1969 Gottlieb Airport Pinball

[azlew]

I was at a yardsale Saturday and saw this pinball for sale for an asking price of 250.00. I played it and it has new rubber all around and the glass is perfect and the backboard scroeboard area lights up and is in good condition. The only problem is that the lights on the main play area do not light up. I was told that it is either a fuse or a short. Since the person holding the yard sale was closing up her yardsale I told her I would check around and get back to her. Assuming it is still available for sale = is this a good price ? and what am I potentialy looking at here dollar wise to have someone trace a short and maybe rewire? To me the lights not working is a big deal but it sure plays well and I was thinking maybe trying to get a discount off for the possibility of having to have it rewired.

If you are familiar with what labor costs may be on something like this please pm me with what you think it could cost where you live. Thanks and oh yeah here are a couple pics of someone else's 1969 Gottlieb Airport pinball :

http://www.xmission.com/~daina/images/ch/airpo_bg.jpg

and

http://www.xmission.com/~daina/images/ch/airpo_pf.jpg

[luckydog]

The price sounds great, and in playing condition too.

Do you have any techinical schools in the area, they might jump on a chance to work on something like this. or you may be able to find the problem yourself.

I would have bought it right there.

[photos8484]

I would say it's a good deal, if it works & plays & the only thing wrong with it is that the play lights don't light up. Ebay has all sorts of manuals for sale on pinball machines, plastic parts, etc. I've gotten some parts for mine (Pinbot 1986) through there. Mine is electronic, primarily (circuit boards up the wazoo), & if yours is primarily electromechanical, it should be easier to trace & fix. Finding someone to fix it, however, is a problem. My guy took the main circuit board over two months ago to rebuild it & hasn't brought it back yet.
Lucky's suggestion of the tech school is a good one. Most vo-tech schools have an electronics program & the instructors may be glad to look at it.
Btw, pinball machines tend to be hot. There are fewer & fewer around. I'd snatch it up (maybe re-negotiate, since it DID not sell). Since the sale is over, do research online. How many were made, how many parts may be available on line, is there a website dedicated to Gottlieb machines (where you can download schematics & other information, etc...).
Two final suggestions: you could ask an automotive place that specializes in tracing automotive electrical shorts if they would be able to look at it, or find some old retired tv shop owner (from the days when you could take your tv in to be repaired) who would love to look at it.

[monaghj]

I was watching Pinballs on ebay - the average price was 2700. You could get the old ones down around 850. The non working "project" machines were in the 250s. Personally I would snatch it. Just make sure the keys are there. I bought my pinball from a guy that owns 900+ machines. He transports them to different bowling alleys and such. He does his own repairs. Since they are not making pinballs anymore he is selling his off slowly before he can't get parts. Mine is a 1987 "Diner". I bought it for $1k.

The likely cause of the problem is a broken wire. When you remove the glass, and lift the play field it pivots about 25% of the way from the upper score section. When you piviot the play field up, the back of it often hits the gaggle of wires that run from the scoreboard into the bottom of the machine. Its not hard to rip one of these. The other cause is that the top folds down against the glass for transport. Again when folding this down it pulls the wires forward and if you are not careful to ensure the wires don't get pinched when setting it backup its easy to crack one there also.

Most of the machines have manuals that come with them and are left in the machine. If not there is a ton of web places you can download these from.

[Tony Junior]

Lew, you might want to contact Ray <A=HTTP: rwatts.cdyn.com>here.

http://rwatts.cdyn.com/

He is a good friend in Galveston. If he can't help he may know someone who can.

[azlew]

WOW !

THANKS GUYS for the information ! I am going to check out the info you have told me. The owner of the machine said she was going out of town for a couple of weeks so I hopefully will have a shot at it when she comes back. I have her business card etc. Again thankyou for your help.

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