Four-Five-Six Update 05

Ok, got quite a bit done...First off, yesterday morning I went out and bought a rock tumbler. Supposedly this will help remove rust and polish all of the metal pieces that I have. It uses ground walnut shells and a high vibration to clean the metal. I put the first batch of pieces in yesterday, and I'm going to let them run for 24-36 hours. Then after that, I'm going to put all the playfield springs in for probably about 12 hours.

Also, I'm finally putting the cabinet back together. The legs are finished, and the first batch of parts is clean. Look how shiny the leg bolts are! And lastly for this update...I cleaned off the woodrails for the sides. Wow did that make a difference. I didn't realize how dirty they actually were until I cleaned them up. Again, I used a magic eraser and Novus #1, but this time I also gave them a little wood polish afterwords.

Four-Five-Six Update 04

Well today at work I decided to recreate the Instruction and Scoring cards. I work as a graphic designer so it wasn't much of a task for me to make these. I scanned them in and then traced over them (while matching the fonts) in Adobe Illustrator. I printed them on an off-white Ivory color to better match. (Straight white would have looked pretty bad). As soon as I get some pushpins I'll attach them to the playfield!

Four-Five-Six Update 03

The legs are complete! I ended up using no stain and just poly. That's how they originally were. I put 3 total coats of poly on them and sanded with 220 grit sandpaper between each coat. They look pretty nice...here's some before/after shots. Also, on a side note, I opted NOT to touch up the paint on the playfield, so I ended up just cleaning the whole thing with Novus #1 and then waxing using Mother's Carnauba Wax. It looks good, next up will be polishing the metal and plastic pieces and putting the playfield back together.

Four-Five-Six Update 02

While I wait for the poly on the legs to dry, I cleaned up the cabinet and playfield...I'm now in love with Novus #1 and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers! They did wonders...check out the before/after pictures of the cabinet! Sorry, I don't have a decent Before photo for the playfield and sides. Once I get the game back together, I'll be doing the same process for the backbox of the machine. Still on the fence about touching up the paint on the playfield, I experimented a little and not only is it very hard to match the color exactly, when I put a little on the playfield, it just isn't working out. I don't want to ruin it so I might leave it as is for now.

Four-Five-Six Update 01

Well, today I got quite a bit of work done on the legs. I started by sanding all the old poly off of them, and then from there I smoothed everything out with a finer sandpaper and then injected glue into the cracks and clamped it, I'm going to let the glue dry overnight and tomorrow I'm going to refinish them with the new poly I bought.

Getting a jump start on Four-Five-Six

Well...I've ripped Four-Five-Six into as many pieces as I could. I'm going one section at a time and am going to clean it all up and make it nice. I'm starting with the playfield. I just ordered some cleaner and wax, along with new rubbers and new balls. A few of the guys at the Arcade-Museum forums gave me some leads as to where I can find a replacement ball lift so hopefully one of them will pay off. Sorry about the low resolution of the photos, didn't have my camera on me, had to use my cell phone. I'm also on the fence whether I should try to fill in a few spots on the playfield where it's worn down. Also, I have to think about touching up the paint, I don't want to ruin it.

New toy! My first woodrail pinball machine!

I just got back from a 200 mile round trip to get this baby. I know nothing about it, and neither does the internet, I can't find anything out about this specific machine. All I know is that it's very rare, and very old. It's a 1940 Four-Five-Six Pinball machine by Baker Novelty Co. This sucker is neat! Its from back before flippers were put on pinball games. Physically it's in great condition, obviously it's going to need a bit of restoration (its 70 years old!) but luckily for me, it won't be too much work.

Internally is a different story. It seems to be complete (minus the ball return mechanism). Quite a few of the relays need to be replaced as they either don't work properly, or are obnoxiously loud. It's probably going to be a pain finding parts, but with as many collectors as there are, I'm sure I'll find what I need.

If anyone knows anything about this machine, let me know! Here's a few pictures of it as it sits.

Wow, it's been a while...

Well, I'm finally updating my blog. It's been nearly 7 months since my last post...but I'm back. I just moved into a new house which means plenty of room for toys! Woohoo! I'm still in the process of moving everything (4 truck loads of video games alone). As of right now my only arcade machines are PONG and a Gottlieb Home Run pinball machine. PONG will be my next restoration so keep checking back to see the progress on it. And at the moment, I'm looking to buy ANY Arcade/Pinball machines working or not. I want to rebuild my collection and give myself a few projects. So if anyone has any machines let me know!!

Harley Davidson!

Well...here it is. My latest investment. I found this bike locally on Craigslist, I emailed him literally 30 seconds after he posted it. It was a smoking deal so I had to jump on it, I spent a month selling off much of my video game collection but it was well worth it, this bike is amazing, a huge upgrade from the Suzuki.

It's a 2001 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom. Even though it's 9 years old, it has barely any miles on it and looks brand new. The only things I want to do to it is add a sissy bar and a windshield. The previous owner also had a bunch of upgrades done so this bike is awesome. The pipes are loud and it has a nice chug to it. I can't wait to get some riding done on it.

Bye, Bye Games

Well...I had to sell my arcade games. Both Space Encounters units, and my Lock 'n' Chase were sold this morning...I'm glad to see that they're going to a good home though. I've also sold my '77 Suzuki motorcycle that I showed in my previous posts. On top of that, I've also sold a few hundred dollars worth of console systems and games. I'm still hoping to sell my bartop MAME cabinet, and there isn't any interest in the upright MAME cab so unfortunately, it looks like that one is going to become firewood pretty soon. I still have the Pong, that is the only one I'm keeping for now. I'll build my collection back up soon enough once I move to Florida.

As much as I hate to see my life collection thinning out, there is a positive aspect to this all...

...I bought a Harley-Davidson! My new toy, a 2001 HD Sportster 1200. It is beautiful. I can't wait to get it on the road. I'll have some photos up on Sunday or Monday once I pick it up.