This is not at all urgent as my "Touchdown" machine remains in my queue of machines to refurb - but thought it might be good to put this out on the grapevine sooner rather than later.
In short: I am looking for an empty cabinet for a 1967 Williams Touchdown.
In long:
I have a 1967 Williams Touchdown machine seems to me to be saveable. Mechanically it's all there and the playfield is not in bad shape. The main problem is the cabinet which is rotted out at one end.
I suspect that this has been stood on its rear end near a leaky garage door or in a corner where damp congregates for quite a long time. It's really only the end of the cabinet affected (see pics taken from underneath the game).
Part of the base retaining frame is gone at that end and the baseboard itself (which of course is just a cover, the motor/mech board has its own supports which are fine) is rotted at the end. The topbox is fine and in fact I have
two of them (but only one usable backglass).
I have several possible routes for addressing this cabinet problem - I have the very kind offer of a size-comparable Gottlieb cabinet which I might strip back to bare wood, do any adaptations and try to repro the fairly simple Williams decals
for Touchdown. Or ... I am awaiting a quotation from a local cabinet maker on repairing it, he has been to look at it, but I think it'd be a lot of work so I am expecting a scary quote - but it would be perfect I hope.
Or... there is the tiny possibility that someone has an exact one of these hanging around. Some of you will have seen I posted a request on the Facebook EM forum - but although I got helpful advice,
nobody there seems to have such a cabinet.
My last resort would be to DIY, as another contact pointed out it's really just a matter of splitting one corner of the cabinet with heat to melt the animal glue,
that will allow removal of the old ply-base and insertion of a new one, then add some new retaining frame bits, glue it all backtogether and repaint. Now, that SOUNDS simple, but .... my woodworking skills
might make it otherwise
As I said at the start this not not urgent for a few months, but I though this woudl be a good place to put my request on record.
Thanks for reading this far!
In short: I am looking for an empty cabinet for a 1967 Williams Touchdown.
In long:
I have a 1967 Williams Touchdown machine seems to me to be saveable. Mechanically it's all there and the playfield is not in bad shape. The main problem is the cabinet which is rotted out at one end.
I suspect that this has been stood on its rear end near a leaky garage door or in a corner where damp congregates for quite a long time. It's really only the end of the cabinet affected (see pics taken from underneath the game).
Part of the base retaining frame is gone at that end and the baseboard itself (which of course is just a cover, the motor/mech board has its own supports which are fine) is rotted at the end. The topbox is fine and in fact I have
two of them (but only one usable backglass).
I have several possible routes for addressing this cabinet problem - I have the very kind offer of a size-comparable Gottlieb cabinet which I might strip back to bare wood, do any adaptations and try to repro the fairly simple Williams decals
for Touchdown. Or ... I am awaiting a quotation from a local cabinet maker on repairing it, he has been to look at it, but I think it'd be a lot of work so I am expecting a scary quote - but it would be perfect I hope.
Or... there is the tiny possibility that someone has an exact one of these hanging around. Some of you will have seen I posted a request on the Facebook EM forum - but although I got helpful advice,
nobody there seems to have such a cabinet.
My last resort would be to DIY, as another contact pointed out it's really just a matter of splitting one corner of the cabinet with heat to melt the animal glue,
that will allow removal of the old ply-base and insertion of a new one, then add some new retaining frame bits, glue it all backtogether and repaint. Now, that SOUNDS simple, but .... my woodworking skills
might make it otherwise
As I said at the start this not not urgent for a few months, but I though this woudl be a good place to put my request on record.
Thanks for reading this far!
