So I decided that instead of just replacing some lights and wiping down the playfield that I'd do my best to clean/replace/rehab everything on my SMB playfield I bought last week. I've got the playfield out of the machine and I've begun disassembling things. I've been taking photos as I go, which is really the only way I'll remember how everything looked.. I'm nervous as hell, worried I'll either break things or never be able to get the thing back together. I've started with stuff on the top of the playfield... I was hoping not to have to take out any switches or wiring, which is where this whole thing could really go to hell. I have to admit that this is the most hands on thing I've ever done (I come from the world of software development, where its really hard to break something permanently )

The whole machine is just covered in dirt. It appears to be smokers residue or worse. I'm also going to have to replace all the screws as they appear to be a mismatch. I've also come across some ragged repairs; appears the left hand ramp cracked and was hot-glued back together.

Wish me Luck!

Pinball_Teardown_1_040_-_small.jpg Pinball_Teardown_1_046_-_small.jpg

Thanks for the advice / encouragement.

I'm actually at an impasse; the playfield appears to have some factory mylar over most of the middle. Now, I can clean up and leave the mylar, but i know that affects game speed as well as a lot of other things. from what i read on the internet, basically clearcoating the playfield is the way to go. However, clearcoating means I would have to remove all mechanisms from the top (all switches, all slingshot components, all pop bumpers, etc.) I am very nervous about removing the electronic components as that appears to be way more challenging that unscrewing plastic parts.

Now I had planned on just removing everything to get a good clean, scrubbing and polishing around the slingshots, etc. Should I go whole hog and clear the playfield?

How do you pop off the castle? From the top? Or do you need to do it from the bottom? I'm just trying to remove the blue plastic pieces for now.

I figured, but I would have to move the switches that poke through the playfield, remove all the lighting, etc.

The other thing I should have mentioned: I live in an apartment. I do not have a garage, etc to do clearcoating. I will have to bring the playfield to my dad's basement or someplace else that I can vent and let it dry.

The more I think about it, the more I just want to give the playfield a good cleaning. Maybe some touchup? There's a few wear marks on the inside right lane but I'm pretty lucky that for the most part the machine is just dirty and not ball-worn. I'm also going to replace the lamps with LEDs and install the scoop protectors (I really wish I was any good with epoxy; if I was I could repair the small rim damage of the scoops.)

Manual and spare coils were in a box inside the game when I bought it Lucked out I guess!

Already ordered a rubber ring kit from Marco and a full set of LED replacements for the GI and controlled lamps from CoinTaker (didn't have the budget to do the backbox lamps and flashers as LEDs as well. Give all the flashers work I'm going to wait it out on those.)

I emailed cliffy about the scoop protectors but haven't heard back. Anyone know alternative sources?

Bad News: Last night during my teardown I discovered the circular mylar protectors around the pop bumpers is already coming up. I think that means that at minimum, these mylar protectors have to go. Can I leave the area around the pop bumpers 'unprotected'? or do I need to replace the mylar?

There appear to be these wooden twist-on 'nuts' that go on the top of many of the screwposts. Should I replace these with nylon/plastic ones? There are some metal and some wooden. I was thinking of replacing them all with nylon/rubber ones

http://www.thepinballwizard.net/index.php?p=product&id=326&parent=12

Thoughts?

Teardown almost complete. Trying to figure out how to get the pop bumpers off.

two of the screws holding the red plastic posts broke, and half of them are still in the playfield. Will have to somehow get them out. I kind of want to order all new screws so they're uniform (there's some substitutions here). I have never bought screws or any individual hardware. How do I identify what I have and what to get?

Looks like the Yoshi ramp was broken/cracked and hotglued back together. will have to get a new one.

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Toys in the mail! New rubber parts and LEDs for all GI and Controlled lamps. Leaving the backbox lighting to be incandescent because I can't afford to LED that part Should be interesting given I think I have like 200 LED bulbs in my possession now.

Still need hardware (screw posts). Need to replace the left red ramp. Going to call PBResource this week.

Viperwk, they weren't wooden, they're actually rubber screw post tops. they're yellowed with age. Would like to keep them rubber if possible. I'll see what PBResource has to say. might have been acorn nuts at one point. I like the rubber toppers because its much harder to torque them so hard you break the plastic inserts

photo.JPG

A-ha! the post-caps I am seeing are here, listed as PC or PCB

http://www.pbresource.com/rubber/rin-pc.jpg

Suggestions on which ones to get?

Where'd you get the playfield?

Any ideas on how to remove broken screwpost bottoms from the playfield? When I removed the posts that broke, the post bottoms are still stuck in the playfield. If I just tapped them with a small tool I'd imagine I'd make the hole too large for a replacement screw and end up potentially damaging the playfield.

I think its a wood screw There's no nut on the bottom. I think the threads are in the playfield itself but I'm not sure. I will photo when I get home.

To showcase my ignorance, I just had to google the difference between a wood screw and a machine screw.

Updated: Upper playfield is reassembled and going to be put aside. I did my best to remove the ball swirls but the paint was worn down in some spots. Polished the metal guides, replaced some missing hardware (washers, new screws, etc). Added the cliffy protector. Waxed the playfield. Replaced a dead GI light with an LED. Replaced the flipper and post rubbers. Bottom photo is before, top photo is after

DSCN0161_(Medium).JPG Pinball_Teardown_2_013_(Medium).JPG

This is the subway ramp. Appears broken and I'm guessing that white pad on the landing area for the ramp is custom/hackery.

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Good call, Viperrwk. I reinstalled it after cleaning it with Novus. I'll put replacing it on the 'nice to have' list.

Now I have to get these pop bumpers off the playfield. Should be a challenge. PBResource is off for a long weekend so I couldn't order the mylar for under the bumpers. The bulbs won't come out of two of the pop bumpers; one broke so I might have to disassemble the bumpers.

I received a shooter tip in the Marco rubber kit; however this pin does not have a manual shooter. The ball-plunger has a metal hammer with no place for the rubber. Does the rubber instead go on the kicksave plunger? Any help is appreciated.

Sarah, the owner of the pinball wizard arcade, in Pelham, NH had some of the screws I broke. I tried to pay her but she insisted I keep them. ( I guess she appreciates the $50 a week I drop there ) It's awesome having someone like that in the area. Apparently, she owns over 850 arcade pieces. I guess most of her machines used to be on route but now a majority live at her arcade. The screws she gave me had some sort of weird nut at the bottom that digs into the play field bottom up. She suggested tapping the existing broken piece in the play field with the screw top, And sure enough it popped right out.

Instead of desoldering the pop bumpers, I cut the wires and added quick disconnect adapters. Is there a problem with this approach?

I'm essentially ready to do the reassembly now. Excited to play again!

So when I bought the pin fit was missing the hardware to secure the blue plastic piece where the rules/prices sit and the castle count LEDs sit. Does anyone know what hardware goes there? Not listed innthe manual

Yes. The black metal apron underside locks into place fine. But the blue apron plastic looks slotted for screws or rivets but I don't have any idea what hardware to use.

Another issue: One of the bumper posts near the turtle target has a broken screw in it. I need to replace it. The manual calls it out as part number 28939. But since PBResource has no search function, a casual search didn't find it. Marco also didn't reference this part number.

How do the manual's part numbers actually correspond to part numbers on these sites?

It looks a little like this, but the overall length is two inches, not 1 and 5/8ths
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/02-4748

Thanks Direwolf. Looks like Marco has one.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/26531

Any lead on 'Plastic Rivets'? I know Steve from PBResource has them but I've had really good luck with Marco so far, and had a bad conversation w/ Steve over the phone.

Or Apron hardware? there was no apron hardware when i bought the pin.

Thanks!

If you find one, let me know

That would be a bigger project down the road. I don't have a rotisserie, nor a garage. This is in my living room and for the sake of my girlfriend I've decided to make it a clean/repair for now until I can re-evaluate. I'm getting more confident for sure; and seeing pieces go *back* onto the playfield is kind of awesome. I'm also learning about the really incredible people involved in this business/hobby. And the sick thing? I'm dreaming about machine #2 already.

Here's my TODO list: todo-image.jpg