I recently was able to pick up a 1976 Williams Blue Chip pinball machine - best part was that it was free. One of my friends parents had it in their basement growing up and a few years ago I asked if they ever fixed the machine and if they didn't - did they want to get rid of it?He asked and they said no initially but a couple weeks ago I got a text saying they wanted to get it out of their basement. I was able to pick it up a couple days later. Like I said, it wasn't working and was missing the back glass but I was looking for a little project and thought this would be a great way to get into pinball.

The machine is in decent shape. It defiantly has some wear to it but it appeared that everything was there mechanically. I started by doing some initial searches about the machine and looking potential things that could be wrong. Checked the fuses and they're good. Searched for broken connections - none. I unplugged every connection, cleaned and plugged it back it. There was a flicker of light. I jiggled the cord again, another flicker. I plugged it in once more and it light up and stayed on. I've played a couple games and from what I can tell everything is working just fine. I picked up a refurb kit off eBay and I plan to replace the power cord and do some additional cleaning. The backglass is long gone. I might try and recreate one in photoshop and have it printed. Something would be better than nothing (unless someone knows of one for sale).

I've been wanting a pinball machine for a few years now and I'm happy I lucked out with a machine that didn't need tons of work.

Here is a link to a timelapse I shot playing last night: https://www.instagram.com/p/BCS3U_cRwXN/?taken-by=sjleto

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Will http://bgresto.com create one from scratch or do I need to have the original from them to work from?

Your machine looks really clean. I'm hoping to get mine looking similar to yours someday.

I'm glad this is my first pin. The theme is interesting but still really cool. I've always thought I wanted to get a newer electronic machine but I think the EM is way cooler now that I have it.

I got more info from http://bgresto.com and that seems like a pretty good deal for the back glass. I will probably order one of those up in a few weeks. I received the refurb kit off eBay and replaced all of the dead lightbulbs, springs, ball and all of the bumpers - cleaned all the pieces while installing. It came with a little game polish too so I applied that and leveled the machine. When I plugged it in and started playing there was a loud buzzing noise. The second dial seemed to be stuck/running slowly but would stop if I pushed in both flippers. I unplugged the machine and was able to figured out that the spinning targets where not spinning freely and were getting semi stuck on - I loosened those and everything is working correctly now. I feel like the game plays a lot faster now - it does seem more "spring-ing" with the bumpers. I'm excited to order that glass in a couple weeks and have some friends over to play.