Sounds like some order Mike O

Hey Mike,

That sounds about right for 3 machines. I would say an average for me is $150-$200 per machine and yes PBR gets most of that money followed by a distant second place for Marcos.

Ken

I buy about 1/year from pinballlife. Usually bulbs and a few other things.

PBR gets all the rest of my business. Never gave them $500 though. Hats off to you MikeO. You win that round.

I love the "not knowing how much you're spending until you read the invoice" part!

I feel the same way, I think I'm going to get a huge box of stuff only to find it fits in the mailbox.

I put a 405.00 order once but had 2 set of legs so the order had some weight not the normal
100.00 / 1 lb box

Right there with ya. I constantly order parts and am amazed at the small box they come in

--Jeff

Just playing that game tonight...nice!

Hey MikeO

I collect my machines with the intention of keeping them so that is why I put in the extra effort and parts as opposed to folks who fix or flip and turn machines for a living, not saying that this is what you do as I do not know, but to each their own ways as I am glad to see folks work on EM's in their own way rather than just playing the heck out of them and not even changing a ball or waxing a Playfield.

As far as original parts I try to keep them as well unless they are too far gone like heavily rusted legs, broken plastics, dis-colored Playfield Posts, etc. I have not even painted a Cabinet to date or Clearcoat a Playfield, so yes I stick with original, so yes those part costs can just kind of creep up on you.

Ken

I have done a $500 order from PBR once when I was shopping a Spirit of 76 and Royal Flush. Both got new plastic sets, drop targets, bumper caps, posts, rubber and everything rebuilt and broken stuff replaced. I had a real tough time with one of the royal flush flippers. The set screw broke so I had to use my dremel to cut the flipper shaft to remove it. That took a second order for all those extra parts. Atleast they're working perfectly now. And a lot more fun to play than unshopped!

Really? cut the shaft?! Did you try to drill out the broken part of the set screw? Perhaps it's harder than the surrounding metal? (I think I successfully did this once, that's why I ask)

I would in a heartbeat with my grinder if I was rebuilding the whole Flipper assembly as I could get it off in 5 seconds.

If for some reason I was keeping the Flipper assembly then I would do it the tedious way and use a screw extractor.

Ken

Didn't we just talk about saving most original parts in another thread?

Hmm, I wonder if this is the reason I could not get through yesterday and just kept getting that busy signal. $500 is truly impressive. Hats off, I hope they toss in some extra bulbs or rings or something.

Now that's funny!

I usually try and salvage as many original parts as possible. If there are broken parts of course I change them. In this situation I tried using my dremel to cut a slot on what was left of the screw so I could try and turn it out with a flat head screwdriver. That didn't work very well. I may have had better success if I had treated the screw with penetrating oil first to get things looser. That particular screw was rusted on really good.

I then decided to cut the shaft. In speaking with Steve he says it's common for the screw to snap and then one has to cut the shaft. He has all the replacement parts but they are not original. I think he sent me some bally parts to replace. Everything worked out fine in the end. Just cost me more $$$.

I love working with PBR & Steve, they are my 1st choice in parts search.
Since they offer 10% discount for over $100 and you ordered +$500 is it 50% off?
Ha ha ha ha

Lots of coil stops in that pile. They are getting expensive. I try to reuse old ones when I can these days if they are in good shape (though always put new in flippers when rebuilding).