Space Shuttle crew members' club - prepare for liftoff!

I feel like my repair guy is one of the best out there and he's way cheaper than a rottendog replacement would be. I ALWAYS keep original where possible.

When you had board work done was it thoroughly freshened up or were only the noticeable problems addressed? Assuming you know, that is.

I feel good about any boards I've had reworked for the next 20+ years. No reason why they should cause me any grief especially with minimal uptime. He's always quick to tell me that weird, sporadic issues are common with non-freshened boards. Makes sense when components could be failing but maybe aren't yet completely dead, etc. And some of the components used at the time were cheeeeeeap crap that saved the manufacturer a few bucks.

Not trying to pimp out my guy necessarily, just passing on my experience in case it's helpful! I'm sure there are many others who will freshen a board set the same way.

I printed in PLA+ which seems like it would hold up. My target is fine, but my friend's games have really shotty fixes in theirs so anything is better than what they have now. I told them if it doesn't hold up, go to xometry.com and order parts in HP fusionjet nylon 12. VERY strong, and only $9 a piece.

Hey all. I recently picked up a Space shuttle that works, but needs a new top and a good look over. I’m not familiar with the title and any known issues, priorities to check, test or change. Other than cosmetic work and one pop not working, the only glaring thing I’ve seen is the slam tilt was disconnected. Does that matter? Otherwise I’ll replace. Thanks for helping me bring this to life. I’m about to start the hardtop sanding soon!

Thanks! My wife works for Nasa so let’s just say it’s probably not leaving

Well since I won’t sell my space shuttle that my friend has been asking for the past few years, he bought two for me to restore! Nothing like a fall project!
Cabinets are solid, and both will get all redone to look like new again. One cabinet has no boards, one has all boards but no idea if they will boot, at least I don’t see any acid damage.
They have been in storage for years. One has a perfect backglass, one is mainly just glass and very little art left.

New plastics, new shuttle, and new CPR playfield to go in one once I get them working. Plan is to make one museum quality for his collection and the other nice without breaking the bank for him to sell.

This should keep me busy I think for a while.

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Amazing, it’s alive ish! Game has been in storage since about 1995. After I verified all wires and fuses were good, I hooked up the connectors, minor references needed from my pin, and turned on power.

Only GI lights came on when I switched it on. As I was checking for power, when I touched one of the fuses on the power board to ground, presto, the MPU and everything came up!! Maybe the caps were dead and needed some time?!?

So all lights, switches, even displays work. Only think not working during game play as well as test mode is the flashers in the back box and the playfield. Need to test Q54 and Q55. Looking at the diagram on page 17 of the manual, if one bulb is out on each side of the wire run, guess this could cause the issue as well. Will check their positions, I know at least 2 of the flasher bulbs in the backbox are bad using a voltmeter.

Thanks! At worst $9 is not bad at all for unobtainium.

Flipper calibration question... when properly calibrated are you able to hit your center ramp with equal ease/difficulty with both the left and right flipper? On my machine it seems nearly impossible to make the ramp with the left flipper. Also, with the right flipper ramp shot, is there any difficulty with the normal flipper strength being barely strong enough to complete the ramp when, say, the ball is rolling through the in-lane versus stopping on the flipper then shooting the ball?

After my hardtop installation and rebuild, my left flipper is like a canon while my right flipper is pretty weak. I purchased entire assemblies brand new from Pinball Life so it's not like there are worn parts. I'm still trying to figure out the issue as the flippers and EOS seem to be set up properly and the voltage to the coils is 47v on both sides. I can make the centre ramp with ease with the left flipper from a cradle or if the ball is rolling through the inlane. From the right flipper, there's no way to make it all the way around unless the ball is in motion from the inlane and then it's maybe 1 out of every 20 shots.

It's a bit frustrating but I'll figure it out at some point. I haven't checked flipper button switch or the pitch of the game yet but that right flipper is still pretty weak.

I've checked for dragging. I've gapped the flipper properly with the proper play. Nothing is binding. I might goof around with the EOS and see if it makes a difference. It's a bit bizarre. I have to check the leaf switch at the flipper button. As much as I don't really want to, I might flip the mechs and see what happens. That would be a last resort.

Appreciate the feedback. If I get it solved, I will post what the fix was.

Thanks for the input. Oddly my left flipper seems more powerful but the angle seems too tight that when the ramp is hit accurately the ball doesn't have quite enough oomph to get all the way around the ramp. I may try repositioning the flipper bats and see if that helps, although that may make the ball locks extremely difficult to hit.

My flippers both feel plenty strong, but the left flipper seems to be more difficult to hit the ramp than the right. It does seem logical that they should both be able to hit it easily enough.

The flippers were way out of whack when I bought it so I adjusted them according to the guides (or at least I thought) but they may still not be perfect.

Question for the hardcore mint-like-restoration people...

As everyone knows SS system 9 has the old-fashioned coin return with the metal cylinder button left of the illuminated "25-cent" inserts. On system 11 and forward the inserts themselves were the coin return buttons. I'm certain this led to many players trying to force pressure on the SS illuminated inserts causing eventual cracking of the insert, as is the case on my machine. As a result I am assuming mine and most (if not all) SS machines have cracked and dented illuminated "25-cent" inserts. See my photo.

I cleaned mine up best I could but to the folks who demand a perfect restoration, how do you correct this? Short of replacing the entire coin door with NOS are there any other options available? I have not seen replacement inserts for this coin door. Is there another way to replace these broken inserts?

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Pinball resource has the coin inserts for $6.30 each. Great company to deal with, Steve Young is also a wealth of information about everything pinball. I use them for every older pin I restore. Great prices and fast shipping. Just have to call them up and have your part numbers ready!

Just a few touches on our space shuttle --

We replaced the stock black speaker fabric with grey, made up some stencils on with a cricut... airbrushed on some art...

Made a new 3D model of the shuttle with the cargo doors open and a representation of the hubble inside.

We like it!

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Both look awesome. Plan on selling that shuttle?

We don't really sell our stuff... but the 3d model for it is here --

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4625905

There is a description there as well as to how we got from a print to the finished model.

Thank you!

Great job Olivia! Truly a great-looking machine, love the speaker panel and the space shuttle 3D render really nice touch. Looks like a lot of love went into that machine, although if it were me I would have gone with a different topper.

Heh, yes, the current topper is the foil tray used to mix the smoothing substance applied to the 3D shuttle model print. Still debating of course, but I suspect it won't make the final cut.

We still have some things to do on it, you can't see very well from the photo but there is some colorful language hand etched into the playfield glass, so we'll be replacing that. Also designing some custom inserts for the coin door to replace the current ones that are damaged... also lots of touchup to do on the cabinet... we repainted using Pinball Pimp stencils, but a few areas just went wrong... do believe it was a technique/paint selection issue rather than anything wrong with the stencils.

awesome. will have to see if some buddies with a 3d printer are able to make me this. mine just busted yesterday

Hi everyone. Need hopefully some small help if anyone is willing to look under the hood at their space shuttle. I’m going through a hardtop swap, which I’ll post pics by end of week for those interested but found an oddity. On the left side sling there appears to be an extra diode that was broken off. I don’t know if it goes to the joint set of wires or not because there’s not another one that matches the other side. Any chance someone could take a look and tell me if I need to reconnect this? It’s the blue one you’ll see in the picture that’s hanging off. Again this is one of the switches for the left side swing that activates the pop bumper. Thanks ahead of time, I’m sure the brown one needs to stay. Jimmy

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Here you go. What you have there is a resistor and capacitor. One leg of the cap has come loose. I replaced the blue cap with the red one you see in my picture. I think you can see where the legs go...

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I suck at electronics thanks. I should pick a different hobby

So my shuttle machine is down and will be for a little while now, that doesn't mean I'm not always obsessing about it though. I'm a glass blower and just set up my holiday location at our local mall and had some time the other day to knock out this piece while I was here.

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I love it, I can't get away with working any colored glass here in the mall. Puffdanny makes sense now. I've been at it since 1995

Glass blowing obviously,.. I've been puffing since long before 95.

So I hung that glass space shuttle in my shop so I could get a photograph of it yesterday. Something I did more for Whimsy I never intended to sell it. I forgot to take it down last night and it turns out it was the first sale of the day today. Anyway, it gave me the opportunity to make another one today while my assistant was present and they were able to take a photograph while it was being made. Wanted to share that, I just love the way the flame bounces off the bottom of the shuttle as if going through reentry. I'll stop now.

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Thanks, my guy did a good job with that photo. I had that in mind when I did the first one and tried to do it myself while working the torch. So I got some great shots of some ceiling panels and the top of my forehead but not quite what I was looking for.

Yes, that's a cool shot!

Hi everyone- anybody have a good custom instructions card in 4x6 or know where to get one? Tried looking but couldn’t find a good one. Thanks

Can anyone Help out with a pic of the underneath of their flippers while not activated? I did a flipper rebuild and now they consistently blow a fuse after a few minutes. I don’t know if they need to be open or closed And why they keep blowing all the sudden. Thanks

a couple old reference shots I took when I was doing my hardtop install. Not the best photos but maybe it'll help. Good luck.

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Thanks! So it looks like the front switch is closed while the back open while not engaged. Mine were both closed. Maybe it I’ll tinker some more. So close to being nice!

Actually I think my fuse was wrong. I had a five amp 250 V in there but in the back box it shows a 2.5 Slow blow for the F2 fuse on the flipper board. Can anyone verify that for me? Really appreciate it.

Looking at the manual --

Position F2 on the main power supply (7 fuse positions, one (F4) not used) shows a 2.5a slow blow, but Position F2 on the Flipper Power supply (only one fuse position) shows 5A slow blow.

Hey all. Just got done with my hardtop re-store. I’m sure you can tell the before and after Note I installed the clear ramp if anyone wants to know what it looks like and put a NASA label underneath. I also put an red LED strip under the back of the space shuttle and opened it up so when multi ball hits it flashes the back of the shuttle with it. Huge thanks to all the pinside help and special shout-out to Dino dzorbas! Much fun.
Jimmy

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Looks fantastic Jimmy! Nice job!

Thanks for the shout out, always happy to help. Looking at yours, I almost regret not getting the clear ramp. I grabbed one of each but the clear version was for a buddy. Should have kept that one!

Really nice-looking ride, absolutely love the addition of the red pop bumper skirts ,those look great with the original caps. Nice touch on the ramp also.

Thanks all. Im pleased w it and do like the clear. The pop skirts were a nobrainer at a buck a piece I’m designing some new instruction cards. Here’s one? I’ll load if others are interested

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Hey Jimmy here's a little information on some of the additional toys you were curious about that I've got installed in my shuttle. Firstly the Hubble Space Telescope and the little astronaut I have mounted over the USA's came from the same kit. I picked mine up at a garage sale about 15 years ago thinking if I ever get my shuttle running again maybe I can use this. I have seen them online from $20 to $30. I added a little extra color and weathering effects to the Hubble before install. Same with the astronaut and just removed his base with an exacto knife. He is suspended with a rigid twisty that attaches to the screws over the top plastics. He stays in place pretty good but still gives it a little animated spacewalk jiggle effect during gameplay. I used an octagon 3/4 in standoff too attach the Hubble using the existing screw hole in the model. Easy peasy. I thought of possibly incorporating the shuttle with that kit in the machine but honestly didn't see a place where it didn't look clunky and out of place. Another option is an astronaut figure , another garage sale find, but he is out there on the internet. I used to have this guy installed where the Hubble Is Now, he may find his way back into the machine again before it's all over. A nice sculpt & fairly possible. Be forewarned however ,that the "mysterious Space Rock" advertised on the card ... seems to be plastic. I'll chime in with the lighting effects for the thrusters when I have a little more time. Keep Flippin!

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Thanks great info- will look if I can find and look forward to seeing how you did the thrusters! Thanks for the close up pics and beautiful machine you have!

Thanks for the kind words Jimmy. In regard to the Thruster lights it's kind of a unique situation with my machine in that the entire play fieldglass boarders are reverse painted with space imagery in a permanent enamel paint. The enamels do not allow for much light blead so the actual Thruster paint is done with a translucent acrylic, airbrushed in reverse on the play fieldglass. It is then backlit with a 6 LED pad from comet that is tied into the shuttle Thruster lights on the back glass for a pulsing effect during gameplay and in attract mode.. The way the darker enamels bracket the acrylics helps confine the total lighting Effect to just the thrusters. I've also found that backing the acrylics with a clear UV inhibitor while everything is still masked off goes a long way towards having the color not fade. Those six light pads are so bright you can see them from space. I'm sure there's a number of ways to skin this cat if you're not handy with an airbrush. Experimenting with rattle cans or even some colored mylar film could probably give you some nice effects. It's simple enough to practice different effects on a small 8 by 10 sheet of picture frame glass before committing to the Playfield glass. Nothing has to be permanent as it is easily cleaned with a Razer Blade and Windex.

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One more for the peanut gallery. For the record this should be the last glass post I do here so I don't jam up our thread I've started a blown glass thread. If you're curious check it out.https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-and-glass-blowing-no-really-why-not#post-5944920

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