a B and a B and now another B
Howdy folks. My apologies in advance for a possible long rambling post.
Ancient history: Went to a yard sale circa 1995 or so and parted with $10-20 for the usual jammed up pachinko game. Got most of the stuck balls out and the thing still didn't work. Unscrewed some covers and other bits and gave up at the staples. Put the loose bits in a bag and shoved the mess in a corner. It's this one here, call it Number One for future reference.
It's a Nishijin Model B, circa mid-1973.
Fast forward to last month sometime...
Poking around on craigslist and the ad says something like "Chinese Pinball $15". Click it and first thought was 'hmm... looks just like that thing that's been cluttering the garage forever...'. He says it needs work(surprise!). Figure with two of the same, should be able to maybe make one work...
Give him his $15 and fetch home Number Two.
Nishijin Model B, circa late-'72. Kinda short on tulips, but has that 'Rolling Stone' toy... (hello Rube Goldberg!)
An interesting gadget, with multiple issues...
A ball down the top center chute would make the device twitch, but it wouldn't stay open.
Broken latch(that orange piece at right). Tried model glue but the plastic isn't styrene and the glue peeled right off when dry. Bummed a dab of SEM Problem Plastic Repair(the gray stuff) from my friendly neighborhood auto body shop, and the piece is still together after a couple weeks(keeping fingers crossed).
Broken string(hanging out with that 'medal' piece at the bottom of it's track). Took the gadget the rest of the way apart and scrounged up some thick thread/thin string to tie the 'medal' to it's counterweight(inside left track).
Missing center to pulley... what to do there... really just need to hide the screw. hmm...
And then there was another yard sale last Saturday...
Hello Number Three.
Another B, this one from early '75.
First impression was that the chrome on this one was a lot better than average... a lot less staining, too. He wanted more but took $40. It came with around 100 balls, all jammed inside(overflowing the bottom payout pocket). It also came with a 1975-vintage Pachinko Palace instruction sheet. Yay!
Got my new prize home and parked it next to #2. Figured that with two here and another out there, I just Had to get Something working.
Proceeded to attack #3 with screwdrivers and other various implements of destruction. Quickly found that I would indeed need to remove staples to repair one of these here contraptions. Slowly remembered that I had some dinky wood screws around here somewhere...
Stripped #3's backsides down to nothing and cleared out balls, dirt, hair, bugs, etc.. Put all the balls I could find in the tumbler(including the bag from #1). Washed all the plastic and assembled the game with no leftover parts. Fussed over the wiring some so the lights would work. Plenty of #40 bulbs around from my relic pinball inventory. I'll probably swap in #46's later but for now they would kill #2's little 9v battery in seconds.
Also stripped lower door and cleaned all them pieces.
Clip battery on and big red light comes on. Dump balls in top and light goes out. So far so good.
Dump rest of balls in play tray flipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflipflip Puh-Chinnnggg-Ko!!!
Repeat for a few more seconds and the red light comes on and balls stop feeding. Declare victory and find that cheap flebay auction for more balls ends shortly.
Attack #1 with implements and repeat process. Find that I've lost a little wire doodad but have plenty of small brazing rod and two identical patterns. Find that I've also mislaid the ball track cover, but there's a couple to borrow until it is found or substitute fabricated/sourced. A pox on whoever hacked the jackpot lights but they're fixed now. Also find that I might need more o' them there shiny little spheroids.
#2 kinda works but alas... it needs "The Treatment" just like the others(see the debris thread). The local Novus2 store is supposed to get more this week so's I can shine up the frontsides some(works on pinball playfields too).
That about covers progress for the moment.
Cheers.
Reply With Quote
... 
Originally Posted by JACKSJE4
on the cell. The center is fun on that one, you might get one or three tulups opened if the lever is on the right side.
Here's another idea for covers. It's made out of the leftovers from getting some new plexi, a rubberband, and those things you can buy to hang Holiday lights on your rain gutters.
