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Complete Fireball 2

ronsplooter

ronsplooter

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Jul 21, 2011
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So the plan is to try and get this one done in time to take to NLP so that gives me about 4 weeks :eek: This was the Fireball 2 at the UKPP so I'm sure some on here have played it recently. It's a good solid game, just dirty and in need of a tune up. It's fully working except for no sound which I think is a dodgy connector so easy enough to sort out. The playfield is nice, backglass is perfect and the cab is decent for such an old game :) Here it is next to it's older brother...

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First job was to clean up the exterior so I've gone over the cabinet with a damp magic eraser to rejuvenate the paint work and used some goo gone to get rid of the sticky tape residue that was on it. I've also used the tin foil and Coke trick to get the legs looking decent :thumbs: Really pleased with how the cab came up as it's always nice to be able to keep them original. New parts are ordered so it's time to start stripping the playfield. Here's some pics of the cleaned up cabinet...

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Wow! That can came up a treat! I'm going to try a quick once over with a "Duzzit Magic Sponge" on my VECTOR. I'm doing the same as you - getting it ready over the next 4 weeks for NLP.
 
Been able to make some good progress on this over the last couple of days. The top side of the playfield has been stripped and the tumbler is running :) It's pretty dirty but not too bad for a game this old....

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Lots of stuff to clean and tumble now......

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I've also taken the playfield out of the cab so I can work on the underside more easily. Next jot is to strip all of the major stuff off and get it cleaned up....

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Is that a Gottlieb flipper mechanism for the left main flipper? It might be tricky to return to standard, since that Gottlieb type (introduced on their last e/m's) has a larger diameter for the flipper shaft, and thus a larger hole in the playfield.
 
It is indeed a Gottlieb flipper mech :) I've got all the parts needed to replace it with a proper Bally one though and it's got a Bally flipper bat in it so I'm hoping it should be an easy swap. I'll let you know once I take it off and can have a proper look :thumbs:
 
I've also noticed that e/m style relay next to the upper flipper. What's that for? I've seen relays like that on the Williams two-level games, for the Magna-Saves. Here, it could be for the 'DoodleBug' unit, unless it's to limit use of the upper flipper.
 
Not sure about that one. Looking at the schematics it's called "Fireball Relay" and is part of the circuit with the "Fireball Unit Coil" so I'm guessing that the "Fireball" is the Doodlebug-like ball and magnet setup :)
 
ronsplooter said:
Not sure about that one. Looking at the schematics it's called "Fireball Relay" and is part of the circuit with the "Fireball Unit Coil" so I'm guessing that the "Fireball" is the Doodlebug-like ball and magnet setup :)
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Yes, that what I'd suspected, based on the Williams games with magnets, though it's placed a long way from the unit itself.
 
Good news :D The playfield hasn't been drilled out to accommodate the Gottlieb flipper mech. Instead whoever fitted it didn't put in a through playfield bush and relied on the width of the flipper shaft to fill the hole. The flipper bat on that side is a bodge job mixture of Bally bat screwed to Gottlieb shaft so I'll need a new Bally one....may as well replace all 3, maybe some red translucent ones like you get on Medusa :thumbs:
 
That's good, then. The Gottlieb unit didn't actually have a plastic bush protruding through the playfield, it relied on its 2 part upper/lower bearing set-up. I had a spares Gottlieb playfield decades ago, and thought to use the flipper units on an old-time Stern game, but I'd have had to enlarge the holes (hence my concern).

Yes, why not have the translucent red paddles? They'd certainly suit this game better than they did on my Seawitch, which only had five other red items on the entire playfield.
 
Yes, why not have the translucent red paddles?
Click to expand...

I've got them on my Flash Gordon with black superbands and they look sweet :) They should match the plastic of the little demon post too so I think I'll get some ordered :thumbs:
 
The game is pretty much fully stripped down now and it's time for the cleaning to commence :) I've still got to get the remaining pop bumper parts off but other than that all of the major mechs have been removed. Next step for the playfield is to clean up the coils and wiring using baby wipes and all of the inserts from underneath using glass cleaner and some cotton buds. The tumbler is on constantly and I'll be firing up the ultrasonic cleaner today to take care of all the screws and bits from off the underneath of the playfield (not going to tumble these if I can help it).

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The first bits and pieces have come out of the ultra sonic cleaner and are looking good :)

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I've also been buying some new parts to make this game top notch. There are new pop bumper caps as the ones currently on the game are just generic red and don't have the fireball pic on them. Also a full set of new drop targets as the old ones are quite worn. There's a set of plastic protectors and replacement clear plastics for the flipper return lanes along with the usual flipper rebuild kits, new rubbers and balls. The last thing is a playfield protector from Germany which I bought based on the pics of one on @Spandangler Funhouse. Hoping this will be the thing that really makes the game shine :D

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Several hundred plays later on FH and the pf protector is still good. Starting to get some scuffs which I'm still unsure how to tackle. I'm guessing novus 2. They are only tiny scuffs as opposed to scratches.

That fireball is gonna look saweeeeeeeet mate
 
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Now I am really looking forward to some games on this.
Will be interesting to see how it plays with the plastic Playfield protector, was looking forward to playing a machine fitted with one.
Chris you gotta make sure this makes it to NLP.
 
A Lexan (polycarbonate) playfield protector makes a HUGE difference. I had to make my own for GOLD BALL as nothing commercially available. Also DIY was a lot cheaper. The ready-made ones are about £100 but a sheet of 0.75mm Lexan is about £15 delivered.

Not only does it look great but it sorts out all the issues with cupped inserts and other dodgy bits where the playfield isn't level. Plays super fast and so far seems to be very hard wearing.
 
Just a quick update to say the first lot of stuff has come out of the tumbler and looks good....load 2 is in there now and I expect to have all of the tumbling done by the weekend. All the plastics have been cleaned along with most of the other plastic parts and I've started cleaning the larger metal parts that don't fit in the tumbler :thumbs: The plan is to have everything cleaned by the end of this coming weekend and maybe even start putting things back together :)
 
Quick update as I haven't had much time to spend on this today. All parts are now cleaned and ready to go back on the game including all saucer mechs, drop target banks, flipper assemblies, sling mechs, the fireball bonus thing and the little demon post mech. I've cleaned all of the inserts from the back using glass cleaner and cotton buds so the only thing left to clean is the actual playfield itself :)

I should be able to start re-populating the underside of the playfield tomorrow so I'm on schedule to get this thing done and ready for NLP :thumbs:
 
Love a good restoration thread! An interesting game as well, don't think I have played Fireball 2 yet, so I look forward to seeing this one done :thumbs:
 
Those displays really make a game stand out.
But you'll already know that with your Fathom.
 
So I've started on the playfield cleaning today and may have made a potentially silly decision. After the foaming cleaner, magic eraser with isopropyl and a first pass of Novus 2 the condition of the mylar was bugging me :) The game has a full playfield mylar and I'd decided a while ago that I wasn't going to mess with it as it's in decent enough condition and with the timeframes I'm working too it didn't make sense to try and remove it......


However, after the first pass of cleaning it just didn't look right to me so I've broken out the hairdryer :cuckoo: This could turn out to be a brilliant idea or complete stupidity....we'll have to see :D
 
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