The Getaway

[OmegaDef]

After almost 20 long years of dreaming about it, I finally found a way to snag my all time favorite machine. This is the first pinball machine I've been able to acquire, but you can't spell gateway without Getaway. I have a very sweet girlfriend who is just as excited as me to try and get a few more. I honestly didn't think if I got a machine it would be this one, but as fate would have it, the stars aligned and my biggest dream came true.

It came from the private collection of a man who took incredible care of it. He needed to sell it quickly, and I wanted to buy it badly. I took a day off of work, drove five hours to get there, checked it out, agreed on a price, carried it down a flight of stairs, loaded it up in the back of my SUV, and drove five hours home with the biggest smile my face has ever seen.

The guy installed LEDs in every socket. It had brand new rubber, glass, and pinballs. And most unbelievable of all, the backglass was autographed in gold ink by Steve Ritchie. Out of the 5 or 6 I've played on, this was the nicest one I've ever seen. I'm going to put up some pictures. Forgive me if they aren't perfect. I've been preoccupied and took them very quickly before work this morning.

The machine was 99% perfect. I've fixed a few lights that would come on and off. They work great now. The right slingshot has a wire that needs to be resoldered, but that shouldn't be an issue. The only two real issues I'm dealing with, and they are minor, are a slightly broken plastic on the left slingshot, and the kickout isn't hitting it's mark every time. I found a replacement plastic, but it's in Europe somewhere. I need to figure out a way to replace it. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Also I'm not positive about that rail that guides the kickout. I think I just need to slightly bend it more, but I don't want to mess it up. So any advice on that would be appreciated too. As it stands, I can live with it because it at least saves the ball and still hits the tunnel occasionally.

I can't believe how well it plays. I've played a couple brand new machines, and it's closer to those then any pinball machine I've played that's been on location for a few years. One more thing, please don't think I'm bragging. I'm very grateful to have finally gotten the chance to own my own machine. I've waited a very long time for this and I had to sacrifice a lot to achieve my dream. I just wanted to share it with you guys.

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LEDs

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Playfield

 

[OmegaDef]

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Broken Plastic

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Guiderail

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Backglass

 

[Kolchak357]

Congrat on the pin! It's a great one.

 

[Kevlar]

Nice one and snap! Was my first machine too

Regarding the kickback, mine hits the tunnel 9/10 attempts. I suggest you replace or at least take apart and clean the coil sleeve. Also make sure the coil is really secure, if there's any movement at all the balls trajectory/power will vary. If that doesn't sort it go ahead and try repositioning slightly/gently bending the guide. I don't think there's much freedom to move that guide though.

 

[OmegaDef]

Thank you so much. I was lucky and saw the kickback thing when I was at the guy's house. We actually did replace the coil sleeve while I was there. The guy had a workshop full of parts. I'll try and see if it's secure enough though. I might need to fully replace it. I'll try everything before reshaping it. Bending it doesn't sound like the best idea anyway. I'm not going to lie. I'm in a bit over my head when it comes to fixing a pinball machine, but what I lack in current knowledge I can make up in determination to learn. Plus, I've already been looking into things and listening to podcasts knowing this day would come. Honestly, I don't even own a soldering iron yet. When I finally get out of this small financial hole, it's the first thing I'm going to buy. I at least know how to use one, and I know how to fix my slingshot problem when I do. I've also been making friends with the techs up at the arcade. If I'm stumped on anything, I'm pretty sure they will be willing to give me some advice.

 

[OmegaDef]

Oh wow, Kevlar. I've read through that thread before but forgot about it. Thank you so much for redirecting me to it. It will be very useful going forward.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Congrats man! She's a beauty...and speaking of beauties: it's cool to hear your girlfriend is excited about getting more machines too. She sounds like a keeper for sure.

 

[Kevlar]

Oh wow, Kevlar. I've read through that thread before but forgot about it. It will be very useful going forward. Thank you so much for redirecting me to it. It will be very useful going forward.

If you've looked at that thread you'll see that we were all newbs once I cringe looking back at it now, some of the stupid questions I asked etc. it's all a learning experience though. I recommend you get stuck in, you'll be surprised how quickly you'll get into it.

 

[OmegaDef]

Thanks, Jeff. She's adorable in every way, and she's got an amazing natural ability at pinball. She'd really like a Twilight Zone or Monster Bash. I know those are on the higher end, but I'm going to find a way to make her dreams come true, just like she was so gracious in helping make mine.

 

[vikingerik]

Getaway is an awesome choice. I'm predicting it will be the next machine to surge in value once TPA does it, like STTNG did. It's got the same ingredients: an early DMD slightly overlooked on the list of greats, but once everybody plays it again on TPA, they'll remember how awesome and intense it is.

 

[OmegaDef]

I have been thinking the same thing. I'm so relieved the timing worked out the way it did. I'm never going to sell it because of how much it personally means to me, but I didn't want it to skyrocket before I had the chance to get one.

 

[Bowflex]

Nice pickup! Great table and I am sure it looks awesome in your place

 

[Buzz1126]

Verry cool! Congratulations! And to have a mate that enjoys your hobby is rare, so you may want to keep her...

 

[superballs]

So....effing....jealous.....

Nice catch, there's one in the wild near me right now so I'm pretty elated about it.

Shame the right flippers are a bit funny on it though.

 

[OmegaDef]

First off, thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate it.

Last night my roommate was playing. From the other room I heard, "Oh no, bad, bad, BAD". I shuddered, but when I ran up it wasn't a huge issue. One of the posts had gotten dislodged. It was unfortunately stripped. I tried a little Teflon tape to make the screw a tiny bit bigger, but that didn't really work and it's not a real solution anyway. I assume there is something I can fill this hole with so I can just screw it back in, but I'm not sure exactly what. Any advice?

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As far as the kickout and the coil that operates it, I've done some investigating. Kevlar, it is indeed not firmly secured. It wobbles left and right a tiny bit if you mess with it. I'm not sure how to secure it tighter though as all of the screws around that area seem to tighten the mount but not the coil. Also, I'm not 100% sure about it's angle. I would expect it to be perfectly centered, but it's a little off. Hopefully the pictures convey that. As it stands the kickout sends the ball into the black rubber underneath the stoplight 9 times out of 10. It has the power, just not the exact angle. If it hit 1/4 inch to the left it would be perfect. In Kevlar's Getaway thread he mentioned that on a rare occasion the ball would drain down the middle, but then run back up the outlane triggering a save. For whatever reason when I do that, the kickback hits the tunnel 9 times out of 10. I'm not sure what that means, but I thought that could be useful information.

Here's the photos. I realize it's hard to diagnose from a picture, but does anything seems obviously wrong or off to you guys?

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[Kevlar]

From the first photo I have that post too just held down by a self tapper, if it is completely stripped you could probably drill right through and fit a nut and bolt I stead if you can find the right size, that's assuming there isn't something in the way underneath the playfield ( I don't think there is ).

The kickback coil does look twisted and the tip looks a bit battered. You could file the mushrooming off it, it might make a difference. You should try and straighten the coil up though.

One other thing, you could try adjusting that switch wire, or at least make sure it's free and working 100%.

I would expect a difference to the ball when rolling back up the outlane from the center drain because if you think about it the ball will have just made that switch and be moving away from the coil when it gets hit whereas when it comes down the outlane it makes the switch and probably reaches the coil tip before getting hit ( depending on its speed ).

 

[Espy]

In Kevlar's Getaway thread he mentioned that on a rare occasion the ball would drain down the middle, but then run back up the outlane triggering a save.

One of the most satisfying things in pinball IMO. Especially when you nudge to give the ball just the right amount of strength to make the rollover.

 

[Zaphod77]

usually it's possible to adjust a guide like that by removing the plastic above it, then loosening the screw holding the end in place and sliding the end a bit, then retightening the screw.

Also, waxing the playfield will often affect the trajectory of the kickout.

 

[ER777]

First off, thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate it.

Last night my roommate was playing. From the other room I heard, "Oh no, bad, bad, BAD". I shuddered, but when I ran up it wasn't a huge issue. One of the posts had gotten dislodged. It was unfortunately stripped. I tried a little Teflon tape to make the screw a tiny bit bigger, but that didn't really work and it's not a real solution anyway. I assume there is something I can fill this hole with so I can just screw it back in, but I'm not sure exactly what. Any advice?

Try using a couple broken off wooden toothpicks to shim the hole and make the screw fit tighter. I can't remember where I first heard that trick but it works well for this type of thing.

Here's the photos. I realize it's hard to diagnose from a picture, but does anything seems obviously wrong or off to you guys?

I'm not sure but maybe its ever so slightly misaligned to the right? Its hard to really tell though. My HS2's kickback hits the tunnel almost every time and it looks like its aimed a little more perdendicular than yours.

 

[Shaneus]

Don't worry about bragging... you're allowed to!

As for the hole that's stripped, I had the same problem in my High Speed. I took some wood glue, some bamboo skewers (they're better to use than regular toothpicks, I believe), clear out as much of the loose wood from the hole as possible, put in a small amount of the glue and the pointy ends of the skewers and let it sit for as long as it takes to cure. Then break them off as close to the PF as you can, then screw everything back in

There's more detailed info on Pinside, so I'd check there too... but the above should give you a brief rundown of how I got mine up and running again!


PS. So, so jealous. You've done really well! And the autograph is the icing on the cake. Can I ask how much you paid? (I won't be offended if you'd rather not say. I understand!)