can throw away that hair clip , no 3 on the pics...

I remember seeing a few Catacombs around but not sure if i played it as a youngster in the early 80's.
I can't wait to play this game!!

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They came out well the plastics , really nice work .

I have finished the Catacomb i have had here at long last ,
over 40 hours , and thats not including the cabinet repaint .
I rebuilt /restored the rest including all the electrics, electronics and all mechs rebuilt , playfield strip, touch up and polish etc .
The game has new mpu and sol/driver also new power supply and connectors etc .
Game has custom decals on the apron and coin slots , and fitted with green pin score leds Enjoy

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A few better shots during the rebuild .
one showing playfield mounted in the rotisserie on top of my homemade tabletop for use with a pinball trolley ,
easy to move it around or out of the way

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Hi guys Catacomb at its new home , being installed on arrival by the owner ,
It's been at my place getting fixed/ restored for about 12 months , but great to see another game working like new again ,
The game was pretty much a wreck , cab was rotten .
another guy fixed and repainted the box beforehand
no BG and the boards badly hacked etc etc

It now has a new repro backglass from the US and pinscore leds and new mpu power aupply and sol/dri boards

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Some of the new parts used ,
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And this board was in the machine aaaah hacking 101
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Check End of stroke switch on that flipper , The EOS must be contacting well before it opens , you should see the resting blade slightly follow the other as it opens . Good luck

Good news , Now the coil . Check voltage at coil .
You could try earthing the transistor Q6 (left slingshot) Q5 drives the (top left slinshot) incase you meant that ? Earth it only for a second see if it fires the coil .
Replace transistor with TIP 102 , Double check for cracked pins on the Driver board and Buzz with meter to check continuity from coil to connector on Sol/Dri board.

It has been quiet , Nice too see a few more shots.
Not often you see a pair of "Catacombs" together Otto

Here's a few of the Catacomb i restored last year ,

During restoration ,on my pinball trolley with "custom board" Rottisserie sits on board ,
This way i can just move the whole lot around as needed.
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2nd shot at the games new home.
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Last pics of the custom cards on the game , printed out by another pinhead over here , The same guy did the Cabinet art work too on this game
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Catacomb back in the house!
This game i restored a year ago and have bought it from the owner .
Game still needs a few tweaks , such as a few looses lamp holders and i will install a new capacitor kit into the sound board.
Great game has a few sweet shots , and the ball speeds up on a few shots , just like a modern game
Still working out the Rules atm .
A few shots taken the other week , Game is now in the Classic Stern line up
How about a few more pics and/or stories fellow members...

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Few more of Catacomb in the line up . so much colour!

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Thanks Guys , Love the old school Stern machines, This machine has a repro backglass , all the others ive seen here have been really flaky.
If you are interested...
A company here in Perth 'LAI' Assembled Some Stern games here To beat the high import Taxes/Duties during the mid 70's to early 80's, so i believe.

I Still have a West Australian built 'Cosmic Princess' Stern/LAI 1979 to restore 336 made . and a 'Meteor' Both Need playfield swaps ,

Other LAI/Stern games Built here include Dracula, Nugent, Meteor, Galaxy and Magic, around 300 of each title made here for Australian and New Zealand markets.
The Cabinets , Cabinet art and wiring Etc made here . Then Games Assembled here using imported Backglasses, Playfields, Circuits boards and harnesses,Doors and metal hardware etc.
The artwork is silkscreened instead of Stencilled,
You can see a comparision of the 2 Cabinets on the IPDB, Between the US made to a Stern/LAI made listed 'Dracula'
you can Looks these games up on the IPDB, under Stern/LAI, listed under knockdown games ...
Ive included a few pics, It's both my game/s thats listed btw.
oops 2 of the same pics ,
LAI tag from a "Galaxy"...

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Hey Spiro, Scotch block , is that from a railway term? , I used to be a train drivers assistant , and we used that term, A Scotch block was a large metal clamp that could be placed over the track and locked down , to stop parked wagons/carriages from rolling back on to the main line . by either derailing them or stopping them .

I am interested in a set for my Catacomb.
Mainly the centre. but saying that, the ones inside the target area are bitches to get to, so put me in for a full set too.
Does he make any for 'Meteor' ? they would sell like hot cakes!

I did make 3 , 2 were fine and I sent one to Alexsmendes. see post 109 . Dothedoo posted the measurements on here for me to work from ,
I used the wire bending jig from Marco's. And the kit will come in handy for you in the future i'm sure .
good luck , if you need any extra measurements , just call out
Ralph.

No probs mate , I used the wire supplied in the kit from Marco's , its the smallest size , but you should be able to buy the wire also from model shops , usually called 'piano wire' I also got a couple of wire bundle kits from PBR , he sells these and they contain various sizes

I have a set on my Catacomb powdercoated Charcoal on mine , they look fantastic on almost any Bally/Stern Games . Cheap too about $5 a leg to get blasted and around $6 per leg to get powdercoated , The Charcoal seem to go with any cabinet colour , I have tried silver and satin black in the past , and I find this colour looks much better .
I have painted legs before , using good quality primers and paint , but its about the same cost , and the PC is far better , just remember to run a tap through the leg leveler holes when you get them home from the powdercoaters

Here's a few shots to compare .

I used a Gottlieb 31inch Silver PC to show the contrast from PC Charcoal to PC silver .DSCF1822 (resized).JPGDSCF1829 (resized).JPGDSCF1830 (resized).JPG
The Leg here on "Stars" and is Hammertone Silver PC DSCF1827 (resized).JPG
And these 2 are PC Charcoal on the 'Dracula' and PC Hammertone Blue on the 'Seawitch' DSCF1826 (resized).JPG

It should be resting on a metal pin , My game has one fitted for the bat to rest on .

On the alignment issues , I see your glass is out of alignment both ways . The area on the right , around the arch ,the arch could be moved slightly to the right , that may look a little better , you would need to unscrew the mounts holding the steel ball guide and redrill the holes into the wooden backbox panel so the far right of the arch and part of the top arch move slightly over to the right . As you can see in the pic there is enough art showing if you did move it across ,
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Does anyone have this fitted? , (Small timber block) Its stops the panel opening to far and destroying the pressed wood panel , I had to reglue all mine (press wood panel Edges) with wood glue when I was restoring my Catacomb , as it was almost snapped off near where the top hinge screws on from being opened up to far . This will stop this happening to you
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Good luck

Yes Best to lift it up and over , and be careful with the corner plastics , Not the greatest idea , ive seen many Meteors that the playfield corners are all broken away from being dragged up and over , not nice

Fuse under playfield, If I new fuse blows straight away , one of your coils is cooked and the transistor that drives it will need replacing , you might be lucky and its just a old stressed out fuse that failed

Scans of original playfield wiring schematics for you . the 1amp slow blow playfield fuse at top right 2nd page .
Check all coils apart from flippers of course for free movement of operation .Including the large target reset coils .
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Smashed up 'Meteor' playfield don't let this happen to you!
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Good idea Cottonm4 with the ali angle .
Any issues with it moving the playfield to far forward , and jamming against the lock down receiver?

They look great , but those bolts are not correct , someone would of replaced them with bolts from a hardware , get some proper pinball leg bolts.
How are you going with your solenoid fuse blowing problem btw?

Thanks for the heads up , I never knew that

Green wire to Banded side of diode . Black yellow to the other lug . The plug will only fit one way around so as long as the green wire goes to the banded side you should be fine

That switch looks like the modern type, that you can pull it forwards after the door is open , grab the end and pull , it should stay out so that the game still has power .

I have green , they look great , I tune the brightness down a bit too , if not they burn your eyes
The 2.5 million is on a 5 ball game if you were wondering
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Cheers Vec-tor , the line up has changed unfortunately , Since that was taken. Stars Cheetah and Quicksilver have gone to new homes , replaced by Stern Dracula and a Sea Witch

Fantastic , didn't realise you went to the trouble to get them to match the look and size of the originals , nice going , I can understand how some people like everything to look perfect , I know a few collectors like that . The pinscore Led's looks like a standard 7 segment Led to me.
I would like a buy your Blue set for my Sea Witch from you , Do you have that set in the single board type or the 2 boards type?
Either set would be okay with me
Regards
Ralph

Thought i had seen those before . they do look good .