Pics please.

The best classic stern. Congrats!

I think I tossed out my drop targets on my meteor.... after realizing what a stupid mistake that was I'm starting to keep all the used (useable) parts in a plastic bag in the cabinet.

Saw a post you had a while back about the classic stern rebuild kits causing a bounce or something.... maybe I read it wrong. Kind of wanted to install the old linkage to see if I could tell the difference.

This is a picture of the current flipper bats, top and bottom. On this machine, all three flippers look the same. I also attached a picture of the replacement flipper(s)I got that was reported to be appropriate for this era of stern game. The replacement flipper post certainly looks shorter than what's in the game now, with that notch at the end, which I assume is ment to correlate with the hex screws.

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Anyone know how to remove the white start button off the coin door? Its not a standard c-clip

Maybe I'm not tracking what you're saying but a new flipper mech will have more bounce because it doesnt have the slop in it the old linkage will from decades of use. That being the case what you think of as feeling right is just being used to playing with worn out mechs.

yeah in my experience, even if you rebuild with new bakelite linkages, you are going to get that bounce when the flipper comes to rest. It annoys me for sure, but rather have that than a mech that doesn't move smoothly.

What he's saying, is the old linkage material never wears out... I can attest that the old ones I swapped out were perfect, so I put them back in after.

The bakelite definitely eggs out both around both the roll pin and the pawl over time.

Of course it does!!!

Always replace the linkage, coil stop, and coil sleeve on a WIlliams EM. They were pretty crappy when new but 45 years have done them no favors. And it's like a 10 minute and $10 job.

On a stern those plastic linkages seem much sturdier. But at least do the sleeve and stop.

Stern doesn't use Bakelite

No? What's it made of?

did you get these
https://www.pinballlife.com/classic-stern-shoe-and-shaft-flipper-bat-assembly-1977-1980.html

I had something similar in my game for some reason, with the super long shafts. Those type 1 flipper bats are the correct ones for meteor. They are a lot smaller. ….. That's if you kept the original type 1 brackets in there.

The old style mechs had bakelite links. The later mechs used plastic.

There ya have it. The Bakelite links definitely will wear out while the plastic usually doesn't.

I have had a beautiful stars machine for awhile now and it is one of my top two favorites. I've owned a big game and a Meteor in the past. I just sold Meteor and picked up a rough Flight 2000. Looks like a fun challenging game.

I am working on the electronics, but looking ahead.....

I need new lane guides and/or plastics. the guide that brings the ball to the flippers on either side was replaced by a crudely cut piece of plastic. Were they originally two levels with metal underneath plastic? Does anyone know where I can find a pair of these?

what is underneath them?

https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-plastics/flight-2000/

You can buy just the art work pieces. OR you can but the art work plus the clear plastics.

Okay, now I see. It has the upper and lower level plastics. The lower is clear and the ball contacts, the upper has the artwork.

Does anyone have any extras they are willing to sell? I'd prefer not to have to buy a complete set. Yellowing or cracks okay.

thanks,

You can buy some .030" polycarbonate and trace your upper plastics and use those traces and cut your own clears if you have some tools. You would need a band saw or a jig saw for this job, though.

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If anyone wants to send me scans of the upper or lower of these f2k plastics I can cut you some petg ones for cheap

the problem is I don't have the upper or lower plastics, so I don't know the shape. Someone tried to replace them, but clearly they are misshaped. I would rather do it correctly if I could get a tracing or a scan.

Is anyone able to do this for me?

Thanks.

Which plastics are you looking for? I have an incomplete used set in ok shape not the big ones up top left but most everything else.

I need the bottom plastics that lead to the flippers. They are long and thin and curved. If you have an upper layer and a lower layer, I could use both. I need both sides.

Managing the wiring when you have to removed the head to move a classic Stern:

Maybe it is all readily apparent to the rest of you but sometimes I have to be hit over the head before I figure something out. So, on to the chase.

You have to remove the head/backbox on your classic Stern to get it loaded in your vehicle.

There are 3 separate wire harnesses inside. If the factory tags are still on your harnesses, you will see a tag labeled "cabinet", "inserts", and "play field".

The cabinet wiring consists of flippers, a connector to the coin door wiring, the tilt bob assembly and electrical service outlet and the connections to the wall power cable.

The play field wiring is self-explanatory.

The inserts wiring is the displays wiring. This will be the wiring harness where you will make your big mistake if you do make a mistake. With my first Stern, I removed all of the wiring from the displays board in the back box and dropped it all inside the cabinet. That worked. It was effective but it was a colossal waste of time. Some people got around this wiring problem by blindly cutting all the wiring at the back box. I'm sure you all have seen some of those pics on pinside.

Here is the easy way to prep your Stern's wiring for transport ( as I noted earlier, most of you probably figured it out on your own so this is for any other idiot like I was). The other end of your inserts harness is the J-3 connector at the rectifier board. If you disconnect your J-3 connector and roll this inserts harness up into the cab you will immediately be able to see what connectors you need to disconnect and which ones you can leave alone.

Here is the inserts harness rolled up. You can see that 20-pin J-3 connector staring at you. You can also see the 4-pin connector that hooks up to the speaker.

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Here is the same harness laying in the left hand corner of the cab. All of the play field harness is poking up from the cab over on the right.

The inserts harness connects to two connector pins on the MPU, one connector pin on the lamp driver board, one connector (hard to see) on the sound board, and two connectors on the SDU.

Knowing what not to disconnect will make your transport job very much easier. I hope somebody gets value from this.

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There's a lower layer?

I don't own this title but I think he is referring to upper layer is screened art, and lower layer is clear. It's like that on my Spectrum, and on other games like EBD.

I'm pretty sure on my flight 2k there is no lower layer of plastic for the inlanes.

the repro set I bought didn't have these either.

What I'm trying to say is I have an extra set of inlane plastics but no lower plastics to go with it. WHich I don't think exists.

You are correct. There are no lowers at the inlanes. One artwork piece only for each side.

Yea, I play with worn out materials on my games. Thanks I did not realize that. LMAO!!!

Picked up a stern Dracula. Wow the sounds suck. The game is fun though

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those plastics would be great. PM me with how much you want.

Thanks,

You pry that starlock washer off. Some times you will be able to save it. Sometimes it gets wasted during removal. So you will need an assortment. It looks like the only sizes you can buy are metrics. You probably should mic your button diameter before you destroy it. OTOH, I pried off 2 to repaint coin doors and they went back on OK.

ebay.com link: sch


.

https://www.amazon.com/s

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

What is it with you Canadians
and Classic Sterns!?!
They fall out of the sky up there so it seems.

I do think a Stern Lightning would fit your collection well

TPF score of the day

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Awesome!

Many of them are purchased in the us and brought over the border

I saw those and the guy wouldn’t take less than $30. He also had NOS beehive shooter housings that he wanted (I kid you not) $30 each.
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Was that $30.00 each pop or 30 for the pair?

Got the two sets for $20 and a third spare ring Included

That is what you call a score ! I’m jealous.

What are these? are they the plastic pop rings? Anyone know why they are plastic? is this better? I can't figure out what they are sitting in...