(Topic ID: 63515)

Williams Stellar Wars... welcome!!!

By Theonlylilo

10 years ago


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Topic Stats

  • 40 posts
  • 12 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by danczaz
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

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#1 10 years ago

Hi everybody!
My name is Loris from Italy. It's my first topic here so I already ask sorry if I wrong something like the section. I Always peeked this great forum, but I don't speak english very well... so I preferred to read your stories than write mine
So.. recently I picked up a Williams Stellar Wars (110 $ approx - 150 euro) to restore completely, to accompany my other Williams pins (Time Warp, Blackout, Alien Poker).
I started immediately to clean the boards (some alkaline leak on the mpu, but repairable) and to clean the cabinet with magic eraser. The next step will be to change the bottom of the wood cabinet because is moist.
One question... I see the picture on ipdb, especially the backglass... in mine there isn't the red colour... is normal???
See you soon guys
Ciao

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#2 10 years ago

Very cool to see. I am scheduled to pick one up for myself on Saturday.

-Hans

#3 10 years ago

I just picked one up last Tuesday... Here is photo of glass

aaaIMG-20130912-01785.jpgaaaIMG-20130912-01785.jpg

#4 10 years ago
Quoted from Theonlylilo:

One question... I see the picture on ipdb, especially the backglass... in mine there isn't the red colour... is normal???

Reds and yellows fade fast.

But, a few LEDs creatively placed can do a lot to restore the colors of a backglass.

Don't buy super bright LEDs and don't fill every lamp socket. Oftentimes only 1/3 of the sockets need be filled for a balanced look.

Great game, BTW!

#5 10 years ago

I actually love this pin...I am over my pin limit and already have a space theme pin so I will be selling a very nice one with lots of color LEDs soon. Fun playing game for the money.

#6 10 years ago

Thanks to all for your suggestions! I never considered leds bulbs for my pins, maybe because they give the idea of an ultra-modern machine, and really it isn't but to return the red on the backglass, it's anice compromise! When I'll clean all the backbox I'll search for leds (the best store to buy them?...)
Yesterday I clean the wooden box. Fortunately I have to change only the piece where the power switch is located.
The old owner (that held the pinball in a henhouse) had completely disassembled the entire Pinball, all wirings, switches... and now all the screws are missing. Which is the exact dimension of the coindoor bolts?

#7 10 years ago

You cant go wrong with cointaker leds for quality.

#8 10 years ago

Check out pinballlife.com...great selection of LED's...You might be able to find some screws there too... I got bolts for legs there and screws for boards.... Yesterday i put all LED's in the back box of Space Shuttle. Looks terriffic. I tried that on some of my other william games and the back glasses (old , start to flake) are just not good enough that you see LED's.. My firepower the red is fading and peeling so I put in red LED's but not in all sockets and it looks a lot better that a regular bulb. I tstick with the regular bulbs that light of plastics on playfield but the LED's can look good on inserts. You have to play around with them... Dan

#9 10 years ago

I've already prepared a little order to "Best of Pinball" here in Europe (fast delivery of course, and resonable shipping costs due to the distance). It would be great to know the measure of screws for electronic boards (they also missing). For the coindoor are 1/4-20 x 1-1/2, right? For the legs fortunately I can't go wrong ! I don't have confidence with your inches dimensions... and is a "big trouble" find a spare parts here!
Meanwhile, I study for the leds...

#10 10 years ago

Let me see if i can get a part number on the Pinball life site then you can see dimensions... I bough a bag of like 100.. very cheap.. you might want to do the same..

#11 10 years ago

Thanks Danczaz!!! Well, I wait before ordering

#12 10 years ago

Didnt see on site.. Ill get a photo and measuements... I have to reinstall all of more StellarWars boards thos weekend ... I'll see do this then...

#13 10 years ago

Just got home with mine, figured I'd bump the thread and keep the love going for SW.

#14 10 years ago

You know, now that I've got one sitting in my game room, it very heavily reminds me of the layout for Superman. I wonder if Steve revisited his older design after being unshackled from Atari's restrictions.

-Hans

#15 10 years ago

I never played with Atari Superman. And I never played with my Stellar Wars yet.
But from the pictures on ipdb, seems the playfields have something similar, you have right! RItchie's hand is clear new design and new idea of continous background sound!
How is your SW?

#16 10 years ago

Mine's going to need some repairs as well, and I work long hours during the week, so I haven't had much time to tinker yet. A couple lamp column issues, switch issues, and needs a battery holder. Playfield will need some touchup as well, but the backglass is in fantastic shape, as is the cabinet.

-Hans

#17 10 years ago

I picked up a Stellar Wars recently for $100 and posted a couple of threads on Pinside looking for cabinet blue prints etc..

Basically my Stellar Wars is almost ready for the rubbish tip.. the cabinet was left outside and is completely ruined.. The playfield is actually pretty good and the back glass is OK apart from the standard fading of reds etc. It doesnt however start and I only get some GI lights when powered on..

Vid has supplied a good guide on what repairs need to take place to get the System 6 board operational so I should be OK there..

What I am kind of stuck with is what to do with the cabinet.. Is it going to be worth doing all the board work and then re-fabbing a brand new cab to get this thing operational? (I've been quoted $650 just to get the pieces cut out in MDF here in Australia)

Does anyone here have a complete set of blueprints for a Stellar Wars cabinet? There are some good ones out there for newer cabs like TZ but I cant seem to find one for Stellar Wars..

Cheers for any advice / help..

#18 10 years ago
Quoted from chinosts:

(I've been quoted $650 just to get the pieces cut out in MDF here in Australia)

That is a crazy amount of money for a cab, especially one made of out MDF (the cheapest sheet good material made).

Locally, I can get brand new cabs made of MDF faced plywood (pre-primed, ready for paint, no sanding necessary) made for $250. All I have to do is assemble.

Quoted from chinosts:

Is it going to be worth doing all the board work and then re-fabbing a brand new cab to get this thing operational?

Only you can answer that question.

If it's your favorite game, then it will be worth all your time/money.

If you are just going to flip it, there are only a few games that will return a profit once you pay yourself for the time.

#19 10 years ago

Hey Vid..

If I restored it, this machine would be going into my collection.. I would not be flipping it any time soon. What I don't want to do is spend all the time and money for something that I could basically buy in better condition to start with..

I've had a couple of quotes for the cab shapes and they are all around the $600 + tax mark.. Total rip off hey! Australia is a rip-off country and probably one of the most expensive countries in the world to live in.. If I could get something for around $250 then I wouldnt even be thinking about it....

That said, I will keep looking and hopefully get someone to cut those shapes out for me cheaper..

Thanks, once again, for your input Vid.. You are legend!

#20 10 years ago
Quoted from chinosts:

Hey Vid..
What I don't want to do is spend all the time and money for something that I could basically buy in better condition to start with..

Put the game on the back burner and keep your eye out for a better specimen.

#21 10 years ago
Quoted from chinosts:

I picked up a Stellar Wars recently for $100

Hi, was that the one from Cedar Vale missing the base? If you paid $100 that's pretty good as he was asking $950 wasn't he?

#22 10 years ago
Quoted from the4horse:

Hi, was that the one from Cedar Vale missing the base? If you paid $100 that's pretty good as he was asking $950 wasn't he?

Yes it is that machine.. He had it listed for $750 but when I got there and took a look I made a one time offer of $100 as it was in real bad shape. As it turns out though it was much worse than I thought. On closer inspection I discovered the cab was non-salvageable. I guess it was worth the gamble for $100.. I probably could get my money back if I sell the play field / back glass separately to someone who already has the machine and needs parts.

Just not sure what I am going to do right now. I might just cut out and build a cab myself.. who cares if it isn't authentic as long as it functions and looks OK.

I've just got to get the thing to start first though..

#23 10 years ago

Yes it is that machine.. He had it listed for $750 but when I got there and took a look I made a one time offer of $100 as it was in real bad shape.

Sorry, I thought it was $950...gutsy offer though! I went and looked and took lots of picks...weird how he had it wrapped in plastic hey? If only he'd stored it better. I would've taken it for $100 too! Were you surprised when you found this in the backbox?

Nest.jpgNest.jpg

#24 10 years ago

I'm come back...
I changed the moist wood piece with new one, cleaned all the cabinet, glued the edges and all the "unstable" pieces, some wood oil to look younger, red painted legs... yeah, looks great!!! I'm waiting for bolts and leg levellers... after I'll put the Pinball im my bedroom (I haven't space in my little basement).
Meanwhile I'm trying to fix the alkaline damage on the mpu board...
However the next step will be clean the backbox from spiders

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1 month later
#25 10 years ago

Hi people! A little update... I finally finished all about the cabinet and cabling part.
The Pinball is located for the moment in my bedroom because I don't have any other space in my "basement".
But every morning is nice to wake up with starships in battle near the nose
Now I'm trying to fix the mpu board. Then, the next step is the playfield. I think I'll take off all the parts for clean better. One advice... what can I do to obtain a smooth surface? The playfield is opaque, and in certain points is "scratchy" on touch. The better way is the clearcoat but... if I don't want to do? Which alternatives?
I can use Novus cleaner 3, then Novus 2? Is sufficient?
Thanks
Loris

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#26 10 years ago

nobody knows advise me how to proceed for the playfield? Which products can I use to polish it, without clearcoating process?

#27 10 years ago

For the playfield, I'd start with Novus 2. After a couple passes with the Novis, you may want to go the extra mile and get some 'magic eraser' (http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Clean-Eraser-Cleaning-8-Count/dp/B001339ZMW/ref=sr_1_1). Use 'em with 95% alcohol. These can clean up the ball swirls Novus can't get. Be careful though as the magic eraser can take off paint if you scrub too hard. One it's nice and clean, use some carnuba wax.

-1
#28 10 years ago

Thank SunKing! I've tried the Magic Eraser on my Alien Poker playfield... the swirls went off away very well!
So, I proceed like your tip... I clean the swirls with eraser, then Novus and wax!
Thanks!
Stay tuned for update

#29 10 years ago

Just be careful with magic eraser. If you use it too aggressively, it can remove paint. Go very easy.

#30 10 years ago

Remove those Gottlieb flippers!

#31 10 years ago

But for remove swirls I have to scratching a little bit... but obviously I don't want a thinning of the paint!

Quoted from MrBally:

Remove those Gottlieb flippers!

Yes, of course!!!

#32 10 years ago

Wait wait wait
Yesterday while I was starting to strip the playfield, I noticed one part is missing. In particular is the piece that block the glass just below the backbox, fixed with screw at the cabinet.
Here attached one example picture to explain better which piece I need.
Anyone could tell me the dimensions? Is made in steel or wood? Is fixed only with the 5 screws on the front, or also laterally?
Thanks again for your patience!!!

image-14.jpgimage-14.jpg
#33 10 years ago

I picked up a stellar wars a couple years ago for $150 with tons of minor problems. I finally got all the issues worked out recently and its actually a fun pin if you look past the terrible artwork. My next step is fixing the tons of playfield inserts that are raised or loose. Red is fading and missing in spots on my backglass too. I did LEDs for the playfield GI and thought it made it look a lot better. Blue LEDs under the lane guides and white for the rest.

1 month later
#34 10 years ago
Quoted from Theonlylilo:

Wait wait wait
Yesterday while I was starting to strip the playfield, I noticed one part is missing. In particular is the piece that block the glass just below the backbox, fixed with screw at the cabinet.
Here attached one example picture to explain better which piece I need.
Anyone could tell me the dimensions? Is made in steel or wood? Is fixed only with the 5 screws on the front, or also laterally?
Thanks again for your patience!!!

image-14.jpg 106 KB

According to the parts manual, that piece is #11-519 Rear Cabinet Molding... basically a piece of wood with 5 holes in it.

1 week later
#35 10 years ago

Thanks. But can you give me some dimensions like the square section? I can go back to the distance between the screws from the holes inside the cabinet...

2 weeks later
#36 10 years ago

Mine is missing that piece too never even noticed that anything was supposed to even be there but its got the 5 screw holes. It looks like it just doubles as a trim piece and maybe to keep the playfield from bouncing around. It doesn't look like it will matter much if it isn't there.

#37 10 years ago

Ok, if it is missing... is not a problem! The game will be played good anyway!
This piece keeps the playfield steady and supports the glass below the backbox. And, last but not least, hides the ground wire and the junction between the different pieces of woods.
I'm picky, I know I want to do the better for this pin...it's the first that I'm restoring from top to bottom!

2 weeks later
#38 10 years ago

Hello to everyone!
I finally finish my Stellar Wars! It's great! I'm very satisfied for the final result... if I remember the bad condition it was!!!
All the electronics fixed, cabinet cleaned, playfield swapped and polished in every single part.
It's my first widebody pinball... it's a quite strange to have this cumbersome pin between the arms! But however is a great shooter game!
Now some pics for you...

I also want to replace 2 broken plastics on the playfield:
- the little in the central position, over the drop targets
- the big one on the upper left corner, over the captive ball.
Both are broken and join at the moment with glue. But if you have them and you want to sell me, please contact me!
Maybe I'll open a new topic for this...

Thanks to all!
Ciao
Loris

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#39 10 years ago

Congrats, it looks great!

2 months later
#40 9 years ago

Finally read the rest of your thread! Sweet!!!

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