For Sale – “Counterforce” by Gottlieb. Released in 1980 and is part of their “Star80” widebody series.
The machine has been completely rebuilt, with all assemblies dismantled, cleaned and worn parts replaced. Many new parts installed on the playfield to make it look as close to new as possible. Gameplay is similar to Missile Command and Space Invaders in the Arcade. Hit the 7 bank of targets to destroy incoming missiles and protect your bases (which are your score multipliers).
One of the last things I want to do on Space Orbit is give the playfield a good clean, followed by a polish and wax. The playfield layout on these older machines is quite simple, so removing just about everything from the top is not too difficult. The simplicity also makes it easier to get back on again without too many chances for mistakes. I started out by removing all the plastics, star posts, bulbs and lane guards. The pop bumpers, flippers and ball guides can stay though, i’ll clean around them.
My work on servicing Counterforce is now coming to an end. It’s great news because now I can actually play and enjoy it! This project has gone quite quickly compared to my others (just over 2 months in length). First task for this update was to clean the legs up a bit. They are old and have some rust, but I’ve certainly seen worse. I have a two options I can consider. First is to clean them up and the second is to clear off the rust as much as possible and spray them. I guess a third option is buy a new set – but these legs are still good and I think a clean will do. New legs on a machine with faded and scratched cabinet art won’t look right anyway. Each leg was placed onto my work horse to have the rust cleaned up. This was done mostly with a wire brush attachment for my drill.
Something that has been been on my to do list for awhile is to make a few adjustments to the chimes. Space Orbit has a 3 chime setup (10’s, 100’s and 1000’s). The chimes work fine, but most of the grommets holding the chimes in place have aged and need replacing. Some posts are missing the nylon washers that sit between the grommet and lock nut too and these need to be replaced.
It’s been awhile since my last crap box purchase. I actually wasn’t keen on buying any more as I have built up a large amount of spare second hand parts that have come in handy for my pinball projects. This one however had a few very specific parts I wanted, so I couldn’t resist. At the cost of $12.50AUD, it was hard to go wrong. First up, the largest part here, was a coin door. It’s not in the best condition, but the coin entry and return face plates are in good condition and match those found on my Pinbot machine. This could be useful for parts in the future.
