The Pinball Diaries (what did you do today?)

[WARLOCK]

Ok, speedpost:

Went to TOPL finals.
Didn't play. (too busy)

Picked up 2 new pins.
Sweet!

Drove away.
Delivered 2 vids to the
new owner after that.

Picked up a Coke Machine.
Picked up a vending machine.

That will do for now.
Cheers.

Finding this thread a bit dry.........

 

[DRANO]

Finding this thread a bit dry.........

Agreed... but I'm sure people are just in holiday mode.
I know, for my part, my pinball antics have slowed to a crawl the last few weeks because I've been fighting the elements to hurry up and finish my deck/shed projects before the winter REALLY sets in.

I had time for one small fix and used Wong's method of powering my TAF colorDMD via a SATA power brick and the game's service outlet. I even re-wired the outlet so it all comes on at the same time and I don't need to unplug anything.

In other pinball news, I did buy Grand Lizard number 2

 

[Beafraid]

I finally got around to finishing the washroom in the basement. Moved some of my pins around, SB sent a tech out to fix three switches that were not working on ST and got my bar fridge delivered today. Now I need to start figuring out what I am doing with the bar.???

 

[Murrsky]

Ok, speedpost:

Went to TOPL finals.
Didn't play. (too busy)

Picked up 2 new pins.
Sweet!

Drove away.
Delivered 2 vids to the
new owner after that.

Picked up a Coke Machine.
Picked up a vending machine.

That will do for now.
Cheers.

Finding this thread a bit dry.........

Wow, that's a whirlwind tour man!.... good on ya!

 

[Shock_me]

Thanks to Patelrock, I changed the rubbers on three classic Ballys and Gorgar. These games all had the same rubbers on them since I got them in 98'/99' They now play as intended, what a huge difference! Now to rebuild some slings and pops :geek:

 

[DRANO]

I finally got around to finishing the washroom in the basement. Moved some of my pins around, SB sent a tech out to fix three switches that were not working on ST and got my bar fridge delivered today. Now I need to start figuring out what I am doing with the bar.???

I'll be building mine out of old playfields and hopefully rear-lighting it.
Also planning to add some arcade buttons/controls to the top bar surface so it can double as a MAME

 

[WARLOCK]

Grand Lizard # 2 is coming home!

Time to make a thread and tell some (brief) stories me thinks.

More soon.

 

[somed00dxx]

Tracked down a NOS ramp for my EFTLW
edit: is anyone here good with vacuum forming?

 

[DRANO]

Let's see. I finished up converting my two last colorDMD screens to run off the service outlet and not the game boards... and then re-routed the power line so that they only come on with the game. Works great... thanks again Mike for the pro-tip on the SATA power bricks

I also finished scraping off some poorly screened white text on a CPR Pinbot playfield repro. Will be applying new insert decals on this soon and starting to work on 4 other playfield projects I have on the go.

And finally, awaiting delivery of my newly acquired T2 at the end of this week! Can't wait.

 

[mwong168]

Let's see. I finished up converting my two last colorDMD screens to run off the service outlet and not the game boards... and then re-routed the power line so that they only come on with the game. Works great... thanks again Mike for the pro-tip on the SATA power bricks

No sense in stressing an already over stressed 20+ year old power driver board especially on a game like STTNG. Glad it all worked out and hope it solves some of your reset issues on WH20 and/or TAF. Maybe you should post a tutorial on how you re-wired the service outlet on your games so that it is only powered when game is flipped on.

Congrats on your T2 purchase and will remember to add those LED eyes on my next order which I will be putting maybe next week.

 

[mwong168]

Swapped out a leg plate on my Shadow and TOTAN which each had one hole stripped.

 

[superjackpot]

Swapped out a leg plate on my Shadow and TOTAN which each had one hole stripped.

If it was the top hole that was stripped (which I think is the first to go), with those particular plates you can rotate them 180 and use the spare third hole. All holes are symmetrical and it fits perfectly again when turned around. In addition to strength, it must have been why the plates were made as big and with three holes. It's a shame other cabinets don't use this design.

 

[mwong168]

If it was the top hole that was stripped (which I think is the first to go), with those particular plates you can rotate them 180 and use the spare third hole. All holes are symmetrical and it fits perfectly again when turned around. In addition to strength, it must have been why the plates were made as big and with three holes. It's a shame other cabinets don't use this design.

I don't think there is any particular hole that goes first and would just depend on how tight the previous owners tightened their bolt. It was the top hole that was stripped and it went in the middle hole on the plate so no matter how I flipped it would not solve the problem. I never knew the plate in my Shadow had a 3rd hole and all new plates like the ones in my TOTAN only had 2.

On earlier WPC games like WH20, FT and TAF they used these smaller leg plates (shown above) which are bad if you over tighten bolts. You are slowly stripping the threads in plate as well as pulling the corner wood block into the corner and splitting the cab.

 

[DRANO]

you mean like this? :FP:

 

[spiroagnew]

Closing in on my next pinball purchase...the thrill of the hunt is on, and a viable prospect on the radar. Can't wait to see how it all shakes down.

I guess this is the feeling that left our friend Brewmanager, thus making the hobby a bit more unfulfuilling. I'm glad I'm still experiencing it.

 

[WARLOCK]

Well, I accomplished an amazing number of tasks this evening.
Thank you Brewmanager.

That will do for now.
Cheers.

 

[DRANO]

My T2 is scheduled to arrive in Buffalo today!

I know the game doesn't get much love, but it's the pin that got me started in this crazy hobby and I promised myself I'd own it at least once.
TAF was my first love, but after walking into a friend's place about 10 years ago and seeing a T2 in his basement... something just clicked. The thought of pinball home ownership never really entered my mind until then.

Not wanting to duplicate his 'collection' I ran out and hunted down a TAF.
He ended up selling his T2 to another friend and I haven't had access to another for years.
During high school, we'd hang out at a dive called Pockets Billiard in west end Toronto. The pins of choice there were TAF, NGG, FT and T2. I played NGG the least, but have always wanted to assemble that lineup again at some point.

A reasonably priced and super clean T2 popped up on pinside a few weeks ago in upstate NY. Once the seller agreed to get it to Buffalo for me, I jumped.
Of course, after transport and taxes it'll be about the same as buying locally, but I was so impressed with the condition of the pin and the seller's reputation, that I had to do it.

If I'm able to get some assistance from some PREV elves, she may even be in the garage by the new year!

It's funny how I get more excited these days over games like Special Force and T2 than I do over any new Stern release or BW A-lister.

 

[WARLOCK]

Elf reporting for duty.

Monday we cross the border to bring Drano's T2 home.
We will also sqeeze into the minivan my only vid grail as well.

Rygar was my vid grail all through high school. Very difficult to obtain one.
After traveling from deep in south Florida, to deep in central Alabama by an operator moving
his life and business, it finally shipped from Alabama to a friend's in Buffalo. That took 12 months.
This example is housed in an old Williams Moon Patrol cabinet, so it should be built like a tank.

I have had no opportunity the last 4 months to go get it yet, but now is the time. 16 months waiting.

Only Theatre of Magic took me longer to obtain @ 18 months with the gracious assistance and patience
of Mike Wong. Thanks again for that Mike. TOM wireframes, shooter rod assembly and magnet are ready
to ship to Mike Chesnut in Tennessee to be brassed along with Shadow and IJ parts as well.

IJ returns home with me tomorrow. STTNG and SWE1 sit waiting for it's return. Once TOM and Shadow
are done, they return home with me, and that maxes me out at home. 5 pins, and 1 vid will do it. Full.

This should all happen by end of February which coincides (deliberately) with my 2nd year anniversary
of being in this crazy hobby running all over the continent hunting and obtaining what I wanted to gather.

Good times. The hobby will continue, but the running and hunting has ended already. Time to fix pins, and
learn the rules and how to play pinball properly next.

Looking forward to it.

That will do for now.

Cheers.

 

[Vengeance]

This game is your video game grail:

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detai ... me_id=9386

Very odd game, looks like something that would be very easily emulated on a MAME, why not just go that route?

 

[Beafraid]

Started installing LED kit in TZ from Pinballbulbs. Looks good so far with the inserts done. The kit comes with 6 spot lights and two led strips, one for the back and one for behind the apron. Also came with LED's for the backbox. Looks pretty nice. I also threw in a slow colour changer behind the gumball machine in the backbox. Looks pretty cool. Going to try to get most of it done tonight.