I've had a Hardbody for a couple of months now, and finally got it all working...well almost. Just the usual, flipper rebuilds, rubber and lights.

Couple of questions if anyone can help:

1) The upper flippers have the long shaft, but use the normal flipper bushings. The result is that the flippers are "wobbly" at the top. I can move them by hand maybe a quarter inch in all directions. This makes for an inconsistent shot, especially with the right upper flipper. I'm wondering if there's supposed to be a longer shaft bearing or something that stabilizes the shaft. I've looked for parts explosions for this assembly and can't find any, or for BMX, which I assume would be the same.

2) There is a "flap" that is used for the hinge for the ramps. The one on the left has cracks, but still works (for now). It looks like it is riveted in place. Anyone know where to get a replacement for this and how to change it out?

@lpeters

You idea for a Pandemic conversion is awesome. That might be my favorite board game. Using the "stations" for the four diseases is a great fit and pure genius.

As far as I can tell, they don't make a distinction between upper and lower at all?

You might be right, I didn't change the bushing since it's really hard to get at. Do your upper flippers feel solid, or can you move them around (like make a small circle at the base)? Maybe that's just how they are, IDK. It's the only two level pin I own. Flippers on my other single level ones can't move at all (except to flip of course).

@lpeters

I assume you're essentially talking artwork - cabinet, playfield, plastics and backglass. I've programmed in assembler in the past, and I've been thinking about making some mods to pinball game logic in general, but that's a substantial project unless you've done it before or can get your hands on some commented code, so relabeling the existing logic as you describe makes sense.

I'm guessing everyone on this site has seen this, but just in case, here's a guy who does a nice job on customizations...

http://gameroomblog.com/guides/custom-pinball-machine

To do what I think you're talking about, he says it takes him ~100 hours over 3 months calendar time. Of course, he uses CAD in his work, so he has a head start.

Besides the time, there's the cost. If several people went in together, I bet the cost of printing the decals, backglass etc would be somewhat cheaper per person, but it could still end up easily over $500/game, but I don't have any experience with that.

Thing is for me, other than the backglass, I don't really mind the artwork. It's just that I think your idea is really good. If you're reading this and never played the Pandemic board game, you should give it a try.

Finally, I wonder if there are possible copyright problems if this was done as a group, even non-for-profit. I guess calling it something other than Pandemic might fix that? And creating your own artwork.

I've seen that in the parts manual for Hardbody. I'm guessing that these are sort of generic parts assemblies, since my uppers aren't exactly like the ones shown for "single". They have the expected EOS, but they also have and an additional switch like a lane change switch. The contacts are smaller than an EOS, so it's not carrying high voltage, but I haven't hunted down what they do (there's no lanes in a Hardbody).

Anyway, I think I'll take your advice about changing out the bushing. Couldn't hurt. It will be a while, though since I'm going out of town for a while. I'll let you know if that helps.