I went into the first update with quite a bit of momentum, but that was slowed down somewhat for this second update. As is often the case, life enjoys serving up a combination of things like family events, illness and work all at once to get in the way. What I’ve taken to doing though is breaking all the bigger tasks down into many smaller tasks (and breaking them down even further into more smaller tasks) that can be done independently. That way even if I only have 20 minutes in a day to make some progress, I can select a handful of small tasks to do which helps keep progress happening. In this update I’ll be focusing on the middle section of the playfield. There’s a number of assemblies on both sides to look at which should fill this update up pretty quickly. Both sides have large plastic moulds that help decorate the playfield and bring it to life. There are also a few ramps and rails that will need to be removed at this point as they will be in the way. Time to get in to it.
I decided to start with the left side of the playfield. The large plastic mould here is used to decorate the playfield and also cover up some of the rails and assemblies. It’s attached with a few screws, so is simple to remove. The large metal rail will also need to be removed now to get it out of the way.
Below the mould, we find a VUK that feeds a ball onto the large rail. There’s also the receiving end of the mist ball, a scoop and a 3 bank of targets.
The plastic and VUK wireform were removed next. The playfield below isn’t too dirty.
The remaining playfield parts were removed and set aside for cleaning.
There are two sets of target banks on the game. The second set (which i’ll cover in the next update) has a broken target on it. When dropping the machine off, the owner requested a full set of new stand up targets to be installed on each. The old targets were replaced one by one.
The first assembly to look at from this section of the playfield is the VUK.
The VUK was disassembled and all parts cleaned. A new coil sleeve and rubber grommet were purchased to replace the old ones. The two optos were also wiped clean to remove and filth.
The other assembly from this section of the playfield was the scoop.
The scoop was disassembled and the parts cleaned. Again a new coil sleeve and rubber grommet were purchased to replace the old ones. The two optos were also wiped clean to remove and filth.
Since the playfield was stripped, now was a perfect time to clean it up. Nifti, Novus 2 and Novus 1 cleaned it up nicely.
The small metal playfield parts went through the tumbler for cleaning, while the large piece was cleaned by hand. New red star posts were purchased, along with blue post sleeves.
The metal wireform that sits above the VUK was cleaned and then the playfield parts were assembled back into position. A clear washer was added to the corners to help prevent future breaking of the plastic.
The game was powered on to test the switches on the replaced targets and optos in the area.
I’ll be leaving the plastic piece off for now until I’m ready to get the ramps back on. While I had the game switched on, I went in to test mode and checked the new targets along with the opto switches that were touched as part of the cleaning to ensure they were all working correctly. Now that the left side was complete, it’s time to look at the right. This section has a number of assemblies that will need to be cleaned up, along with several ramps and rails to remove. First up is a rail that leads to a 3 ball lock.
The large plastic decoration was removed first. There’s a set of 3 optos here and an up/down post that form the lock.
The rail and large ramp were removed next, which will now allow me clear access to the right side of the playfield. It also opens up access to the top area for the next update.
The plastic was removed next, showing some very tired looking rubbers.
The small plastic ramp and playfield parts were removed next and set aside for cleaning.
The remaining metal rails were removed, along with the metal ramp. The playfield in this area was now stripped ready for cleaning.
Nifti, Novus 2 and Novus 1 made easy work of the filth and it was looking nice again. Now to get the assemblies and parts cleaned up so it can be rebuilt.
The game hasn’t always been stored in the best conditions over it’s life. There is noticeable corrosion across a number of the metal parts within assemblies and general metal parts below the playfield. Some lamp sockets have developed quite a bit of rust.
For the sockets that are worst hit, I’m replacing them.
The metal rails and ramp were up next for cleaning. This is the ramp that lifts and allows the game to load the mist captive ball.
Gearing up to start rebuilding the playfield, the playfield parts were gathered together. All metal parts went through the tumbler for cleaning. New red star posts were purchased, along with sleeve posts. The old burnt flashers will be replaced with new #89’s.
The 3 ball lock post assembly and mist ball gate were up next for cleaning. The metal parts went through the tumbler and new coil sleeves were purchased to replace the old ones.
The next assembly to look at is the scoop that sits in front of the mist ball. The scoop was disassembled and cleaned. A new coil sleeve and rubber grommet were purchased to replace the old ones.
Last assembly for cleaning was the ramp lift assembly. A new coil sleeve and rubber grommet were purchased to replace the old ones.
The nylon section of the original plunger had a crack through one side, so this was replaced.
With all the assemblies, parts and playfield now cleaned, it was time to rebuild everything on the right side of the playfield.
The game was then switched on and the opto switches tested to ensure they were aligned correctly. As with the left side, i’ll be leaving the plastic piece off for now until I’m ready to get the ramps back on.
The the major stuff for this update covered off. I’d like to include a few smaller tasks too. First up are the 2 subway ramps that live below the playfield. These ramps love to collect filth over years of use and are rarely cleaned.
Nifti, Novus 2 and Novus 1 cleaned both ramps up nicely and they are ready to go back onto the machine.
While on the subject of the subway ramps, there are two metal catchers that collect the ball and feed it into the subway ramps. One of these has taken a ready belting over the years with one of the metal arms used to attach it to the playfield being broken.
On the underside, you can see a large visible dent made from the ball hitting it so often.
The arm was welded back onto the catcher and is now ready to be installed back into the game.
One last thing to round out this update is cleaning the lamp boards. These boards love to collect black dust, so each was removed and cleaned.
While I clean the lamp boards, I also clean the underside of each insert. These also love to collect black dust.
A quick wipe with some isopropyl alcohol and a cloth gets them looking clean again.
That’s another long winded update completed. In the next update I’ll be focusing on the upper playfield area and removing just about everything (if not all) that covers it. I’ll be rebuilding the pop bumpers, ramp assembly and drop target assemblies. The three bank of targets need to be done too, along with playfield cleaning. I think there’s enough work left to do on the game to provide content for another two updates.