This is my first machine and after a month it's too much fun finally owning one. Man this one needed some TLC though, lots of parts that hadn't seen use for a while started breaking down as they got regular play again. The Rufio ramp was a no brainer to replace, mine had the crack of doom and was only getting worse. Just installed the replacement from Freeplay40 tonight and it's even better than the stock ramp. With some graphics from cooke it looks killer. Put LEDs in the whole thing, changed a few roll over switches, most of the coil sleeves, new pop bumper skirts, new flippers and rubbers, v5.0 code from ChadH, cleaned and waxed the play field and it's a new machine again.

Only things left to do are rebuild the flippers, fix the wood around the holes and install some cliffy protectors and possibly put new decals on the targets.

Still a few issues though, scoop shoots the ball way too high and misses the flipper now since I've waxed the play field which may or may not be related to that and one of the drop target switches keeps registering hits after it's down. Targets drop nicely since I cleaned them, so I'm thinking it's a bum switch even though I've cleaned and re tensioned them and they seem to make good contact when closed. Constant work in progress I guess, here's some pics.

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It's as steep as I could get it with the stock feet, around 6 degrees which is shallow but seems to be normal for Hook from what I've read. My scoop does have a slight bend to it from getting slammed which might not help the situation. It kicks out normally half the time so not sure what the cause is, maybe a loose link in the kicker. Might have to put it in the vice and bend it back straight or replace the link.

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Did some work on the old girl tonight. Solved the drop target switch sticking problem with a q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol. A business card wasn't enough to get the corrosion off the contacts. Also sort of fixed the scoop kick out, not perfect but only misses the flipper once out of ten shots now. Slightly bent the scoop back to straight, but I think most of the problem is caused by play in the kicker arm hinge joints. They were super floppy, so added a thin washer to the coil plunger link as shown in the pic. I couldn't add anything to the other joint on the kicker arm without too much binding, but replaced the e ring with a new one since the old one had some wear. There's a raised ring around the far side of the plunger arm that acts like a bushing that's got some wear that can probably only be fixed by replacing the whole thing. Good enough for now until something else breaks.

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Here's my game running the v5.0 code. Display is original, haven't had any issues with it since I got the game a few months ago with or without the new code. Steph at Hobbyroms burnt them for me in November.

hawkeyexx There's two round areas in the mirrored back part like in your picture. Both have little brass L brackets that the ramp edges rest on for support in my machine. The bracket tops are about flush with the tops of the circle cutouts. Here's a couple of crappy pics.

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I'll check mine when I'm home in a few hours.

Mine looks the same, the one beside it has two red/blue wires though. And on the three skill shot top lights, there’s a single red/blue on the third red light.

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A Williams 23-800 coil or should do the trick.

I used JB Weld KwikWood and it worked great, just like he did here: http://www.pinballrehab.com/1-articles/pinball-restoration/playfield/96-scoop-outhole-repair

Here's an issue I'm hoping someone has had with theirs and figured it out already. The 'Big Kick' auto launch under the skill shots fires once randomly a few seconds after firing a ball properly. Usually by the time it hits the pop bumpers or the flippers the first time. It's mostly annoying but the OCD in me would like to sort it out. The machine has always done it since I got it, and doesn't seem to be linked to anything else firing. I'm betting it's a cold solder joint somewhere in the switch matrix or driver circuit. I've re flowed solder on all the connector pins and relays on all the boards but didn't do the chips or anything else. That coil did burn up on me and I had to replace the TIP36C that drove it, plus I changed the two pre driver transistors while I had the board out so they're good and the coil diode is good. All the switches and diodes around the skill shot are new as well. Otherwise the game works perfectly. I hate intermittent gremlins like this.

Just a note, the two washers I added to the scoop kick out arm to correct the kick out randomness are working really well. Balls come out at slightly different angles but hit the flipper every time.

I have also had the single drop target not scoring when the pirate town is lit. PS, pirate town looks awesome when you add a few leds tied to the GI inside. Same thing if you light the scoop holes with red ones.

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I managed to get 200-250M quite a few times on the 5.00 code with my limited skills. It'll be interesting to see how that changes with the new code, chip is on the way in the mail now!

Had my first go with the new code tonight, very nice. Subtle improvements, my favorite being the reduced flashing especially right at the start of multiball where it's nice to actually see the ball instead of being blinded. I'm sure the relay will last longer now too with the reduced usage. The flashing shoot again is killer as well. Think I still missed a pirate town special even though I hit a few drop targets but wasn't paying much attention. Even managed to knock out a 150M game too so my name's back up on the top scores list. Fantastic work Chad.

Yeah mine used to drain too until I waxed the play field and got the angle as steep as it would go as well. I managed a little over 6 degrees with the back legs all the way out and front all the way in which did the trick and still keeps it easy enough for the kids to enjoy.

Had a good game tonight.

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Wow, those old ones have seen better days eh.

Mine was the same when I got it, everything constantly breaking. Had the same drop target issue too, a good cleaning of the leaf switches sorted that out. My wife was upset when it was fixed since she couldn't sneak those extra millions in anymore.