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, 1977Coin door is coming along.... still need to clean up the 3 main coin mechs & install them as well as adjust the door fitment, but overall looking fairly spiffy. This was'nt a full blown coin door resto, this was just a cheapy, make it look decent job.
IMG_20210718_204141 (resized).jpgIMG_20210718_204156 (resized).jpgIMG_20210718_204248 (resized).jpgQuoted from tomdrum:OK. Now I'm kicking myself in the ass for not building a leg painting jig like that. Genius.
Yea it is the simple stuff to get it done that is the true genius! 
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Legs got clear coated & new levelers & polished bolts, added Stern hidden steel cab protectors as well under the legs.
Got the inline drop target rebuilt, those suck, hence why I left it for last.
Should be getting fired up for testing by end of the weekend.
IMG_20210722_214351 (resized).jpgIMG_20210722_214405 (resized).jpgIMG_20210722_214416 (resized).jpgFinished up the PF, sanded/painted & clear-coated the rails. Had few minor wiring issues I sorted out while PF was out of game. Always a good idea to just run the wiring routing through your head to make sure everything looks "logical" & the way things should be routed before installing in game.
These PF's are so freaking heavy I did not want to be taking this one back in & out.
IMG_20210725_135606 (resized).jpgIMG_20210725_135615 (resized).jpgThe apron in this game was really really nice... so I clear coated it. The shooter gauge not so much, it was actually ground on & destroyed underneath by a previous owner plus the art was junk. So I put a spare from a SBM apron set I had in after shooting it black & clearing.
Did some minor touch ups on BG & polished the trim.
& I guess most importantly (to the owner) I got it fired up & all working.
Had to do some adjustment on the orb shooter mech. Biggest issue was with the PF GI. The way it was wired when it came to me was not right. So I just made it right & viola' it all worked.
The Factory SDB lost a resistor after 15 minutes of running, so I fired an Alltek in it. My Daughter & I put about 50 games on it last night. I had never played a Centaur before... I heard it's tough game & can see it has some tough shots, but multiball is quite fun once you get there. I admit I had to do some mechanical switch pushing to hit 5 ball Multi as I'm not that skilled of a player....but man that's fun with that many balls out.
I did a minor polish on the lockdown bar, but did not go for the full mirror polished look. I think works well on this machine.
My phone camera really does'nt like the Comet 4 SMD's in the feature lamps, & makes them appear washed out, but person they look awesome as usual.
Also the Plastics on the game in the pics are the originals. The owner accidentally had the new CPR's sent to his house instead of me, so he is just going to install them after he gets the game.
I have 2 rollover switches I want to adjust & game is done as far as I'm taking it. The owner seems to like fine tuning & I hate fine tuning so I'll leave that up to him. But actually the game is playing fantastic I don't think he will have to do much, just personal preference type stuff.
Was definitely an interesting game to restore. Can't say I'm in any hurry to do another Centaur but at least I can check this one off my list & add it to the memory bank of how it all works etc.
I think the game turned out Beautiful & I think the owner will be very happy when he gets it home & setup & gets to see it in person.
My Goal with these restorations is to test techniques, learn with every one & try to get better with every one & there are definitely areas of improvement in this game over my previous stuff. Nothing major, but these games are always learning tool & I appreciate the owners working with me & allowing me to do them & understanding that I don't o these for a living & I know they always take way longer than anyone anticipates or wants. But I am glad to see that Pinball in general is a hobby where people understand pinball does'nt happen overnight. The results IMO are worth the wait.
IMG_20210725_181325 (resized).jpgIMG_20210725_181353 (resized).jpgIMG_20210725_181431 (resized).jpgIMG_20210725_181517 (resized).jpgIMG_20210725_181640 (resized).jpgIMG_20210725_183538 (resized).jpgIMG_20210725_183611 (resized).jpgIMG_20210725_194625 (resized).jpgForgotten coin door pic.
& yes.... next up is to finish Rob's Flash Gordon Cab & Backbox, along with Tom's Backbox. Tom's was originally a Viking BB & had some interior repair work that I had to buy some wood for to finish it.
After that, Cheetah PF is ready to go on the rotisserie & begin re-assembly of it now that the clear has cured.
I have a STARS to do for a Pinsider that was dropped off a couple months ago & I have not had time to disassemble yet & an Eight Ball Deluxe LE as well for a Pinsider that I'm picking up on Friday at Allentown. The EBD LE will be cool as we are not going to do factory Gold on it, going to switch up the colors to make it look better.
So those are the next projects in line.
Somewhere in between all those I will eventually get back on my own Evel Knievel & Bobby Orr Power Play. Those 2 games will be for sale when done, realistically maybe one by end of year & other in the beginning of 2022 or possibly both in 2022. The Orr is getting a cleared CPR PF & full resto, & the EK is getting a cleared Hardtop & full resto.
I believe there is a Skateball & possibly a Quicksilver in the works as well to add to the list later this year.
I will have my players condition Flight 2000 for sale at Allentown in our Flea Market spaces along the back wall. Would love to trade it for a Stingray/Magic or a Trident if anyone has one & would rather have a F2K. Tom & I's space will be full of Bally & Stern early SS parts.
I'm sure someone will buy F2K & possibly use it for a Cheetah build. I debated doing that myself, but just have too many irons in the fire already, I don't need to go down that time consuming road. Maybe if I did'nt have the Bobby Orr, or the EK Or the Playboy I also need to restore for my collection I'd do something with it.
Never a shortage of pins to work on. I usually don't get as much Pin work done in the Summer for obvious reasons of nice weather & longer days to be able to do stuff outside around the house. I just finished building a flight of exterior steps & a landing to the back of my garage to provide better attic access. Partially for pin part storage as you can just never have enough room. That ate up a bunch of lumber & spare weekend days. As well as we just added another 22 tons of stone to our driveway to expand it & it already had 110 tons on it to begin with from the last few years. That took a while to move... moved it all by hand with a shovel & a small cart behind my lawnmower. My neighbors think I'm nuts moving that by hand... but a little hard work never hurt anybody.
IMG_20210726_210502 (resized).jpgIt's like a Flash Gordon factory in the paint booth right now...... Got Tom's & Rob's back boxes shot in red. Rob's has some black stencil work on it so far, Tom's will be right behind it tonight for black & then onto the Gold.
IMG_20210816_194849 (resized).jpgIMG_20210816_194855 (resized).jpgIMG_20210816_194918 (resized).jpgOne of the next 2 victims in line for restoration..... just started tearing down to see what I've got to work with. Rear of cabinet is pretty rough, but other than that, I like it. We are not going to go with original paint scheme on this one as the overwhelming amounts of gold are tacky. Final color scheme is to be determined, but whatever we do I'm sure it will look better than Bally's red on gold look.
IMG_20210816_221033 (resized).jpgQuoted from WeatherbyMAG:It's like a Flash Gordon factory in the paint booth right now...... Got Tom's & Rob's back boxes shot in red. Rob's has some black stencil work on it so far, Tom's will be right behind it tonight for black & then onto the Gold.
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Now that’s what FG should look like not that funky watermelon color mine was. Looks great.
Quoted from Flash71:Now that’s what FG should look like not that funky watermelon color mine was. Looks great.
Oh, thanks for reminding me my friend, I need to add your half of that custom paint mix to your bill! 
Starting to re-populate Cheetah CPR PF. As usual most of the dimple locations are off by a decent amount, so I just mark them where they need to go & drill there.
I'm not going to use the 40 year old Stern lamp holders for the main bonus countdown & the scoring "card" area, just doing new individual sockets instead.
IMG_20210819_213053 (resized).jpgIMG_20210819_213130 (resized).jpgIMG_20210819_213135 (resized).jpgQuoted from WeatherbyMAG:Starting to re-populate Cheetah CPR PF. As usual most of the dimple locations are off by a decent amount, so I just mark them where they need to go & drill there.
I'm not going to use the 40 year old Stern lamp holders for the main bonus countdown & the scoring "card" area, just doing new individual sockets instead.
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Any chance you can share those socket totals for cheetah? I’m getting ready to start mine as well.
Ryan, another bunch of great looking progress photos. For what it's worth, I always apply a small amount of solder to any new lamp socket (or switch tab) before installing. It is so much easier for the new wire or ground braid to melt to the socket since the whole playfield is not trying to absorb the heat from your soldering iron. I know it might seem like a lot of pre-installation work, but you can knock it out quickly if you have a small clamp or setup a scrap wood jig to hold a bunch of items in a single row.
I can also recommend a solder sucker and solder wick to help if you feel like you are concerned about getting too much solder on tabs where screws go. Reach out if you are interested.
Keep up the great work and great photos!
Sockets are'nt quiet done yet, I ran out of flush mount ones last night as well as time. There are at least I think 4-5 staple sockets that have not been put on yet as well as at least 1 if not 2 flush mounts in those pics.
I'll get a count here when I work on it again.
Quoted from WeatherbyMAG:Sockets are'nt quiet done yet, I ran out of flush mount ones last night as well as time. There are at least I think 4-5 staple sockets that have not been put on yet as well as at least 1 if not 2 flush mounts in those pics.
I'll get a count here when I work on it again.
Thanks! I have my flats and my inserts it’s those short ones for GI at the slings that I’ve been struggling to find lately.
Both FG Backboxes are now fully painted & ready for clear.
IMG_20210822_121004 (resized).jpgCheetah wiring harness ultrasonic cleaned & the basic wiring layout getting setup. Have not addressed any switches etc yet, & half the zip ties still need replaced.... so don't look too close but it's gotta start somewhere.
Normally I would have the mechs on before I do the harness, but I did'nt take the greatest pics of this PF underside when I took them a couple years ago & so doing it this way will allow me to make sure the harness is all laid out correctly on the PF & not have to worry about the mechs being in the way etc.
These Sterns have so much extra wire & these things look like a rats nest from the factory... tried my best to clean things up a bit routing wise.
IMG_20210825_210947 (resized).jpgIMG_20210825_210957 (resized).jpgIMG_20210825_211003 (resized).jpgIMG_20210825_211012 (resized).jpgThank you for taking and sharing pics like this of your Cheetah project. I just scored a harness to build one up and these will be immensely helpful!
Quoted from Flash71:Where do you get the plastic wire holders ? Looks great.
Zip ties. I think an HVAC guy would have those in the tool box. 
Quoted from Flash71:Where do you get the plastic wire holders ? Looks great.
They are called Nylon Cable Clamps. Tacoma Screw Products carries quite a few of them in different diameters:
https://www.tacomascrew.com/Catalog/electrical/clamps/nylon
Other electrical distributors stock them too. So check with Grainger, McMaster-Carr, Digi-Key, Mouser, Jameco, etc.
You can buy those nylon cable clamps at many vendors...... but my personal favorite is the local big box store.....
Our local one stocks 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 5/8", 3/4" & 1"
These are the 1/4" version:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-12-Pack-Plastic-Full-Clamp/3013247
This one has been sitting a few months awaiting tear down for restoration.
Pretty decent players machine. Will be nice change of pace from the Flash Gordon/Centaur/Cheetah/EBD LE stuff I have been doing recently. Sooooo much more simplistic.
IMG_20210912_141824 (resized).jpgIMG_20210912_141829 (resized).jpgIMG_20210912_142114 (resized).jpgPF was pretty decent. Got it stripped, but only to use the components.
This game is getting a new CPR that hopefully is being finished at Ron Kruzman's fairly soon.
Wiring harness on this game weighs 1/3 what the harnesses weigh on the last few games I have worked on. This game is going to be such a refreshing change of pace.
IMG_20210912_151400 (resized).jpgIMG_20210912_172207 (resized).jpgIMG_20210912_172219 (resized).jpgQuoted from WeatherbyMAG:PF was pretty decent. Got it stripped, but only to use the components.
This game is getting a new CPR that hopefully is being finished at Ron Kruzman's fairly soon.
Wiring harness on this game weighs 1/3 what the harnesses weigh on the last few games I have worked on. This game is going to be such a refreshing change of pace.
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Looking forward to seeing stars progress now that the playfield is on its way!!
I keep up with the progress both here and in person (cheetah and sorcerer are mine, stars was mine). I just can’t say thank you enough to Ryan. The man is a beast, a machine. His work ethic and abilities are awesome. He just keeps pumping out these beauties and just does awesome work!
Ryan, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Well as anyone who knows me know, I get more done in the Winters than Summers & I'm sure the temps will be breaking here soon. Trying to get re-motivated & back into it hardcore for next 5 months or so.
I don't do this stuff for a living, it's an on again off again hobby for me, sometimes I find motivation hard.
Cheetah is moving along, just eats up hours as all these machines do.
Need to get coil wrappers printed for the flipper mechs, get them wired up etc. Have the last 2 drop mechs torn apart right now for rebuild.
Finishing off the 2 FG Cab projects is next up this week.
IMG_20211010_163032 (resized).jpgIMG_20211010_163521 (resized).jpgIMG_20211010_163635 (resized).jpgIMG_20211010_163642 (resized).jpgIMG_20211010_163652 (resized).jpgIMG_20211010_163658 (resized).jpgThe topside has been a time consuming bitch as well. These are not the final rubbers or post caps, they are just there to get measurements for Titans. Hole sizes in the CPR plastics for the standoffs are all over place, some too small & require drilling out, some way too big. Some of the PF metal was missing from this machine when it was bought few years ago as a parts machine so I'm trying to cobble up enough stuff to make it complete.
Just bought wood last night to make new PF rails for it as the originals are trashed.
IMG_20211010_163227 (resized).jpgIMG_20211010_163259 (resized).jpgIMG_20211010_163319 (resized).jpgIMG_20211010_163333 (resized).jpgGot the new wrappers made for the flipper coils, got them wired up. Finished off the 5 target main drop bank with memory & installed it. Still need to go through the actual target switches & get them wired, I'm out of diodes so I ordered 100 more from PBL yesterday. I added a wire loom to underside of target bank so the wires do not have a chance to chafe on the edge of the target bank.
One more target bank to go & some minor stuff up at the top of underside of PF that I can't get to while it's held on the rotisserie & the underside is about done.
IMG_20211012_204808 (resized).jpgIMG_20211012_204820 (resized).jpgIMG_20211012_204825 (resized).jpgIMG_20211012_204834 (resized).jpgIMG_20211012_204925 (resized).jpgWanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
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Julian, PA