"Dreams can come true, I am living proof" or A Desperate Need For Approval

[ogami1972]

Hello!

I just wanted to share a happy story about a pachinko noob that could have ended terribly, and instead has gone so very right.

5 days ago, all I knew about pachinko was that my biological gather had one back in the 70's, and it was a lot of fun. In the present day, I have spent the last few months building an arcade in my garage. I was thinking about adding a pinball machine when I cam across an craigslist ad. 2 machines, untested, dirty, $100 each, with balls. Swept up in nostalgia and poor impulse control, I offered $180 for both. My wife and I went to their house, a couple of pickers who had pulled these from a storage unit. I tried the launcher, it worked, and I, KNOWING NOTHING ELSE about the machines, or how they were supposed to work, or if they even had all the parts, threw my money down and literally ran to the car with one of the machines.

Here is craiglist pic:
00S0S_170DaadLvlOz_0CF0t2_1200x900.jpg

We brought them home, and I took a few pictures and sent them to a local pachinko repair shop. They told me only one was worth salvaging, and even with the other one, they wouldn't be able to tell until they got it into the shop. I figured Youtube teaches everything, and then I found Dan Welch. His videos were fantastic in showing the inner workings and basic operation. It was a joy to search through and actually see my machines, or the guts at least.

So, I put in the elbow grease and did the best I could. I wasn't willing to fully dissassemble, but I made a cell-cleaning tool, and then set to disassembling and cleaning. 2 days later, this is what I have:
sanyo 1.jpgSanyo 2.jpgnew gin 1.jpgNew Gin 2.jpg

Both fully working, paying off "pachinko-machine-consistently". The lights are xmas lights that I put in place of stock and rigged up to make the New Gin's center attraction glow.

So, $180 for the two along with about 1100 engraved balls. How'd I do?