Why do you keep repeating this same post, over and over and over again? It's like you have this as a macro, if macros still exist. "Oh, someone tried adjusting something. Time to post my macro..."

It does happen occasionally. But it's simply not true that the forum is "full" of posts from people who have done this.

NM

Now, we can't be doing something like that. After all, you can't use alligator clip jumper wires on it then.

I can understand the idea of only fixing what is broken, but it's just not really a practical thing when you're bringing back to life a game that has been neglected for ages and is barely functioning. Is it working? Sure. Is it working to where it should be? Generally, not even close.

When I started the idea of taking one of these things apart was pretty daunting. The only way to learn is by diving in and doing it. I don't buy many games that are fully functioning, and even those that are, I generally do a lot of work on because they are not functioning to the level I want them to function at. And that involves taking them apart and cleaning them up.

If you just fix what is broken and leave the rest alone, on games this old, it won't be long before something else isn't functioning, and you're chasing problems constantly. Better to take them apart and get everything the way it should be than fixing one broken thing and declaring the game fixed, because it really isn't, and it probably won't be until you get in there and get into it much deeper.

Of course, if it's your first game, then you don't want to do it. And if someone has already done it, it's not necessary. But after you've done a few, it's much less scary and you'll learn a lot more digging in.

I'll make an exception on that for Grand Prix. That game still scares me after all the other games I've restored.

You'll find guys who will tell you it's just another EM with an extra bonus unit and I guess that is true, but that game is so loaded with stuff and so packed in, I just don't want to do much more to it than I have to.

Mine is in pretty good shape, works well, but it could use a repaint. I'll get to it eventually, but I just keep putting it off because I don't really want to deal with taking it completely apart.

I'll say this for how loaded down with stuff it is. It's the only game that I've ever moved where I had to remove the playfield to take it up and down stairs. That damned thing is heavy.

Here's an example of what I am talking about. This is the Drop A Card that I restored. The game was not working. There's really no way to just do a "fix what is broken" on games like this. The motor board was a mess. This is the first game that I've ever completely disassembled the motor board, including the motor itself. Every relay, everything, was disassembled and cleaned and reassembled. After I did all that, the game fired right up after I reassembled it. I never had to adjust anything because everything was done when the game was assembled and I could see everything well.

It was not a great player and I sold it on after the restoration, but this game was fun to do. 20150418_152609 (resized).jpg20150531_131231 (resized).jpg20150531_131234 (resized).jpg20150619_200052 (resized).jpg20150624_205931 (resized).jpg20150923_224855 (resized).jpg