Gumball Pinball

PrairieDillo

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So part of Greg and Pauls firesale included an awesomely cool gumball/pinball machine. It was obviously missing one sides lever/switch thingie but I was really interested in it cause like my Wacky Gator... it's just right for my 4.5 year old twins to play with if I can get it fixed.

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it's mostly there and in decent shape. I think it's from 1987.
all the information I could really find about it was here.
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=3424

a better closeup. (sorta blury but it's mostly the plexi cover that needs a serious treatment of Novus.
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I was asked to start a restoration thread and also to bring it to CAX next year. I'm trying to commit to doing this.

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I drilled out the lock last night and decided to try to figure out how it works and how best to tackle fixing and "restoring" a piece like this. Sometimes when something is in pretty decent shape I think it's best to leave it looking a little vintage. The chips and rust aren't too bad but I wanted to make sure that it was plenty clean if you were going to eat gumballs out of it. I don't know much about gumball machines nor marbles so some research is at hand.

I also know nothing about pinball machines in general but of course this is a pure mechanical type of gumball machine and it's very different from traditional pinball.

More pics to come as I've got more of it appart.
 

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more pics

So the problems that this machine has so far that I've found.

1) Obviously missing right flipper button. I noticed that internally it was working cuase i shoved a pen inside to see if the flipper was intact, and it was.

2) Online photos show the handle on the Plunger is missing. (probably not a big problem other than presentation and it's a little not good feeling to handle what's there.

3) The lid on the gumball chute was broken and missing. This is the 2nd worst problem cause you don't want your gumballs falling on the floor.

$5.50 was found inside of the money drawer.

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more of it apart

When I was trying to clear out the chute where the "won" marble comes down, I found the missing right side flipper button. It's basically just missing the e-clip on it's back. That was a great big relief. Without that, I would be left with just a ghetto solution.

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test play pics

I got the pinball side of it working while it's going to be an epic cleanup inside. Melted gumballs inside are gross and if i'm going to eat a gumball, I want it to be really clean.
 

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Awesome!!
I can't wait to see that thing all restored and working. If you can't find any knobs or replacement shafts let me know and I should be able to machine you a matching one.
Greg
 
I got it back together. It's 100% clean and functional. There are some dings and stuff on it but I fixed the right missing flipper cause I found it in the machine. I just bent an E-clip to get it held in right.

I took off the plunger and wire wheeled it so that it looks better but the plastic handle was broken off. I've been looking for reference photos for how it should be.

The gumball catch door is broken off and I see how it's supposed to be so I may have to modify something off of another gumball machine so that htis has a proper door etc. I don't mind it being un-original. I don't want gumballs fallling on the floor.

There's lots of chips and rust starting to form on exposed metal. It's very clean inside now. I thought that maybe it's better to keep it looking vintage as I can't restore the top cover as it's screened plexiglass. I worked the Novus till my arms were sore and it's better but far from perfect.

I'll take some pics tonight.

This is the only ref photo I can find for how the plunger handle should really be.
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Cleaned up shots

I don't know if many people care but I'll post them just for Greg.
I owe it to him!

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Ah, it brings a tear to my eye and a hint of jealousy. Beautiful work my friend. Awesome job!
If you ever decide to sell it now that it's looking good I call first dibs.

Ok, greg... no problem. You are the only worthy home for it and can probably restore it even better condition. I really want to fix the plunger handle and the Chute/flap/catch first.

My kids seem to be having fun with it for now. We'll see when they get too tall for it.

CAX 11 first!!!!!

Also, yes the stand/feet came with it. I had removed them when I returned the trailer and needed to bring it home inside my SUV.
The colors are great on this now. The problems are the chips and rust forming in spots. At least all of the candy areas are very very clean.
 
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When I first saw this thread, I thought "oh no, another one of THOSE."
But it turned out to be one wicked bad ass son of a gumball!
That thing is sweet, awesome score and great tuneup job.
 
Nicely done !
I love little retro mechanical machines like that of any sort, so it's always cool to see projects like these.
 
broken candy chute

I'm trying to figure out how to fix the candy chute.

Pics of the broken one and a possible part on ebay to modify to fit into this machine.

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