OG Play pinball because you are a boy

[bobbyb13]

Love how campy this one is.
Termite eaten and sunburned of course, so I'm building a new box and got stencils.
Wheeee!

[TacoTownCharlie]

We’re not here for your articles, send pictures!
TTC


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bobbyb13]

I"ve tried Tony!
My pictures won't pass the test, even after some manipulation.
I'll try again harder after dinner.
There are more photos because this project also has snowballed to silly proportions- as expected.

And nice to see a post from you fine sir!

We’re not here for your articles, send pictures!
TTC


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bobbyb13]

Maybe THIS will work?

So this machine has a story already.

Chapter 1
Over a year ago this beast was listed on craigslist- so of course I had to go look.
A really odd haole (not from here white guy) who lived on the 4th floor of an old block apartment building in town (with his wife- who was a slightly younger than him Japanese woman who looked really pissed off about the whole situation) had this thing in the living room of what felt like a 400 sq ft studio.

It looked like a fun project but it needed a LOT.
Obvious termite damage (maybe still unmitigated even?!) a beat up playfield, broken plastics and rubbers, burned out bulbs, sound messed up, delaming backglass, etc.
The guy wanted far too much for it.
He also refused a polite (and generous!) offer given the thing's condition when I listed the $2k in stuff it would need to be the $3k machine he thought it was.

I left bummed because I knew he would just be destroying it to try to get more $$ out of it since he had NO clue wtf he was doing with anything apparently.

[bobbyb13]

The image thing is just maddening...

So-

Chapter 2

I had written this thing off of course, until a few weeks ago when it popped up on facebook marketplace (which I grudingly check SPECIFICALLY for pins and arcade machines.)
HAD to be the same machine- except now it is on the OTHER (sparsely populated) side of the island.

The guy had only listed it that day and I was apparently the first person to send him a message- and actually had time to go look the next day- a Saturday.

Sure enough- same machine- except this guy (whose name is Guy! and he is a great guy actually) had bought a bunch of parts for it and cleaned the thing up quite a bit.  Way better than I had seen it.

So I asked him, "Where'd you get this?"  His reply?

I had to meet this really odd guy at a storage unit to see it- and he was a mess- really dirty, and stunk like he was homeless.  Said his wife had kicked him out and he was trying to get some $$ out of this thing.

Holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.

He wanted what he had paid for it (less than the first clown wanted!) and was chalking what he spent on it up to getting to play it for a while, and knew it still needed more time and $$ and was ready to pass it on.

I gave him what he was asking for it and loaded it in the Element and brought it home!

Nikki loves it.  Laughs every time she sees it.
Today was "Look! They even gave the girl in the green suit some camel toe!"

Classic.

[bobbyb13]

The stupidity continues-

Chapter 3

So I get the thing home and already I know that even though Guy had treated the thing for termites and there weren't any still chewing away at it that thing has suffered.

The bottom of the cabinet where the bottom dado was cut in was tearing off, the backbox support pieces were like paper mache' in spots, and there was enough termite crap that had spilled back into the coffin in transit that I knew the wood in a bunch of places was in pretty bad shape.

Well, ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, it's only a box, right?  Has to be easier than a video game cabinet, no?

Sure, the magenta color is completely burned out of the cabinet art, but at least I have an original to work from.



Turns out, there are a number of interesting details to a pinball machine cabinet, epecially if you are going to re-engineer it slightly so that you don't have to buy a few really expensive router bits (and maybe you are a little impatient too.)
A little glue and head scratching later and...



But of course if I am going through all of THIS trouble then I can't just leave that nasty playfield (which it turns out has had a bunch of termite damage also) in a NEW cabinet, can I?!



And, the slippery slope steepens.

[pbj]

Theme is a no-go for me, but I’m here to hold your hand and look into your eyes while you ---fudgesicle--- your wallet.

How do the boards look?  As you’re obviously learning, literally everything for that machine has been reproduced. 

I’ll check, I may have some plasma displays laying around.  If I recall correctly, though, the logic on the displays is driven by 5V on each display PCB and you can solder in LEDs and just leave the high voltage disconnected.  (On Williams, all the logic is on the master display board and only high voltage runs out to the displays, so you can’t mix and match those)

Or just buy these…



https://www.wolffpactech.com/6-digit-display-kits



I don’t even bother trying to repair old boards and displays anymore.  But you’re crazier so I’m here for it.

[bobbyb13]

Thanks for chiming in!
The newer Playboy ones are definitely a no-go for me but this one is SO cheesy that it still works, and when Nikki found it funny too I thought screw it.

I figured this could be a skill building exercise I would just sell but surprisingly I like the game play.
Not sure how it stacks up with others from 1978 but the sound, light, mechanics, and scoring are all fun enough to me anyway- certainly for something this vintage.
Even more fun to play with a group of mildly intoxicated people.

As far as the state of the machine goes I have to accept that I enjoy the self-flagellation of something currently beyond my scope.

The last guy had spent all the cheddar to get a few new boards to make (nearly everything) work but didn't know to follow through with replacing the connectors and headers where needed- so that will sort out the remainder of what was flaky.
Even those crazy plasma displays seem to all work- for now anyway.
I need to have a look at those wolf displays again anyway though.

The box and playfield were termite farms for a while as it is so to hell with purist delusions.

The ass-pounding my wallet will suffer is almost entirely in the repro playfield and stenciling the new cabinet I'm nearly done with.
New fasteners are cheap and the effort to strip off, clean, and polish all this other crap to swap over will be fleeting moments of zen for me.

Although I really do want to replace the old bulbs with leds that are the proper color tone of an old incandescent.
Any suggestions on who to give my money to for those pbj?
I have read that I need something to increase load so that they fire completely and don't flicker.

In the meantime I'm expanding on some miter saw stand turned rotisserie examples I have seen to make a pair to use for this and the EBD.

If I can get the freakin picture nazi software to accept something again I'll keep this fiasco more visible.

[pbj]

Well, if he's replaced the MPU and driver board, you may not need to do this, but I recall Bally games require a resistor across each LED to prevent flickering.  I think some of the repro boards fix this problem.

I use "warm white" LEDs from a seller called Gearius on Ali Express (which look suspiciously like those sold by a US seller under a different name and more expensive).  I held out a long, long time but I finally switched all my games over.  Reduces strain on the boards and wiring.  They don't get hot so you don't have to worry about them burning up plastics.  For awhile I had Firepower next to Alien Poker, one with LEDs and the other with incandescents.  I couldn't tell the difference.  When people first started switching over 20 years ago, the LEDs looked terrible.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803150389968.html

 

[bobbyb13]

Geez am I getting old.
Forgot you had mentioned those bulbs previously 
Just ordered a bunch for this and the Eight Ball Deluxe while I was at it.
I need to decide if I'm soldering 100 resistors or buying an Alltek lamp driver board for this as there is still an original in this machine.

Well, if he's replaced the MPU and driver board, you may not need to do this, but I recall Bally games require a resistor across each LED to prevent flickering.  I think some of the repro boards fix this problem.

I use "warm white" LEDs from a seller called Gearius on Ali Express (which look suspiciously like those sold by a US seller under a different name and more expensive).  I held out a long, long time but I finally switched all my games over.  Reduces strain on the boards and wiring.  They don't get hot so you don't have to worry about them burning up plastics.  For awhile I had Firepower next to Alien Poker, one with LEDs and the other with incandescents.  I couldn't tell the difference.  When people first started switching over 20 years ago, the LEDs looked terrible.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803150389968.html

 

I finally (after 4 tries at the saw table last night) succeeded in milling out a new bottom channel piece for the backbox which carries the glass.  That seems to be the only part of the backbox that termites destroyed.
Man was that a pain in the ass to get right.
I also got another coat of white enamel on everything, which was easy on the new coffin but getting the layer of nicotine and latex crap that someone rolled onto the backbox off sucked.

I need to go roll out those stencils so they'll be easy to work with since hopefully this coming week I can be spraying that thing.
Maybe one more layer of white rolled and sanded out and then a last coat of white sprayed for flatness and should be ready for color stenciling.

[pbj]

I can’t remember two hours ago much less some crap I posted here in 2019.

Keep going, I’m close.

 

[bobbyb13]

The whole image thing here keeps getting more painful.
I can't upload anything from my phone anymore no matter how much I mess with it in the editor and even once I endure the drama of getting them onto the pc to post they STILL frequently wind up with crappy aspect squish.

Still working at getting the paint finished on this monster.

Today's unexpected excitement was working on the playfiled rails.
When I rolled the thing over to pull the screws out I discovered that... there were no screws.
Somebody had glued these things on at some point- which I suppose makes sense, given that they were probably as violated by termites as various other parts of this box.

And I thought I was finished with all the wordwooking for this project.
So I got the reproduce those silly rail pieces too.
Joy.
At least they came out ok and were an excuse to actually get to see this magenta colored paint in all its glory.
Holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- is it loud.



I also had gotten around to getting both of the rotisserie things built so I could get these playfields in a spot to start swapping stuff over.

I had forgotten that I really should seal the bottom of the new one with something so it got a really light coat of spar varnish.
Was afraid to roll it on and have gobs dripping though to the topside and destroying something so it got a really light brush treatment.



At least now MAYBE I can start pulling stuff apart now?
It occurred to me also that I'll need to clean these parts up (vinegar bath and rinse?) before I can put them on the new playfield.

Man this is going to take a while.

[Robbbert]

Wow, you're having fun with that machine. I remember playing that game back in the day.

Just one thing you should check - many old MPU boards have a backup battery that rots and destroys the board. Check it out - now!

[bobbyb13]

Still trying to get time to spray the last few coats of white to start with stencil spraying.
It's good to do electrical work for a local guy with large format printers and cutters who actually thinks it is fun to make one off ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.
He can make anything it appears so cabinet art laminates and stencils will continue to get easier for me to have done.

This stuff is taking up way too much space in my workshop given the 20 other open projects I have so I need to get this phase finished up.

Wow, you're having fun with that machine. I remember playing that game back in the day.

Just one thing you should check - many old MPU boards have a backup battery that rots and destroys the board. Check it out - now!

Somebody had replaced all but the lamp driver board already and the new main has nvram so thankfully I don't need to sweat alkaline destruction!

[pbj]

Well, we’re rooting for you in Houston, bro.



 

[bobbyb13]

Outstanding to chat with you guys last night!
I'll need encouragment soon I think.

[bobbyb13]

There must be some rather active bots chasing this thread.
I think we are at a .3% replies vs. views here presently.

Unless Heff's estate is upset that I have used the word Playboy and is hoping to sue me for something.

Why I had completely forgotten that it would be important to tape the backbox off for doing this I couldn't say.
What a pain in the ass.



The aspect ratio distortions of pics here continue to make me nuts.

I finally got some color on this thing.
The extraordinarily irritating part is that I apparently hadn't ground enough of the old crap off of this thing and someone had rolled latex paint onto the thing it appears.

When I pulled the masking off it took a bunch of my base white with it.
 



It looks decent from afar after the pink but the other side is the crappy one, and it happened even more after I did the black layer.

I'll be getting another set for the backbox since I will NOT accept this with all the damn effort going into this machine already.

[Falken Hawke]

My bet would be pron bots 😁...

[pbj]

One time, I tried to scrub cigarette smoke off a Chicago Coin Astronaut.  I finally brought in the belt sander and couldn’t penetrate far enough into the wood to get rid of it.  And then it dawns on you why people entombed these things in latex paint.

Eesh this theme, though.  Played a Six Million Dollar Man at the Houston Expo last weekend.  It’s a fun layout but that Playboy theme.  My high school friend’s older sister was in Playboy.  When I sent him a link they got the site shut down.  Some people have no chill.  She had a huge bush, though!

 

[bobbyb13]

Well, ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, don't tease and not give us year and month of that!

I don't doubt that there are some voracious bots looking for supposed "intellectual property" infringement, but ---fudgesicle--- those people.
I bought an original game, fully licensed by Bally to begin with of course, and my efforts to restore it should be supported by those dipshits since I am only perpetuating their legacy, no matter what I use and from whom it arrives.

They can take a lap around my little white ass if they think I will ever give up the name of anyone providing me with any of the stuff I use to do this the way I please.
 

I'm curious to know how far I may need to go to get paint to stick to that stupid backbox.
At this point I will just say screw it and finish the thing and if I feel like restenciling that part later then fine.
The coffin will look awesome when I'm done at least and with a new playfield it will be a nice machine, even if cheesy!

[Falken Hawke]

Found this online:

https://www.bradthepainter.com/paint-over-smoke-damage/

Looks like light vacuum, clean dry, clean wet, clean again with HD wet stuff, and prime with shellac-based (not synthetic or oil) primer.

Of course you may have already got this, but just in case 😁

[bobbyb13]

The shellac as a base I hadn't heard of before but it makes sense!
I'll get back to that part eventually I guess but it isn't critical for function of course, so 

I was up too late playing games last night so I'm a bit foggy today.

[bobbyb13]

The time this has been taking is making me nuts.
Waiting for paint to dry is irritating as it is (worse if you live somewhere that the humidity has been no lower than 80% for a while now?!) but the 60 hr work weeks have been beating me up.

The GOOD thing about this taking soooo damn long is that I have been forced to be more patient with the whole process than I otherwise would have been I suppose, and now that I am seeing the results of having actually taking that time I can see that a good end with this process requires serious patience.

And plenty of masking tape, a new razor blade and tweezers.

However...



This stuff looks badass when you're done with it.
Need to paint the other side (hopefully tomorrow?!) and then I'm finally ready to start swapping parts over and getting a bunch of space in the shop back.

[jeremymtc]

Main box is looking fantastic! Looking forward to seeing more of this as it's completed.

I used to have a Gottlieb Bronco and can sympathize with the smoke removal hell. Never got fully rid of it, but repeated cleanings and occasional spritzes of citrus odor remover got it tolerable enough to live in the corner of my old shop without a refinish.

[bobbyb13]

Slightly altered title just to see if the licensing bots go away
 

[pbj]

What finally got rid of smoke smell on one of my machines was taking out the mechanisms and pcbs and cleaning them, and replacing all the light bulbs.  That stuff will look clean and pbj will be ---fracking--- if he throws away a working light bulb, but it all heats up and the smell comes back until you replace it or very thoroughly clean them.  If you find yourself hand cleaning 150 tiny light bulbs, it may be time to reconsider life.  Just put them in a plastic bag and pretend you're gonna use them some day.

This stuff also helped a lot.  I just soaked the inside of the cabinets with it:

https://zep.com/products/smoke-odor-eliminator-zusoe16

I have also heard that steam cleaners can be used on the wiring.  I've never taken it that far.  Those still have some lingering stank but you don't notice it until you've got the playfield up and you're next to it.

[bobbyb13]

I WILL be looking up the Zep stuff.

The beauty of this abomination is that the coffin would have harbored the most pungent of fumes and the original was so termite chewed and UV roasted that it may become a planter now that I have made a sexy replacement.

Preservationists turn your heads, but I was going to outlive this fetid OG Bally box already so out it goes.

The backbox doesn't smell like a two pack a day lung but dammed if paint would stick to it.
I may just build a new one of those too if I live long enough.

Never would've considered the noxious bulb film either pbj but boy doesn't that make sense.
Wonderful part is that I ordered a few boxes of LED things from the Gearuis guy (is that a French chap in China or some Guangdong guy who can't type?!) so I can toss all those incadescent heat pumps and not give a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.
I am going to toss a few boxes of useless ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- here over the next few weeks.

I spent far too much cheddar on a new playfield for this thing as it is and no way in all that is holy will I be roasting my precious freshly urethaned wood with some crappy old bulbs when I can have new tech that is indistinguishable from the old crap in color tone and is cool as a cucumber.
LEDs  FTW!

What finally got rid of smoke smell on one of my machines was taking out the mechanisms and pcbs and cleaning them, and replacing all the light bulbs.  That stuff will look clean and pbj will be ---fracking--- if he throws away a working light bulb, but it all heats up and the smell comes back until you replace it or very thoroughly clean them.  If you find yourself hand cleaning 150 tiny light bulbs, it may be time to reconsider life.  Just put them in a plastic bag and pretend you're gonna use them some day.

This stuff also helped a lot.  I just soaked the inside of the cabinets with it:

https://zep.com/products/smoke-odor-eliminator-zusoe16

I have also heard that steam cleaners can be used on the wiring.  I've never taken it that far.  Those still have some lingering stank but you don't notice it until you've got the playfield up and you're next to it.

[bobbyb13]

With all the stuff that I thought was cool with video machine crap that I built THIS stupid thread gets more views than all my other trash.
Go bots.

And holy crap, did I wind up with a post that doesn't involve dumb aspect ratio twisting?!

Anyway, I have suffered enough that I have a fwe days off of work and it hasn't rained much again recently either so I'm not suffering too much grass torture.

Love getting time to get projects out of my way.  NEVER thought that this thing would be running into such a saga of time between work stints.

I had some issue with glue coming off the mask of my stencils but after working through practically every solvent I had in the shop I arrived at naptha or mineral spirits being good to get the glue off and not solubilize my lovely stencil work.

I also bought a fresh loop of ground braid and decided that if I was going this deep I might as well replace all the screws too and make the rest of it prettier than it was when I got it.

The only part that really freaked me out about getting all this stuff back into the coffin was making sure that the plunger was going to line up with the shooter lane properly.
I did need to bore out the diamond shaped hole the plunger mounts through to get it good but I think it will be fine once I get the playfield stuff all swapped over.



I took the time to clean up the harness and I only really need to repin the connectors and reseat a few wires that someone had bypassed previously (why I still haven't sorted out actually.)



Once I had all of that back together and succeeded in getting the coind door seated and swinging nicely I figured it was time to drop the backbox on it and see if those holes lined up too.
Seems to be coming together finally.



With all the crap I have ordered for this thing already you would think I could've remembered to get some cabinet protectors and new leg bolts.
Lord knows I'm missing other stuff that I will only remember the day after I order some more bits and get porked for some more Djibouti level shipping costs.

Ah... if pinball machines could sink then they would have the same all encompassing neuroses inducing vibe as boats.

[Mike A]

The best pinball machine is the one your friend owns.

Just like boats.

Hehe.

Nice work so far.

[pbj]

Any original parts going to be left in this thing?   

Beautiful work.  There is an actually fun game on the other side of this, I promise.

 

[bobbyb13]

Thank you gents!
So many parts had already been swapped out by the time I got this thing that at least reconstructing the bug eaten carcass seemed appropriate, but other than that I'm only replacing the lamp driver board with a new Alltek so that I can run warm white LEDs in it.
When I saw I could also get a new playfield to replace this slightly chewed but worn and yellowed one then it was game on.
The guys at CPR up in the GWN were great to deal with and the playfield really is a thing of beauty.

Of course at the rate things are going there may be no original wood left by the time I'm done though.