Need help finding a cheap pinball

[deadkenndys1105]

Im planning my next project that I wanna start when I im done with my MAME cab.  I need to find the cheapest pinball thats not one of the old school 60's style pins because I just couldnt mod one of those.  It would kill me inside.  I dont know much about pins so it would have to be working or an easy fix.  I could fix the play feild and a few things like that but the electronics im kinda scared of.. I have been looking around the web and havnt found what I have wanted.  The theme of the pin would be 80's arcades.  I got this crazy idea from the futarma pinball mod. Its a mod of a superman pinball.

[PCtech]

Hmmmmmm, some here may disagree, but I see 3 problems with what you are looking for:

1) You want cheap, and mostly working....good luck  , from my experience, you will have to find someone who doesn't know what they have (not uncommon), and con them out of a working unit.  Anyone who knows what they have, and it works, won't let it go for cheap.

2) Although the older pins are "classics", and I wouldn't chop one up, they will have less digital electronics, and more old fashioned solid-state (no circuit boards).
May want to look into that (pre 1978)

3) If you don't know much about pins, you might want  to hold off.  From my experience, pins are more complex than arcade games (depends on who you ask), but I've worked on both, and I prefer arcades.  For example....If I wanted to modify, and trick out a '65 Corvette, I would be the LAST person to do it, cause I don't know squat about cars, and would hate to ruin a piece of "art".

Hope this doesn't discourage you, but please be sure what you are dong before you hack a pinball...you will hate yourself if you don't...here is a good link for buy/sell...I've used them before, with good luck.

http://www.xmission.com/~daina/classified/index.html

I got a 1976 Mars Trek (a little older than what you are looking for) for $100, mint condition...someone was selling, didn't know what they had.....good luck!

[XtraSmiley]

Nah, shouldn't be to hard.  I'm in MD and there are always cheap working pins under $100 here.

They are beat to ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and the playfields are crap, but that is perfect for you.  I guess it just depends on where you live.  Look at the Mr. Pinball classifieds and your local paper.

Don't forget to post pictures when you are done!

[yugffuts]

Read this thread, and see if it gives you some idea(s):

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=51210.0

[deadkenndys1105]

I think i know someone that I might be able to get a pin off of for kinda cheap.  I havnt talked to her in about 3 years tho.

[USSEnterprise]

Here's the way I see it with the electromechanical machines: No chips, transistors, or other solid state components that can go bad, but expect a few thousand feet of wire. It depends on if you are better with tracing circuits or diagnosing electronic components

[ChadTower]

No more wire than in an SS.  In fact, an SS will have so many more playfield elements that it has more wire.

[USSEnterprise]

but an EM has hundreds upon hundreds of switches, all of which are wired together. At least a SS has many of the components on printed circuit boards