I got a ball lift!! I received a package yesterday afternoon from a very nice guy over at the rec.games.pinball group. He donated 6 different lifters to me and only asked that I send back the ones that didn't work! So after unpacking them and trying each out, I found one that fit perfectly. I'm very happy right now. This was the hardest step in the restoration because I really didn't think I'd end up being able to find one, let alone for free! Now that I have a complete working ball mechanism, I can finally finish this project.
Of all my mechanical problems, I've got it down to just two. Both of which are as simple as replacing a spring. So, in short, I just have to replace two springs, clean some light sockets. After that it just needs one final cleaning and then I get to put it together and play it! It's very exciting to see this finally starting to come to an end.
