Well, getting there…Not perfect but not too bad!

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I made contact with another in the affliction. He is checking to see what might be avail. I’ll let you know when he gets back. No promises but he has found me many spares for my old machine

Roger that!!

Here is your source fir WHITE netting. There are a lot of “net” companies out there but many do not offer white. Well here it is!!

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After having the side rails blasted, sanded at 60 then 125 then used some body putty. Will sand again then prime and paint. Getting there

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Well knowing what kind of minivan would certainly help answer the question. I can tell you that I fit a mid-fifties Skee Ball in my 2018 Toyota Sienna. Hatch had to be open partially. I assume you would be taking out the rear seats? With the limited info I have, I would say that it would probably fit. Plan to possibly have the hatch open so you will need to prepare to have some kind of tie down for the hatch. Lots of moving blankets etc. Envisioning that the back of the alley would sit on its side (top of the unit facing the windshield, bottom of the unit facing the rear) This should provide enough for the alley to snug all the way up against the front passenger seat.

Maybe ask the person you are buying this from to take some measurements for you. Be specific in what you're asking for and then go out to your vehicle and see what it looks like??

Starting to reattach the repolished stainless strips for the tops of the side rails. Riveting them back in place with the helm of a pin guide that worked really well I think.

Perfection, no but not bad

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Anyone know where I can obtain the red spongy “donuts” that mount to the ball guides on in the backbox. Probably not calling them what they are but hopefully you can tell by my poor description. I was under the impression they were still avail. Anyone?

Thank you

George

More progress but still a ways to go…. Cleaning up the mechanism under the ramp. Media blasting all the pieces. Don’t think they were originally painted so I am going to leave them as such. Making sure everything is nice and fluid and in no way bound. Took out the ball rail completely and wire brushed and then repainted the brown it was originally. The one mech you can see that I have not cleaned it up yet. Kind of cruddy. Not for long!

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I am about the farthest from a qualified guy here but if you’re referring to the general illumination lighting in the head, those are not supplied by high voltage. The high voltage if I am not mistaken is for the score displays. Your GI lighting is low voltage. Hope this is helpful

Thank you fir your kind words. It does really show off the machine. I have heard others say that there was a strip of shiny self adhesive type material. Thinking that may have been a newer machine. This one is from 1958 so I guess they used the real stuff back then!!

This was actually an aspect of the revival that I was concerned about. I really had not worked with regular rivets before soni was nervous about reattaching them and having that original look.

Went to a local machine shop I deal with in my biz and the engineer suggested using a pin guide. Had one on his desk and said here try this. So I did. Used the pin guide on the head and a regular hammer from behind. Held the pin guide with my vice and it worked very well. Probably a big unorthodox but it worked.

Just pulled the mechanism out if the bottom of the back box to clean it up and prepare for repainting if the back box. It cleaned up nicely. Trying to get all the metal parts to look a little better with just a little shine where I can. Don’t want the outside to look nice and then the inside look crummy!

Again, thank you for your kind words!

A few pics showing some progress!! Still have to clean the cork. The polishing of the stainless really adds some pop to the game I think. Just wrapping up final paint on the back box. Remove the scoring section in the backbox and cleaned all that up. Getting close

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You’re very kind!! Thank you. Going to put some time into it this weekend. I have taken some time off from work which has allowed me to do some coin op stuff. However, work is fast approaching so I need to wrap this up. It’s definitely getting there. Wish I could do a video and upload it but that isn’t allowed I don’t junk. Maybe I’ll put it up on YouTube and link it.

The polishing really did come out well. I did some of that myself and some I had done outside. Looking forward to getting this 1958 model back to some of her original glory.

I was able to find the coin holder that sits below the lever to release the balls. Media blasted that and it cleaned up nicely. Just a little touch that not all games if this vintage still have.

Again thank you

Well then I will do one. Thank you for helping me with the decision!!

One bit of advise I can give is if your into older models like what I have (1958) make sure that the machine is complete. While parts are not impossible to secure, some can be a real bear to find. More modern machines are far easier to get parts for. I was always intrigued by the mechanical skee ball games. Hell they don’t even need power to work! I always liked the Rolodex type score unit. And, importantly, I wanted a project that was doable for me.

There is a great book out there if you’re a reader called Seeking Redemption. It is all about the very stories history of Skee Ball. Highly recommend and I am NOT a reader!

Yes, there are many pictures throughout the book. Many! Don’t use a kindle so not experienced there. Definitely a great “coffee table” book.

The history of this game is very interesting. Hell, with all the minor early ups and prolific downs, it’s amazing this game ever came to be actually.

Keep in mind that while Skee Ball is still made by a company called Bay Tek, depending on the model that you have they may or may not be able to assist with various parts etc. They had nothing for the vintage game that I have!

A good source for replacement cork should you need it and cannot get it from Bay Tek is Bangor Cork. I was lucky in that my cork, while older, is still in pretty decent shape. I am in the process of cleaning the ramp now. The other areas have already been cleaned. I used Awesome Cleaner and it has worked well.

I can appreciate your hesitancy regarding restoration. I too had to consider my experience level.

Also depends on how nice you want the game to look when you’re done. I want this to look as sharp as possible. The joy for me is in making these older machines come back to life. Sure I will play it but the main joy is bringing it back to life.

I have been working on this game for about a month. Maybe a bit more. Have used lots of custom services to make it look original. Having the burgundy sticker that goes on the left side by player position remade. That was a couple hundred. Having a sign painter re paint the numerals on the rings. That was a hundred. Having some of the stainless polished that I did not want to do. That was $400. Getting rattle can ping custom made to repaint the game so the colors were accurate was about $400. I am getting the netting redone by a local custom place to me. That will probably be a few hundred. Having a crummy looking net would sort of kill all I have done!

Hope this is helpful

Either way, you can’t go wrong. This is the definitive history of Skee Ball!!

Ok, I screwed up. The first side panel that I re riveted went well. Actually looks original. Then I screw up. Duh!! In order to line up the stainless strip with the holes in the side cover I rivet each end first. Wrong! What this caused was the metal strip bowing in the center raising up off the surface of the side cover by about 3/16”. Shit! Very obvious by itself not to mention that thee other side looked really good with no bowing.

So grind off the old rivets, pull the stainless strip off the side cover which fricks up the paint job, yeppir. Going well!!! Then finish grinding the rivets out of the stainless. Now I have to sand down the top of the side cover, repaint and then re affix the stainless strips starting at one end and continuing to the other. Shit for brains sometimes! Oh well. It will be right when done! Lol

Hello Sir,

For the stainless that I polished which was the piece at the end of the ramp and the strips that affix to the left and right covers of the alley, I started with 200 grit sandpaper and went to 1500. I then used Mothers Mag Polish to really bring them to life. My results are similar (+/-) to the results that I got by taking the other out for polish. Yes, I can definitely see how that could be construed as an ash tray. My machine does not have a coin return interestingly enough?? Maybe too old (1958)? I was able to find it and thought that it was probably a standard piece to the new machines back in the day but as time marched on, I figured that many of those fell by the wayside for various reasons which was why I really wanted this machine to have it and look "complete". I used my blast cabinet to clean up the coin tray. It just had the typical grime and after the blast cabinet, looks new I think??

I would imagine so??!! Problem is the mech that is in there would have to be removed from the machine with tools. First the net would have to come off to gain access to remove the right side ramp covers. Then after those are off the handle mechanism would have to be removed with four more screws and then the errant coin removed. This is not a five minute job by any stretch. Maybe given the design this was not a major issue. As long as one put a quarter in they were set to go. Hell in todays world you would have asshats trying to put many things in there despite that it takes quarters only. Ahh the good old days!!

I’m getting very close to assembling the ramp and back box and connecting the linkage in the bottom of the back box. I am really hopeful that it works without too much hassle. I know there are adjustments that can be made just hoping I don’t have to go through that.

Just reinstalled the rings assembly in the backbox. Seems like forever ago I had the numerals repainted. It was worth it. Those were pretty faded and just didn’t convey a nice aesthetic.

I am planning to take all the materials needed to recreate a new net out to a sewing tech that is close to me in early January. That will be the crowning touch to making this look fresh. The net that is present is probably the original and that just will not do. The new one will make the game shine.

If you search fir a compression rivet press I think this is what you would want to use to keep things looking original. Of course you could use a pop rivet but it would be obvious what you did and that it was not original. If you’re less anal retentive that I am that would probably be ok. However if you want to keep the original look to the game a rivet press will probably be the way to go.

You could always go with thicker “L” brackets if the originals are failing. I guess what I think if is what is the condition of the ring where it was riveted? You don’t want that looking crummy after re doing it??

Getting ready to reinstall the front support for the alley. I could tell that there was a slope to that and figured it would be helpful to know what that is to get the game set right. The slope on the front support measures at 4.4 degrees

Just fyi

Thank you kindly. I am grateful! Still working to get it finished. Couple days and save for the net which is scheduled to be redone in January, balls should be able to be launched!

Looks great! Solid idea. Wish I had thought of that. Good job!!

Well made some headway today. Found out that I have two different size balls. I have three if the correct 3 1/8” and the rest are too large to work in this game. Maybe they were mixed up from other skee games. Bottom line is that I need to source six 3 1/8” balls. Working on it!

Also worked this eve on adjusting the scoring shaft with its related “fingers”. The only one that was working was the “50” slot and all others did not register any score. After some tutelage by Mopar (thank you so very much Tim) I learned how to adjust the others so that they also register. Still working on this but I’m getting there. The teeter tauter in the game is working properly and when a quarter is placed in the mech, the game score resets and the balls are delivered to player position. As the balls are thrown, they are with held. Was really concerned that mech was going to need some work but all seems well for the time being. Yippee!

I have the game on rollers in my garage so that as needed the game can be moved. Wish I had a dedicated place in the basement but there is no freakin way!

Going to drop off the net for remaking tomorrow. Can’t wait till I get that on the game as it will really show off the project. New netting and polished covers for the net structure should have this looking great. Stay tuned!