1971.... what a year.... let's see... there was...

Vietnam, Attica Riots, Apollo missions, "All In The Family" started, Charles Manson found guilty of Murder, Jim Morrison of the Doors died, USA left the gold standard, Walt Disney World opened, D.B. Cooper, ....golly... what a depressing year... BUT, WAIT!

There were some fantastic PINBALL machines launched by Gottlieb! And I have two, in my current possession, that need some serious care.

ASTRO and NOW.

Help me revive them. I'll be posting in this thread, asking questions, posting updates, etc. Hopefully I'll paint the cabinets this summer, Astro has a BGRestro glass on the way, Astro got new plastics today, there are $800 of parts coming from PBResouce, and quite. few concerns to cover.

ASTRO (500 made) has :
• No power switch or plate under the machine
• Permanently locked in a game with FIVE balls to go
• Pop Bumpers won't score
• No CHIMES! despite chimes inside cabinet

NOW (1250 made) has :
• Pop bumpers that won't score, along with possibly other non-scoring parts in the game
• Possible lack of slingshot action (I need to see the game in action and/or buy a schematic)
• Various lights malfunctioning
• No chimes! despite chimes being inside cabinet
• Wrong target faces that won't score when they pop down into the playfield.
• Trajectory problems (mild) in the two kickers down front.

Both will need playfield touchup in the future. ASTRO is beat, NOW is fairly good.

Score reels reset properly. I'll exchange most all plastic parts and rubbers, posts, etc.

Please give me any advice, here, if possible. I never had non-scoring components on the games I have owned.

Thanks!

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My first problem: no switch OR switch plate inside the ASTRO. I can find the switches, but not the metal plate. Does anyone know a place that has these plates? Are they common electrical items from a hardware store, or specific to Gottlieb? Thanks for the help.

First image is from NOW, the second is from ASTRO...

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Oh, yes--schematics are ordered.

Did anyone ever try one of these?

https://www.delcity.net/store/Recessed-Toggle-Switch/p_820346.h_820347.r_IF1003?mkwid=s&crid=&mp_kw=&mp_mt=e&msclkid=16bbc5bed77d16068afda57fc6b9dc60&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20-%20Switches&utm_term=4577404348781905&utm_content=Switches%20-%20Toggle

It looks promising.

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Naturally it attaches below the cab, but I am not looking into having this game in an arcade.

It is odd and awkward that they used STAR TREK, openly, unabashedly. Perhaps, since Star Trek was cancelled by 1971, Hollywood was writing it off as a trademark. Syndication was just beginning to get big at that time, though.

10 amps, 12 VAC.... I think the electric is stepped down already, so it should work, but I'm not going to swear on it.

However, I was more interested in using the plate and conjoining with another switch.

I'd love to see pf work. I probably won't do mine until 2022, but I have to get it done--especially on ASTRO.

I worked on that NOW today.... embarrassed, but found a cause of almost all the troubles: a THIRD jones plug to the upper was not plugged in and sagging in the back of the cabinet!! Its receptacle was cleverly hidden behind score reel braids. Oh the shame!

That corrected almost everything, so the current list of defects now reads...

NOW (1250 made) :
• ONE drop target, of eight, doesn't score
• Trajectory problems (mild) in the two kickers down front
• Various cosmetic problems to be repaired this summer: coin door, plastic bits, rubber bits, cabinet respray, coin slots, targets replaced, etc.

It's a beautiful machine for 50 years age. A tad dirty inside. Works well, might need pep in the flippers. Fun and striking art of the psychedelic era!!
A good player in present condition.
I'll post photos when cleaned up.

Noted. Thanks for the word of caution. I hadn't checked the schematic before I spoke.

Ugh. I wish my playfield was in that shape. Looks beautiful when stripped down!

This one, I just took off the posts and plastics and rings and lights... and it looks dirtier than your upper pic.

I swear this game was never serviced in 50 years, aside from rubber rings circa 2000 and probably some bulbs, but the bulbs look like 1970s originals! It has copious litter and old bulbs scattered inside the cabinet.

I tossed it all--using new bulbs and posts and rings and plastics (thanks to you).

At this moment I am closing on a house in Palm Desert. Hopefully I can get a tech from the PB Museum to get my playfield stripped, sent out for art restore, and put together back in the machine later this year or next.

Update....

ASTRO (500 made) has :
• Some chimes ... gotta clean contacts
• Needed a cabinet respray
• Playfield is worn

NOW (1250 made) has :
• Some chimes are weak
• A target face that won't score when it pops down into the playfield.
• Needs cabinet respray

I've been replacing all plastic and rubber and lights. Ran into trouble with one leaf switch for stationary target, looking for somewhere that offers a replacement target leaf.... or whole switch mechanism. Been getting good at drilling out and re-riveting target faces.

I still have a few pop bumper parts coming, but I replaced half of the bumpers.

Games play well, score well, and have good flipper power. Most of the problems are now cosmetic. I replaced the shooter mechs and coin slot areas.

I've been perplexed by the credit scoring of NOW: here are photos...
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I am trying to get the first game to be awarded @ 6800 points.... it always hits @ 7000 points!

What am I doing wrong, or what might be going wrong in this case?

To be clear: that is the SIX pin, and it appears to me to be in the 800 hole.... 6800, right?

Why 7000 points for the first knocker/credit?

SO! You are onto it. My 1st player 1000 reel is indeed a big butt pain! I haven't gotten into it, yet, but it doesn't reset properly sometimes--it gets hung up on the 8 and won't go to zero. After that it works fine and records score, just won't reset properly. I'll check that out soon.

Thanks for that directional help/suggestion. I figured the bonus came from elsewhere in the game. I'll try a 2-player and see if the second records properly.

Thanks! Those are the un-doctored games when I first got them. Maybe later today, or tomorrow, I'll post the recent state of those two. NOW is almost done: needs cabinet repaint next week and some minor work inside. Both have had all plastic and rubber renewed, all lights replaced, etc.

ASTRO will get a new backglass in a couple months, and hopefully a cabinet respray in August.

Someone sold me what seems to be an original power switch for the game, and I had someone print out the cover... was it you?

Now, ASTRO is back in order with switch and cover plastic.

The game works fine, except I haven't taken time to rework the bonus scoring and it will knock out extra balls like popcorn popping once you are above circa 80K. I hope the pins are merely stuck in everywhere and merely need removing and organizing.

Made a video about the two as they are at this time.

ASTRO displays lack of chimes on almost everything aside from slings. Ideas? I'll get to that later.

That's the thing I still need to get to on both machines--cleaning the score reel switches on ASTRO 100 and NOW 1000-1st player. Thank you for pointing me in that direction.

Well-well-well.... the hundreds reel DOES have a slight malfunction going down.... with is this switch for? This is the first time I plumbed the head box of Astro. Scoring is kept well! However, the chimes don't work on 100 and 1000. I was cleaning the switches on those two, rubbing that gentle sand paper file-stuff between contacts everywhere... no deal with a solution, but I found this baby snapped off and wrinkled up in some form of pinball malfeasance.

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Update....

ASTRO (500 made) has :
• Needs a cabinet respray
• Playfield is worn
• Add-A-Ball scoring does mystery-multiple balls at weird intervals: as soon as all letters are lit, odd times during free-ball play (cross switch?), etc.

NOW (1250 made) has :
• Needs cabinet respray
• 1000s reel-1st player doesn't reset properly, usually hung up on 7 or 8

Found the switches responsible, adjusted, and now the 100s and 1000s chime when scored. It was in those two relays. I always thought "score reel" when you guys wrote "score relay". Simple fix.

I would love to have stencils rather than make my own with mylar.... which I was going to do today or tomorrow for the top cab.

Guess I have to make my Astro stencils. I contacted Pimp multiple times to have Astro made from my cab, but no response.

Cabinets getting stripped today and tomorrow, repainting during the week.

NOW is having cabinet and head and collar done
ASTRO is having the head and collar done
and they are joined by
KING KOOL 1972--head and collar done at this time, the body will be done in about 2 weeks when these are all together.

I'll have 3 newly painted machines by September. I hope.

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For 50 year old plywood, these cabinets are in really nice shape. Only a tad of putty on ASTRO will be needed.
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New coin doors ready to go!
New, colored, electric cords, ready to go!
On top, I hope to polish the rails until they are highly reflective, using alumicut and various sand disks and polishing solutions.

In another week, we might see photos here.

Cabinets going into stencil mode....

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Thanks! I wish I had more time to slap them together and finish off the project, but it'll get there in a few more weeks.

Here is the progress. A few more pieces together and the playfield can get in there.

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Today: 95% done. Glass + rails to go.

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Today I stripped off KING KOOL's main cabinet and need to get it out to the garage to strip two layers of paint.

The OLD PAINT....under the rails... it's so ugly. I'm not sure what the original color was, since the paints can age and look hellishly ugly after 50 years.
A newer paint job was applied about a year ago by the person I purchased the game from. He didn't like the ugly violet, either. His choice was to use white. Despite hand painting, it wasn't so bad, once the metal was polished and renewed, but I wanted a proper paint job.

Originally I was going to do a proper and thorough layer of white. In the end, the purists on PInside made me bend and go for something closer to the original. However, I couldn't go for that ugly purple. IT IS DEPRESSINGLY DISMAL. My final paint choice was French Lilac 2x by Rustoleum. It brings out the new backglass (by BGRESTO) brilliantly!! Look at how the colors work with that original art... it was bedazzling when I put the back together yesterday.

I suspect it will be two weeks before the KING KOOL cab is painted and reassembled.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM PAINTING, and what you might want to know------> Use Rustoleum, DO NOT USE MONTANA CANS.

I began with the thought that I wanted THE BEST. So I ordered a ton of Montana cans in all the colors I needed, along with primers and base colors and gloss finishes. I'd use Montana ONLY for the stencil colors, unless you can find the proper color with Rustoleum.

Reasons I will NEVER buy Montana again:

1) Very little pigment/spray/volume compared to Rustoleum or other mainstream sprays
2) Cans are extremely easy to clog, and your $10 flushes away without even one spray to the cabinet
3) Unless you shake these cans for 20+ minutes, the color is globular, and specks are everywhere, even after shaking 30 minutes, I've still had beads coming out
4) Chalky finish to colors
5) Splatters constantly on some cans, no matter what goes on with shaking and time shaken. Paint then dribbles all over your hand. Very few cans stayed clean and consistent
6) Price is insane, compared to locally available cheap-ies like Rustoleum. Rustoleum is circa $4-4.50/can in the US. Montana from Dick Blick is $8-$12/can.

You can find your own results, if you don't believe my breakdown. I blew hundreds of dollars on Montana and wound up having to complete the job with the excellent Rustoleum.

MINOR TROUBLE: you can see how layering of paint and gloss caused some wrinkling of the base coats. This might be due to several things.

1) Gloss was applied too thick over base coat (base coats did have over 24 hours to dry as per instructions)
2) Gloss was applied in 95º heat.... it was an extremely hot week when the gloss went down
3) High humidity
4) Layering of Rustoleum over Montana might have had a lack of cohesiveness

Taking apart these games was SO DIFFICULT the first time (when I did lesser work to KING KOOL in Feb-Mar.).
NOW came a few weeks ago, and it was still rather tough to disassemble.
KING KOOL came apart quick and easy this morning, knowing exactly where all the screws are, and how to unfasten layers of metal enshrouding the wood.

Once you learn how they made these, it is super easy to work on. For nobodies: take it slow and learn it, especially if you plan to restore several machines. The first will be a PITA, and then it gets simple.

ASTRO's body comes to the paint booth in 2 weeks.

All 6 side rails will be prepped for high-polish attempts in 2-3 weeks. I'm going to use a grinder with hook-n-loop pads @ 220-400-600-800-1200-2000-3000 grit, followed by steel rub down with liquid polish and a buffing pad. My plan is to get mirror-like shine on the side rails, or at best a clean set of rails with rather smooth finish providing some luxurious luster. Photos to come.

By October I hope these are all together, because we are moving house.

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New Astro back glass and cab repaint.

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King Kool coming close to an end, then Astro's main body.

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Thanks. I'm going to try something odd, but not too odd. A while back there was an Atlantis for sale that had mirror polish rails. At first I thought he got them coated, then realized you can polish them up to be mirror-finish.

So I'm set to do that in circa 2 weeks with all 6 rails for these 3 machines. I have a grinder with a hook-loop disc, and a series of grits from 220-3000, a buffer, some ultra-fine steel wool, and polish. So we'll see what it comes out to look like. Most likely I'll get it smoother than the original. If it works perfectly, those rails will look like chrome.

KING KOOL is finished paint, got a new power cord, and going into final assembly...

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Astro has been stripped, small areas of wood paste applied, and it gets lightly sanded tomorrow and goes into priming and then white coat. About a week and a half and that machine will get reassembled, I hope.

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Old vs. new--ASTRO body cabinet. The machine should be together before Monday.

Final step will be shine-polishing the ss rails and nailing them back on with new and shiny screw-nails.

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FINISHED! Astro is back together and works. I played it, and it works well. I have some small problems to work out. Maybe one of you can help me with the newest...

I GET SHOCKED BY THE FLIPPER BUTTONS!

The fiche paper wore off or something. Is there a work around that is good, perfect, easy, or reliable? I was looking for pre-cut fiche paper, but couldn't find it. Am I just to do my own cutting?

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Side rails need to be sanded to a shine. That might happen tomorrow.

The bulbs in Astro's backglass are...wrong. I need frosted guys up there. The new back glasses work, but they lack an extra-black layer behind everything to halt residual light leaking about.

Would scotch tape work?

Or regular paper?

The shock is mild, because I am on carpet with wood underlayment, but if I was connected to water or concrete it could be bad. Plus it ruins the game to get shocks every flipper hit.

Isn't it only 6v at that point?

Old and new.... just without the side rails.

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DONE! It's all done properly, and I just installed the new cord today. I'll just have to get those new switched.... these are old-moldy anyway.

Excellent! I'll grab those after I move house in 2 weeks. Thanks for that!

RAILS ON.

I did the old 220-400-800-1500-3000-5000-foam buffer-steel wool+polish routine. My hope was to get MIRROR rails with super reflective qualities. However, I got what you see... which is nice, but not the desired result. Instead of mirrors, I have semi-reflective with buttery smooth feel. mmmm.... buttery smooth metal. They look good, just not AS GOOD as I envisioned.

Now they get packed up and shipped to Palm Desert, where we move in 10 days. After that I can begin revisions again and get these guys closer to excellent.

Remaining issues:

KING KOOL--AS relay needs total fine tuning, new glass, various tightenings and adjustments to switches, still fooling with the kicker down front tossing the ball too far and not enough simultaneously. (And playfield touchup)

ASTRO--extra balls come fast and furious for no reason once you light up everything, new flipper switches, new glass (and playfield touchup).

NOW--1st Player 1000 reel is a clunk-o-junk and needs work, mild tweaks to switched and targets, new flipper switches.

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No way. These are keepers.

1971… arise.

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