Another Ted Zale zipper-flipper masterpiece, Bally MiniZag (November 1968) was on my wishlist and Ivan1496 offered one for sale with delivery to the York show two weeks ago. It was a playing machine but Bally used an inferior cabinet paint from mid 1966 through late 1968 that flakes like crazy. This example was no different and the aesthetics did not deter me since I enjoy restoration work as much as actual playing.
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There was a second MiniZag at York that had a little better backglass and playfield (with red/orange flippers) but with a sketchy repainted cabinet and unknown working condition. I probably should have bought it as well and I was even trying to get 2 other friends to buy it but another pinsider swooped in and bought it.
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Although the cabinet could stand a repaint, I have 2 other games in worse shape so I decided to follow the restoration approach by ZNET and do a minimalist touch up. The first order was a scrub down with Krud Kutter and magic eraser to remove 51 years of grime and brighten up the white basecoat.
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The backglass had some flaking and loose areas so Triple Thick came to the rescue. The center go-go dancer looks like an alien when viewed from the back. Jerry Kelly does a great job with the female form but the mouths and lips get very pronounced. My attempt to mask the credit and score windows from Triple Thick didn't work and I ended up having to carefully scrape clear off the glass in those areas. After clearing, I did some minor touch ups to fill in small flaking bare spots but I still have the left legs of the 2 main dancers to fill in. Followed up with polishing the chrome trim with 0000 steel wool and Mothers Mag polish. Wear gloves when doing this cause it takes forever to clean your hands and get the black grime from under your fingernails and cuticles. IMG_2558 (resized).JPG

Coin door was torn down, repainted and metal pieces buffed. Coin door trim was regrained and buffed. New legs, pincab protectors, new playfield glass, sanded/polished playfield glass frame and touch up paint to fill in THOUSANDS of paint flecks. Not perfect but it looks a heck of a lot better and was less of a mess than sanding and a total repaint. I did end up sanding the front of the cabinet and repainting the dark blue area. I also did a full coat over the light blue on the backbox frame and later noticed the game flyer had this as dark blue. I used a good quality latex paint and brush that provided full coverage and no brush marks. Added a new line cord, replaced the fuse blocks and also high-tapped the game for snappy play. Here are the new glamour shots:
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Next steps will be to restore the playfield and do something with the nasty blue adhesive rings at the pop bumpers but that is for another day and another post.
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I had a BLY Safari that if you sneezed, paint would flake off, it was terrible.
All Ballys from that era need repaints or heavy touch-up for the CAB.

Those Bally coin door inserts look great... good luck finding them in the field... very hard to come by and no one to my knowledge has repro'd the ones with the lip that fits into the metal housing, like in your MiniZag.. nice job BTW, looks super.

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, the quarter insert is broken so I super-glued it but forgot to paint the crack black on the backside to keep the crack from illuminating. Figured these are unobtainium so now I search for complete door units.

Beautiful job on the MiniZag. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one before.

Man, that's one very trippy game... wish I had that in our apartment during the new wave and punk years, would have been a big hit.

"Rock Lobster"!

A picture of pictures of some of my EMs.

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A picture of your picture of pictures of some of your EMs on one of my EMs.

Oh yeah, beautiful pics by the way!

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Picked this up this week, what a score!

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Nice work!

Holy sheetrock! That's one scarce game, and this one looks nice.

I figure the Great Pumpkin will come visit me on Halloween as he gives presents all over the world to good boys and girls.

Pretty sure he'll have an Evel Knievel EM in his bag for me as I am very sincere.
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All he needs to bring me is the schematic, it doesn’t always advance the drop targets from double bonus-extra ball-special, and doesn’t light the spinner when not advancing. This thing has a shit-ton of relays!

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Oh hell yes it does!!!

Do tell.

Right place at the right time, got a smokin deal, that’s all I’d like to say for the record.
It’s cleaning up nicely, and it’s a game I’ve always wanted, so it’s in the right place now too.

You stepped in it. We all wish we could too!

I hope you didn't pay too much for that EK. They have been known to go for as little as $5k-$10k.

Of all the crossover games, I think it's probably the most desirable.

I've got the schematic. Very handy when you have to keep 2 EK EM in good working order
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PM if you want a pdf copy...

Pm sent!
Edit* schematic received! Thank you, it won’t be long now till Evel rides again!

Dammit, now there are only 152 possibly left worldwide. You guys.....(jealousy emoji).

Schematic is huge, is this THE most complicated EM? I count around 80 coils!
Thanks again!

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I guess SS arrived just at the right time!

I think our Bally Mata Hari EM schematic is just as long.

The original schematic :

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WOW! 2 EK EM's. Nice!

Brought this one home last Sunday
Very nice playfield only one small wear spot from the kickout hole
Just under 42,000 plays
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Beautiful. Let us know how much you like it. There’s a 2 player ‘Big Shot’ for sale an hour away from me but not in as good of shape as yours.

They’re asking $625 but it’s been on there awhile. Probably take $500.

Admit it, we are always looking for the next machine even though there are numerous machines waiting in the que for restoration. So it goes today, I happened to check FB Marketplace for the 3rd time and see an hour-old listing of a local project. I replied to the ad and made a quick pickup. I have it in my basement now where it will have to endure the Bally gauntlet.
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It is without question just as long.

Looking for a Lockdown bar 1975 Gottlieb Atlantis button style.

PM if you have one to sell.

Good luck with that. They are getting rare as hen's teeth as they say. I feel like you should put this in a wanted parts topic posting.

Nice photo's, didn't know you were into photography Babee!!!!

I might actually have one, what is the interchange? (range of years)

The closest thing I have is from an earlier Gottlieb. Modified, repaired? Don’t know. It was from a Sing Along. Found a replacement. It’s free, just pay for the shipping which I figure to be about $20.

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I did... some folks have stuff but don't look at the ads

1971 thru 1976 picture is from pinball resource

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https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-em-seeking-parts-thread

Those have not been available for several years. Steve was not happy with the quality. Don't want to speak for him, but I know it's been a few years since those have been available.

My latest restoration. Not the most rare title, but this one was in exceptional shape. Sat in the former owner's mom's house for over 35 years. Worst part was trying to get the lock bar off, took me over four hours! Very little fade or yellowing, this game only spent 3 years on location before it was purchased as a high school graduation present in 1976! 31000 + plays on the meter and it looks it. The owner said that he stopped playing it after he lost the key many years ago!
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That's pinball porn, right there.

Nice blue color on cabinet, where did you get that blue? ....or a custom mix?
One day, I'll restore my Jet Spin with that royal blue....

This is mostly all original cabinet paint. Very very minor touch-ups I have to custom mix. Both the red and blue mixing a couple of craft paints.

That has to be the finest looking Gottlieb Girl I've seen. And you did an amazing job with the restoration.

How much of the game is original and how much is new? Regardless, it's a very nice game.

The coin door, coin entrance plate and strike plate are the major reproduction parts. 99% of the rest of the game is original.

Yes, notice where most of the football players (including the ref)are looking. Except for one of them.

#62 was supposed to be Rock Hudson.

the things you do.

gottlieb play pool, the italian aab version of pro pool.

major project. mechanically complete, missing most of the playfield. came with a 2nd, better condition playfield.
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