After completing the remaining work on the Williams Whirlwind recently and the owner taking it home, it was time to move onto the next machine for repair & service. This time I’m looking at a Baywatch machine. Released by SEGA in early 1995 and able to be played by 6 players, it’s got a fairly decent playfield layout and is a lot of fun to play. The game play caught me by surprise as I’m not a huge fan of the theme (I’m sure my teenage self would have been..), but I find myself saying ‘just one more go’ when playing it. That’s a good sign for any game. The machine has been in the owners collection for awhile, crying out for a full service. As you’ve seen in my other threads, I get in and rebuild everything. It’s not a restoration, nor is it just a quick wipe down and fresh rubbers. Each assembly will be stripped, cleaned and worn parts replaced. The playfield will be stripped and everything properly cleaned too. Any game play issues will be sorted out and I’ll also spend some time doing presentation improvements (mostly things the owner has pointed out he wants addressed). Anyway, time to get started.
lamps
All posts tagged lamps
I had planned for this to be the final update on the Whirlwind repair & service, but before I give my focus to testing the game, there were two more presentation things to look at first. One of the final items to address on Whirlwind is the coin door. I had mentioned in previous updates I was going to look at it, but kept putting it off. No longer though. When dropping the machine off, the owner asked me to give the coin door a face lift. He wanted the rivets removed and the holes filled from the coin entry housing. No problem, can do. I wanted to go a little bit further though and replace the pricing plates with something nicer and also replace the two missing bolts from the coin door.
With all the globes on the playfield replaced in a previous update, it was time to give the same treatment to the headbox globes. While most were still working (these will be put aside as spares), I like to swap all the globes over when I get a machine. Maybe a bit of overkill, but I at least then know how old they are. Same goes for the rubbers, ball and batteries (not required here obviously). First step was to get the backglass out. Inside the top panel of the headbox are two metal leavers which you pull out – this then allows the backglass to be lifted.
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.
First item on my to do list for this update is to address a small issue with the the add a ball lamps. More specifically, the order in which the light up. There are 5 lamps in total. Each time you are awarded a free ball (achieved by hitting a lit WOW target), a new planet will light up to show how many extra balls you have been awarded. Right now, the order in which they light up is incorrect. They light up in the order 3, 4, 2, 5, 1.
