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Despite saying this was a project for later I couldn’t resist getting started!

Despite my hopes the ply supporting the metal play field is knackered. The worms have done their worst and it’s turning to dust. I’ve now stripped all the components from the playfield (there are quite a few!) and need to get some new 9mm ply and start drilling.

I’ve been ordering some new screws ready for the re assembly as all the ones removed are ravaged by rust and unusable. Replacing in brass and stainless. I’m having a problem sourcing the 2 domed coach bolts that go in the front of the machine though. I’m not sure of the exact original size but they are about 4mm diameter and 90mm long so an m4 90mm or longer would work perfectly. Except I can’t find one. M4 coach bolts don’t seem to be a ‘thing’. I could go to m5 but even in these the longest I can find is 70mm. To get the length I have to go to m6 which I could probable do but will start looking pretty big on the front.

Does anyone have any sources where I might get something or bright ideas?

Thanks

Have you tried Buckwerx rockola pinball spares.
The front frame holding down bolts might do.

You could cut and braze a couple shorter bolts to get the length. Or cut your own thread on a piece or rod and just braze the upper with a coach head.

Thanks for the suggestions. No brazing torch sadly! I have now managed to find some m5 100mm bolts so think I’ll give them a shot. Cheers

Hey Geoff, you can braze parts quite easily with a cheap self igniting torch that uses the disposable Mapp gas bottles. I use mine almost every day as much less hassle than pulling out the acetylene unless I have a large job needing serious temps. There are some awesome silver solders available that use much lower heat than bronzes but still more than enough strength for almost any machine issue. Should be a standard tool in ANY workshop I'd suggest!

Hi gameswat

Yes I think I might need to invest in one of those. It would be handy. I just never seem to have ventured beyond soldering into brazing and welding but it would be useful. I’ll take a look.

Just spent the last hour freeing up the rusty coin slide mech on this machine. Still slightly stiff but a massive improvement on the non moving item it was.

Which reminds me that one of the common uses I have for the Mapp gas torch is freeing up rusted nuts, bolts and parts. A quick shot of heat and some penetrating oil is often all it takes to break the rust bond. Sometimes a few more goes needed as best to start slow.

So help needed here as the project progresses. I’ve now rebuilt the playfield with some non eaten ply and just about got all the stuff back in the right order. Now to the skill score counter dial.

It was all rusted up but managed to strip and free it off. However the spring which tensions and I assume returns it to zero is rusted through and broken. So the question is where the hell do I find a new one. I searched for clock springs on eBay but they all seem bigger and too strong for this job. This one feels pretty light tension wise. The spring metal is about 4mm wide. Any clues? Can I fashion my own? In which can how?

Thanks!

geofflove wrote: ↑Thu Jun 25, 2020 4:45 pm This one feels pretty light tension wise. The spring metal is about 4mm wide. Any clues? Can I fashion my own? In which can how?

Thanks!

Have a word with this chap, tell him what you are after, he might be able to help you.. even if you have to send him a sample of the broken one.. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CLOCK-SUSPEN ... Swdu9auVfB

Thanks. I’ve messaged him. Fingers crossed. I had hoped I could re shape the end of the broken part and that there would be enough remaining to make it work. However, it’s so brittle that if you try to do anything with it it just falls apart.

Does anyone know if these were fitted with a gate on the ball exit to stop the ball back down the shooter channel? This looks like something might have been there once but it’s not there now. Love to see a pic or info if I have to make something to put in there......

Thanks

The anti return stop was also missing from my machine, but it did have the fixing plate. I made an anti return stop from some sheet metal salvaged from a tin can. If I remember right, I folded it in half to make the metal thicker (see attached sketch). Should give you an idea of the shape. It took a bit of fiddling with to get it working just right.

Ah that’s perfect. Thanks. Mine does have the slotted plate. I was wondering what the slots were for! I’ll go eat some beans and get bending!

Out of interest do you remember if it had a similar plate on the opposite side? Mine has a rebound spring which looks a little ‘rough’. There are two holes which look like they once took a similar plate to cover it? Do you know if this is the case? If so I’ll have to try to fashion something from some stainless or similar.

By the way for those interested, this project is nearing completion. I’ve rebuilt the playfield with a new sheet of ply under it, done a small amount or rewiring, lots of rust removal, freeing of seized bits and cleaning and polishing.

I tested the electrics and after sorting the relay which triggers the score dial all seems to be functioning in that department. I’m now painting the box and will hopefully get it all together again in the coming days.

I found a local clock repairer who is trying to sort me a spring to the replace the score dial return spring.

One interesting observation. It appears that the ‘black box’ which I assumed was a capacitor may also contain a resistor maybe? After triggering a bumper it takes maybe half a second before it will trigger again. I’m guessing this has been done with a capacitor and resistor and I assume was to prevent multiple scores being registered my spring bounce as the ball hit it. I had wondered if this would be a problem. Clearly they solved it in a fairly simple way. Previously I’d assumed the capacitor was just for spark suppression. Have to say I’m amazed it’s still got many capacitive properties after 80+ years!

The other thing noticed is that I’m running it on 12v as suggested elsewhere. I tried on 6v but there’s not enough ooomph for the score dial to operate. However the bulb in it which flashes each time a score is made is a 6v bulb. It is only on momentarily and it’s bright! I don’t know if it was designed like this or just been replaced with the wrong bulb at some point. Not sure how long it will last as is!

Thanks

attached pic shows the bumper for the ball, almost the same as the other one, but must be made from spring steel..

Thanks. Mine has a spring bumper in place so a bit different. Guess I just need to make a cover to match the other side. Guess mine won’t be chromed though so maybe stainless sheet?

For those of you who've had an interest in this one here's the finished project. A couple of before pics a a few more 'after'. In summary it was manky when I got it, everything which was meant to move didn't as it was rusted solid and there had been a nasty dose of woodworm on the playfield at some stage meaning it had turned to powder in places. So the work included a complete strip to clean everything up, replace the ply playfield backing with new, repaint the red bumpers, rewire a few bits where the insulation had rotted and added a 12v adapter courtesy of an old virgin media router(!), replaced the return spring on the score dial (thanks to a local clock repairer), replace the cash box door which was missing, clean and paint and replace a missing 'Hoopers' stamp thanks to an image of it shared on here.

In terms of play it has 5 balls. These are released on insertion of the coin and raised into play with the ball lift plunger. The coin push also switches the thing 'on', sets the 'tilt' relay and reset the score dial to zero. Balls hitting the bumpers causes the light to flash and advances the score dial one notch. A tilt ends the scoring. You can still play the remaining balls but the lights and scoring doesn't operate until you start again with a new coin.

Thanks for all the help I received on here to my questions. Hope you enjoy the pics!

I'm hoping to be getting another early pinball machine in the near further so this one may need to go the make room for it. If anyone is interested before I think of putting it on ebay let me know.
Before





After

Top job young man, always a nice feeling to get one of these old boxes up and running,

It looks superb. I love the colour. Well done!

Thanks! The existing colour was original so I tried the replicate it as closely as I could. I bought a pot of green but it was way too bright so found an old pot of a reddy/purple paint and did some mixing. Just like being back to school. Not quite the same as original but close and it seemed to have a feel of the right period.

Well done sir. A good job, if ever I saw one.

BP