I was very excited today to bring a Pinbot machine home – finally – one to call my own.
I’ve been on the look out for one for a number of months now and it was supposed to be the second machine in my “fleet” (…I however went on to buy a lovely Space Orbit and Fireball Classic project when nothing was turning up).
What makes the purchase even better in my eyes however is it’s a project machine. Not content to just buy and play, I’m eager to restore a machine I want to keep for a long time and have the satisfaction of doing the work myself.
An added bonus here too is I’ve not worked on a Williams machine before. I’ve had my head inside a Stern SS, a Bally SS and a Gottlieb EM – so I’m looking forward to becoming familiar with a Williams SS and seeing their take on design.
This project is a lot bigger than the last two machines I’ve worked on, although a lot of the knowledge and skills I’ve picked up from the Nugent and Fireball will serve me well here. It’s quite exciting to have a project of this size on my plate. I expect it will take a lot longer than my time on the Nugent and Fireball Classic (which is still incomplete BTW – encountered a major delay in trying to get someone to print the side art out…).
I don’t plan to do too much on the machine to start with while the Fireball Classic is incomplete, so progress will be slow over the next month or so. But it will gain momentum and working on this machine is going to be a labor of love
But here is the starting point
The cabinet body has usual wear and damage. It’s a machine from 1985, so is closing in on 30 years. I will be purchasing stencils for this since they are available and will be patching cabinet damage before respraying the art. This will also mean removing the side rails, cleaning them and the nails up to give it a nice exterior finish.
Like wise the coin door will need some attention. The art will be redone at the side time as the side panels and the coin door will need some love. The shooter assembly is missing in the photo but is located inside the machine.
All 4 displays are in the head box. These have been tested and are working (at least they passed basic tests). Some of the plastic stand offs are slightly damaged so will replace those, along with all the globes, etc.
On the inside of the headbox, all the boards are present and there is no corrosion. There does seem to be some wiring hacks around a few of the plugs so I’d like to repin them. I know a few people here have done that with their machines successfully so will be drawing on their knowledge when it comes time to address that.
The backglass is missing, but the translite is there. It’s not in minty condition, but it’s not bad. If I come across one (or if they are still sold somewhere), I’d be willing to replace it just because I’m willing to spend a little extra to end up with a jaw dropping machine 😉
Some people will have noticed from an earlier photo that the topper is missing and has been replaced with red and blue lights. I have the proper topper and this will be going on at some point. It needs a good clean.
With the playfield – all the parts and plastics are there, although a few of the plastics have broken parts. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the specific parts and will post up a wanted ad for any specific parts I can’t locate. The mylar is lifting in some sections and a number of the inserts have risen.
I plan to purchase one of those deep throat C clamps. It’s a bit pricey to get them in from overseas, but I think well worth the money given how useful they are for dealing with those raised inserts.
I will be removing the mylar and am considering contacting Savage to clear coat the playfield (when I’m at that stage).
The apron isn’t in bad condition either which is nice.
There is a small amount of playfield damage at the base of the play field. I’ll be investigating getting a sticker done that can sit over that area. I will also look at touch up with a spray gun as I’ve got a playfield for practicing with and may find myself comfortable enough to do that.
To finish off – a box of assorted random playfield parts off another pinbot playfield. These may come in handy, they may not. But I couldn’t pass it up given I’m about to start work on one It has some spare plastics, circuits, switches, posts, screws, caps, vortex ramp, visor and much more.
So this is my starting point. Really looking forward to working on this machine. It’s a big project and will take some time, but the end result will be worth it (I hope).
It’s going to be a fun journey 🙂