Restoration of old United Manufacturing Co Bowling Game - Finished!

[markronz]

I've got real reel problems.  ha.

Ok, I'm starting to restore my grandma's old bowling game.  It was made by United Manufacturing Co, somewhere around 1950-1960 we're guessing.    For the most part it works pretty well.  The outside of the machine is in pretty decent condition.  There are some pictures attached of the machine.   The main problem with the machine is that the reel's for the scores don't seem to work all that good any more.  If you look in the second picture below, you can even see that the numbers are caught in between numbers.   It does actually make an attempt to score the correct thing, and often it does, but sometimes the reel gets caught up and doesn't make it all the way around.  A picture of one of the reels is shown in the third picture below.  The inside of the machine is old and dusty as you'd imagine, but the reels themselves look fairly clean.   

Anyway, I need to work on the reels to see if I can get them to spin correctly.  Does anyone have any tips for me on how I might do that?   Do I use any specific kind of oil?   Any other kinds of tips to give me?

Thanks!  Let me know if you need to know any more details!

[markronz]

I believe I've found the information I was looking for.   There is a DVD available for sale on how to fix these old bowler machines.  It's the TOP #8 repair dvd available here.

http://www.pinrepair.com/bowl/bowlall.htm

Just posting this information here in case anyone down the road ever runs across something similar.   I've also been told that the manufacturers used some lubricants/grease that would harden over time and freeze up the score reels, and that this is a common problem.   I was told I could use a product called PB Blaster (found at Home Depot or the like) and could paintbrush it onto the score reel mech that's acting up to hopefully free up the reels. 

So I think I've got all the information I need for now!

[molton]

Nice, you have to restore that one.  Beer Frame?  That is a great innovation that we don't see anymore in arcade games.

[markronz]

Yeah I think in real bowling the beer frame is where only one person on a team misses getting their strike.   That player is supposed to go buy the other players a beer.  I'm not sure when exactly that lights up for this game yet.  Since there's only two players I don't really know when it would come into play.  If player 1 gets a strike and player 2 misses it?  I don't know, seems like the light would be on potentially a lot.  Anyway, I like that it's there, even if I don't know how it works yet!   The game thankfully does work pretty well aside from my problems with the reels.  So hopefully I will be able to get that resolved.

[molton]

I was thinking it was a frame that gave you more time to drink some beer

[compute]

EM repair usually starts with cleaning and rebuilding the stepper units, such as score reels and advancing units.  I suggest reading the beginning EM pinball repair info, as well.  The games work essentially the same, at the unit/relay level.  There's an EM forum over at KLOV, as well as an EM pinball group on Yahoo.  You might also try rec.games.pinball if you can't find any help there.  Good luck!

PS:  I wish my grandma had an EM bowler.

[markronz]

PS:  I wish my grandma had an EM bowler.

I have a great thread over on KLOV about this restoration but for completeness I thought I'd update this one just in case any of you were curious too.   I updated my website with lots more pictures of the machine and lots of other information.  Just wanted to post the link in case anyone wanted to see it all.

http://www.markronsman.com/BowlingMachine/BowlerMachine.htm

[markronz]

I finished working on this machine last night and just thought I'd share an update!  It was really special for me to play it against my Grandma last night and have it work great!   Overall I'd say the project could be considered a perfect....


Sorry, just needed an excuse to use that little picture I made. 

Ok, if anyone cares to read all the details about the update on my restoration, you can do so on my webpage located here.   Most of it won't be too exciting for you all, since you've seen this sort of stuff before, or even done it yourself.  But still I just wanted to share a few photos of the final product!   Really the main improvement is that the game functions and scores correctly, but still there have definitely been some visual improvements with the pins and such.

It looks so much better now that I've polished the pins and replaced that yellow pin guard!


Here's a great picture of the pins and guard looking all clean and new:


Just another picture for good measure.


I just liked the perspective of this photo.   Some of these bulbs were burned out when I started to work on the machine and having them all lit combined with all the other clean parts just makes the pins look awesome.


And here's what it's all about!   My grandma next to the restored machine.   Had she been positioned just a little bit to the left it would have looked like she has antlers.     It's been great spending more time over there with her, and was most enjoyable bowling a few games against her now that it's completed!  I won't tell you who won...