(Topic ID: 65903)
Linked Games
Flash Gordon
Bally, 1981-
Flash Gordon
Bell Games, 1981
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Vancouver, WA
3 weeks later
Quoted from epeabs:Underneath is completely populated, and topside is almost complete. Rebuilt all the drop targets, flippers, coil sleeves in everything.
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Looks great! Any problems putting the new star rollover targets in?
3 weeks later
There is a used assembly for a SILVERBALL MANIA on ebay right now. It looks to be the same as the AS-2694-3 assembly shown in the Bally 1980-1 parts catalog. Looks like it should work in a Flash Gordon.
1 week later
I bought a hardtop the day after I got my FG. My playfield is really not that bad except for some planking but I figured the hardtop would be a good option for the future. In the meantime I'm just enjoying playing the game.
I looks to me that "hogging out" the holes for the rollovers could be kind of tedious. I decided to get a little practice with some Lexan I bought on Amazon. I bored some 1.25" holes in the plywood and some .75" holes in the Lexan then glued the Lexan over the plywood. After a couple tries I think I got the hang of it.
Here's a couple pictures:
IMG_0749 (resized).jpgIMG_0752 (resized).jpg 3 weeks later
Quoted from BJM-Maxx:Anyone have this problem? My upper targets can take a direct hit from the ball and not go down. The work perfectly almost all the time but when hit hard its like they tip backward rather than get pushed back. Hit them more gently, they go down.
Mine do that periodically.
Quoted from epeabs:That looks beautiful. It looks very similar to mine with the Hardtop and the translucent rubbers and red flippers.
[quoted image]
Glad to see those Flash Gordon hardtops are working out so well. I'd really like to put mine on but I'm just having too much fun (?) playing the thing!
1 month later
3 months later
Quoted from Nokoro:Thanks guys. I just took that linking arm off my right flipper to check and sure enough, I have the same issue as shown in the video posted by wolffcub . It could have come undone during transit. Parts ordered!
Getting back to my drop target issue, in case it was hard to visualize from my earlier description, take a look at this picture. Occasionally, when the target resets, the arm (shown with the green arrow) goes up just a little too high and slips out of the slot, making the drop target stuck in the up position. Anyone ever experience this?
[quoted image]
I've had this problem with one of the drop targets in the 4 target assembly. I replaced the reset spring with a new one and haven't had the problem since. Drop targets manufactured later than FG employ a little rod which prevents the drop target from resetting too high and popping out of the channel. I just went through a drop target assembly from Mr and Mrs Pacman and it was manufactured with the rod. See https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bally-drop-target-pops-out-of-the-channel.
If my spring replacement doesn't cure the problem for good I'll try to add some sort of rod like found in the MMPM drop target assemblies.
8 months later
1 year later
Here's a picture of my FG. Looks like the green ground wire is grounded just below the flash unit.
3D31685A-C1E7-4D2F-9A2B-F116923F763E (resized).JPG 7 months later
Quoted from tomdrum:The PF pictured is a CPR rescreen of my OE PF so I know all mounting holes are correct. OE lamp bases are oval, replacements are square. I had to clip off corners of some lamp sockets to clear components. It is a bitch.
I know this is a little off topic but wouldn't a hardtop present fewer problems?
Quoted from tomdrum:Of course. However my rescreen cost less than a hardtop because I also shipped several other OE PF's for them to use for dimple corrections. So, I got a rescreen cheap. I also had a friend do the clear coat which was perfect. Also Bally OE lamp sockets are crap, so a hardtop doesn't address that issue. All 97 PF lamp sockets replaced!
Plus my cabinet got a full bore restore, complete paint job with clear coat, new cabinet bottom and fully detailed. So mine isn't a players quality game getting a hardtop, it's a top to bottom restoration.
Definitely the way to go for a high end restoration. I bought my FG a couple years ago. I bought a hardtop for it two days later. I've not yet installed the hardtop as the game is just too much fun to play. Someday I may install the hardtop if I think I can do it without screwing things up. Whatever I do, it will remain a players quality pin.
3 weeks later
1 year later
Quoted from DanMarino:frunch Thanks! I popped in a .75 amp fuse just to see if it would start a game. It did. The outhole switch needs to be adjusted some. The ball doesn't always sit centered in the outhole, so the kicker sometimes misses it.
Got the game to start and the speech and most sounds seemed to be working. However, now both right flippers are no longer working. The left flipper works fine.
Can someone post a photo of inside their coin door. My coin door wires seem hacked up. There are three of those diagnostic test switches there. One is mounted on a metal plate and is broken. The other two test switches are hanging there and are seized up and don't press down. So I'm not able to get into the test diagnostic menu.
I'm also pretty sure I need to hook up a battery pack to the MPU. The battery is not on the board and there appears to be a wire lead coming off, but it's not connected to a battery pack. The MPU says Lost World written on it in sharpie.
[quoted image]
Here's a picture of my coin door.
IMG_2984 (resized).jpg 3 months later
Quoted from Jmxdc:ahh gotcha, that's easy, I will print after a couple changes and do a test fit.
I'm in the process of populating a Flash Gordon playfield and need a pair of these guides. Let me know if they turn out and I'll buy a pair from you. Thanks, Mike
Quoted from Jmxdc:I also recreated some of the pieces under the apron if interested https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/flash-gordon-saviors-of-the-universe-club/page/45#post-7533644
Thanks but I've already been able to find those parts. There are two FG apron brackets that might be fairly easy to fabricate. One is a hanger and the other is used to attach the apron to the playfield. I could two of each.
Nice looking work! I would need the posts too. Since they are relatively inconspicuous grey would probably be fine. just let me know what all you can do and what I would owe you.
Thanks,
Mike
2 weeks later
Quoted from Barthalamu:I am here to tell you that Joel (JMXDC) is the man. Just received and installed the no-hop flipper guides, and they are like butter. They are an absolute must-have. The old ones were so bad. The new ones are so good. Thanks Joel!
I just received a pair of no-hop flipper guides and some apron brackets for the FG playfield I'm working on. Very nice! Thanks Joel! Keep up the good work!
3 weeks later
Flash Gordon Hardtop
Happy to report that I just finished sticking a FG Hardtop to my FG upper and lower playfields. Absolutely no problems. Good alignment and, best of all, no adhesion problems. I was concerned about the possibility of poor adhesion because I purchased the Hardtop about 5 years ago. I guess I worried needlessly. It looks great!
IMG_3322 (resized).jpg 1 week later
Quoted from rack-em-up:Flash Gordon Hardtop
Happy to report that I just finished sticking a FG Hardtop to my FG upper and lower playfields. Absolutely no problems. Good alignment and, best of all, no adhesion problems. I was concerned about the possibility of poor adhesion because I purchased the Hardtop about 5 years ago. I guess I worried needlessly. It looks great![quoted image]
Just routed out the star rollover holes using my cheap Wen rotary tool with Dremel black plastic guide and a little flush trim router bit I bought on Amazon. (Amana Tool - MR0105 Carbide Tipped Miniature Flush Trim 3/16 Dia x 7/16 x 1/8" Shank) Worked pretty well!
1 month later
Flash Gordon Playfield Project
Somewhere around 5 years ago I bought a nice FG with a little planking and a little missing paint. FG hardtops had just been released so I bought one. The game was so much fun to play I could not see tearing it up to install the hardtop so it lay in the original packaging under my bed for about 4 years. I then started to worry that the hardtop adhesive might begin to deteriorate. To hedge my bets, I bought a playfield from a fellow Pinsider figuring it might be best to try sticking the hardtop to that playfield. At most (if the adhesive had gone bad) I'd be out the cost of the hardtop and the second playfield. So I stuck the playfield aside and started planning the hardtop install. I toyed with the idea of completely populating the playfield and ending up with something that could just be plugged into any FG.
Realizing that it wasn't very practical to do that, I went ahead anyway buying some parts, rebuilding flippers, pop bumpers, etc. and generally having a lot of fun and learning a little about pinball machines.
A couple months ago I worked up the nerve to stick the hardtop on the playfield. With my wife's help, all went well and there was nothing wrong with the hardtop adhesive. Attached are some pictures showing where I'm at with the project. Still need 3 more drop target assemblies and that may take some time. At 75 years old I'm in no hurry about anything. Finding some before I turn 80 would be nice though!
IMG_3469 (resized).jpgIMG_3472 (resized).jpgIMG_3474 (resized).jpgIMG_3476 (resized).jpgIMG_3477 (resized).jpgIMG_3478 (resized).jpgIMG_3479 (resized).jpgIMG_3480 (resized).jpgQuoted from BigAl56:From what I can tell there is no HardTop available for Flash Gordon although I wish there was. You must be working with an overlay which is a completely different product.
It's a hardtop. I just bought it a long time ago.
2 weeks later
Quoted from gdonovan:Just sharing what might be the first Flash Gordon harness done from scratch.
No I'm not interested in doing another, this one sucked enough thanks.
Fathom next.
[quoted image]
Incredible!
Looking for the 5 rollover wireforms used in Flash Gordon. I have a few wireforms from other games but they are too wide to fit in a Flash Gordon playfield. Attached is a picture of one that I pulled out of my FG earlier today. Any leads on where to buy them would be greatly appreciated.
IMG_3515 (resized).jpg 2 months later
Quoted from gdonovan:technically they are called grounding lugs.
ebay.com link: itm
How many do you need? If just a few I'll drop them in the mail.
Thanks Gary but now that I know what they're called I can buy a small supply.
3 weeks later
Flash Gordon playfield project update.
I started this project several years ago when I bought a FG pin and a FG hardtop. I decided to keep my pin absolutely stock and just enjoy playing it despite a little missing paint. Not wanting to waste the hardtop, I bought a nice used play field from pinsider zahner. And that got things going, but slowly.
The hardtop went on with no problems. I put the thing on a rotisserie that I built using pinside info and then began acquiring the stuff I would need to populate the playfield. Boy did I underestimate the amount of stuff it would take to populate the FG playfield! What seemed like the smallest, most insignificant part was sometimes pretty hard to find.
Among the things I feel most fortunate to have found are 1. the playfield wiring harness 2. a mint reproduction apron and shooter guide and 3. All 4 drop target assemblies.
At this point I've got about 95% of the harness soldering done and I'm in the process of rebuilding the drop target assemblies. The drop target info posted by gdonovan has been extremely helpful. The 4 bank assembly that I'm using is from a Rolling Stones pin. It appears to be nearly identical to the Flash Gordon 4 bank assembly with the exception of the top plate. The Flash Gordon assembly top plate is cut out to clear the 4 light sockets in front of the drop targets, the Rolling Stones is not cut out. Drill and Dremel cutoff wheel to the rescue.
I've only been interested in pins for about 5 years. Consequently, I've got little in the way of parts, equipment or knowledge. This project has, despite those shortcomings, been a ton of fun and extremely educational. My thanks to Pinside for making it possible.
I will post pictures one of these days!
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