With four weeks off over the Christmas break, it is the perfect opportunity to continue with the overhaul of my Bride of Pinbot 2.0. The plan was to try and do the next few phases of the overhaul in smaller chunks, avoiding the downside of having the game off line for long periods. But this update turned out to be much bigger than expected and has been split into two updates. This happened mainly because getting the top layers off the playfield was a pain and having to put them back on only to remove a few days later for the next phase would create a whole heap of extra work. So once I realised I was in up to my elbows, I decided to keep going. Starting off small though, the first assembly on my hit list for this update is the shooter rod.
lamps
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I can always tell the level of enjoyment I get working on a machine by how much it consumes my free time. Funhouse has been consuming a lot of my free time over the last few weeks which means progress has been good. So I’m back again with the third update. In this update, I’ll be focusing on the playfield area (and assemblies) in the middle stretch of the playfield. This includes the right scoop, pop bumpers and left upper flipper. There are various plastics and metal posts that will need to be removed and cleaned. There is also a ramp that runs below the playfield connecting other assemblies to the scoop which I’ll remove and clean too.
My recent pinball updates have been infrequent, which isn’t common for me as I like to keep on top of them. Usually my updates sit around 1 -2 weeks behind my actual progress. The Sopranos machines have been coming along well and I have plenty of content to get more posts up – I’ve just been a little slack in writing. Not slack on the actually physical side though and have been going non stop on doing various pinball things for people. To help get back into the swing of regular updates again, I’ve decided to start tracking the next machine in the queue since it’s so fresh in my mind. This next machine I’m working on is one I’m extremely excited about. This time I’ll be doing a repair & service on a “Funhouse” from Williams pinball. Released at the end of 1990 and over 10,000 units made, it’s a game I’ve been really looking forward to working on since the owner mentioned it to me a few months back. As with a number of my previous write ups, this isn’t a fancy restoration, nor a basic service as it sits somewhere in between. I’ll be working my way through each assembly and playfield part on the machine, cleaning and repairing as I go. Various things will get a face lift while staying within a budget. The game is quite dirty (although I have seen much worse) but is in a mostly working state.
After finishing work on Baywatch recently and sending the machine on its way back home to the owner, it was time to advance to the next game in the queue. Only this time it’s not one, but two machines, making this a double repair & service log for The Sopranos. I have to admit – I’ve never watched the show and haven’t really been interested in it. But the game looks like it’s got some fun shots and lots of things to do during play. The owner of these machines will be keeping one (the machine on the right) and the other will be sold once my work on it is complete. Working on two of the same game at the same time makes sense as it saves the owner money in parts postage and also some time as I can do the same task on both machines together. Similar to my other threads, this isn’t a restore, but the game will be pulled apart, cleaned, serviced and rebuilt. Broken and worn parts will be replaced. Missing parts will be sourced where possible and anything interesting will be pointed out. The games arrived to me mostly working, with only a few minor faults to address before I get stuck in to them. They are in reasonably good condition (mainly dirty) – so should come up looking great for the owner once done.
It’s time to get into some heavy duty cleaning on Baywatch. The only way to do that, is get everything off the playfield so I have unrestricted access to the lot. People can underestimate how long this process takes, especially on DMD era machines. Pulling a playfield down can be quick, but cleaning everything and getting it all back on (in the correct layout and order) takes up more time than you expect. As always, it’s best to take a lot of photos along the way with this process. I prefer to do the playfield areas in smaller batches, but due to the number of ramps and rails, it isn’t possible here. The lower playfield area and apron have been dealt with in previous updates, so now I have the top two thirds to contend with. Although the machine is dirty, it’s going to clean up nicely.
