Evel Knievel
Bally, 1977For months, I've been reading restoration threads and learning. For months, I've been buying parts, parts, and more parts. Last night was the beginning of an adventure to restore Evel Knievel and recapture the glory days of youthful recklessness without the whole danger thing (I'm old and don't heal as quickly now). So, here is how it started...
Ground braid s for pf and cabinet should be here tomorrow, so I should be able to start pf population tomorrow hopefully.
Good luck man! I did that with my Six Million Dollar Man a few years back and a Flash Gordon and it was a nostalgic trip that's for sure! Enjoy the ride!
Great looking game. Evel was a childhood hero of mine. I'm 52 and don't remember ever one of those around here. I would have played it. Another classic Bally.
Quoted from nascarrey:EK 77 owner following. Are all your plastics good? One of mine is cracked (the one above the left flipper) and cant find a replacement.
Sent you a pm
Quoted from Captive_Ball:What color are you getting the armor powder coated? I'm intrigued
I had already bought new Bally legs which are charcoal to match the original factory color. I sent off for color swatches from the supplier that Rob uses. There was no perfect match to the Bally Charcoal, but the Viking Gray is really close. Since none of the other parts actually touch the legs, the difference won't be significantly noticeable as the color appears different at different angles. That actually works in my favor. I'll be sending out the lockdown bar, side rails, coin door skin, and shooter rod bezel this week.
Harness is in 4 parts. Got the cabinet harness and one of the back box harnesses washed last night. Tonight I stripped the playfield harness and washed it with the other back box harness.
Quick stop at the auto parts store to get some Evercoat lightweight filler and some Fiberglass resin. Gonna have to take some time looking at paints. I looked briefly at some rattle can colors, but didn't find what I wanted. May have to buy an hvlp gun and learn to spray auto paints.
Last night, I started using the new ultrasonic cleaner. Holy shit, that thing works like a champ! Only problem is it gets hot enough to burn the hell outta you if you reach in to grab stuff. "No shit, Sherlock!" I tell ya... I'm an intellectual giant at times. LOL I think I'll use this thing a lot. I also bought a tumbler, so I will fire it up tomorrow and get started polishing stuff. Any tips of most effective use of this (polishing additives, run times, etc.) would be appreciated.
A lot of parts cleaned in the ultrasonic today, but today disappointing experience with the tumbler. Whole day of tumbling was wasted because I had the wrong type of media.
On another note, I have decide to paint the coin mechanisms. Holy crap there are a bunch of parts to that thing! I hope I took enough pictures to get it back together properly. If not, I'm in trouble. Haha
Also, got the chimes all cleaned up and reassembled. I'm thinking I may just tear them back apart and paint the assembly minus the chime bars.
Quoted from seeburg220:Have never washed a wiring harness before. Any tips on doing it ?
Went directly off of Vid's guide. I used liquid dishwasher detergent. Use the pots and pans setting and heated dry function. I blew all the connectors out with an air nozzle to make sure they were good and dry.
Making great progress Bob!
Quoted from DaveH:EK was the first pinball machine I owned. Fond memories of it. Following just because I love seeing one restored.
EK was my first pin also....
Wow, that looks great. My resto is moving so slowly compared to yours. Are all of those just cleaned/tumbled? or new parts, they look so shiny.
Keep posting
Quoted from mark532011:Wow, that looks great. My resto is moving so slowly compared to yours. Are all of those just cleaned/tumbled? or new parts, they look so shiny.
Keep posting
All light sockets are new. All assembly brackets have been cleaned in the ultrasonic and polished in the tumbler. All coils have been replaced. All pop and passive bumpers are brand new except brackets.
Waiting to hear from Rob as to when he's shipping back. It'll be a little bit though. I'm hoping to start on prepping the cabinet for paint this weekend. Life has crept up on me and slowed things down for a bit. Hoping to pick the pace back up quickly.
Wow..Beautiful!! Motivating me to finish mine..I just have one issue remaining..one of the bikes in the back box doesn’t illuminate still. I replaced the socket, no dice..love this pin!
Ok guys, I'm back. The last few years have been a nightmare with a divorce, some shoulder surgery, and a couple moves. I have finally got her back together and everything is restored except I haven't painted the cabinet and probably won't to keep the character of the machine. I have one problem that I need help with. Since I've been away so long, I'm having trouble finding some things from when I started this project. I had bought new insert cards for the apron. These were custom cards with a cool glossy design. They got damaged in storage. Does anyone have any info on where to find them? TIA.
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Taylor Mill, KY
I have a half restored Evel in pieces that I bought from a friend. I need to get in and finish it.