Old Chicago

Games with(out) glasses, don't get passes......

Looking good.

Playing.....

even better......

Co-owner Mark has ordered a set of cabinet stencils from BAA. We are looking forward to tearing this game apart in the near future for this job. It will be the first stencil job for both of us. Finding a backglass would be nice.....

Update : Backglass found. Yay!

Bally's "Old Chicago"

Help save a classic!

Picked this one up today from a fella I work with. It was one of Bally's more popular titles from that era. The pop bumpers towards the lower half of the playfield often led to suprise drains at super-fast speeds! Drop targets, kick-out holes, spinner - man this game has it all. Game was in home use for quite awhile and one look at the insides shows it is extremely clean. So great project huh? Not so fast - the game is missing the backglass! Although I only paid a salvage price for the game, I would hate to part it. It does deserve better. Please keep an eye out for a backglass for me. This game will be parted out at the first of the year if no leads turn up. I do not have the room to store this thing indefinitely!

Recieved condition

Slight crazing on the lower half of the playfield. Plastics/apron are in superb condition.

Wear beneath the center kickout (typical) is the only serious blem on the playfield

Coin door has shallow dent which may work out. Cabinet is yellowed and gross. Should clean up though.

Well if you can't help me find a backglass for this game, maybe you know someone who needs some parts - the first of the year is right around the corner.

tick...tick....tick...

Another project game...



What in the crap is a Spinball Pinball anyway?

A "garage find" by me this Summer. The owner failed to tell me this "Jolly Park" was some type of foreign game with language that barely passes as english! He also neglected to mention that it only runs on 220 volts which limits it to being in the garage or laundry room. At least it works. Good thing it was cheap!

Now, where to find parts.........

Black Rose completed!
It's been a long time, it's been a long time, been a long lonely, lonely ......
(apologies to Led Zeppelin)

Just look at the depth of that shine! Overall I am very pleased with the appearance of the game. I am not quite pleased with the way it plays yet. Probably due to the strange caroms and spins that come with a newly rubbered and waxed game. I will be breaking it in this weekend :-)

This game will be for sale at an asking price of $1500. Make me an offer as I need to move on to my next project - White Water!

UPDATE: Game is sold. If you are looking for a Black Rose, I can contact Jeff (the buyer) to see if he will sell. Email me for details.

Avast, me hearties!

The Black Rose nears completion....

Most games do not take me this long to complete. But, shortly after tearing the game down my wife returned to work full-time on the shift opposite of mine, throwing me into the dreaded "Mr. Mom" role taking care of our three kids ages 4, 5, and 7. Another thing that slowed progress was my decision to tear this game down while still in the gameroom. The lighting in there is not the greatest and the quarters a bit cramped. I should have just braved the cold and moved it to the garage as I typically do. Lesson learned.

Hard to believe the cannon area is this nice. Especially since it was obvious no one had ever really bothered to maintain or adjust anything on this game prior to my owning it. Better than 30% of the bulbs were out and the remaining ones were very blackened. This game is gonna turn out GREAT!

I added black flipper bats with red rubbers as that is what the promotional flyer for the game shows. Not too sure I have ever seen any decked out that way in real life. I do like the look though. Also, black rubbers for the rest of the game would probably have looked better - but darn it those white ones just play soooo nice and fast! At this point, all I have to do is adjust the flippers and install the ramps.

Shopping the Black Rose

I am not sure why I wanted to own this title, perhaps all of the hype surrounding Stern's newly released Pirates of the Caribbean pinball. Perhaps I already liked the way the game looked and played in PinMame. Whatever it was, I wanted to give one a try. I bought this game in the fall of 2006 from a fellow pinhead in Columbus, Ohio. This particular example came without either of the two common flaws that plague this title - playfield wear at the cannon and cabinet fade.

After playing the game for several months, I decided it was time to give the BR a good cleaning. After all, what else did I have to do while waiting for Northern Ohio's sub-zero February 2007 to pass? I started with the underside of the playfield.....

Holy crap! Has this thing EVER been cleaned? I am guessing not.

I then removed the Cannon assembly............

Hmmmmm.....I thought that cannon was made of clear plastic.

Wellwhaddayaknowaboutthat? It WAS made out of clear :-)

When moving to the topside of the playfield, The first item I wanted to take off was the large wire ramp that runs the length of the playfield from the broadside cannon VUK to the flippers. This proved to be rather troublesome, as the rear of the ramp is fastened behind the game's backboard. The only way to access this area is to completely remove the playfield from the cabinet. What a complete pain in the ass!

Stay tuned........

Xbox? We do' need no steeeenking Xbox!

Actually that is not true. The Xbox still gets plenty of play time. But it sure is nice to see it get a rest sometimes! Nearly 30 years later, this Atari X's and O's Football game still reels 'em in! Special thanks to "bigmoney" Willy from the Cleveland area for giving us a great deal on the game. You da' man!

TZ !

Finally! - I am in the Zone

Pictures of my newest aquisition and what I went through to get it ready for my gameroom. This game is very challenging to play and restore. I did however manage to obtain my first LITZ a couple of dozen games after a pretty thorough "shopping" of the game.

Man, did this thing turn out NICE!

The playfield has no wear and plays super fast. The clock has had a new housing installed and works perfectly. All bulbs were replaced. Underplayfield inserts and tunnels were cleaned. All metal hardware was polished to a mirror finish. Of course new rubbers too.

Thank goodness for digital photography. I'd have never remembered how to put all of this crap back where it belongs!

Sweet no fade cabinet. These are the original decals. The front left leg area does have slight wrinkling and the front panel was drilled for a locking bar. Chrome carriage bolts fill the holes nicely. The sides of the backbox also have some slight scuffs, but touched up well.

I even went so far as to respray the inside of the cabinet with a coat of semi-gloss black. This gives the game a nice "minty" appearance when the playfield is in place. Note the Pinball Pro speaker system has been installed in this game and sounds GREAT!

If you are in the Northern Ohio area and like what you see, contact me if you need something done to your pin(s). I do enjoy this sort of thing as a hobby.

I do:

Troubleshooting and repair of both electro-mechanical and solid state pinball machines and circutry

Light cosmetic restorations and thourough "shopping" of games as seen above.

I MAY do: (case by case)

Mylar removal.

Cabinet decal installation/stenciling.

I currently DON'T do:

House calls. Bring it by and drop it off, or I can come and get it, for a fee of course :-)

Playfield touchup or clearcoating work. I can however, remove your playfield and ship to the restorer of your choice and re-install when done.

Ok, you get the idea of my capabilities. On that note, please also realize that this is not my full time profession! I work on games as spare time permits. It has taken me as long as 6 months to go through a game, and in the case of the TZ above only about a week or so and TZ is supposed to be one of the hardest games to teardown and rebuild! Just do know that like anyone else, my free time does vary. So please, don't be in a hurry, and you will be pleased with the price and results. I do provide a detailed list of all major services performed, actual part costs and sources, and detailed photos of the process.

Email me at TheLeafEater AT Buckeye-express DOT com for more details.

Also: due to time and space constraints, I only take on a maximum of two games at a time. Check with me for the next open slot.

My Ride

1972 Pontiac Lemans 455 H.O.

This car was purchased new by my mother in October of 1971. To date it has only been driven 59,000 miles. The bucket seats and GTO options were added around 1988 when the car recieved it's only repaint in the original hue of Sundance Orange.

The engine (a true 455 H.O.) was a crate motor that was built up and installed into the car in 1972 by George Delorean of Leader Automotive - Troy, Mi. It has never been rebuilt and runs plenty strong with it's original unitized distributor and plug wires still in place! We have all of the original reciepts for the work and even the original window sticker.

Other features are a Turbo 400 automatic trans. and a 3.55:1 posi-trac rear.

Due to a growing family, and lack of time to spend with this vehicle, I will be offering it FOR SALE in the not so distant future. If you think you might be interested, drop me a line at TheLeafEater AT buckeye-express DOT com.

My Project Area

The area previously known as the wife's parking area....

L to R: (Back) Midway's Wild Kingdom, Midway's Dog Fight, (Front) CC's Shootout, CC's Twin Rifle.

Not Pictured: CC's Big Top

Pins pictured: L to R: Gottlieb's Striker (repaired and returned to owner), Williams Lady Luck, Williams Little Chief

Yes the gun games are rough, but are mostly complete. I would like to keep either the Shootout or the Wild Kingdom for my game room. The others I may sell someday.

Basement photos

1950 Keeney 4-player shuffle alley "High Score League Bowling" only one known to exist!

2003 M.A.M.E. cabinet custom built by me

The Bar

London Bobby Ale neon - seen one of those lately?

Cedar Point's Monster Bash pinball
Hooo-whee! Check out that scoop hole wear !!