Was all the wood painted green?

Congrats on your first wood rail. Just stripping and refinishing the wood trim would be a huge improvement. Even if you left the missing chunk near the lock down bar. On these old timers it can pass for character if you can live with that. The play field looks like it will clean up fine.

That playfield looks like my Gottlieb Gladiator. Good luck with the restoration. these old pins are fun to play and worth the effort to save.
Let us know how it turns out.

Brian

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For this example I would start with the mechanical/functional first.

My best advice is to go through the game mechanicals in a methodical fashion and be patient as you go. By mechanicals I mean the relays and mechanisms. Your goal is simple:
1. Check setup and wipe on all of the switch contacts. Lightly file the points on each switch.
2. Inspect for wiring defects as you go - loose wires, broken or bent solder tabs, etc.
3. Inspect, clean, and lube where necessary all mechanisms - flippers, slingshots, steppers, score reels. You are looking for smooth and proper operation.

I approach the game in three sections:
1. Head
2. Playfield
3. Main relay board.
Pull each out onto the workbench and give each undivided attention to get through it. On a 70's 4 player EM I can get through all of the relays and mechanicals in about 5 hours with this method. For this game, appearing to have as much exposure as it has, along with the potential for the greases they used in this era that can gum up solid, you will probably need more time.

I would gauge gameplay before I went whole hog on the cosmetic restoration. You may find Double Action to be only an average player.

Good luck.

Mike O.

On Gottliebs, prior to the addition of a power on/off switch, they 'powered up' by inserting a coin. Then there's a 'knock-off' switch mounted on the bottom cabinet board (near the score motor) where slapping the bottom of the cabinet would knock off the power (needing to be 'coined up' again to turn it back on).

Congrats,

Welcome to the wonderful world of EM's. Hit us up with more questions as you move through the process as we are here to help.

http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index.htm

pm sent

i like it better green!

Looking forward to more pics! Love the woodrails too!

Great machine! I restored one of these in 2011 and it's still with me. I love playing it. Here's some info on the work I had to - hope it helps. http://www.petesgameroom.net/doubleaction/

Thanks! I'm with you - I often like restoring more than I like playing. This was a local craigslist find, for 100 bucks (that said - for the condition I realized it was in when I got home I might have spent too much). I vowed to myself I wouldn't spend too much money on this one just to see how I could do with a minimal investment.

The gobble hole on this machine is a maddening feature to me. It's very counterintuitive to my other pinballs. As far as I can tell, the quickest way to a high score is to try to get both the progressive lights up to 50, and then lose the ball in the gobble hole for 500 points. If you can do this 5 times, you're doing pretty good!

The main problem areas I had with this machine were dirty switch contacts, especially on the score motor. Many of the switch stacks needed to be tightened as the bakelite spacers had shrunk. This was also true of the relays in the back box - in that they were dirty and the arcing had oxidized the contacts quite a bit. Lots of switch cleaning and adjusting. The connectors between the back box, cabinet, and playfield needed lots of wire brushing as well. Common theme I guess, most of my issues were with corrosion and oxidation on switch contacts, relays, and connectors.

Pete Clark,

That's one heck of a restoration you did on that Double Action.

I notice you list your location as Lenexa, KS. I'm actually typing from work in Lenexa and live in Overland Park. Looks like you are somewhat new to the area.

If you get a chance stop by Pizza West in Shawnee at K7 and Johnson drive for the 3rd Saturday monthly league. Lots of great games, players, and collectors. Tomorrow is this week's date. Hopefully we will see you there some time.

Pizza West is very family friendly with great food to boot.

Mike O.

Here's the relays in the bottom of the machine. I had some labels missing as well, but I think I was able to identify them correctly. Hope this helps!

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that fender would look good with a little color! LOL!

Hey Mike, thanks for the kind words!

Pizza West sounds great - I'll try to make it over there. My brother is in town visiting this weekend, but maybe I can make it next month. I'm better at fixing the games than I am at playing them, so hopefully you guys have a novice league or something like that!

If your playing skills aren't up to your standards it's still a good place to meet several of the local pinball folks.

Erik, whose games are at PW, is a wizard at SS game repair and he is making great strides on EM repair. I play and fix games. Others have their own skill sets.

The rules are $5 entry, double elimination in winners bracket, usually double elimination in losers bracket, and winner of losers bracket plays winner of winners bracket. Top half of finishers at least get their $5 back.

Give it a shot. With your skill set would love to meet you. There would be lots to talk about.

Sounds good, I'll put it on the calendar so I don't forget. Looking forward to meeting you.

Success! Now, turn on the bells!

Looking good!

Too bad the 5" bells are NLA from Pinball resource.
Look here if you need a 5-incher.
http://timesavers.com/search.html?q=bells&go=Search

Yep, that's exactly right.

Great job! You are already getting through the hardest part. Not necessarily the most time consuming, but the most important. They gotta run right and these 50's games can be temperamental depending on the life they lived.

Thank you for restoring and being care taker of another great machine. Pinball will not die on our watch!

I just love to see more unplayable machines getting restored and put back into circulation. If it was not for people with skills like yourself and countless other Pinsiders, we would soon end up with no playable older machines. That is a future to scary to dwell on. I do my best to cheer on the real hero's of pinball =)

I like this saying Peppers which I think encapsulates your message "Let me be judged not on what I do but what I leave"

Look to the alignment of the coil plunger to the stop. Both could be worn to the point that they don't contact square and you will get buzzing.

Replacement parts are available from Pinball Resource.

Thks for the tip DF. I had no idea of this function on my Rocketship. I note the slap needs to be fairly defined under the switch to propel the rod which opens the switch. It seems an odd logic to 'switch a switch'!

I have found when you have pins-'there is never a lack of things to do'

You are to be commended on your efforts. You earned that first game.

I'm enjoying your posts, nice job on getting her going!
Don't neglect your Mav now