The ski lift belt on my Wipe out snapped. Steve Young, Marco no seemed to have this part. I bought a used one Pinside that would work, but for how long? So I decided to see if I could fabricate a new one. So I measured the belt and did some hunting for something similar. I needed a 28" long, 1-1/2" wide belt. The closest thing I could find was a 280J16 belt. Then I needed 16x 1" holes in it. At first I thought I would clamp it between some wood and drill it through, but I worried this would fray the inner fabric of the belt. So I ordered a 1" leather/rubber punch.

Parts:
280J16 Belt - https://beltpalace.com/280j16.html
1" Leather Punch - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004T7WH

IMG_20200226_215853696 (resized).jpg

16 holes and a broken punch later and I had a new belt. My technique improved as I went. The first hole took about 10 minutes of hammering, then I learned to come in with a slight angle so the punch isn't trying to do all the work at once.

IMG_20200227_020041756 (resized).jpg

Installed it in the game and we are back in action! It was difficult to get the belt on the first time, since it's a pretty tight fit. After fighting with it for a bit, we soaked the belt in hot water for 10 minutes then made another attempt which was much more successful.

IMG_20200228_213420167 (resized).jpg

I may do that down the road, but figured for now document it and at least the info is out there now.

Yes, the original belt is much thinner than the belt I used. If I could have found a thinner one I would have, but I just figured it would last that much longer before it broke again.