Hi everyone,
I'm not completely new to the pinball world, but I am new to the pinball community. I'm also new with owning my own machine. My uncle has had machines for has long as I can remember. He still has some hot titles to this day. I guess his situation is kind of irrelevant. I just wanted to give a brief history to help explain how I became involved in the pinball world.
Okay, like the titles says...... I landed a haunted house pinball a few days ago. I called my uncle to see if it was a title worth getting and he almost killed me for wasting precious time by calling him. He told me to get it and run so I did.
I've been inspecting the machine over the last few days and have to say I'm pretty happy.
The machine was in storage for 5 years so it was pretty dusty and needed some tlc.
The ground modifications were not done on the machine so I figured I'd do that before I tinkered around too much. I bought the machine with "electrical problems" and was a little nervous. I did the ground upgrades and turned it on. It had no coil power, no sound and wouldn't boot. I only had playfield lights and back box lights. I was thinking shit, what did I just get myself into? I'm not a pinball mechanic. I'm definitely a very mechanical and hands on person, but never troubleshot a pinball before. The guts and boads looked pretty clean. I found 2 blown fuses so I replaced them. I made sure the battery was good and free of leaks and I made sure the orange capacitors were replaced. I am a very maticulous person. I got the multi meter out and download a Gottlieb system 80 service guide and checked everything I could think of before trying to power it on again. Every single thing I checked was good. I plugged it up and pressed start. The machine was back from the dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it was just 2 fuses.
Overall, this darn thing is solid!! It has a handful of scuffs on the cabinet and back box. It has some playfield ware, but nothing too crazy, just in the common areas. Thankfully the last owner identified that and put playfield protectors in those areas to keep it from getting any worse!!
The Back glass is surprisingly nice for being in storage for so long, it had 2 quarter sized spots on the perimeter. One spot was cause by me. (My guts fell out of me when I did that) I scraped the back glass on day 1!!!! Wth was I thinking?
All but 2 playfield plastics are perfect. 2 plastics have hairline cracks and of those two plastics one has 2 cracks and the other just one.
The legs need to be sanded and painted and new levelers installed. It is missing the coin tray :
and the plumb bob looking tilt switch part( the parr that goes inside of the brass colored ring and when tilted completes the circuit to kill the game) not there.
The playfield could use a good cleaning and wax.
Those are my issues with this machine. I think I just saved a haunted house. It feels so good to be a part of rescuing one of these old classics.
Im not sure when, but I think I will sell this machine and trade up until I'm able to get my hands on an attack from mars.
Thanks for listening to my rant lol!!
I wanted to share this awesome story with all you diehards.
Newb--

Just want to correct myself. The ground upgrade is not completely done. I still have 2 boards to ground.

Davebart5,
That's so cool to hear your story!!! The feeling is mutual. The satisfaction from saving a machine has got to be much better than just buying one all ready to go. I am definitely going to be replacing the window that looks down into the cellar. Mine isn't really scratched, but it's foggy. As far as the legs go,
I think restoring the originals is my best bet. I know new replacements aren't too expensive, I think I can do a near perfect restore on these. I'm a metal worker by trade and have all the tools. Painting and sealing will be my biggest obstacle.
As far as contacting you with any questions,
Thanks for the offer. That means alot from someone I've never met. I'm sure I will have plenty of questions for you.
Thank you
By the way,
That's a sweet Haunted House

Selling was my original thought, but I think I'm getting attached to it already hahaha.
I'm ordering the window now
Thank you!

Awesom, thank you!!!
I didn't have that. I had something similar, but not as in depth. THANK YOU

20151020_185438.jpg

This picture is from day one when nothing worked and when it was still filthy. The window to the lower PF was rigged with cushions of duct tape instead of rubber spacers. I ordered the new window with new cushions from Marcos
Paid $500