I just finished restoring my 1981 Bally Eight Ball Deluxe pinball machine. I have been working on it for about 6 months now and finally got all the cosmetics finished and fired it up for the first time this weekend. Still has some wiring and connector issues from the previous hacker/owner but I got it fired up.



I moved it inside with my other machines. This machine completes the Bally Eight Ball Trilogy. The three machines of the trilogy are a 1977 Bally Eight Ball, a 1981 Bally Eight Ball Deluxe, and a 1985 Bally Eight Ball Champ.



I posted a larger picture lower in the post.


JO

Cool! I repaired three old points style pinball machines while I lived in Engalnd, it was cool! But I didn't do any refurbish work like you did.

They look great from a distance.. that pic is so tiny..

Jerry, is there a place that makes replacement parts for something like that, or do you have to hunt around for used stuff and refurbish what you find? What about the graphics?

There are 4 real good sources for new parts. Most of the small stuff on the playfield that is interchangeable with other games is still available. Things like the elastic bands, the posts, lane guides as well as many of the electrical components on the underside of the playfield.

There is even a company in North Carolina that is manufacturing new and improved circuit boards. I also used a service in South Carolina that rebuilds damaged circuit boards.

The biggest issue is when you have a game specific part that is damaged and is not reproduced. Those require some searching and watching eBay. Since the Eight Ball Deluxe is a pretty popular game, there is a company that repops the playfield plastics, the pop bumper caps, and cabinet graphic templates.

Biggest issue facing EBD is the previous owner hacked up the wiring harness and circut board connecters. The next big job will be to replace all of the circuit card connectors, not a difficult job, just extremely tedious.

Here is a little larger picture of the 3 machines.



JO

I used to spend so much time playing with those machines, I was addicted

That is really cool to have those machines in that good of condition.

Have you shopped Newark for electrical connectors and components?

http://www.newark.com/

They seem to have connectors for just about any application including old, obsolete electronics.

They look great! And they are as addicting as video games ever were! :

Wow! Cool Stuff! Sure makes for a bright colorful room.

Yes Greg, I had to turn on the overhead lights just to get a decent picture with the digital camera. All the blinking lights and displays will drive the camera crazy. When you add in my 1959 Seeburg Jukebox that is on the other side of the room, you don't need any additional lighting in the room.

My next machine is a 1969 Midway Arcade game called Sea Raider. It is a stand up submarine game where you look through the periscope and shoot torpedos at the ships as the pass. I picked it up a few months ago. One of those I know a guy who has one in his basement and his wife says it has to go. He actually had it in his basement for 25 years and I work with the guy who did the original resortation on it back in the early 80s.

It needs a full refresh but the cabinet is in good shape and all the parts are present. The toughest piece will be getting the tube amplifier overhauled since those old vac tubes are getting harder to come by.

Old pinball machines kick ass!

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You can't condemn the bad if you don't commend the good

My all time favorites have to be Gottliebs 2001 and Flip-A-Card. I played a hall that didn't limit all the machines and I'd leave Flip with 10 or more when I got tired. It wasn't all about pinball - they had other "things" to look at in the back, behind the monitored door.

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2697
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=890

1967 Falcon 4 door 351C-4V
1970 Mustang 351C-2V
http://raceabilene.com/kelly/hotrod
Owner built, owner abused.

how about for a high tech one...

If you can't bang it around or put some "english" on the ball, it's only make-believe. Some things you just can't tech up. It looks like pinball, but it's not.

1967 Falcon 4 door 351C-4V
1970 Mustang 351C-2V
http://raceabilene.com/kelly/hotrod
Owner built, owner abused.

Hi Tech is nice but I'm just old skool.
If I can't tilt it, I can't play it.

I can't treat my own like I used to treat the ones down at the bowling alley.
Too much time spent repairing the battle damage from the past. I had to completely rebuild the coin door on Eight Ball Deluxe because it appeared to have a few knee dents in the door skin.