S+ Semi-restoration, a work in progress

[poppo]

I bought this Road rally for $250. I mainly had bought it for spare parts, but everything actually worked, so I figured I would see if I could fix it up with minimal $ investment. The first problem is that it is one of those gold plated units (which I am not very fond of) and much of the finish was worn off around the buttons. It's is not easy to see in the first picture, but it looked like crap. The 'insert money' decal was also a real mess, so I pulled that off and will replace it. So the first thing I did was sand the button area down as much as smooth as possible and got some 'high shine' gold paint. LOL. It does not come out anything like the can lid. But oh well, I gave it about 6 coats of paint and then about 6 coats of spray urethane. While it certainly does not match, it looks better than before and since I confined it to the one area, it sort of looks like a separate part. BTW, this will not be a Road Rally when I'm done. I have a few ideas but not sure which one it will be yet. Total investment so far $5 for the paint. I already had the urethane.

[poppo]

Next I needed to fix the yellowed buttons. I posted about this in another thread, but here is the before and after making home-made legends.

Total investment $0

[poppo]

In another thread I was looking for an original S+ reel glass for my other machine since it had an after-market one. Jim at bluridgeslots hooked me up with a brand new one.   So since I plan to change themes on this one, I put the after-market reel glass in it. I still need to put in some of the decals, but I wanted to get the buttons put back in and make sure everything still worked. I also consider this a $0 investment since I was going to replace the reel glass on the other machine anyway. BTW, those are not scratches on the reel glass, just a reflection. Even though it's an after-market glass, it is still in perfect condition. Next project is to fix that ugly tracking bar.

The guy I bought this from (on Craigslist) said someone was asking about buying just the glass and strips, so I am going to list those on Craiglist and see if I get any takers before selling where I have to ship it. I have several games for my round top, I just have to try and find a matching 9" award glass. My hopes are that I can actually end up having this cost me less than what I paid for it after I am done with it.

[slot monkey]

poppo your project looks really good.

Looks like you down to the home stretch now.

[knagl]

Nice.  I think that's a good idea to sell the kit if you're not interested in it to make some money back on your purchase.  I did the opposite one time -- I wanted the kit that was in a machine and got the whole machine for not much more than the kit would have cost.  I then bought a replacement kit for the machine and turned the machine for a big profit (and got to keep the original kit!).

[poppo]

Tracking bar fixed. I used a piece of black poster-board and some carpet tape. Cost $3. And yes, there are different reels in there now. I could not stand the buzzing of that 16Mhz board  , so I stuck this game and 10Mhz board in there for now. I need to pull the glass out anyway if I am going to try and sell it. I have a belly glass I can stick in there for now, but the top will be empty until I find what I am looking for. I already have some feelers out, so I will see how that pans out before posting a WTB. And someone outbid me on the Bulls-Eye glass on flea-bay. 

Even if I never put this into use, I'm still ok with just having a bunch of working spare parts.

[poppo]

I did the opposite one time -- I wanted the kit that was in a machine and got the whole machine for not much more than the kit would have cost.  I then bought a replacement kit for the machine and turned the machine for a big profit (and got to keep the original kit!).

Thats a good idea.   Unfortunately there are no slot places around here, and it's the shipping that can make or break a good deal.

[poppo]

I pulled out all of the extra wiring and cleaned up the inside (which was already very clean).

The next step was to work on the laminate. It actually cleaned up pretty well but had some issues. Luckily it was pealing off pretty much on it's own. so the first thing I did was remove the back panels since they were already falling off and nobody is going to see the back anyway.

I already said I was not really fond of the gold finish, and the side vent that has the fan (disconnected) was an eyesore for me. So I removed the fan and grill (there is another vent on the top) and I used the piece from the back to replace it and cover the hole where the vent was. Then I used a piece of plastic 'door trim?', painted it white and used it to cover the ragged edge along the back (pointed to in the bottom half of the first picture). There is still a chunk of laminate that was broken off and I glued it back on, but I have not decided if I will replace all of it or just leave it as is. I have no idea where to find matching laminate, so the only option would be to re-do the whole machine. Cost for the trim was $3.

I bought an after-market bill sticker and made my own glass inserts for the $.25 and insert coins.

I have a Spin Till You Win belly glass in there temporarily and a filler for the top. Hopefully I will have my glass by the end of the week.

Oh, I replaced the DBV-145 head with a spare DBV-200. The machine already had the vented power supply, so I did not have to use my spare.

[stayouttadabunker]

Looking pretty good Poppo! Nice work! 

[poppo]

Well, almost done. I have about $320.00 total invested in this. Probably not a great bargain in some parts, but not bad for around here. Plus I still have to try and sell the old glass, MPU and reels which will drop the price if those sell. Finding the Bulls-Eye glass was the hardest part. I wanted a 3 coin, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.  

I also need to get a better camera. It actually looks better than the picture.  I also need to clean the fingerprints off of the glass.

[StatFreak]

...
I also need to get a better camera. It actually looks better than the picture.  I also need to clean the fingerprints off of the glass.

It looks like the camera focused on the blinds behind the slot instead of on the front of the machine. You might try another shot. You can also post a larger version of the picture on the site, as long as the size of the file is under the maximum allowed; there is no inherent limitation on pixel size. Larger images just open in new tabs or pop-up windows when clicked on. If the vertical size is 800 or smaller, the picture will re-size inside the post.

Stat 

P.S. Don't worry Mark, we won't comment on your greasy fingerprints.       

[poppo]

Ok, how is this? I used the good camera (and cleaned most of the fingerprints). All that is left is replacing that red BV bezel that I don't like with a yellow one. A fellow forum member offered to send me one. 

Oh, and I guess I need a stand. 

[stayouttadabunker]

It looks pretty good poppo! 
I actually keep a bottle of Windex nearby and a roll of paper towels....

[StatFreak]

Ok, how is this? I used the good camera (and cleaned most of the fingerprints).

Now THAT's a world and a half better!    The machine looks great.   

<ADD> The bet deck might not match, but I like it.   It looks very professional.



The new picture is so sharp that I can even see the scratches in the gold chrome on the lower frame of the belly glass, right below the word "Bulls-"    (Hey, I promised we wouldn't comment on your greasy fingerprints; I didn't say anything about other stuff )

You did a great job. 

[poppo]

<ADD> The bet deck might not match, but I like it.   It looks very professional.

I should have taken a close up picture of it before I started. Much of the finish was worn off to the chrome and it really looked bad. After I finished painting it, I was half tempted to do the whole machine so it all matched. But since I was not fond of the gold to begin with, I probably would have used a 'chrome' paint instead. But I really did not feel like dissasembling the whole machine to do it. My goal was to do this as easy and as cheap as possible. I don't know why the deck didn't come out super shiny like the paint can claimed, but the matte like finish makes it less susseptable to fingerprints - unlike the glass. 

[StatFreak]

<ADD> The bet deck might not match, but I like it.   It looks very professional.

I should have taken a close up picture of it before I started. Much of the finish was worn off to the chrome and it really looked bad. After I finished painting it, I was half tempted to do the whole machine so it all matched. But since I was not fond of the gold to begin with, I probably would have used a 'chrome' paint instead. But I really did not feel like dissasembling the whole machine to do it. My goal was to do this as easy and as cheap as possible. I don't know why the deck didn't come out super shiny like the paint can claimed, but the matte like finish makes it less susseptable to fingerprints - unlike the glass. 

The mat finish is what I like about it, and for the same reason you've given. Personally, I like gold finished machines.

[CaptainHappy]

I think that you did a fine job on your restoration, and BullsEye is one of my favorite Kits.

Karma for sharing with everyone!

CaptainHappy

[Tilt]

 

[poppo]

Well, I am almost done. In this thread I explained how one could use the bell circuit to operate something else. I have it set up to turn on a siren sound when the top awards are hit.

http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=11121.0

I still have one more thing to add, but will post that after I see how it works. 

For now, I'm pretty much done. I got the new BV bezel installed and my wife bought me a stand for my b-day. It turns out that I really did not like the white color of the slot cabinet, and it really did not go well with the black stand. So I pulled off the old stuff (it came off really easy).  I was going to buy some black laminate to put on it, but in keeping on my 'do it as cheap as possible' budget for this, I just bought some more poster board, used the old laminate as a template, cut out a single piece instead of two (a lot easier to cut than laminate), and used some spray adhesive to stick it on. Total cost for the cabinet makeover - $8.40. I never plan to replace the top, so that is why I used a single piece. If I ever do decide to change it out, it will be easy enough to just cut the board at the seam.

BTW, I used 3M super 77 spray adhesive. It's not like contact cement where you let both sides dry first, but you still better make sure you have things lined up right, as once you stick it on there, it's not coming off.

[Jimise]

Wow, Your machine turned out great!   

The Bullseye game looks good in the gold cabinet ! 

[stayouttadabunker]

It looks really good with the black stand poppo!
Nice, nice job! Wanna do mine? lol

[poppo]

Ok, more proof that I have way too much time on my hands.   I installed a shorter candle (didn't like the tall one) and I bought some LED strobes off of e-bay top connect to my siren mod. Here is a crappy video of the siren/strobes that you get on the top awards. The strobes have 3 pre-set patterns that change automatically (which I like). Some of them you had to manually select the pattern you wanted.

Keep in mind that I do a lot of this goofy stuff just to see if I can make it work. 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/cNx2tn5WYcw&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/cNx2tn5WYcw&rel=0</a>

[Foster]

I going to buy a used light bar and do the same to my S2000.
I will have to get the proper 13V @ ??A supply to operate it though.

[poppo]

I going to buy a used light bar and do the same to my S2000.
I will have to get the proper 13V @ ??A supply to operate it though.

I can measure the current later, but since these are LEDs, I don't think the draw is too high. I am using a 12v 1.5A supply for the lights and siren. There are only 2 LEDs in each of those segments (12 total). But they sure are bright.

[FORDSBS]

  Nice job Poppo