Well, Now I Own A Pinball Machine Too!

[dtown8532]

Congrats buddy! At $500 and working I think you got the better deal.

 

[shutyertrap]

You all ready for some pinball porn? I snapped a whole mess of pics, and I welcome whatever comments you make. I honestly have no clue where to start on this machine, so those in the know, start pointing me in directions! If anything catches your eye, good or bad, it's all info for me to digest. Don't know if I've got a gem in the rough, a survivor table, or a "you paid what?" kind of thing. 20+ pics to follow, so lay it on me and tell me what I got.

Back glass with detail to follow. There is some flaking going on, and it looks like it got a little cooked by some lights. Anyway of sealing the back so it won't flake more?

 

[shutyertrap]

Circuit boards!!

 

[shutyertrap]

And now, the underside of the pin...

 

[shutyertrap]

Coin door is in decent shape, I think. Plastic on the front is cracked, the coin return door is rusted. The lock is new I believe, or so it looks.

Gives you the beginnings of understanding how the cabinet looks too. Speaking of...

 

[shutyertrap]

More angles and detail of cab scratches...

 

[shutyertrap]

And now what you really wanna see, the playfield!

There is zero shine on this thing. Layer of dirt, the inserts don't let much light through. I doubt in the 15 years the guy owned it that he ever cleaned it.

Looks like I'll need a little 1x right there!

 

[shutyertrap]

Here's some close-ups. You can really see the table wear. I think that's my number 1 thing I want to know if and how that's fixable.

Left slingshot plastic is broken off at bottom.

You can see the upper right pop bumper has a broken piece of plastic at the bottom.

Is it just me, or is it a little thrashed where that post is coming out the table?

 

[shutyertrap]

The 'star' on this side pops up at wonky angle. It can be pushed back to normal, but as soon as a ball rolls over, it goes crooked again. It works though!

Targets don't have even spacing between them. Hopefully easy fix?

Some warped plastics. I believe SKILL_SHOT knows a method to flatten them. I do have a heat gun...

 

[dagwood]

Wow dude that was a freaking bargain! Here in Australia you'd be paying well over $1000 for a Firepower in that condition.
Good to see that someone down the track moved the batteries off the CPU board, because old leaky batteries have caused a lot of damage to these delicate boards.

Congrats on the purchase!!

 

[shutyertrap]

Last pic, hard to see, but the flipper plastic is broken. Also, cracked rubber.

And there you have it! Whaddya all think?

Again, any advice, I'll take. Complete noob here, so start me off slow. I downloaded the instruction booklet, that's a start. I found this website, http://www.firepowerpinball.com/ which has all sorts of goodness, including stencils for repainting the cabinet! I don't have tool one, but I'm assuming an inclinometer, voltage meter, and soldering kit are probably things I should look into getting. I don't even know what is safe to use for cleaning the playfield!

The only issue with 'play' I've come across is that there is just barely not enough strength to flip the ball up the left shoot into the upper ball capture. Whether that is a flipper issue (they feel fine to me) or a dirty ball, dirty table, no wax whatsoever on it table issue.

Alright, back to normal household duties. The wife is already giving me dirty looks for what minimal time it took to take pics!

 

[karl]

Good pictures

You can buy your way into happiness. Look Here: http://www.classicplayfields.com/store-playfields.html

The only problem is that the playfield is more expensive than your machine. When it comes to cleaning the playfield I prefer to use Novus 2.

I still say that for the price you payed, you got a nice Firepower even if it might not feel like it when you start to think to much about the imperfections. A tip: Do not try to fix everything at once. Play it for a few weeks and then see what is the most important thing to fix for you to be happy playing it.

But most of all, Have fun

 

[dagwood]

There is a bit of work there but nothing that requires specialist technical skill

The very first thing I would do is minimise the wear on the playfield and immediately replace the old balls. Then I'd give the PF a good clean and cover those wear spots with some small pieces of adhesive mylar. The very next step would be to seal the backglass.

This website has really helped me in the past: http://www.pinrepair.com/restore/index1.htm#bg

 

[George Klepacz]

I want a Firepower so badly, you lucky bastard! Congratulations on the purchase!

 

[Heretic]

for what amounts to around 280 here ill take it of yer hands

 

[Kolchak357]

Looks like you ended up with a real nice deal. Happy for ya.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

It looks really good inside and under the PF the wear area is typical and very minimal for not having mylar. After a shop job clean/replace/repair the PF and plastics you have a machine that will last another 30 years. Clean with novus #2 dont bother with #1 a heat gun will work for your plastics but to get even heat id bake them. Clean the inserts under side. krylon triple thick clear will seal your backglass. order replacement bulbs,rubber and any broken stuff and your pretty much good to go. Before you order you may want to shop it just in case something comes up. LEDs will make those inserts POP! Play it for a bit because it will be down for awhile depending how deep you get into cleaning and I think that wood gap is fine.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

I think your legs need to be switched see how the back cant be raised anymore but the fronts can

 

[Heretic]

Too easy too many jokes

 

[jaredmorgs]

Having watched far too many TNT Amusement YouTube videos about this era of pinball, you need to watch for the following areas on the board.

Picture 1 - looks pretty clean in there!

Picture 2 - this may look a bit "hacky" but doing this battery mod will probably have saved the boards from serious damage.

Picture 3 - These two boards are inter-connected by a terminal block connector, correct? If so, you should take off the screws in line with the connector that joins the two boards. This, according to Tom Tuckey of TNT Amusements, is the biggest source of failure on this era of games (the pins shorting out on the metal plate).

When you get a chance, do the following future-proofing mods to the board:

• Take off all boards and reflow silver solder on all connectors.
• Keep an eye on those big red resistors in the last picture. They look like they are running really hot (based on the discolouration).
• Watch this video for tips on Black Knight that are also relevant to Firepower http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QCuLzF95XQ

When restoring the machine, I approached a table repair the following ways (opinions on this forum may differ - use your own noodle to filter the suggestions).

• Remove all plastics
• Remove rubbers
• Remove flipper bats and soak them in metholayted spirits to get rid of the rubber buildup on them. Check for cracking in the rod/bat union, and the tips of the bats (common places for hairline cracks to appear).
• Wash all painted plastics (with the white backing on them) in soapy detergent (it is probably the most gentle thing you can use).
• Use Metholated Spirits on all clear plastics to really smash the chrome dust off.
• If the playfield is in good condition (that is, it is still pretty well sealed) you can use Metho on that to really cut the dust off.
• If the playfield is in poor condition (exposed wood), then use something like a furniture polish (I used a product available in Australia called Mr Sheen, which was cheap and lifted the chrome dust really well). Novus 2 is also a good choice, but more expensive.
• Consider replacing the GI and light circuits with LED light kits. SKILL_SHOT/JPelter/others can help you heaps with this easy mod. Watch some TNT Amusement videos of game of the same era to get a feel how to accent coloured areas properly.
• LED mods will also significantly reduce the load on the GI and Light circuits in the game, which will ensure the molex connectors do not overheat again on your game.
• If you can't afford anything else, keep a stock of flipper plunger sleeves and plunger/links in stock. Having these maintained correctly will make a huge difference to your enjoyment of the game.
• Completely rebuild the flippers. Backstops, plunger and links, Coils (if you feel they are weak). You'll thank yourself for doing it.
• Check out http://www.firepowerpinball.com/ for some targeted resources.

Thats all I can think of at the moment. Good luck with restoration.