Des Moines, WA
Quoted from spankytanker:Hello, I am new to pinball ownership. I just acquired a pretty used F-14 Tomcat machine, however, overall seems to be in pretty good working shape. it not fully functioning as I understand some fuses and batteries need to be replaced, rubbers changed, parts lubed, etc. the outside paint is pretty rough and I am wondering if there is an argument for leaving it original and just cleaning it up, or a full restoration like I have seen on the forums? I also don't really have the time or expertise to renovate. is this something work having a local shop do? Thanks![quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
F-14 was the first pin I bought several years ago. One of the biggest problems with F-14 is the inserts raise up. The game comes from the factory with a sheet of mylar covering most of the playfield. I can see in your pictures there are some air bubbles around some of the inserts. That is the result of the inserts rising up. There are a bunch of tutorials on how to get these inserts to go back down and stay down, but this is time consuming and labor intensive. You said you don't have the time for a major restoration project. But if you really want this game to looks good and play properly, you are going to have to put some time into it. I really enjoyed fixing up my F-14. Getting everything working properly and looking decent was very rewarding. Good luck!
