(Topic ID: 289499)
Linked Games
Centaur II
Bally, 1983-
Cheetah
Stern Electronics, 1980
-
Eight Ball Deluxe Limited Edition
Bally, 1982
-
Evel Knievel
Bally, 1977
-
Flash Gordon
Bally, 1981
-
High Speed
Williams, 1986
-
KISS
Bally, 1979
-
Night Rider
Bally, 1977
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Julian, PA
I'm going to replace all the bulbs in the machine to Comet SMD's. From here on out that is pretty much the only style of bulbs I will use.
KISS came with a set of non comet LED/SMD's & the difference in light & quality is stunning. I put all the ones KISS came with back in a bag for customer to take home, sell to someone else etc.
Rest of the lamp sockets I needed according to USPS tracking are sitting in my mailbox right now, so will be getting the underside lights done in next evening or two.
IMG_20210519_211230 (resized).jpgIMG_20210519_211236 (resized).jpgIMG_20210519_211402 (resized).jpgQuoted from WeatherbyMAG:Don't know how I lived without an Ultrasonic cleaner before.
Was this just from cleaning or did you tumble the parts as well? Where did you get the new coil wraps / labels? I need a few on my stars to keep them looking consistent but didn't know where to get them...
Quoted from JLay:Was this just from cleaning or did you tumble the parts as well? Where did you get the new coil wraps / labels? I need a few on my stars to keep them looking consistent but didn't know where to get them...
Inkochnito's site has most labels. http://www.pinballrebel.com/pinball/cards/
Paying attention to the paragraph at the top of the Coil Wrapper section.
I did polish the main housing & the coil stop, but the rest are right out of ultrasonic with Purple Power cleaner.
Pinballrebel for the coil wraps.
Got most of the ball ejector assy cleaned & polished & rebuilt. Need to print correct coil wrapper for the ejector coil as it is unique to this game, but just threw a random 26-1200 on it for now.
I'm waiting for someone to spot the error I made on the feature lamp sockets.
IMG_20210525_203408 (resized).jpgIMG_20210525_203412 (resized).jpgIMG_20210525_203420 (resized).jpgIMG_20210525_203440 (resized).jpgIMG_20210525_203445 (resized).jpgQuoted from WeatherbyMAG:I'm waiting for someone to spot the error I made on the feature lamp sockets.
Slingshot lamp is wired to the feature lamp bus.
My new favorite restore thread. Nice shop, nice skills, nice work!
Watching your Cheetah progress with anticipation. I'm letting my PF cure for a bit before starting my restore.
Quoted from tomdrum:Slingshot lamp is wired to the feature lamp bus.
Actually on Centaur those single sling lamps are tied into the features for power braid, so that's not it.
IMG_20210116_133031 (resized).jpgQuoted from HoakyPoaky:My new favorite restore thread. Nice shop, nice skills, nice work!
Watching your Cheetah progress with anticipation. I'm letting my PF cure for a bit before starting my restore.
Thanks. The Cheetah owner decided to clear his CPR. So that's getting added to the Clearcoat cue for this weekend. I've got to do a Mirco Sorcerer for same owner & Rob's CPR Flash Gordon.
Quoted from WeatherbyMAG:Actually on Centaur those single sling lamps are tied into the features for power braid, so that's not it.
Ok. I give up.
The 4 feature sockets for the 4 green arrows on the right side of PF have to be lay down style as they fit under the memory coils for the drop target bank. I saw in my reference pics of bare PF with lamps & braid still on it, they were lay down & thought that was stupid, so I swapped them to standups..... then later on looking through pics with the PF still populated I see why they had to be lay down sockets. Should'nt have questioned why Bally had lay down sockets in there.
Sanded down a new/used Mirco Sorcerer.... guy had installed new PF & butchered the install, had all sorts of stuff done wrong, stuff grounded wrong etc. damaged board on initial fire up, so he gave up on machine & a buddy of mine got it for a steal. Some people should just outsource PF swaps rather than try to do them themselves. This one was BAD. Inserts were slightly sunk & entire populating job needed re-done, so he decided to just have me clear it while he had it apart.
I sanded entire backside down to freshen up some of the screw hole damage etc.
Also polished inserts on my EK Hardtop project & put a coat of clear on it to seal it for the hardtop.
IMG_20210529_122210 (resized).jpgIMG_20210531_102659 (resized).jpgIMG_20210531_102724 (resized).jpg& as if I did'nt have enough fun with PF's this weekend, I sanded down Rob's CPR FG & cleared it after some touchups.
This one was worst CPR I have worked on. The inserts had shifted & popped up through the clear on a couple of the bonus inserts, #2 & 3 in particular. Of course that left a slight line of art missing in the black. There is a before & after sanding closeup of the affected area.
All touched up & cleared now. Will flatten it & buff it tonight along with Sorcerer & Cheetah.
IMG_20210529_114641 (resized).jpgIMG_20210529_120128 (resized).jpgIMG_20210531_102708 (resized).jpgIMG_20210531_102713 (resized).jpgCentaur 2 lamp board got sanded, painted, all new braid & sockets. Wiring ran through ultrasonic & re- zip tied, polished all the hardware & cleaned all the boards. Going with an Alltek LD to drive the SMD's throughout. Made some new connector wiring for the 2 sound boards, as it looked like it had been hacked up in a previous life. Re-pinned some questionable connectors as well.
IMG_20210531_132129 (resized).jpgIMG_20210531_132144 (resized).jpgIMG_20210531_160413 (resized).jpgSame thing to the display board..... ultrasonic the wiring & new zip ties/clean up wiring routing. Paint board & display holders, new ground braid & lamp sockets, cleaned the displays, polished all the hardware. Luckily this game was in pretty nice players condition when I got my paws on it.
IMG_20210530_141509 (resized).jpgIMG_20210530_150400 (resized).jpgC2 Backbox stripped & primed. Other than the fact this thing is all MDF, which sucks to work with, it's actually in really good condition & will take very minor repairs to make nice.
I was going to leave the factory silver reflective foil inside of it, but then I decided it would take longer to tape it up & have to worry about edges not looking right etc than it will for me to just make a new single wrap around sheet of aluminum flashing in it, which will look 10X nicer in the end, so I ripped that reflective foil paper crap out of there & put it in garbage can where it belongs. Can definitely see Bally getting cheaper on their builds by 1982.
IMG_20210531_195248 (resized).jpgIMG_20210531_195254 (1) (resized).jpgIMG_20210531_195305 (resized).jpgQuoted from WeatherbyMAG:ultrasonic the wiring
I'd like to know more about this, because I've been thinking of buying a larger commercial 15L ultrasonic cleaner with heating & easy drain options.
I have a very small one that I use, for smaller parts that gets great results. I prefer it much more than my crushed walnut tumbler. And it would be nice to throw a wiring harnesses into a large ultrasonic instead of using a dishwasher.
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I'm just curious what you use.
Quoted from HoakyPoaky:I'd like to know more about this, because I've been thinking of buying a larger commercial 15L ultrasonic cleaner with heating & easy drain options.
I have a very small one that I use, for smaller parts that gets great results. I prefer it much more than my crushed walnut tumbler. And it would be nice to throw a wiring harnesses into a large ultrasonic instead of using a dishwasher.
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I'm just curious what you use.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ultrasonic-cleaners/page/14#post-6294005
Everything you could ever want to know is in that post topic.
I forget exactly what size mine is, but it holds around 4 gallons. Most normal wiring harnesses fit fine. Centaur 2 PF harness is pretty big one, I just did that one over the weekend & it pushes limits of size of mine. I use 50/50 purplepower & water in mine. Just have to rinse parts off real well with clean water or it will leave a residue if you tried to air dry it right out of cleaner.
On harnesses I rinse them off with warm water & then hit with compressed air to get them dry quickly & internally.
Quoted from WeatherbyMAG:& as if I did'nt have enough fun with PF's this weekend, I sanded down Rob's CPR FG & cleared it after some touchups.
This one was worst CPR I have worked on. The inserts had shifted & popped up through the clear on a couple of the bonus inserts, #2 & 3 in particular. Of course that left a slight line of art missing in the black. There is a before & after sanding closeup of the affected area.
All touched up & cleared now. Will flatten it & buff it tonight along with Sorcerer & Cheetah.
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Geez..glad I have a professional working on it. Good catch.
FG Backbox getting close to color.
IMG_20210606_165321 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_165329 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_165336 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_165344 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_165348 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_165401 (resized).jpgRob's FG PF cut & buffed. Still gotta clean the buffing compound out of the holes/slots.
IMG_20210606_162527 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_162539 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_162547 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_162611 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_162619 (resized).jpgRob's FG Cabinet just down to woodgrain work.
IMG_20210606_170758 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_170807 (1) (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_170816 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_170838 (resized).jpgIMG_20210606_170851 (resized).jpgQuoted from WeatherbyMAG:Rob's FG PF cut & buffed. Still gotta clean the buffing compound out of the holes/slots.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Wow! That Playfield looks incredible!! Well done man. Really nice.
1 week later
Working on Centaur drop target mechs.... got 2 out of the 3 done. Inline drop should be done tonight to complete the set.
It's a shame the memory coil bank are upside down in the machine & you can't even see them...... but at least I know they look nice. & if anyone ever removes the target bank they can see I did'nt skimp out on them.
Once these targets are on PF, the wiring harness should be ready to start re-installation. I restocked up on solder. Will take over a pound to do a harness.
Final bit of red going on C2 cab tonight & then it's ready for touch ups & clear later this week.
FG Back box & Cab getting final Primer tomorrow eve.
IMG_20210619_161802 (resized).jpgIMG_20210619_161807 (resized).jpgIMG_20210619_161817 (resized).jpg 1 week later
Backbox got painted black....
Wiring harness is coming along.
Owner wants Molex connectors added to the 3 drop target banks for easy removal. I'll add those once all the "normal" wiring is done.
Once you "clean up" the wire routing over how Bally threw it together 40 years ago, the wring looks a lot less "jumbled".
IMG_20210705_180520 (resized).jpgIMG_20210705_205211 (resized).jpgCab is cleared.
Should be fairly straightforward to re-populate the cab here later this week.
IMG_20210705_205506 (resized).jpgIMG_20210705_205534 (resized).jpgIMG_20210705_205559 (resized).jpgIMG_20210705_205622 (resized).jpgIMG_20210705_205634 (resized).jpgIMG_20210705_205705 (resized).jpgIMG_20210705_205729 (resized).jpgThe EK has been done for 4 or 5 months. The Kiss just got finished recently.
I had individual posts about them w while back before I started this Blog.
KISS:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bally-kiss-restoration-1/page/2#post-6161861
EK:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/evel-knievel-restoration-many-pics#post-6109972
Getting closer on C2
Again, ignore the wood dust. Needs a good vacuum job. Will just wait till everything is done & give it a final clean.
IMG_20210712_213058 (resized).jpgIMG_20210712_213107 (resized).jpgIMG_20210712_213118 (resized).jpgIMG_20210712_213132 (resized).jpgIMG_20210712_213145 (resized).jpgSince no one makes new side rails for these rapid fire cabinets...... I just had to modify a normal Bally set. Good thing I was a machinist in a previous life. I only opened up the flipper button holes .025" & have the button housing flush with the outside of the rail. I think the way Bally did it with the rail having a massive hole & big gap around the button looked awful. My way looks much cleaner.
& Then I shortened the rails & added the notch for the upper cabinet arch in the rails, came out very nice.
Coin door was in a little worse shape than I remembered, so it's getting a new skin & a decent coin mech backside resto, but again this game is not supposed to be going "Full blown" resto, so I gotta stop somewhere (which is hard for me to do)
IMG_20210714_192556 (resized).jpgIMG_20210714_192612 (resized).jpgIMG_20210714_192641 (resized).jpgPromoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
Toronto, ON
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