It does look bound up.

Here is a pic I had rebuilding Rudy. The eyelid solenoid shaft is sitting more straight and lower in the solenoid than yours. I believe the shaft passes through the bottom of the solenoid so that area needs to be clear.

IMG_5065 (resized).jpeg

If you ever accidentally shorted the wires on the eyelids coil or wired it backwards, or just had a coil go bad, it may have blown the eyelids transistor. I know from experience. When my eyelids were not working at all, I replaced the associated TIP102 transistor and it resolved the problem. If you can freely move the mechanism, it should be fine.

Additional note: Make sure you have the flange for the eyelids coil. if you don't have it, it can and will cause the eyelids to eventually break:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8486

You have the ever vanishing centering flange in there?

https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=centering+flange

No quicker way to have eyelid problems than when this little guy isn't in place.

I suggest you try moving those plungers by hand. There should be no unusual resistence to the motion, just the spring itself. And take a look on page 2-23 in the manual as there is a nylon flange that should be guiding the plunger if I remember correctly. That gets chewed up and becomes missing over time.

That would be the "always missing" centering flange.

Without it, the lever-pin on the eyelids breaks off.

Looking at the pics fossmin posted, it looks like a regular plunger stop on the backside of their eyelid solenoid without a hole or the centering flange between the solenoid bracket and solenoid. It should be a bracket with a hole in it on that backside of the solenoid to let the plunger pass through, not a bracket with a plunger stop.

Added the Pinball solution blue LED display today. I’m very happy with how it looks

9E7F7CE9-E8BC-4233-B5D4-8BC25B4FC399 (resized).png

That does look cool!

I should have taken a better pic. The front lower solenoid does have a hole in the bracket to let the plunger pass through. I didn't get time to mess with this last night. Hopefully tonight or this weekend.

Thanks

I'd like to order a set, too. Where did you order them from?

yes a hole it it....and this sits in the hole....important to have https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=centering+flange

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/535-7354-01
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/535-7354-00

Was wondering if someone could confirm for me which bumper post is supposed to be used on the shooter lane? This is the short section on the right side that holds two 2" rubber rings. Beside the pop bumpers. I see a few different double bumper posts in the manual, but doesn't specify which ones go where.

I am looking at 02-4423 and 02-4493 and then also listed are 02-4424-1 and 02-4424-2, except the image on Marco when you pull those up doesn't show them as being suitable for the double rubber rings.

The bottom thread into the playfield is 8-32 and is secured with a nut. The top looks to be either a 6-32 thread or 8-32, again, not sure which to use. Thanks!

Double ring posts with 6-32 stud on top. You can kind of see them on this teardown photo from 2001.

DSC01695 (resized).JPG

Thanks. Looks like 02-4493. https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/02-4493

I need to rebuild my trap door as the plastic piece got cracked. I have a replacement for it, but wondered about the rivets used on the metal flap. What are the right rivets to use? I have a simple rivetting tool I got from Canadian Tire years ago to do some work on the car and it came with an assortment pack of rivets. I think they are aluminum. Guessing these might not be the right style to use on pinball machines. What should I get?

Some riveting information:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/whirlwind-club-members-only/page/50#post-4685717

I don't remember the specific ones I used for the ramps when I did my Funhouse... but these things are fairly cheap.

Nickel-plated brass rivets, buy a variety of lengths from 1/8 to 5/16"

https://www.hansonrivet.com/rivets/tubular-rivets/

You want the 1/8" diameter ones, oval head, nickel-plated brass.

And a roll clincher tool like this:
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/RapcoBrake.php

This DIY approach may help...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/best-riveting-setup-for-30#post-6141874

Hi All. i was helping a mate with his Funhouse and we found this part in the cab base towards the rear. I can't see where it's from, I'm guessing it's in the head? Can anyone enlighten me and perhaps show a picture? Thanks, David.

20230305_124641 (resized).jpg

edit: I just found this picture in another thread, so it looks like it's something to do with the eyebrows?

Pinside_forum_6512628_0 (resized).jpg

Correct. There is a plastic piece missing where the pin is. Readily available.

Hey all, finally finished up the underside and ready to put playfield back in cabinet. Of course was a little tight so scuffed my newly painted interior cabinet

What is more frustrating is the back panel seems to be rubbing up too snug against the wood piece in the cab. Not familiar with this and didn’t take pics of this area. Is the back panel supposed to push against the wood?

Result is the playfield will not lay 100% flat.

Not sure if I should sand one of the pieces down a bit to let it lay flatter or is this alignment wrong in some way?

Thanks.

image (resized).jpg

image (resized).jpg

The playfield backboard "beveled" piece is installed backwards.

the bevels are supposed to line up.

Remove the 4 screws and reverse it.

The funhouse cabinet is narrow by 3/16" or more.

Use these to protect it:

https://www.pinballlife.com/interior-cabinet-protector-blade-set.html

Or slide in some stiff cardboard for now, between the playfield and cabinet.

Wow. One thing I didn’t take a pic of and I install it backwards. Thanks.

Good eye!!!

Thanks to @upkickpinball for the awesome hot dogs.

PXL_20230317_003009984 (resized).jpg

Those switch covers are SO much nicer than the generic vinyl covers shipped factory. Nice job!

In the middle of playing a game last night, Rudy stopped talking. His jaw moves when it's supposed to move, but no sound. The music track still plays. Any ideas what might be going on?

Check your ribbon cables. Last time my Rudy stopped speaking it was the ribbon cable was loose. Hope this helps solve your problem

I've had sound problems recently too very similar to this. For me, it was also the ribbon cable that goes from the main board to the sound board. I think there may be some corrosion on the pins and may need to replace that ribbon cable and/or clean the pins. I unplugged it and plugged it back in and it started working again.

Thanks! I'll give it a whirl later and report back.

After many, many years I've finally got my game back together and am now in the final stages of fine tuning and have a couple of questions.

1) It's been so long that I can't remember but when a game ends is a locked ball or balls supposed to release and go back to the trough? Reason I ask is I'm also noticing the midnight mode is not working properly. After locking the 2nd ball, instead serving a ball into the right plunger it releases one of the locked balls which immediately cancels the midnight mode. I'm wondering if one of the lock switches needs adjusting or if it is something else?

2) Are there any tips or is there a documented process/guide for removing the trap door mech assembly? Something is binding/hanging up on mine preventing the trap door from closing smoothly so I need to remove it to investigate. It was a royal pain assembling it while in the rotisserie so I know it will be way more difficult now that its in the cabinet.

Thanks

https://www.casetifys.com/products/animatronic-eyes-kit-for-arduino-bionic-robot-sg90-servo-joystick-control-stem?st&utm_source=23854233138140202&utm_medium=%E7%9C%BC%E7%9D%9B%20-%2023%20-%20%E6%A0%91%E8%8E%93%E6%B4%BE&utm_campaign=Facebook_Mobile_Feed&utm_content=8&fbclid=IwAR1N0fCJ8GJi-L4CKA311N7_OyILw-FDL2EXipapPtdiDJknMLmOGupwGJU

Site might be fake.. no idea.. lol, but can't shake the vision of seeing rudy do a full circle eye movement in frenzy

Seems like there are some open source instructions and STLs for this anyway.

Did you put in the door stop on the trap door?

Its a pain to remove the trap door, and then the assembly without small tools and patience.

I know that its hindsight, but it pays to test everything on the rotisserie (including all the mechs) before installing the playfield into the game.

Show us some pictures if you can!

Rudy's lack of voice was totally ribbon cable related. Thanks for the tips!

Yeah, that's the most frustrating part because I did test and check everything while in the rotisserie first. In fact, I had the playfield in once already but removed it because I could not get the ball lock mech working correctly and when it was in the first time I had no issue with the trap door closing. Now after installing the second time the trap door is hanging up!? And yes, I do have the door stop installed.

I'm at work now but will take some pics later. Any thoughts on if locked ball(s) are released at the end of a game?

Thanks!

I had these already on my phone but don’t think you can zoom in enough to the see the trap door mech

08F2DA3B-031E-41AB-9192-AD6EFB236698 (resized).jpeg

EA390F22-4597-48C6-A980-FB6F460CB20D (resized).jpeg

I have my game set to release all the locked balls at the end of game in the settings.

Looks like a beautiful resto!

I had the trap door hang up due the the entire mech was loose and falling off.

Its likely something simple since it worked on the stand.

could just be a wire in the way or coil stop loose etc.

The shooter lane switch could be flakey.

I didn't know it could release balls from lock after game over. That has always bothered me. I'll have to find that setting.

I might be getting confused with my DW that I just reset all the settings on....

You may be right!

Hah, this is some stuff I'm working on for halloween props. Hadn't considered using it for Rudy. You could program it via switches just like Rudy is now (to look around where the ball is). You could possibly even have it do ball tracking via a camera of some sort if you wanted to get really fancy.

Ok, update time regarding the above....

I finally had the time to once again take Rudy out and inspect, can almost do this in my sleep now LOL. Anyway, I found the culprit. A long time ago I ordered an Eye Repair Protector Set from Pinbits that is made out of Delrin and is supposed to be stronger and last forever or at least longer than original. When I did my restore, I wanted to do any and everything I could to bulletproof anything I could, so I used this kit, you can see the contents at the following link, which they are no longer in business (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinbits-funhouse-eye-repair-protector-set#post-1807093)

It turns out, the CENTERING FLANGE - "EYES OPEN" piece is not exactly the same as the original in terms of design as there is a recess on the original, ever so slightly, that is not present in the Delrin Pinbits version which was causing the Eye Open function to sometimes be sluggish and not work, but the Eyes WIDE function worked fine. So luckily being as OCD as I am, I had ordered a spare from Marco's (https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8486) a while back, I installed this and no issues at all now and I can finally check that off the list from the 2020 restore LOL.

Another separate adjustment that I was having an issue with was the ball lock wire gate, sometimes it would remain open and allow balls to come right back out, especially if a ball was already locked. The cause appeared to be the wire gate would get hung up on the rail keeping it open, but it would very seldom do this. After looking and thinking how to fix this WITHOUT removing all the ramps, it turned out, for me at least, that I could loosen one of the screws holding down the gate bracket (one closest to the player) and just push it towards the back of the machine and tighten the screw back up and voila, no more stuck wire gate.

So I think that's all of the final adjustments and have no issues with anything else. HOWEVER there is one other thing, BUT and hoping all the experts here can chime in on this one....

Are the bottom flippers supposed to be aligned\even when at rest AND when the flipper is fully extended? I replaced the entire flipper bracket assembly with one of those pre-built Fliptronic ones from PBL as I've done this on other machines, but it looks like the Right flipper does not extend as much as the Left flipper. I feel like this wasn't like this before, but I don't have any pics and can't remember, but my thinking is my OCD would have noticed this before since I immediately noticed it after the restore. I tried to take measurements from various spots to measure and compare the assemblies and it looks like the left does have more throw than the right.

I attached some pics. I was going to try a set of those precision flippers and see if that would help, but now thinking it has nothing to do with adjustments of the flipper bats as the assembly is what determines how much throw it has as well as I've heard that the precision flippers will make the flippers stronger and that concerns me some as I don't want airballs or mess up any ramps. It is an older Mirco playfield from 2015 that I had Ron redo the clear, so don't think it has anything to do with alignment of holes, etc. The way I have it aligned now is so the flippers are even at rest, but you can see how they are not aligned in the same place per that alignment mark on the playfield.

Thanks everyone for any and all help and once I can solve this flipper thing, I can say I will be officially done with the 2020 restore LOL.

Have a great day and stay safe.

IMG_1127 (resized).jpegIMG_1121 (resized).jpegIMG_1118 (resized).jpegIMG_1120 (resized).jpeg

Have you looked at the coil stops to see if they're the same ? that's about the only thing that would affect the throw of the flipper assuming the links are the same as well. Positioning the flipper itself would then be a matter of alignment?

I just stumbled onto a link for this kit and immediately thought of Rudy/Red/Ted. Came here to see if anyone else posted this and sure enough someone did.
This Youtube video shows it working and has a parts list:

Not sure whether it would all fit into Rudy's head as-is but this would be a really cool mod...

Pinball Eddie,

Everything on both sides is identical so they should be able to sit at rest or flipped and both be even with each other.

Comes down to what tiny thing is not the same from left to right?

As mentioned, the linkage and plunger for both sides need to be the same (mirror images at least). The coil stop also mentioned, which you can't see while assembled. The rubber grommet that the linkage elbow bumps into needs to be the same too. If one side is mushed down farther than the other, the linkage will be able to travel more and from the rest position, the flipper will rotate more. All of those look fine on your game.

This might not be it, but the physical position of your right flipper coil and the two brackets on either side of it appear to be attached slightly down farther than the left side is. And I mean how you can see a tiny bit of the mounting bracket on the end of the coil stop bracket, whereas the left side has the coil stop bracket attached pretty much flush with the end of the mounting plate. Those two brackets that keep the coil in place I believe have slightly sloppy or oblong holes so you should be able to loosen the two screws on each bracket and wiggle them around to move the coil itself slightly. If you are able to get some movement, see if you can match up right side to left side and then turn it back over and see if the flippers are now even.

Thanks so much for the details and suggestions.

Ok, so disassembled the flipper assembly to remove the coil and inspect all the elements mentioned above and here are the results so far:

Coil stops are identical in terms of height, see pics attached.

The plungers extend the same distance eyeballing it.

The issue looks to be when the plunger is at rest against the rubber grommet. The grommets look identical as well as the plungers look to be identical or a mirror copy of each other, so cannot tell what is causing one to be 2mm higher than the other. The only thing that looks somewhat different is where the linkage rests on the grommet and not sure how to adjust this???

I do notice that the flipper bats ends (that get tightened) are not the same, so could that really be what's causing this 2mm difference? In all my flipper rebuilds, I've never had this happen. I do the recommended steps in terms of using that adjustment tool to ensure there is space between the flipper bat and the playfield and that's where they ended up.

I've attached several pics showing and comparing the two and the first pic of each represents the left side, then the right.

I appreciate any and all help as this uneven flipper alignment has been driving me crazy for the past 2 years and hopefully if anyone else ever has this issue, this will help.

IMG_1135 (resized).jpeg

IMG_1134 (resized).jpeg

IMG_1136 (resized).jpeg

IMG_1137 (resized).jpeg

IMG_1138 (resized).jpeg

IMG_1142 (resized).jpeg

IMG_1143 (resized).jpeg

IMG_1139 (resized).jpeg

Are the plungers the same length?
Are the bats the same length?

Is there debris in the coil sleeves?
Do you have the right coil sleeves?