So I'll start this off with the fact that I've never even played an EM, let alone owned or moved one. (I've never actually moved a machine at all -- the only one I own was delivered to me). However a deal came by on an original Fireball, everyone says it's a classic game, and I'm trying to learn as much about pinball as I can, so I figured why not - worst case, I can just re-sell it. It's supposedly in great condition (pictures coming today).

I'll be picking it up next week, and in doing some research, I found that the heads on early machines don't fold down. So it sounds like I have to take the head off to transport it, but I'm not sure what I need for that. What tools should I bring? And is it as easy as just labeling all of the connections from the head into the body, taking a million pictures, and then disconnecting the wires and unscrewing/bolting the head? What other things should I be concerned about? How hard is it to get into the head?

My planned steps, and please correct me if I'm wrong or add new ones:

1) Remove backglass
2) Take pictures
3) Label connectors with electrical tape (or is there a better way?)
4) Take more pictures
5) Disconnect wires from the head.
6) Unscrew/unbolt/whatever the head and carefully put it in the vehicle (wrap with blankets)
7) Take legs off of body
8 ) Put legs in vehicle
9) Put blankets around body
10) Put body in the vehicle (pinball body, not a dead one in case NSA is watching ).

Then when I get home, I reverse the steps, excluding taking pictures.

Are there any specific gotchas with Fireball that I should be concerned about? Anything special to look for? Am I getting in way over my head? (I just soldered for the first time ever with help from LTG, so I'm REALLY new to this ).

Thanks all!

Awesome, thanks everyone! I didn't know you could get into the head from the back, I just assumed it was going to by like my T2 where I pull the translite off and then open a door to get to the stuff, so that's very helpful to know! I think I'll be putting the machine into the back of a crossover (Hyndai Santa Fe -- I hope it fits....), so I don't know that there's enough room to just fold the head down, but I'll look into that. Also good to know there's only 3-4 connections - I was picturing a lot more than that.

I knew to remove the balls, but it's a great reminder so thank you!

Can't wait to try it out next week.

My friend sent me some pictures of the machine and it turns out it's not the original Fireball like he said, but rather the Fireball Classic. That sucks. It's in great condition (the backglass doesn't look faded at all, which is rare from what I've read), but all of the preparation was for nothing since I'm not interested in the Classic. I was really looking forward to messing around with an EM. Oh well!

The backglass on the Fireball Classic looks great from the picture they sent. If I weren't already breaking the bank on looking for a MET Premium, I might pull the trigger on this one, but alas, I don't have unlimited funds. Not sure how much they're going to sell it for, now that they know it's not the original, as I didn't ask.

Thanks for all the help though - it'll come in handy if I find an EM in the future that I want!!

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