WadeLanham
Well-known member
I picked up this NGG late last winter/early spring from an operator who has given me some great deals on serious projects in the past. I was pumped when he offered this one up because it had been on my watch list for a while! It's a lot of fun to play, and the "mostly" kid-friendly graphics and theme were a plus (my girls were turning 3 and 5, and were scared of my Twilight Zone.) I really like the colors and graphics on it, and I really enjoy the play too.
He sent me a few pics which gave me an idea of the overall condition, and I could see that the cabinet looked fine, the playfield had some minor wear, and the game was mostly complete and booted. I made him an offer based on my expectations from past dealings/game condition and he accepted.
While looking the game over on-site, I could see that it mostly played, but was missing the slam ramp, some flippers were dead, and numerous features weren't working. After getting it home, we found some other issues as expected, such as a dozen switch errors, dead pop bumper, and the gophers and their ramps weren't working properly. Mostly it was mechanical stuff, fortunately. We spent a week or two playing it without the slam ramp, and fixing everything we could find.
Finally I broke it down and started shopping it. Took a few months to complete, mostly due to only be interested in working on it for an hour or two. Every single thing was removed from the playfield top including the pop bumpers and ball guides, every thing that touches the ball on the underside was removed and cleaned. I didn't need the game to be perfect, but I wanted it to be clean since I plan to keep it. I couldn't run the plastic ramps through the dishwasher because they were too large, so I had to clean and polish them by hand which doesn't work as well. I pulled the harnesses and dishwashed those, sanded, cleaned and painted the inside of the cabinet.
Polished existing legs (turned out pretty nice!)
New leg levelers and bolts
Repainted coin door
Cleaned playfield parts
New clear posts
New flasher domes
New rubbers
Reproduction Slam Ramp
Added Slam Ramp playfield decal
New playfield spinning disc decal
Cleaned black gophers and repainted their faces
Regrained most of the stainless
Added or replaced parts for repairs, such as coils, sleeves, bushings, transistors, gopher catches, etc.
Some things I'd still like to do but I'm not real motivated to do, especially as time goes on...
LED's (have a full kit in my TZ and I like it for the most part)
New cabinet head decals
I still enjoy the game, but my girls have pretty much lost interest. They rarely play it anymore now that the newness has worn off.
They still play some of my videos pretty often though. I'm just glad they're at the age where I can play my games and they can do other things, without needing my attention constantly. Those of you with kids know what I'm talking about. 
Wade
He sent me a few pics which gave me an idea of the overall condition, and I could see that the cabinet looked fine, the playfield had some minor wear, and the game was mostly complete and booted. I made him an offer based on my expectations from past dealings/game condition and he accepted.
While looking the game over on-site, I could see that it mostly played, but was missing the slam ramp, some flippers were dead, and numerous features weren't working. After getting it home, we found some other issues as expected, such as a dozen switch errors, dead pop bumper, and the gophers and their ramps weren't working properly. Mostly it was mechanical stuff, fortunately. We spent a week or two playing it without the slam ramp, and fixing everything we could find.
Finally I broke it down and started shopping it. Took a few months to complete, mostly due to only be interested in working on it for an hour or two. Every single thing was removed from the playfield top including the pop bumpers and ball guides, every thing that touches the ball on the underside was removed and cleaned. I didn't need the game to be perfect, but I wanted it to be clean since I plan to keep it. I couldn't run the plastic ramps through the dishwasher because they were too large, so I had to clean and polish them by hand which doesn't work as well. I pulled the harnesses and dishwashed those, sanded, cleaned and painted the inside of the cabinet.
Polished existing legs (turned out pretty nice!)
New leg levelers and bolts
Repainted coin door
Cleaned playfield parts
New clear posts
New flasher domes
New rubbers
Reproduction Slam Ramp
Added Slam Ramp playfield decal
New playfield spinning disc decal
Cleaned black gophers and repainted their faces
Regrained most of the stainless
Added or replaced parts for repairs, such as coils, sleeves, bushings, transistors, gopher catches, etc.
Some things I'd still like to do but I'm not real motivated to do, especially as time goes on...
LED's (have a full kit in my TZ and I like it for the most part)
New cabinet head decals
I still enjoy the game, but my girls have pretty much lost interest. They rarely play it anymore now that the newness has worn off.
Wade
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