Taxi Club... Members Only!

ROMS
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-taxi-custom-competition-rom#post-3059658

Taxi -- one of the best System 11 games ever made.

Great theme.
Great cabinet color: Yellow!
Great music and sound effects.
Some of the best call-outs in pinball: "Yo Taxi!" "Give to me Ride!" - Gorbachev's call outs !
A complex multi-ball with chained goals.
Challenging skill shot when set up correctly.
Possibly fastest ramp ball returns in pinball. Likely a first.
Very fast unforgiving lower playfield, with reasonable outlanes, and fast flipper return guides.

I wanted to start up a Taxi club so that other Taxi owners can share the usual love for the machine as well as: repairs tips, restoration tips, part requests, topper ideas, and upgrade suggestions...

RESOURCES
Operator's Manual: http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2505
Rules: http://pinball.org/rules/taxi.html
PAPA Tutorial: http://papa.org/2011/08/02/hey-taxi/
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/reproduction-taxi-topper-list
Plastic Protector Set: http://www.pinballdecals.com/PartsByGamePages/Taxi_Page.html
Paint code options: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/taxi-club-members-only/page/15#post-2725688

UPGRADES/TWEAKS
* Adjust ball return habitrails to speed up ball return to flippers
* Add 3 LED's to under the playfield for the 3 kickouts to add color
* Add 1 LED to under the shooter lane to illuminate the shooter in the dark to make the skill shot properly
* Mantis ramp protector https://mantispinball.com/product-category/taxi/

[x] add to your favorites
-mof

Post last edited 5 years ago.

#2 10 years ago

MOF

mof

reserved.

#7 10 years ago

MOF

mof

Anyone working on any tweaks?

Has anyone adjusted the ball drop flap in the spinout? My ball has been sticking in there a little bit, and then dropping a second or two (or three) later than expected... Looking for a possible easy fix before I fully remove the spinout...

-mof

#11 10 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Kneissl:
I had to bend my flap down a bit so it wouldnt stick.
one tweak i noticed on a few taxi's is bending the wireform open more where it feeds the ball to the inlane.. it keeps momentum and can be much faster.

This I want a lot -- explain!
-mof

#13 10 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Kneissl:
i'll try and get some pics.

I did it. holy smokes, game is 10% better from that single tweak. Thank you!
The trick is to "flare" the ends as far as I can tell...

-mof

#15 10 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Kneissl:
I had to bend my flap down a bit so it wouldnt stick.
one tweak i noticed on a few taxi's is bending the wireform open more where it feeds the ball to the inlane.. it keeps momentum and can be much faster.

Ok I bent it a hair in place with my super long screwdriver. Now it either falls right out, or gets stuck (it finally moves when the solenoid below fires, I think)... So not fixed. I wonder if it's a certain ball doing this. I'll have to experiment tomorrow with the 3 balls and see what's up.

Do we even know what that little tab is under the spinout? Is it a sound switch?
-mof

#23 10 years ago

MOF

mof

Bent the flap down a little more, life is good again.
-mof

1 month later

#47 10 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Boise_D:
Hi all,
I've got a couple of issues with my Taxi and I'll bet this group can help.
1. One or two drop targets on the Lola bank are very slow to drop, or stop halfway until I hit them a second time. I'd like to check or replace the springs, but they look hard to get to. Are they? The Taxi manual also says these can be lubricated. What do you think? They do register when hit, whether they drop or not.
2. My pop bumpers aren't very lively, and the lower one in the middle rarely works at all. Any advice on repairing or replacing them?
This is my first machine, so I'm cautious about how to take these things apart.
Btw, my shooter is like many I see on this thread, and doesn't shoot far enough. I'll be getting the red spring, but do any of you use a shooter sleeve? How is that connected or mounted?
Thanks for any help,
Dwayne

I'd power off the machine, take a few pictures of the drop targets, and get the assembly out of there. Give yourself 2-3 hours and take it apart, and clean it up real good, and re-assemble. I've never used lube on a drop assembly. In general, keep all lube away from the game.

As for the pops, see vid1900's thread on pop-assemblies. With power off, learn how to clean the contacts, and set the leaf switches properly.
http://www.performancepinball.com/rebuilding-pop-bumpers.html

As for the shooter, give yourself 30 mins. Remove the entire assembly, clean it, and put it back in there with the stronger spring. If there's an e-clip involved, just move slowly, and watch for any direction it may fly...

I think there are e-clips in the drop assembly as well that are tiny, and so be very mindful about where they might "fly" off to. Plan that move carefully.

tuning up your:
pops, drops, and flippers are the difference between a great and mediocre game, regardless of title.

Only you can make your games great. Only... You...
-mof

2 months later

#146 10 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from MonkeyGrass:
I think I've figured it out!!

nice job!
There are SO many wires and spots where little vibrations can cause a short it's a wonder these things don't happen more often, imo...
-mof

1 week later

#163 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from MonkeyGrass:
Next time it sticks, I'll grab a shot with my camera. I spent some time playing with it last night, turns out when I moved Taxi over into that corner of my living room, it hit a high spot on the right hand side of the floor. It was several degrees off level, so I tweaked the legs and got it back in line. I'll play some more today and see if it is still a problem. It just wasn't rolling back down off that little wire guide before the Gorby/Santa gate and the "C" rollover. If you look up there, you can see there's a wireform to prevent it from sticking there. On a weak kickout from the spinout kicker, it would go back towards the gate, slowly start to roll towards the "C" rollover and then hang right there on the left upper corner.

A pic would be nice.

Slow rolls that lead to ball hangs like that are often remedied with a good clean/wax of the area. This results in more overall ball speed in that area, and so the ball is less likely to ever move slowly enough to come to a rest.
-mof

#167 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Sarge:
Working with a pretty poor condition game I just picked up. If anyone has a playfield or displays they want to get rid of, let me know
20140407_191154.jpg 57 KB

Holy cats, that is inspiring me to create a new thread called "Worst Pins I've ever started restoring"
-mof

2 months later

#227 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from leesparts:
I had an issue with mine where the plastic strip on the top of the back glass came off and was stuck above the lock rod. Ended up carefully breaking the plastic in two so the rod could go up.

Same thing happened to me with Centaur. Blew my mind until I solved it.
Lesson to learn? Own friction tape, and make sure ALL your machines have tape locking in the top plastic piece.
-mof

#243 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Sarge:
Preparing for a blue spinout ramp...

You did what I think you did?
Holy cats.
I gotta see this...
-mof

1 month later

#309 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from mainelycoasters:
How many of you have had the plunger spinout fight. Mine will reach no higher the 75 on a perfect release. has the red spring, i am suspecting the cracked ramp and alignment now.

I get about 1 extra rotation on the new ramps. It's worth it to me. It's simply an all-around harder shot now.
-mof

2 months later

#330 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from henhel:
Hi to all you TAXI lovers. I just got into the hobby last DEC. right from the start I wanted a TAXI could never find one around this area (New England) well two weeks ago found a TAXI that had been somewhat restored (not the CAB) anyway I get it home and I am just loving the toughness of this pin. This pin is not for the faint of heart!! It is not forgiving at all there are no saved balls and there are plenty of drains if you miss the shot the ball is out of control but when you are rolling and hitting the shots I do not think there is a pin like it. Your adrenaline is pumping it is a great feeling to hit a jackpot any kind of one. Its invigorating!!!! Well enough of the good stuff there is one problem I am having and it is with the Santa kick out which is a huge part of the game. The ball seems to drain way too much, I would say around 75% of the time which to me is way too much. Many times I have 4 passengers p/u and only need Santa to start Jackpot but boom right down the middle. I have tried rocking the pin while it is in the hole to move the ball but my adrenaline is pumping and you guessed it TILT!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!! There must be something I can do to modify the kick out. can someone help me out. Thanks, Henry

Why is the ball draining 75% of the time exactly?
-mof

#334 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from henhel:
It just kicks out right down between the flippers fast and furious there is nothing I can do except for maybe pounding on the side of the cab to move the ball but then it TILTS!

Is the issue direction of ball travel or strength and direction?

If it's strength, perhaps someone put an overly powerful coil in there? You can compare it to the coil in the kicker on the right side.

if it's strength AND direction, as mentioned, try repositioning the kicker arm. If you think the other kicker is working properly, then compare and contrast everything you can see in each system, and try to determine why one is behaving differently...

alignment?
coil?
any other different parts?

(note: I'm not a Taxi expert, and I don't have the manual open in front of me, where I'm comparing parts, I just think it's 95+% likely that these two systems are identical.)

-mof

#336 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from henhel:
It is direction of the ball travel. If you watch the tutorial on PAPA he hits the hole 5 times and it releases to the rubber behind the Marilyn drop targets. My pin releases straight down to the flippers. So it is definitely ball direction.

Great, then treat it just like golf or baseball. Strike the ball .1 millimeters more to the left or right, and the ball travel will adjust. Go ahead and power off the game, raise the playfield, and determine how to make an adjustment that will move that arm a tiny bit. Also check the end of the arm, and make sure you like how that looks. I sometimes clean up the end of the arms with a Dremel if they've flattened out from 30 years of use and have an irregular shape.

Experiment.

-mof

#339 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from henhel:
one last thing. You say make an adjustment to move the arm. Just how and with what tool would be best to use?

You have many options. Compare and contrast the two kickers, see if you can determine what's different:

* range of motion of the arm
* resting position of the arm
* extended position of the arm
* how centered is the arm in the plastic groove (angle of the arm -- is it straight?)
* adjusting the location of the bracket assembly (this is dependent on the size of the holes in the bracket. If they are tight around the screws that hold it to the playfield, then that limits your range of rotation/tweaking of the assembly)
* tip of the arm

You may want a 1/4" nut driver to loosen the screws in the bracket. You may want a dremel or file to adjust the tip. You may want pliers to bend the arm a hair left or right.

Bear in mind in order to get the system to fire the ball NOT SDTM, we are talking about the tiniest of adjustments. We need it to strike the ball in a way that the angle of the ball only adjusts 10' or less to one side such that you get the results you want.

-mof

#341 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from henhel:
All set!!!!!!!!! adjusted the head of the kick out and it now kicks out towards the rubber band behind the Marilyn drop targets. Thanks for everything guys. The pin will be so much more fun for me and my family and that's what is all about. I am now a happy TAXI owner.

Good job
-mof

3 weeks later

#379 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Kneissl:
Anyone try lightning flippers on taxi?

Now that's some crazy talk -- are you too good for Taxi ?

-mof

#381 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Kneissl:
I just like short games. Did them on Sorcerer and think that's the only way to play. Also have them on the lower flippers on Whirlwind and enjoy that as well.

I will most def. do them on Sorcerer (someday) when I have a PF for it. I won't do it to Space Shuttle, because I like to have one "easier" game for new players.

-mof

#383 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Kneissl:
If anyone has done it or does it before i get around to trying it, please post the result.. i worry about the left ramp shot with lightning.

I think Taxi is so difficult, I would never put Lightnings on there, haha !
-mof

1 week later

#390 9 years ago

MOF

mof

https://pinside.com/pinball/archive/taxi/scores

Quoted from roffels:
What's your high score? I don't know how to rank if it's difficult without a comparison.
It's a fun game to shoot, that's for sure.

I'm at 9.5mil...(3ball, 2 extra balls for HS's) not the GC on my machine (13m)
-mof

3 months later

#480 9 years ago

MOF

mof

Remember to make a new part to protect the old one so you don't have a repeat result.
You can make your own with a belt sander, and some 3/16" polycarbonate, or buy a set from PDI.
http://www.pinballdecals.com/PDIPlasticProtectorsPage.html
-mof

1 month later

#556 8 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from WaddleJrJr:
Doesn't make it around the final curve, instead just bounces off its track and into the pops.

Can you take a movie with the glass off so we can see it.
-mof

#560 8 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Blackbeard:
Shouldn't it kick to flippers?

yes.
mof

2 weeks later

#629 8 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from WaddleJrJr:
The previous owner of mine put some little pieces of cardboard to separate where the metal hooks on the playfield go in under the lockdown bar. Helped a lot and the shooter works great now.
Edit: picture added.
IMG_20150620_161517_166.jpg

I'm missing something. Why mess with the level of the playfield? Why not loosen the nuts on the shooter, and adjust its position and go with that?
-mof

2 weeks later

#655 8 years ago

MOF

mof

Brutal.
-mof

1 month later

#669 8 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Blackbeard:
Has anyone closed the gap between the wire inlanes and the flippers? I have a gap and the ball hops when rolling onto the flipper.
I can't adjust the flipper assemblies as there is no play once the hex nuts are loosened, etc. Also can't really move the wire inlane as it is inserted into the playfield at two points (and also screwed on at two other points).
Can anyone help the transition from inlane to flipper to be smooth?

show us a pic. not sure what you are tweaking.
-mof

#671 8 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Blackbeard:
There is a gap between the I lanes and flippers causing a hop.
See pic. image.jpg

Can you loosen the 8 flipper assembly hex screws a few turns each and scoot the assembly towards the head 1/16" or more?
-mof

#691 8 years ago

MOF

mof

Perhaps shoot us some super short movies so we can see how the action is. Upload to youtube.
mof

#694 8 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from Blackbeard:
Starting to think its not fixable.
Perhaps this is the reason Williams switched up the inlane a from wire to what they are now. It wasn't long after taxi that they were changed.

Taxi flipper return lane has my favorite style. Ball screams off those ramps into the flippers.
-mof

3 weeks later

#704 8 years ago

MOF

mof

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-know-the-paint-code-to-a-taxi-yellow

Quoted from jjoravec:
I am working on restoring a Taxi. Does anyone know the color codes for the cabinet paint?
Thanks

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.games.pinball/6MQXaTjfWxA (who knows if he matched to a chip untouched by sunlight)

What's your restore process going to be? Is this touch up, or full repaint?

-mof

#706 8 years ago

MOF

mof

ask Richthofen -- he just did a Taxi.
-mof

7 months later

#923 7 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from RCA1:
I'm out!
Sold my Taxi to a local pinsider.
Do I have to change my avatar picture now?

GASP!
-mof

1 month later

#966 7 years ago

MOF

mof

Unreal.

3 months later

#1020 7 years ago

MOF

mof

ROM update: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-taxi-custom-competition-rom#post-3059858

3 months later

#1110 7 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from joey__p__1966:
http://www.ministryofpinball.com/en/taxi-carry-passenger-plastic.html

Be sure and build a plastic protector for it.
-mof

11 months later

#1357 6 years ago

MOF

mof

Be sure and protect that middle plastic!
-mof

4 months later

#1437 5 years ago

MOF

mof

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/taxi-club-members-only/page/15#post-2725688

Quoted from Elicash:
paint code

Might be one person's cabinet -- doesn't mean it's "truth."

2 weeks later

#1441 5 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from PM_Jeremy:
Enjoy

So... what's the difference in difficulty between settings 4, 5 and 6?
-mof

#1444 5 years ago

MOF

mof

Quoted from PM_Jeremy:
question

Ok, so 5 and 6 are the same in difficulty.
mof

4 years later

#3128 1 year ago

MOF

mof