I own the same duo and feel the same way. I love my PinBot too but the shuttle is special. It is fast enough, forgiving enough but also randomly challenging enough to be popular with everyone in my family. Prepare for liftoff!

NEVER settle for ball hop, ESPECIALLY on a game like Space Shuttle with great "inlane-swoosh".../blockquote>

Never heard that term before. What is "ball hop"?

Aha! I have a bit of that on my right inlane. I did not know that it had a special name. I look forward to pictures and a report once you install the fix you ordered. Maybe I will follow suit.

Anyone interested in splitting up a plastic set from CPR? I only want the part that wraps the ramp. The rest of mine are good enough that I cannot justify spending the full amount for the full set. Or....perhaps someone who is buying a full set might be willing to part with their old ramp cover?

Are those guides somehow different from the stock pieces? If not, could you not get rid of ball hop by adjusting the positions of the originals relative to the flipper angle? Am I missing something here?

I assume you mean the "air lock"? Vid1900 has an excellent guide here.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/space-shuttle-airlock-rebuilding-guide#post-1908265

Wow beatmaster - way to pimp out the inside of your cabinet!

Egads. I hope they work with you on that. The original sling plastics were lighter in color than the star field perimeter plastics but neither were anywhere near as light as what you pictured. The original sling plastics are basically the same hue and value as the blue on the playfield. Glad I decided against getting a set. Sorry for your experience.

Are those stickers or waterslide material?

PM sent.

No, but I just replaced mine with a slow color changing led because I always thought the light bleeding around the target looked cheap. I vastly prefer the subtle colored light that now illuminates and bleeds through around the target.

If you don't have the CPR inserts, don't assume inserts from an original will fit. I swapped a sun insert from an original pinbot to a cpr playfield and the original was larger by a couple millimeters.

What's the "dreaded black/white switch connection"? I've never heard of it.

Thanks, Travish!

Does anyone here have any functional plasma displays left over from upgrading to led displays? I am in need of two seven digit score displays and the credit/ball display for a project machine I just acquired.

Definitely a lot of work to do there. On the plus side, that's a perfect machine to learn the ins and outs of restoration on. No need to freak out about the inevitable error here and there. My advice: don't aim for perfect from this condition (especially since it's your first). Aim for "much better". Know when to call it good enough, wax it up, drop in three new balls and enjoy the heck out of it.

I second that. I will no buy anything that I cannot see and play in person first (unless it is crazy cheap and I am ready for a project). Too many machines have undisclosed damage/ problems that sellers "forget" to photograph or disclose.

Are there good batteries in it now? Have the settings been properly adjusted for free play? Is it showing any errors when it is turned on?

I know it's exciting and hard to wait but trust me, wait until your new displays come and then dive into it. That way you will at least have access to the self diagnostic features such as switch test.

Looks like you are missing one of the green/brown wires that connect to the high score reset terminal below the diode and diagonal from the terminal where the white wire is connected. I would also solder those loose stands on the yellow wire so they don't short on something.

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Sometimes describing this stuff can create more confusion so I pulled my switch bank to take better pictures from various angles. Let me know if this clears things up or not.

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Just sand the inserts. That way you can use the hard top while preserving the possibility of actual restoration in the future.

If you mean that it is missing screw holes for topside pieces, that is actually desirable in clear areas since the original playfields will all vary slightly from one another with regard to screw positioning. Better to be able to drill your own homes to perfectly align with existing holes in the pf in clear areas. And yes, you can really see how much the original acrylic lacquer has yellowed over the years!

Speed is a side benefit of wax. The main purpose of wax is reduction of friction to reduce scratches and wear. I can't believe the the hardtop would be so resistant to the wear and tear of a high velocity 1-inch(ish) steel ball that it would not need protection. I would wax it.

Does the credit display increment when you match? That's what is supposed to happen. It won't automatically start another game.

That looks like the kicker that serves a ball to the shooter lane. I think Yesh23 is talking about the outhole kicker under the apron that serves the ball into the trough? Or am I mistaken?

Just to verify - I believe this is the stock coil for the outhole kicker.

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I think Freeplay40 is planning on making shuttle ramps (maybe even blue ones) when he returns to health.

The "R" mark on the side of my cab is a sticker and definitely original. Looks like the art department forgot to talk to legal before production.

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I believe the originals were fat round and yellow. Sometimes that size is hard to find. Personally I disliked the yellow. I went with tapered red from titan. Be warned though that the tapered posts offer a bit less protection for the already vulnerable exposed ramp edge, particularly on the left side.

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Yup. I've seen it both ways. I'm not sure which was original. I prefer the look of the stars and stripes.

* Are there any other useful manuals beside the i) Space Shuttle Mannual, ii) Williams Blue Parts, and ii) Pinball Troubleshooting and Ref {Hawes}

I have not needed anything except the Space Shuttle manual for printed material. The pinwiki for system 9-11 is invaluable. http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Williams_System_9_-_11

* What do the standup switches do...they do nothing (lights, score, sound, etc...) I can see on my machine.

They should make a sound and score 10 points. Watch a youtube video for an example of the sound.

* What does the micro switch (A-10594) in the shuttle do (lights, score, sound?). Only the long ramp upper switch (B-8410) is needed to trigger multiball.

The switch under the shuttle lets the game know that a ball made it at least partway up the ramp. If you trigger the shuttle switch but not the switch at the top of the ramp, the drain shield between the flippers will pop up temporarily.

Happy New Year and welcome to the club. Space Shuttle is a great game.

Yup, you are right about the name. That doesn't mean I want to use the whole name. Like The Bride or Capt. Fantastic (and the Brown Dirt Cowboy) it's just too long for everyday conversation. Kinda like a person with three middle names.

Yeah - you really need to manually operate the switch (maybe with a ball) and determine why the wireform is getting stuck. The wireform should swing freely in both directions.

Way to go! Looking good. I appreciate how much time and moolah you've put into this. Feels good to see it starting to really come together doesn't it?

I don't think it's stupid at all. I admire what you've done. I also pour lots of time, money and energy into resorting games, especially games they I am particularly drawn to.

Your pop bumper might not be the originals but they look good!

Hey - it's your game. Make it look however you like! I especially like your head graphic.

That is super awesome - best speaker panel mod I've ever seen!

Pretty sure the original rails were cheap wood wrapped in cheap faux wood printed plastic. I would consider black painted wood an upgrade mod!

Happy to see I'm not the only one with Lego spaceship toppers. My seven year old made one for me about a year ago. He occasionally steals parts from it to build other stuff.

It's supposed to do that if you hit the target (and thereby change the shuttle award) when extra ball or special are lit for the award.

I always imagine a spacewalking astronaut coming untethered and screaming as he grabs for his cable... and misses.

Restore it or...wax it, play it and enjoy it. Forget the hardtop.

Browse the market history section for Space Shuttle (or any other game for that matter).

Try squeezing the socket closed a bit more with a pair of needle nosed pliers. The next time you rebuild your pops, consider changing over to a wedge base socket.

Not local to you but I'll be leaving the club in about a month probably asking somewhere in the 2k neighborhood. I just finished touching up my playfield and finishing it with 2pac. My boards are rock solid and it has a new ramp and shuttle toy. My shuttle was my first pin four years ago and the ONLY one (out of 10) that has never given me one single problem.

Ramps and boards are hard to come by for these. CPR made a playfield and will theoretically make them again if/when they get set up for one offs but, as usual, they missed it with their blues. You can get CPR plastics but again, the blue is an issue if you care about such details.

That's some weird alternate reality pricing. Here's the deal with "restored": it takes time and money. Lots of it. The people asking north of 2k likely have more than 3k into it if the game is truly restored. Sub 3k on a restoration = you are losing money or don't place any value at all on your time or both. Don't want to pay for a restoration? Hey, everyone has their priorities. Go buy a typical example of the game in the low to mid 1Ks knowing that it may soon be a roach because the clearcoat was toasted years ago.

You're right. In many parts of the country, a 15k kitchen remodel increases the value of your home by more than 15k.

Which means that the game cost you less than a $300 and you did practically nothing else to it (which means it's not restored) and/or the playfield is a bronze or silver grade and you did nothing to correct the defects. All of the lamp sockets and their braided wiring got replaced during the playfield swap? Cabinet stripped, repainted and ideally clearcoated? Ramp replaced or showing zero wear? Flippers fully rebuilt? Pops fully rebuilt? Standup targets got new stickers and got their contacts polished? Rollovers and their switches all polished? Boards are in perfect condition and recapped? Displays are all in perfect working order? Of course you replaced or polished your side rails and lock bar while you were painting the cabinet. Ditto for that coin door you disassembled and polished?

Oh right, you didn't do all of those things or you did but decided that your time has no value. If the latter is true, I am sorry.

Without having gone through the aforementioned items, most collectors would not consider your game to be "restored". It would be more accurately described as partially refurbished.

As for price/value it is crucial to understand that for some people 3K is like a nickel. Why? Not because they are idiots. Quite to the contrary. They were either born to wealth or have earned a great deal of money for themselves and therefore simultaneously understand the value of time and have a different idea of "expensive" than the average Joe.

I can see your argument about putting too much into a game being valid at a higher price point (the 10K Gilligan, for example - which is debatebly worth somewhere near that figure but has a very small potential buyer's audience and could therefore reasonably be described as a risky investment of time and money, if we were to assume that the original intent was to sell and that the dollar amount invested created financial hardship or strain or (assuming no financial strain) that the time and money invested was not offset by the psychological satisfaction of engaging with and completing the project).

I once took a couple of old EMs I had restored to a show. I was literally giving them away for 2K apiece. People that I know as casual pinball acquaintances who suffer somewhat from poverty mentality told me my work was excellent (one of my games ended up winning "best restoration") but that my prices were insanely high. I listed them online (with significantly higher prices) after the show and sold them both within days.

3k might strike you as a crazy price for a restored Space Shuttle, but anyone with financial means looking for an excellent copy of the game who has experience collecting high quality examples knows that $2500-3K is very good value and therefore a very reasonable price that places little to no value on the time of the seller.

I'm speaking from direct experience. Undeniably true.

No, I am not stupid. I will prove it now by being done trying to talk sensibly to someone who will not or cannot reciprocate or understand.