Silverball Restorations – Pinball and Arcade Restorations

It’s always nice to get a good project in, especially if it’s going to be a keeper, but the past couple of weeks have been particularly kind and I’ve been hit with four projects at once. Here’s what I have in the garage right now, and what I have to do to each of them.

World Cup Soccer ’94

I had this one shipped in from South Carolina and it got here in one piece, but the shooter assembly was completely trashed. The shooter rod was bent at nearly a 90 degree angle and the housing was hammered. I already ordered a replacement assembly and installed that, but here’s what’s left to do.

• Install new service menu buttons, these ones are shot
• Full teardown and cleaning
• Replace several broken plastics, replace soccer ball
• Replace a handful of flaky switches
• Install an off-board battery holder
• Polish up all the metal, including legs and lockbar
• Get a new sheet of playfield glass, this one is carved/scratched up
• Clean the cabinet inside and out

Revenge From Mars

I picked this up while out at the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown. It was filthy, but I already tore it apart, cleaned it, and put it back together. I’ve had to do some board work on it as well, and I may not be done with that. The right flipper stops working at times, so there’s an issue there to address. The game also has about 4 broken switches that I need to replace. I swapped the CRT out for an LCD, and I think the image has improved dramatically. Here’s what’s still needed.

• Fix the broken playfield switches
• Fix the right flipper issues
• Clean the cabinet exterior
• Replace the translite

Attack From Mars

This was a local score, and it’s in great condition. The game recently had new decals installed, so it looks absolutely mint. Not much to do here, but a light shop job.

• Topside playfield teardown and clean
• Install a new Cliffy protector on the middle target and the right scoop (Stroke of Luck already has one, need one for the backside)
• Put a few LEDs in some of the inserts that could use more pop, such as the blue ones between the flippers

Spider-Man

This was another local pickup, and I feel fortunate to have come across this before it was officially listed for sale.  Huge thanks to kickback, an RGP user and another local collector/good guy, for the insider info on this one. Unfortunately, this is the dirtiest and most needy machine of the bunch, but there’s literally no wear anywhere, so it will clean up nice.

• Drill the locks and install new locks (done)
• Fix the fluorescent bulb (it won’t light, even after replacing the starter and bulb)
• Full teardown and clean
• Cabinet cleaning
• Install Cliffy protectors to prevent future wear from happening (none on the machine as of now)
• Install new webbies from Steve Richie’s site
• Install LEDs into the inserts, replace all GI bulbs (keeping them incandescents)
• Convert the coin mechs from tokens back to quarters

I’m starting to see that it might be tough to keep all four machines, so one of them might get put on the for sale list, but I’m really hoping to find a way to keep all four. Space is the biggest issue for me right now, and I like to save garage space for shopping out pins and arcade machines that I’m selling. Either way, it’s a fun haul to have around. Look for more how to videos and pinball machine reviews coming soon as these machines give me a good canvas to work with.

Last month, out in Golden, Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown was held where tons of games were put on free play, a tournament was ran, and tons of people gathered to swap stories, games, and parts. It was a great experience for all who went, despite some turbulent weather. I took out my Williams Indiana Jones to sell, as well as a Judge Dredd that I was delivering as a favor for a local collector. On the way home I brought back a Revenge From Mars, Guns N’ Roses, Funhouse, and Dr. Who; but only the Revenge was for me to keep. All in all, it was a fantastic trip. Here is some footage from the show.