Just joined the club and bought my first pin. It's in ok condition the playfield has little wear but quite some planking/ball swirl as was to be expected.
Ramps are all in pretty good condition, and so is the corkscrew, the cycle jump has a crack but no missing pieces so I will see if I can glue it and 3d-print a support for it. Didn't know anything about this machine until I bought it. It came on my path and I picked it up. Seeing the pictures of other machines now, I guess I found a pretty good one. Most of the plastics have some damage so I'm hoping I can make these myself. 1 score display is out, and the credit/ball display is out. So maybe I can make a new set of displays, cause buying them for $200 and then also have to pay taxes and import fees here will be a bit to steep. The machine was working but all display were out, and the credit button and start button weren't working when I got it. The displays were fixed by replacing the resistors for the 100V and -100V (but like I said, two were gassed out) and the buttons were fixed by replacing one of the transistors. Also the GI in the backbone was out quite often, but cleaning the solenoid in the backbox seems to have fixed this. Ordered a flipper rebuild kit, rubbers and some extra parts and will do a complete playfield clean soon, as this thing is dirty!
I also found a mistake, and I think I have seen pictures on this forum of machines with the same mistake. I added pictures to show. The flashers for the eyes in the backbox have been wired incorrect I think, the lights flashing are one eye and the 'nose' of the comet Can anyone make a picture of the wiring so I can see how it is supposed to be?

Malenko posted scans of the playfield plastics about a year ago, unfortunately the link is not working anymore.
Does anyone have these scans and can they upload them again somewhere for me?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/comet-any-fans-out-there/page/6#post-4151489

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I like what Jason43 has done here with the 'picture' on the backplane of the playfield, anyone know where to get this?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/comet-any-fans-out-there/page/4#post-3889806

Did a little bit more work on the technical side today. The drop target wasn't going up anymore, the solenoid did it's work, but no movement. As suspected a piece broke, adding a picture of the part, the metal tab broke off. Since it's not an easy part to get, I decides to make a quick drawing and 3d-print it, this worked perfect. How can I add the stl file in case someone else needs it. Next thing was the bumper next to the flippers, they are kinda weak. Turns out that on both sides the capacitor that is connected to the activation switch was broken on one side. replaced the 22uf 25v cap on one side, and this fixed it so I will do the other side too. One problem I still have that annoys me is that the GI in the backbox goes dead. After messing a bit with the solenoid on the inside of the door behind the backglass it works for a while but always fails again at some point. Any suggestions beside replacing the solenoid?
Still hoping someone can take a picture of the wiring on this door in the area of the comet eyes, since mine is definitely wired wrong.
The cycle jump is in good condition, but has one crack in the usual area between the first and second hole. So I'd like to keep it. To prevent it from more damage I'm thinking of drawing up a support and 3d print it, any other suggestions on how to keep it in good shape? Another thing that I'm afraid of is damage to the comet ramp. It's in good shape now, but has no ramp flap (was never installed, there are no rivet holes). My thought is that it will be ok without ramp, but I would like to install a protection for the sides. I have seen them installed on some other comets, but I can't find what part this is or where they got it from.

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One more question, I have received parts to rebuild the flippers. Mine don't have capacitors connected and the EOS switches do spark a little.
Should I install them, if so what are the values and does anyone have pictures of how they are installed on their machine?

Restoration is coming along nicely, but this pinball really needed some tlc! Here some pictures of the almost empty playfield, gives you an idea about the state of the machine. All part are cleaned piece by piece, playfield cleaned and waxed, all sleeves replaced, flippers rebuild, lightbulbs replaced with leds, leds in the pop bumpers etc etc...
Will post some pictures when finished...

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I got so far in restoring it, and my kids have played it quite some time now.
Was just about to post some pictures and yesterday they called me saying something bad had happened.

I guess the rebuild put some power back into the flippers, and now a piece broke off the center ramp!

I noticed earlier that some of these ramps have a protector, and some don’t. Mine doesn’t and was already thinking of getting one but just could not find it. Now it’s too late...

I guess I can try to glue it back, I am looking for the best glue for this, because you only get one shot, after that the glue remains of the first try will make it impossible. I think the best option I have seen for now that I can get here is acrifix.

Also looking for that ramp protector, but can’t seem to find it. Anyone know where I might be able to get it?

Also freeplay40 will make a new ramp soon I read so this might be an option if all else fails.

Any suggestion are more than welcome, the kids can hardly wait to play it again.

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I did find this post, and looked at getting this, but it seems it is not sold in the Netherlands (where I'm from).
So I am looking for an alternative but I find a lot of glues, and just don't know which one to get. Maybe I can find someone that can ship the weld-on glue to me....

After a lot of thought and many trail fits I fixed the ramp of my comet, and wanted to share it so maybe other can fix or prevent breakage of their ramp.
I glued the ramp with acrifix and although this holds up reasonable well, we all know it will break again eventually, so I looked into making the metal ramp protector. After getting some quotes, I realised I would be better of making it myself.
i designed it in fusion360 which has a sheet metal function that works really well, and also designed it the 'normal' way. 3d printing the model worked well, but I'm not sure it would have the same strength as metal, although you can add some nice touches with 'modding' the protector, it definitely helped in finding the perfect size. I cut the metal design out with a dremel, bended it using a small vice, and I was surprised how good that worked out so I decided to go that way. I added a small lip on the sides of the entrance to prevent ball damage and protect the ramp, these I left a little longer at first to make bending easier, after bending I cut them to size. Regarding de screw holes, I drilled them out quite large since the screws have to sink as far as possible, then I put the screw in, lay the ramp down with the screw in a hole and gave the screw a good tap with a screwdriver and a hammer so it would dent the metal and sink into it, then when needed I used the dremel with a sanding wheel to remove excess material on the bottom where needed.
One of the disadvantages of the metal ramp protector is that it covers the decal, so I looked into 'fixing' this too. I took a picture of the bottom part of the ramp and traced it to vector and cleaned it up. Printed it on sticker paper which I then laminated. I stuck this to the ramp, and I think it looks quite nice, we'll see how it holds, but the laminating I use is quite thick (like mylar) so I think it will be ok, and reprinting one will be very easy if it wears.

Time will tell how it holds up, but I think it looks ok again and the kids can finally play again...

I added a pdf of the sheet metal design for those interested.

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Ramp protector sheet metal Drawing v1.pdf

Next projects, finding/making some replacements pastics, and making new (led) score displays and ball/credit display (unless I find the old plasma's for a reasonable price).

Selling what?

I should have included the file for making the ramp decal for those interested. I thought it would be best to use pdf format so there won't be issues due to scaling.

Comet ramp decal GIMP.pdf

Don't feel screwed, but here's another option... I printed these on sticker paper and laminated this. Cut them out and used a hole punch to make the holes for the targets. With the laminating process you also laminate the backside, but this doesn't matter as it peels off, because of the sticker paper.
I used a 1 inch hole punch for the outside, and a regular hole punch for inside of the round decals.
Worked really well for me!!
Comet Stickers 2.pdfComet Stickers.pdf

Both again in pdf to counter any scaling problems, one is in A5 and one is in A4 format but should print fine on any other size paper.

Oh and about the ramp protector decal, the size is indeed a bit bigger than any protector I have seen.
Just stick in on the ramp protector so that it lines up with the original decal, and then cut to size.

This one has a bit better resolution I think.

scaled A5.pdf

My son putting on the decals

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Teaser of what I am working on right now....

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Latest addition to my comet. I had a non working score display and the ball/credit display wasn't working.
As I could not find a replacement for a reasonable price (sometime due to shipping fees), and the replacement led option are about $200 I looked into the option of making these myself. I found the design was already available and after some work, sourcing parts and having the pcb's made I finally soldered my own led displays. Designed and 3d printed the covers for the digits, and have to say, it looks GREAT. Happy to have it all in full working order again.

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Regarding the switches in the coindoor, they are just switches and have multiple point to solder the required wires to. Some of the points are N/O and some are N/C and you will need the N/O ones. So there are options on which point to choose. I had a switch not working and using different point on the same switch I had it working again. Just use a multimeter to see which is which.
Hope I made it clear, hard to explain, just see the switch as several switches in one package.
Regarding the wires to use, just look at the service manual, it's very clear there (switch matrix)
The diode is needed in order to prevent wrong switch activation, and this is a whole subject by itself. Without the diode the switch will work fine but you can get activation of another switch in the row/column if two switches are activated at the same time. The man and auto switch are not in the matrix so don't need one, the high score reset is, so therefore only this switch needs one.

Do you have access to a 3d printer? I made a printable model of this cover.

I think your friend should believe you, cause I have a comet with the exact same thing
Guess our machines were built by the same guy?