Two years ago I built a great Vpin and turned my wife and I into pinball lovers. We’ve been hitting pinball arcades and bars everywhere we go. Three cheers for Vpins being the gateway drug.

For the last couple of months we’ve been itching for a real pin. This past weekend I finally got a Facebook market place poster to respond and we drove four hours with a trailer on a moments notice. We went to buy a Lethal Weapon 3. Owner continually called it “Legal Weapon” and said it only needed a fuse replaced.

As I walked into his shed I saw the gun was inop because two wires with a button were hanging from beneath the lock bar. Cabinet flaking badly. I replaced three fuses. Game GI comes on and CPU tries to boot but 1st LED never lights. Kickup solenoid locks on and beacon gets slower and slower until fuses start blowing. Disappointed I tried to produce some Lemonade. I got him down $400 more and got a Eight Ball and Fan-Tas-Tic thrown in. He had inherited machines from his brother. A pin pro would have probably walked away but I love projects and this is right in my wheelhouse.

Needless to say we are excited. Just ordered about $200 in parts. The two early machines play but need tweaking and wear items updated. “Legal Weapon” haha needs a little more but playfield and toys and backglass in great shape. I’m out of town for a week but can’t wait to get home, replace rubbers and get a volt meter on the Data East machine.

I’ll post pics later. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Lane

There were batteries installed but no damage. One fuse clip cracked on left flipper board. From my research here I’m expecting leaking capacitors on power board and maybe heat damaged connectors. Excited about troubleshooting when I get home. I think power board is issue. When you power up after it sits overnight it tries to play for a few seconds then DMD, coils, and beacon start acting like power is decreasing rapidly. I think capacitor is helping power board for a few seconds and then p..o...w...e....r......d....r...a...I...n.....I.......n....g

I just ordered flipper rebuild kits for other two pins to go along with new rubbers. Those pins work good but action is in slow motion due to weak flippers and hard rubbers. Spending too much money but the restoration is what I like. And of course playing my wife. I like the way she swings her hips every time she hits the flipper button!

Did you call the guy? That’s exactly what he claimed. Tennille GA was where I picked them up. Eight Ball had a bumper that kept kicking. He said “that’s attract mode”. It was a leaf switch with no gap. He also originally claimed it was Eight Ball Deluxe. He new enough about pinball to be scary. I’m happy with my deal I got. Throwing in the other two pins and lower price made up for the misinformation. And I’m saving them from ruin.