Replaced the old 555 G.I. sockets with 44/47 bayonet type sockets on my '81 EBD.
I installed Comet SMD LED's with frosted domes.
Unfortunately the tips of the bulbs hit the undersides of the clear plastics because they sit up much higher. I know the LED's are much cooler, but is that going to be a problem? Has anyone else run into this problem? Is there a cure, or don't worry about it?9

Since they are on constantly I would think it could be an issue. when I switched to bayonet I left the 555 in the GI and the chase lamps. You can go with a shorter bracket bayonet.

The leds produce almost no heat so shouldn’t be an issue aside from looks.

Picked up a partially parted out pf May restore someday
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Perfect candidate for a hardtop!

They're may not have ever been a more perfect hardtop candidate.

Just a little Novus 2 i think would shine that PF up nicely

Probably just a fuse

yeah that one pretty rough. I bought the hard top for the old pf and will install it after I put in a CPR. Then will offer it for sale.

For $60, I can't complain. It was missing flipper mechs, and a few light sockets, otherwise all the major components were there

Not a bad price at all for sure. Parts alone are well above that. Nice pick up.

I have 3 EBD restores lined up. I can't wait to get started. I have a CPR repro from a couple years ago plus to original pf's that CPR re-screened after I sanded them to bare wood and reset the insert lenses. Also have 2 Shay back glasses and one NOS. I will start with the cab restoration this summer hopefully.

How much was the re screened cost?

3 EBD restores! Lol.

I pawned mine off on a friend because I didn't want to take it on... Disheartened by my high speed hardtop (feeling much better about it now) I was ready to just sell EBD and move on when he insisted I didn't and volunteered to do it for me. Kinda miss having it in my lineup.. It's gonna be a bit before I see mine again.. But eventually, we'll be reunited!

What was the issue with the High Speed hardtop? I want to do one on my EBD someday...but have to admit that I'm a bit intimidated by it.

Shooter lane woes hung me up for weeks. Self-inflicted pain. Don't be intimidated, but also don't be an idiot like I was and it's no problem. And take lots of GOOD, DETAILED pictures. My pictures are garbage. I've done so much reassembly just to undo and redo.. Sometimes multiple times... But the hardtop itself is fine. Don't let it intimidate you.

Oh, and build or buy a rotisserie. I will complete high speed without having done that and it's been a real hassle. I can see some spots where damage happened (plastic edges of some coils etc--just cosmetic crap). Use my negative examples to do better. Lol

It's all in the prep. Watch the vids in this thread: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/space-shuttle-new-prototype-playfield-product

Yeah brutha! I have done 8 high end restores since entering the hobby in 2008. 3 of which were '81 version EBD. I'm a glutton for punishment. 2 of the 3 EBD will be up for sale when finished hopefully by spring 2021.

I've only been in the hobby since January of last year so I'm still VERY green.. Not that the majority of this is all that complicated, but I still fumble around a lot.

And for me, good working condition is almost always good enough. EBD felt like way more work than I felt comfortable taking on, especially when at the time I was stuck drowning in quicksand on high speed. But now I'm almost done with it and tbh if ebd were still at my house I'd probably be comfortable giving it a go. But it's already 3 hours south, so...

I've got plenty of other crap to keep me busy after HS is done, so it's probably for the best that EBD made it on to someone else's to do list.

I was going through my settings for the upper left lane star rollover. It doesn’t seem in sync with what the manual shows. Looking at the schematic I think the wires for my 70,000, Special, 50,000 and Extra Ball are all mixed up. Can someone please confirm the wiring colors for these 4 lights? Thanks.

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Normally, I would be happy to help, but on my machine, the extra ball and 70,000 inserts are backwards (the extra ball insert is blue and the the 70K insert is orange). Pretty sure it accidentally came out of the factory that way.

Showing you my wiring would probably just add to the confusion.

Well gents, I'm down in the workshop staring at a guts-up '84 EBD (fully functioning) on sawhorses. Next to it is a sweet unpopulated repro PF on a rotisserie. Here's the rub: I have not a clue as to how to carry out this swap (but I am determined and under no time constraint). I've been looking (and photographing) the undercarriage of the old '84 and it is really a marvel. Simple and complex all at once. How many games been banged out on this thing. I know there must be a half-dozen 'accepted' practices for doing the swap and I'm equally certain that there's roughly 9 zillion ways for me to screw this up (suppose some of that is inevitable and will chalk it up as part of the education). Can anybody point me to a guide that will get me firmly on the path?? Tnx in advance..

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I have done seventeen EBD transfers...
1) Resolve the post to the inline bonus X drop targets first. countersink "T" nuts etc,etc,etc.
---- Wood screw mini post is a joke to a heavily hit area.
2) People have different ways to transfer from here on out.
---- I used masking tape and wrote down each lamp lite value "2XB" for the
---- 2X bonus value lamp... etc.
3) De-soldered all lamps and solenoid coils... unscrew and taped rollover switches...
---- mark what everything is....
4) Use boxes and freezer bags to hold "like" parts and component sections.
5) Double check your new playfield for correct "Tnut" holes...aliments of components...
6) Once pre-prep is done... start transferring components...
7) Take lots of pictures to reference...
Double check your wiring... then test components in sections...
----- eg test lamps with no playfield fuse... test all switches....
----- finally test coils... all good.... playtest and adjust.
9) Be prepared for the unexpected... enjoy the journey.
TIP: Factory uses a wood block to control height of metal ball guilds.
---- fit wood block under metal rail and use a mallet to tap piece into playfield.
---- Check Stern, Williams, Data East factory tour videos for guidance.

No problem, thanks anyway. My Special, 70,000 and Extra Ball were all wired wrong. I just rewired it. It’s working correctly now. I don’t know if mine was a factory mistake. Somebody had switched out most of the wedge sockets for bayonet sockets. It looks like they just mixed up the 3 wires.

Well, it’s almost working correctly. For some reason the Extra Ball is awarding 25,000 points instead of an Extra Ball. I’m going through settings but I haven’t figured this one out yet.

Edit. Corrected. Set switch #16 was set to 1 which awards 25,000. Set #16 to 3 to award Extra Ball.

Thank you Vec-tor ! I am looking forward to this and the timing is right (my work largely shut down yesterday due to viral containment).

Gary

I would say that was an error by whoever changed the sockets. It's easy to mix the wires since the base colors are all red with a hash mark. I have done 3 EBD swaps and I noticed that the colors have faded on these wires.

I’ve had the game for a few years and never noticed that lane was wired wrong. It’s only because I was trying to change the settings to bump up the scoring that I noticed something wasn’t right.

Yeah you never know what the game has been through before you get it. But I have seen minor errors in the wiring from factory during swaps. I bought a Spy hunter a while ago and noticed the GI flasher didn't work. I had another spy hunter at the time to compare to. Even after changing the flasher board it still didn't work. After comparing the 2 games, I found that the non-working one was wired totally wrong at the connectors. Once corrected, flasher started to work. It had to be a factory error, I can't see why anyone would have messed with the GI wiring.

Anybody have a recommendation for digital calipers? Looks like a decent one could be an asset on final positioning of posts, screws, etc. Tnx !

Remember, the posts do not align with the "white" art work...
They are offset in certain parts of the playfield.

Anyone order a new plastic set and have the holes for the upper plastics not have the right hole size? Just wondering if that is common or if I got a bad set.
I might try grinding the top of the metal spacer down to get rid of the lip.

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Looks like some of those holes are too big...
I use a metal post fastener to reshape the lip of the "bell" spacers.
You can use needle nose or crimping type tool to reshape.

The three were just a little too big but the others were way too small. Ended up drilling the plastic holes to fit.

Here is my before and after.
New hardtop, drop targets, pop bumpers, plastics, posts, rubber, flipper rebuild, LEDs, and cue ball shooter rod.

Thanks to firefighter for the advice on the hardtop prep!

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I think the holes on the new plastics are the correct size. Except for the 3 larger ones you had there. When changing the new plastics I used to melt the bell stands into the plastic with a soldering iron. Taking a soldering iron with an old tip, place the stand on the tip and line up the flared end of the stand to the hole and use the heat from the iron and slowing press them in. It takes practice and patience to do it this way. An old trick I saw on another thread. This way is time consuming and I always ended up with melted plastic in the holes of the stands that had to be cleaned out with a dremel so that the screw could pass through. I also had a few slip ups and ruined some plastics.

The bell stands are actually 2 pieces. If you look inside with a magnifying glass you can see what looks like an eyelet and it's pressed in. When installed they must have used some type of press to flare them over and set them in. I now use Gatecrasher technique which is to "un-flare", if you will, the upper part of the stand until it's small enough to pass through the holes. The best tool that I have found to do this is a cheapie type wire crimper that usually comes in an auto connector/fuse kit. Like this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/Ancor-701007-Cut-Strip-Crimp/dp/B000NI3ELG/ref=sr_1_95

Just keep working it around while crimping down so the top of the stand stays round and not egg shaped. I then use a center punch with coned shape tip to re-flare them. They don't get as tight as factory but good enough to hold them while installing to PF.

Actually the tool I posted in the previous post is wrong. It's this one:

https://smile.amazon.com/Four-Way-Wire-Crimper-Stripper-Tool/dp/B082J66C7C/ref=sr_1_105

I start with the red dot and then go to the blue dot until I get the correct diameter.

Looks great!

Going to see how much of a EBD I can build up with all these spare parts.

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Haha. My top right plastic is broken but I plan on buying new anyway..Well, assuming the entire economy doesn't COMPLETELY collapse.. So I guess I'll start a pile also

The only thing really hard to find at any price is the 7 D/T mech. Everything else is findable at somewhat reasonable prices.

Shawn

I have a few

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Dang!

Nice!

When I started my pf swap, I carefully bagged all screws and parts for each assembly. Well, I apparently missed the six screws that hold down the pop bumper bodies. Can't find 'em anywhere. They appear to be a #8 size, but I can't tell if they should be wood screws or machine screws with a nut underneath, or how long. Would someone please tell me what the hell these screws should be. Thanks.

I believe the screws for the modular thumper bumpers are #8 sheet metal screws
that are 1/2" long; hex head.
I like to use all 6 holes in the main frame.
Use caution when tightening the screws... You do not want to pierce the top playfield.
I sometimes grind down the tips of the screws if I know that it is coming to close to piercing
the top playfield.

Thanks for the reply, vec-tor, but i did not make myself clear. I meant the two screws for each pop bumper that are installed into the top of the bumper body that secure them into the lower bumper housing under the playfield.

You mean these guys? https://www.pinballlife.com/bumper-body-screws.html

Found 'em! They were hiding in with the flipper parts. For future reference they are 1/2" pan head self tapping screws.

And so it begins. Pictures from my friend who is going to get to enjoy the hardtop experience. I'm still working on dialing in my high speed..bleh

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