Complete Stern flight 2000.

[new forest pinball]

This is by a country mile our biggest project to date. This project was originally started by our very own Dom Butler, but due to unforeseen/ unfortunate circumstances he had to pass it on. I have no knowledge of its history. (Dom probably told me but being a “professional doofus” I quickly forgot). Maybe Dom will chip in with a little bit about its life before and during his ownership. @Slamtilt
Not sure where to start on this. Arrived at our workshops as you see in the pictures. Pretty much in boxes in hundreds of pieces. Playfield completely stripped. The backbox had rot so half of that needs remaking. This project will get done with some interesting customisations and mods as it is my favourite classic stern machine. Last design by the late great Harry Williams. Not sure if the backbox wiring loom is complete. Time will tell on that one. Full restoration planned for this spring/summer. Here’s some basic pictures of the sum of parts........
Just getting the log up there today or otherwise it might not get done..... Ciao fer now friends Keef. (Hopefully see some of you out and about this year)............

 

[Paul R Owen]

• Stern's first Solid State pinball machine with speech.
• As many classic solid-state machines utilize a knocker to announce a free game, this game does not because Stern used all the solenoid drivers on the driver board.

 

[Gary Flower]

Looks well worth the effort that's going to be needed.

 

[new forest pinball]

Apologies for delay in updates. Been skiving off!
We have made a start on this project at last. First here is the new wood for the backbox.....



Then we sprayed the backbox light board. The plan for this is a set of @AlanJ red led displays. Cannot find the backbox loom currently, sure I seen it some place?! BEFORE....(terrible picture, flight2000 bottom left)......


After.....
(Picture deleted in error. Will sort one out tomorrow )
Terrible pictures again.....
Then time to refurb the display holders....

Oh and this little beauty arrived, the picture doesn’t do it justice. It’s gorgeous..........


Next up transformer mount and power board bracket.

 

[new forest pinball]

As promised. Here’s a picture of the completed backbox light board. Sorry about the bad lighting. Has red led score panels. And blue led ball in play / match panel.

 

[new forest pinball]

Transformer mount refurbished. New Stern TA-100 pcb. New transformer diagram. New fuse I.d. Decal. And a bit of painting, soldering and polishing......
Here is the old TA-100 mounting plate.

Here is the old power pcb, with an average level of bodger repairs.....


To save a bit of dosh, we buy our replacement pcb’s in kit form. Top tip on these is mount the fuse in its holders before you solder the holders in place. As they invariably move and you will not get your fuses to sit correctly. Here they are in place ready for the fuses, but remaining unsoldered.....



And here is the final results......

 

[Slamtilt]

Hey Keith, nice work on the Flight 2000!

CAUTION: GRAPHIC PICTURES AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know a lot about the history of this pin, I bought it off a daughter who was trying to clear all of her late fathers effects, though this was so overwhelming for her as there was so much stuff was stored in an old garage. Not only that, but she had over 500 messages after advertising the pinballs for sale, she didn't reply until 3 months later! Apparently, her father was once a arcade operator in the south east london area. This is the only shot of the pinball in it's resting place:

I don't think it has been there long as the garage was in use up to a couple of years ago, but when they moved the pinballs, they only took off the glass and the legs. What made that worse is that there had been a leak in the flat above and part of the ceiling had come down! Luckily it was stored on top of a jukebox! they had already taken out 3 skip loads of rubbish to get access!

The playfield was very very dirty:


I spent months cleaning this!
Before:

After some cleaning:


If I had the funds I would have kept this pin, I don't think i'll ever find another one!

Anyway, here are some random pictures of it:

 

[new forest pinball]

Had a chance to work on this yesterday. The backbox was in a really bad way. Had been damp at some stage.
Compared to the build quality of the classic Bally’s, the Stern cabinet/backbox are dreadful. The impression you get is they just grabbed any materials going at the local Walmart and used that!.....?
The backbox front top and sides were made out of mdf So moisture had caused them to swell and partially disintegrated. New parts were made and fitted. The top edge was made of thinner board than the sides so I just had to make do, as sanding the mdf to size would of been very time consuming and gives an awful finish to the paint.
Here it is before......




And here it is after with new parts fitted, and the pcb’s etc. Stripped out....
Sanded ready for wood repairs and primer. Thinking of doing the meteorite graphics on the machine in red instead of black , not sure, think it will look cool but far from original.....what do you chaps think?

 

[AlanJ]

i struggled with the mdf on 8balldlxeLE. it’s awful to prep. i’ve also got two sterns to repaint. and both have that crappy mdf.

 

[new forest pinball]

Finally some good weather, ripe for painting and drying. Cabinet and backbox in the correct blue.
Even some time to start pimping with the ole stencils. So excited about this game. One of my all time favourite machines.

 

[new forest pinball]

.

 

[new forest pinball]

A little progress on the stencilling
One thing I will say is that the Stern stencils are a lot simpler than the bally ones..........

 

[new forest pinball]

Backbox stencils are finished. Now onto the cabinet.
One side done in boom! Yellow........

 

[new forest pinball]

If you are following this thread then you may have noticed my desire to paint the asteroids red.
After a conversation with Rosie she was of the opinion that black looked great and after all it is original ! So we went with black
Now worthy of note is that these flight2000 stencils have no “X marks the spot “ which made lining up the asteroids a right stress , but got there in the end one side of the cabinet done
Have a good weekend . Keef.

 

[new forest pinball]

Right so I cannot have the asteroids red on the cabinet. How about the metal work?
Candy red! Delicious...... original door and legs so some imperfections, but overall looks gooooorgeeeeousssss.......
Here are some pictures. Decal work to follow.....

 

[GezTheHealer]

Boootiful work Keith

 

[new forest pinball]

Now applying these Stern apron decals really requires absolutely nerves of steel. It really is very tricky and requires the patience of a fly fisherman then some!......
Why? I hear you ask?
1). They are clear.
2). They are in one single piece to cover the whole apron.
3). They arrive rolled not flat.
4). Being clear they show every little piece of dust etc. And every fingerprint in the adhesive.
So here’s a few tips that may be of help.
1). Roll the decal flat at least overnight before application.
2). Wear neoprene gloves to avoid prints in the adhesive.
3). Only ever apply wet. And to a preferably gloss finish.
4). Be sure to remove all dust and debris from the surface of the apron. (This is virtually impossible.lol.).

So this is how we do it.
Use soapy water. (Pretty much the same mix as dish washing. Hopefully you know someone who has done this you can ask!) wet both surfaces the apron and the decal. Completely. (Do not use hot water, Luke warm is best).
Be quick. Apply while wet and adjust into desired position. If wet enough you will have good time.
Then carefully, gently squeegee the decal to remove the water and any air bubbles. Also gently wiping over the decal repeatedly with an absorbent cloth, helps to remove the water from underneath.

At first a clear decal will look terrible, but hang in there! It will look almost white in some places with lots of micro bubbles.
But as long as the small bubbles are not a result of debris they will slowly go and so will the discolouration. It sounds unlikely but it actually does!........
Here are some pictures to illustrate what we mean. So this is what the decals look like out the tube. (Yes I know this one’s blue, but I neglected to take a photo of the F2K one

Here is the apron cleaned ready for new decal.........

Now make sure you are sat down! This is what it looked like after the decal was applied and post squeegeeing.....
Not a pretty sight!....



Here it is over two weeks later! Yes that’s how long it took. So don’t get impatient, frustrated or discouraged. Just wait for the end results, it’s worth it....



Cheers K.

 

[new forest pinball]

Tombstoned this temporarily, but with three games sold. And three customers games due for collection tomorrow we will have space to set this beauty up!
Today we took the opportunity to fit the wiring harness to the scoreboard/lamp board for the displays.
The displays are courtesy of Alan @AlanJ and are low voltage units. (Red for scores, blue for match/ball in play).
Few points of interest:
1). Note the solenoid driver board has no high voltage section.
2). We have installed the latest weebly mpu pcb as that is scorbit ready and can easily be programmed to accept the latest flight 2000 game code. Which amongst other additional features has a skill shot, and a highest spinner numbers to date feature that displays in the ball in play display. During gameplay and in attract mode. (Flight2000 v.3347).
3). Led compatibility via replacement lamp driver pcb.

A few of the connectors require re-pinning/replacement. We will do this when the cabinet is together.
Here’s a couple of pictures....

 

[GezTheHealer]

Looking forward to playing it

 

[new forest pinball]

Hi All,
Cabinet re-assembling time!
I have been putting this off as everything had been removed when I purchased the game down to the front door wiring loom and all associated parts! The mains cable had been disconnected from the filter. No on/off cabinet switch. But strangely enough the completely worn flipper switches were still there?.....
So the plan was to fit the following new parts to the cabinet.
Decals. On/off switch. Speaker. Speaker mounting board. Volume controls. Flipper buttons. Flipper switches.
Line cord and plug. Screws. Etc. Then attempt a system boot and see what blows!
Here are some pictures of it reassembled. They are not great asspace and light are currently at a premium in my workshops.
We added a selection of comet leds to the backbox illumination to give a variety of effects and colours. See how this looks once the backglass is in. The good news is that it booted straight off, until the sound board was connected, so something going on there which will require further investigation. Also the replacement shooter rod housing is to tight for the rod!
Shocking quality, also the new start button was 3d printed and is really terrible.......good progress .........

 

[GezTheHealer]

Looks bootiful keif

 

[new forest pinball]

Good evening all!
If you are tired of politically charged threads, Pinflation threads, handbag inducing threads, battle of the biggest wallet threads, the who’s been playing Pinball the longest threads, then a few tasty shop logs is just the antidote for your reading pleasure! (F.Y.I. Yes I own a handbag, yes I agree Pinball machines have become expensive, yes I have a big wallet(but it’s regularly empty), no I have not been playing pinball the longest, and no I never comment on politics, oh and yes I own beasts, but none of my beasts operate flippers...........)

Now this is hopefully going to be a very busy year for all you pinball lovers out there. Passing through our workshops this season for cabinet work of one degree or another (from simple touching up to full restoration and re-stencil) we have the following: HS2, seawitch, f2k, Xenon, cybernaut, Flash Gordon, Genesis, Spectrum, Wizard , Bally Harley Davidson and Pat Hand. Plus a full summer of services and repairs......
The purpose of a good ole shoplog is to share the love of pinball we all have in common, to share ideas that save machines , promote the reader to try something new out of their comfort zone, and encourage all to get stuck in and enjoy the unique experience playing fully working pinball machines offers.

First job we want to do is to start population of our new flight 2000 Playfield. In a matter of weeks we will be laying down the g.i string and installing the soon to be famous @AlanJ BIGALSICLES (patent pending). Here they are......


Here is the new CPR Playfield. Just to remind you all. I am very excited about this F2K project as I have never played a fully working one. But as a school boy I fell in love with it.... there was one on Weymouth seafront it never worked, the flippers were so weak and it had no sound. Also there was one at Butlins in Bognor Regis (along with a Dolly Parton another of my classic favourites) that also never worked, in fact each time I visited during the mid eighties it was never even switched on!
Hope you all enjoy my F2K journey as much as me.?, If it’s ready in time with the permission of the organisers we will take it to pinfest(well I won’t personally as all who know me , know I don’t travel beyond the m25). And the pinball open.
Take care y’all. Keef.....

 

[AlanJ]

Just got 300 more LedBars in Keith if you need more.

 

[Deleted member 2463]

flight 2000 is a great game!

 

[GezTheHealer]

I didn't realise the multiball lock represented the stages of the rocket; I've never seen a Flight 2000, looks fun & Those LED's look the business. This is coming together to be quite a special machine(!)

 

[kevlar]

I've always wanted to play F2000 so thanks if you manage to get it to pinfest . I've never seen one in the flesh.

 

[Jay Walker]

"there was one on Weymouth seafront it never worked, the flippers were so weak and it had no sound"

Do you mean in that huge arcade, at the ferry terminal end of the beach front? I think I got to that one, while it was still alright. But I think it was also in or near Weymouth that I saw a badly-off one (maybe even the same machine). If there is/was a campsite/lido/sports facility or 'adventure playground' type of attraction just inland from the other end of the front, one there had suffered a post fixed into the Blast Off lane, so I took it that the locking mechanism had failed.

To inform anyone curious, that mechanism doesn't have switches to show any balls held in it, so when the machine boots up, it goes into a 'Recovery' mode if it doesn't see the three balls in the outhole trough. The score displays remain showing the Highest Score, and the Credit/Ball in Play/Match display remains blank, with the coin door lockout Off (probably the reason there is one, rather than a knocker, now I think about it). The 'walker' mechanism (yes, it is called that) operates to release any balls held in it, and the two kicking pockets are active, with the objective of returning the balls to the outhole. This goes on until the three outhole switches are seen as closed, though there is a limit of, AIR, thirteen cycles of the walker. Then the normal Attract Mode begins, the Credit display lights up and the lockout switches on. A warning if you're physical enough to slam-tilt, it could be long-winded* with this machine.

The lack of any physical signal of locked balls places greater importance on the switch at the entry to the lock; it's the only instance I know of a rollover wire (rather than button) with a capacitor to improve sensitivity. Missing that switch, after a ball ripping through the Blast Off spinner, would crash the game.

Another de**il that isn't in the manual is about Book-keeping entry No. 15; most of the earlier games using the Mpu 200 board don't use it, and this games' listing of the entries repeats that, saying "Not Used". Whereas it's actually a record of Blast Off multiball events.

Incidentally, I'm not sure about this being Harry Williams' last work. Aren't Freefall and Split Second later? Though 'his last truly great work' might be more accurate.

* though maybe not as much as these musings

 

[new forest pinball]

Finally!………
Playfield on the roaster. Exciting……

 

[AlanJ]

Nice: I've got 3 playfield swaps to do: Medusa, Flash Gordon and Fathom. Thinking it's a winters job. Going to sort out a few cabinets first. Lost World, Medusa and Flash Gordon.

 

[new forest pinball]

@AlanJ Agree Alan…
We got cabinets to do as well(!) Flash Gordon, Seawitch and Cybernaut, to name a few…… got staff this year so hopefully can achieve both(?)