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Thread: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! Jumping up and down

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    Sandwich Shooter SteveFury's Avatar
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    Default I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    I worked in a vending machine refurbish shop from the mid 1970's to the early 80's and worked mostly on EM pinball machines.

    I always loved to work on the Gottlieb Spirit of 76 Internet Pinball Machine Database: Gottlieb 'Spirit of 76' because I like the combination of drop targets, bumpers and how the playfield is laid out. I've begun selling some of my antique radios http://home.comcast.net/~stevedez/sale/sale.html to save for an EM pinball machine. I just miss them and have for a long time. Any decent one would do. My budget for this is very small and I've been keeping a keen eye on Craigs List for anything under $200. Every time one has popped up and I call, it is already sold. So frustrating.

    Then I came across this advertisement 3 pinball one slot machine 1975

    I couldn't believe it, it is the same Spirit of 76 that I've always loved. I offered $150 and I couldn't believe (still can't believe) the offer was accepted. The seller says the playfield glass is missing and it doesn't work, it won't play but the lights come on. I wasted no time in picking it up just this afternoon. The seller says it belonged to a friend of his who had died, and the friend had this machine stored in his barn for 30-40 years. He seems like a very honest guy and I have no reason to doubt.

    First the bad:
    A rodent had been in it at one point in time and stayed long enough to make a nest. Not too bad though, no wires had been chewed, no puddles of pee (except maybe on the timer unit.. spot of rust-see photo) and no droppings. It needs a new rubber kit, the whole cabinet needs paint and other repairs, a lot of cleaning and none of the stepper units work because they're too gummed up. The playfield needs a lot of work such as cleaning, and color touch-up. Of course the game doesn't work and there's no point in me even plugging it in.

    Now for the good:
    The lightbox glass is near perfect. I could not see a single spot of peeling at all. The only issue is minor fading of colors in a few areas. Except for the playfield glass it is complete. To my delight, it still has both of its quarter coin mechanisms. None of the coils except the tilt relay shows sign of heat stress. It came with 3 copies of the schematic, a lot of score cards and original shipping packaging type note cards and coil mechanism specifications and drawings.
    And the best good of all, is that it's a Spirit of 76!!! (I'm still jumping for joy. Don't pinch me!)

    I have a vintage pachinko to finish rebuilding, but the Mrs. required me to thoroughly clean my pinball machine before keeping it in the house. So these are some of my "before" and "after" pics mixed up. This is going to be a longer-term project. I want this to end up being a real nice machine and I don't care if 100 hrs of labor is required. The game counter is at 065198. I see that some new aftermarket products are available such as rubber kits, playfield graphic kits etc.

    Can you tell I'm jazzed about this??

    IMG_3578.jpgIMG_3580.jpgIMG_3582.jpgIMG_3585.jpgIMG_3587.jpgIMG_3590.jpgIMG_3591.jpgIMG_3592.jpgIMG_3593.jpg
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    Goodwill Ambassador luckydog's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    good things come to those who have patience
    幸運わんわん Luckydog or Yukiwanwan in Japanese

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    Scowlin' Jean Hornigold hanabi's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    Wow congratulations!!

    your excitement and enthusiasm are coming through loud and clear

    Looking forward to reading your posts and following your project restoration

    Angie ...
    Pachinkos, Pachislos, Coffee, Papercraft Ninja, Pinball

    I ran away with the Steampunk Circus!
    I was hiding in a room in my mind...
    You crush the lily in my soul...



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    Pachi Puro Card Shark's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    Congratulations!!! Sounds like you got a killer deal on it.
    "Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well."
    Pachiholic and Proud!!! サメ

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    Pachi Puro Moparformances's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    congrats
    Never Doubt that a small group of thoughtful, .......... /........ If your not going to stand behind our troops
    ...committed people can change the world. ............. /.................Please, Please stand in front of them
    .....Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has............./
    .........................................Margaret Mead

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    Kungishi candyflip's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    noice!!

    Do the Lambada!!


    There is always another machine around the corner...

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    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    congrats on the machine and all the paperwork that came with it. nothing compares to owning an American made pinball from that era. the art, cultural significance, part of history (there was a time when pinballs were everywhere and made more money then the movie industry). i like all brands but like many, am partial to gottlieb-they're built like a tank. if you're in to things mechanical and "getting under the hood" then you hit the jackpot. pinball resource (pbresource.com) has tons of gottlieb parts, tools, and repro parts. get yourself a parts manual for the year of your machine. it has exploded views of all the mechanisms and part numbers. a great pinball documentary is "special when lit".
    the stepper units sound like they need to be disassembled, thoroughly cleaned, and the brass contacts sanded. good thing is that once everything is up to snuff, the only maintenance required is to play the game. the switches which are the heart of the machine, clean themselves during play.
    check this link out The Internet Pinball Machine Database
    post any questions, i'm no expert but i've learned alot about pins by saving a few from the scrap heap and turning them into excellent playing machines. at the least i can point you in the right direction.
    EM Pinballs & Arrangeballs

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    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    few more links:
    marcospec.com (parts and supplies)
    pinside.com (a great forum)
    pinballowners.com (cool site to show off your machine and lots of other good info)
    pinrepair.com (THE definitive EM pin repair site)
    and many more...
    EM Pinballs & Arrangeballs

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    Day Dream Believer beachcat's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    Wow it is so awesome that you were able to get it. good luck with fixing it up.

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    Fever Hunter Ripweade's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    Without a doubt, you got yourself one GREAT find there! I've read some people bashing this machine for some reason, but I always loved it. I think it's a VERY fun machine and always loved playing one when I saw it.

    Keep us updated! I'd love to see the "after" pictures when it's done and up and running.

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    Sandwich Shooter SteveFury's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    I've been working on the relay board.

    I fixed the coin unit stepper last night. The problem was the existing grease had solidified. I was able to completely disassemble the unit and clean it, clean the rotor contacts and the chrome frame. It looks and works great.

    I also managed to unclip all the relays two by two, clean the contacts and the chrome mounting frame.

    I mentioned a mouse nest, and it's definetly pee on the score motor frame and caused rust. I really can't take this plate being rusty because it makes the whole board look bad. So today I tackled it by taking zillions of photos of the score motor assembly from zillions of angles and removed all the switch stacks. I labeled each one and its position, made a lot more photos to aid in reassembly. Once it was down to only the plate I took some "before photos".

    I used a coarse wire wheel to remove the heavy rust and followed up by lightly using a nickel-size wire wheel in a Dremel tool over the whole plate. Then I used steel wool to get a nice even shine. I did the same with the timing wheel. I was able to polish the edge of the timing wheel to reduce wear on the switches and motor. Then I applied a couple coats of paste (bees) wax to prevent future rusting.

    I'm happy with the results and hope to reassemble it later this evening. Maybe I'll have some "after" photos then. Here's some photos from today:

    IMG_3585.jpgIMG_3627.jpgIMG_3606.jpgIMG_3631.jpgIMG_3632.jpgIMG_3637.jpgIMG_3638.jpg
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    Pachi Puro pachiwall's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    That thing is intimidating lust looking at it! Are you going to renumber the plate? Even if the numbers don't look original...there might be reference to the # switch bank for repair work.

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    Sandwich Shooter SteveFury's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    Thanks all.

    I shouldn't need to worry about the frame rerusting, the bees paste wax prevents corrosion. Yup, I am going to reapply the number stickers. Additionally, there was a dozen or so coil name stickers originally found laying on the bottom of the machine like fallen snow. I saved all of them and will eventually get reattached too.

    I've been busy with this.
    Last night I finished the relay board. I also damp-rag cleaned the mounting board... but also the wiring harness. I think it all turned out pretty good. You can see I also finished reassembling the score motor with all its switches.

    I just couldn't help determining the electronic condition of this... to know where I stand and how much of it works, and how much of it doesn't. I put the relay board in and wired it up. I knew the Player unit was froze, the function of it controls which of the 4 players are up. After a quick player unit fix I fired it up. (Maybe a bad word)
    I found the bonus stepper unit was also mechanically malfunctioning. Another quick fix and I found that none of the reels are resetting... but I found I can unlatch the reset relay and start a game.

    But the game basically plays once it's reset and a video of my first game(s) will follow. I can't play it too much because the pinball itself is bad and the playfield is horribly dirty.

    So I have a few problems to work through but not too bad considering I haven't went through the lightbox relays or the playfield switches/relays.

    More pics- two of the finished score motor, the rebuilt coin unit, cleaned harness and relays, powered up and ready to play (Video still):

    6.jpg9.jpgIMG_3674.jpgIMG_3666.jpgIMG_3694.jpg
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    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Great work so far. For the playfield cleaning you're gonna wanna use 91% alcohol or better and a magic eraser. Clean the resulting residue off with more alcohol then polish with Novus 2 and the several coats of paste wax with carnauba such as Johnson's or trewax. From the pics it looks like the playfield is in great shape with minimal paint loss. Very nice.
    EM Pinballs & Arrangeballs

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    Fever Hunter Ripweade's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    Just be VERY careful with the Magic Eraser. I've read horror stories of people stripping the paint off the playfield because of the Magic Eraser. Just use it with light pressure and don't scrub much in one area. Too hard of pressure and/or too long in an area will equal a bare spot worn through the paint.

    Make sure you have a flexstone on hand for cleaning the contacts. It works like a gem! (Which reminds me that I need to order more.) It'll scrub the contacts clean without any damage.

    Excellent progress!! You are doing absolutely beautiful work!!!

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    Sandwich Shooter SteveFury's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    Thanks again you all, ~35 years ago I was used to restoring EM machines 0-10 years old. The machines weren't too bad before. All the years have taken their toll and I'm finding that restoring them is a bit different than then. I need all the suggestive help from anyone with more recent experience. I've also forgotten a lot of things I used to know over the decades.

    Well, I spent about an hour last night looking into the remaining electrical issues. The score reels weren't resetting and the players unit wasn't working properly because of a broken wire. I gave everything a quick inspection before but I thought it wise to do a more indepth investigation before spending a lot of time tracing coils and switches on the schematic. I took some photos before doing so.

    Sure enough, on my first inspection pass I missed a broken wire. See the photo. I guess it's just a case of not seeing "The forest for the trees".
    I soldered it in and walah- the score reels reset and the player unit works properly. I checked all the wires on that disk and found more hanging on by 2-3 strands which I fixed.
    Almost all the score reels reset, but the 10's and 100's in the 3rd and 4th player bank doesnt. They must be manually operated to "0" for the machine to finish reseting. I did a quck look at the reel's home and "9" position switches but didn't see anything amiss. I don't suspect it will be too difficult to find, I'll have a further look tonight.

    The machine also wouldn't go into game over. A maladjusted switch on the game over relay was easy to find.

    So the game is 90% operational and I'm really very happy about it. I have next week off and I hope to do a lot of cosmetic work and playfield cleaning at that time.

    The boring pics from before I found the broken wire:

    IMG_3701.jpgClose.jpg
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    Pachi Puro Card Shark's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    Sounds like it is really coming along nicely. You are going to have one really nice machine when it is all over.
    "Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well."
    Pachiholic and Proud!!! サメ

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    Sandwich Shooter SteveFury's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    Ok, I got home from work last night and had the last problem solved in a few minutes. It was a broken wire off the "Z2" relay which controls the reel reset. I played a few games to make sure no electrical problems exist and it worked perfectly.

    I was up rather late removing all the parts from the playfield to prepare to restore it. This is how it is now:
    IMG_3746.jpg

    A huge 7.4mb full size photomerge of the picture here is available at: http://home.comcast.net/~stevedez/pinball/playfield_large.jpg you can see that I have a lot of work ahead.
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    Pachi Puro emmadog's Avatar
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    Sounds like you know your way around EM pins and I'm sure you'll be able to have a nice playing machine when all's said and done.
    Broken wires and shorts can be a pain but luckily you have a schematic and the wires usually are just long enough for their respective places so it's easy to tell where they go. Looking forward to seeing the playfield cleaned and repopulated. If you go the magic eraser and alcohol route, be aware that the resulting liquid residue can drip down the rollovers and short the switch meaning you will get some feature scoring constantly. No big deal and it doesn't hurt anything-you just have to find it and clean it. You can narrow it down if this happens by what score is being awarded. Steve Young at pinball resource has full and semi full flipper rebuild kits which are one of the first things to consider when shopping a machine. Chances are the thru playfield bushings are cracked and the repros elevate the flippers so there's no rubbing. Also buy a few dozen coil sleeves for all the coils. They're cheap and will need to be replaced. New rubbers of course and while the bumpers are off, rebuild those. Also available are hotter flipper coils if you want more power and come in 2 strengths. I have mediums which are a step above stock on most of my machines and they're great without being too strong. These EMs are about finesse and skill, not simply hurling the ball around. I run 44 bulbs as opposed to the dimmer, factory 47's. The 44s are brighter and do get hot but it's a nonissue with a home machine . I use them in the head and for general illumination. For the feature lights on the playfield I go with cointaker's ultra bright LEDs. Simply put, they're a huge improvement over stock without being gaudy, all my machines have those. You may want to consider sealing the backglass with krypton triple thick. Do a google search and read the pros and possible cons.
    EM Pinballs & Arrangeballs

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    Sandwich Shooter SteveFury's Avatar
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    Default Re: I FINALLY got me one! Yaaay! (Jumping up and down)

    Thank you so much for the useful tips Emmadog.

    I didn't know that about the switches and it makes sense. Maybe I can cut down a bit on the rubbing alcohol aroun those areas to help avoid that. I hope to begin cleaning later tonight.

    One of the two set screws that holds the flipper shaft to the crank snapped off so I had to drill it out. That means that flipper will be held with one set screw not two. If it slips during play I'll need to drill a hole in the opposite side of the crank and tap it for a new screw. I *should* replace the crank, and I might depending on cost.
    Drilling that busted set screw was the most aggravating thing thus far.

    I plan on exceeding my limited entertainment budget on playfield parts already with new posts, lane dividers, rubbers, half dozen boxes of bulbs, playfield glass and the other necessary materials.

    I might be able to pick up a Gottlieb Pat Hand next week for $100 if things work out.

    Lack of time is just crazy. I have the parts from a partially restored pachinko in buckets waiting for me that I want to also finish. I guess when it rains it pours.
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