Awesome, can you post some PF pics?

That is the original paint on Vic's "Cross Town".
It was in pretty good condition when we pulled the game out of the previous owner's garage. Vic did some touch ups on it. He did a great job on the rest of the game. The playfield is not the one that was in the game. He was fortunate to find a better one, but he did a ton of work on that one as well. I can't wait to play it.

River Boat is a very sentimental game to me. I recall playing it more so than any other game at the arcade, where I worked, in 1965-66. I also remember Kings and Queens and North Star in the line up, but RB got more of my hard earned quarters ($1.50/hour for teen age pay.)

Years later, as an adult, when I opted to collect EMs, I had always thought that one day it would be neat to find an example of the game I so enjoyed earlier and I did eventually get one. Funny how certain sounds and nuances come back...the bells and steppers have a unique sound and the bump and nudge strategy and skill shots are remembered. Interestingly, the game doesn't have the same love with collectors as many of the Gottlieb games of the same era, but she's a gem and a great deal of fun when tuned and set up correctly.

Agree with JR that the craftsmanship of this era of Williams games had issues. Needed to restore the front of the cabinet and door on mine, too. A Williams decal helped to make it look original again.

Enclosing a few pix of mine and good luck to o-din and others with their River Boats.

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Maybe he rolled it?

Has anyone rolled Surf Side? Dunno if it is even possible without cheating. Best I ever did was 5800 and that was an AMAZING game with several extra balls!

There's several playfield restorations documented out there including some on pinside and several on pinrepair.com. Here's just one of them: http://www.pinrepair.com/restore/2001pf.htm

The playfield affects and alters the path of the ball even though I cleaned and waxed it good with Carnauba.

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That's a great link! I've been perusing the pinrepair.com restore pages but didn't see this one. Thanks!

Yes, I restored the playfield. Complete repaint and clearcoat...

Plays fast and clean!

If yours plays well, I would say do whatever you can to protect if from further damage and play it, unless of course you have a "need" to restore stuff, like I do. I bet I put over 80 hours into that playfield restore. Tedius process, but well worth it (to me) when complete!

Yeah.... that's really annoying....

No wonder I couldn't "tell the difference".

Then there is hope after all! I know how difficult it is to find a good playfield for this game and would like to get it playing like it's supposed to plus "restore" it like you did yours then protect it. What bothers me is how the planking and worn areas alter the natural path of the ball during gameplay.

Great looking game and I'm also not 100% sure why Williams games of this era don't get more love. I like the look of your Riverboat next to KOD. I passed on a Riverboat about a year ago and kicking myself a little seeing this photo because I also have a KOD and had plans to put the two side-by-side like yours.

I think they are the best card-themed games put out by each company.

Anything can be filled and sanded, etc., if it isnt too far gone. There are plenty of guides on here and plenty of experts to help you along the way. I have limited experience compared to a lot of people on here, but feel free to PM me and I would be happy to answer any questions you have about the process that I used.

Clay Harrel has a nice write up on playfield restoration on his site. I followed much of his advice...

Vids guide to PF restoration is killer by far the best out, and he spent TONS of time in that thread answering everyones questions..

nobody has done a more complete thread on the topic, or helped the community more than Vid !

Or, if no repros are available, you can strip your playfield and mail it to a restorer to be touched up and cleared. All my EM's get "the dip".

Pros: Colors are brilliant, surface plays smooth like glass, and the artwork will be preserved for another generation (or two).

Cons: Time-consuming, higher cost, glossy finish is attractive but doesn't look original, doesn't play quite the same as before (may have to re-level the game and/or adjust coils/EOS to compensate for higher ball speed and spin).

Overall, nothing beats a "pristine original", but those are few and far between... and 40+ years of aging tends to create sunken inserts regardless of care. So it's a trade off no matter what angle you are shooting (or plunging) for.

Here's Vid's guide that Gerry was talking about: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration

Its a long read, but if you can get through it you will be a F%$K'in genius ...

The back glass has been upgraded to a better condition one too. I will post some before pictures when I get a chance of the Cross Town.

Vic,

Would you mind sharing how you touch-up your cabinet paint?

I just sold my Kings and Queens prior to getting River Boat as I have to make space when a new machine comes in. No regrets here at all. It went to a good home.

Not on my shift. That is always one of the determining factors of keeping a game around here. If it rolls too easy, it's gone! We are loving Surf Side as it is more fun to compete.

I suppose it would be possible if you were playing 2-player... and the other person used their turns to run up the multipliers for you... and you got a lot of extra balls... and you repeatedly nailed the 5 for the 100x bonus... and hit a ton of bullseye targets... and otherwise had a phenomenal game.

Then yes, it might be doable. :p

That is a give and take on this machine. It happens pretty equal when we are playing it so it becomes a non factor. Don't let Bob's final score last night fool you. He is as big a competitor as they come. Which is one of the reasons I am having so much fun playing lately. One night he is the champ and the next night I am. Pit Stop, Magic Clock, and Surf Side are the usual battlefields.

"It is Fun to Compete!", thinking that I have seen this quote on a Gottlieb some where?

I don't believe they ever trademarked that one as those friendly words seem to be popping up all over the place lately.
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It's taken a couple of days of a long weekend, but after going thru all the steppers, relays, solenoids, and cleaning and adjusting most of the switches, Wishing Well is once again a fully functioning pinball machine. Still need to tear it down and shop it out.

I've been admiring this one since it showed up. It sure is pretty!

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Chop, cut, rebuild must have been somebodies moto.
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Here is the start of the finish. My Ken Head repainted North Star cabinet came home today.

Thanks, Ken!!

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It's looking good! There's something special about an old woodrail game's backglass art and theme of the game. For some reason I loved them because you could score millions of points where the ones with score reels you could only score thousands!

My first woodrail pinball machine in many years is here safe and sound, will post pictures and include the history of the game as soon as I have it set up.

That's a great link! I just favorited it, thanks.

Agreed, I'd rather have a game that's so fun it keeps me coming back for more instead of a highly "collectible" or valuable game that's not as much fun.

Lots of pretty ladies on this one.
Not too hard to work on either. Once you go thru all the steppers, there are no hidden relays. Everything is right in front of you. No schematic needed. Good playing game too.

How much availability does Ken have to do repaints? What does he typically charge?

Added a really nice 1965 Gottlieb Bank-a-Ball this weekend. Purchased from Pinsider Tuna_Delight. Included a brand-new repro back-glass. Still in the market for a nice card-themed Gottlieb and a nice bowling-themed Gottlieb:

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What about originality?

great pick up.. it is a game I sold and missed it so much I just had to get another. you will definitely like it. one of the best 60's games
shopping my BaB right now

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Thanks! I like it alot! I've also cleared the playfield and (even though Tuna_Delight had it nice and clean when I bought it) did a cleaning and am doing some minor touch-ups. Looks great so far! Going to clean all the metal parts while it's apart. Should have it waxed back up again by the weekend.

Love the cabinet color scheme on bank a ball.

You do wonder why they just used a white base over and over and over again. The games that don't have it stand out.

Most of my games are original condition. This one made the decision easy because the cabinet was painted over in mildly slathered on white enamel. There was no recovering the original finish so a quality repaint was a no brainer.

Had I found a second North Star with a decent original cabinet I would have just swapped them out. That's how my Slick Chick evolved.

Maybe they were at the well making a wish for you to buy the game.

Stop it Rat! That's Silly! Time for something decent and military...................

Ken

The well has run dry.

Unlike
King Kool and
Flying Carpet
and one more

Offhand:
Hit the Deck/Neptune
EM Joker Poker (although I guess that's truly a white base coat with very large red stencil sections)
EM Sinbad/Eye of the Tiger

I was only going to count
Hit the Deck,
as I consider Joker Poker and Sindbad as being in the Solid State Era
Once Solid State hit
more GTB's CAB base coats changed to more colorful stencils

My new woodrail arrived safe and sound yesterday, thanks to a friend who happened to be in the area to pick it up and I recently set it up in it's new home next to the Paul Bunyan. (It's the first woodrail I've had since I had to leave behind the 1953 Grand Champion when my family moved across country)

A little fascinating history about it, it used to be a gambling machine. The operator would pay for credits won then reset the credits to 0 on the bottom of the game. The mechanics and electrics were gone through by the guy I bought it from so it plays just like it did in 1949.

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