Revenge From Mars "this thing needs alot of work" thread.

timberterror

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Revenge From Mars "this thing needs alot of work" thread.

I picked up a Revenge From Mars last weekend at a great price. It needs monitor work, playfield cleanup polish and wax, new rubber, plastics, switches, general cleaning of ramps and other parts, pop bumper work, and more. It eventually will probably get new cabinet stickers down the road.

I started the playfield teardown today (my first). I've been taking a ton of pictures and numbering the order parts have been pulled and bagging them to make it easier to go back together. I've already ordered a first round of parts and will have to order more.

I'm taking my time as it's my 2nd pin and first teardown. - Barry

1 - Playfield before I started
2.- Mostly stripped playfield
3. Playfield after first round of simple green - getting better
 

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A fun one to wrench on.....


Almoststripped.jpg
 
Its ok just junk it. I will be happy to make the trip and be your junkman.. :D


I would DIE to be able to grab one like you did. Ever since i played one at joe mageiras house ears ago i cannot get the machine out of my head. Its a cool concept and i cant believe that system did nto catch on..

I picked up a Revenge From Mars last weekend at a great price. It needs monitor work, playfield cleanup polish and wax, new rubber, plastics, switches, general cleaning of ramps and other parts, pop bumper work, and more. It eventually will probably get new cabinet stickers down the road.

I started the playfield teardown today (my first). I've been taking a ton of pictures and numbering the order parts have been pulled and bagging them to make it easier to go back together. I've already ordered a first round of parts and will have to order more.

I'm taking my time as it's my 2nd pin and first teardown. - Barry

1 - Playfield before I started
2.- Mostly stripped playfield
3. Playfield after first round of simple green - getting better
 
. Its a cool concept and i cant believe that system did nto catch on..

The thing is, it DID catch on :(

It MADE money. Williams was predestined to close the pinball division because slot machines were making far more than pinball.

If you have not seen it, "TILT! : the battle to save pinball" is both an interesting and rather depressing look at the pinball 2000 concept, design, and the people that put it together.

I love my RFM. It will blow you away all the small lilttle engineering details that are so incredibly awesome in this platform. I don't care if you LIKE the platform or not, you really have to respect all the work and engineering that went into this.

Enjoy the machine! Looks like it will be nice when you are finished with it. And I'd be willing to bet it's far less expensive than mine was, LOL

Chris
 
Yeah, it's a shame we at least didn't get Wizard Blocks, as it looked to be even closer to what some people would consider "true" pinball:/. Either way, I love my RFM, and just swapped out the power supply and CPU fan last night. I gotta replace the center ramp flap at some point, but it's always something right? Timberterror, like I said when you posted in my RFM thread, you got this thing for steal, so enjoy the restore, and most importantly, enjoy RFM once you get it finished! Did yours come with a driver board cover? Mine is missing, and I can't seem to locate one from the usual online sources:(.Good luck with the restore!
 
Yeah, it's a shame we at least didn't get Wizard Blocks, as it looked to be even closer to what some people would consider "true" pinball:/. Either way, I love my RFM, and just swapped out the power supply and CPU fan last night. I gotta replace the center ramp flap at some point, but it's always something right? Timberterror, like I said when you posted in my RFM thread, you got this thing for steal, so enjoy the restore, and most importantly, enjoy RFM once you get it finished! Did yours come with a driver board cover? Mine is missing, and I can't seem to locate one from the usual online sources:(.Good luck with the restore!

Mine has the driver board cover. I have to replace the center ramp flap as well, so I'll do it while it's apart. Considering doing led's at this time as well. I'm looking forward to it being done. I've only played a few times but it was fun and my daughter loves it. - Barry
 
I never really gave a crap about Star Wars Episode I, but I absolutely LOVE Revenge From Mars. I'd love to have one someday.
 
I never really gave a crap about Star Wars Episode I, but I absolutely LOVE Revenge From Mars. I'd love to have one someday.

The guy I bought my RFM off of had it side by side with Star Wars Ep 1, and like a dummy I never played it because of my interest in RFM...After hearing what Gomez said about it, I wasn't in too big of a hurry to play it, but I should have played it for myself to know..Interesting note is that Episode 1 out-earned RFM out in the field, so I guess that the license did all the work...
 
I really want to play a RFM, but as far as I can tell it appears to be an artistic masterpiece. Good luck with the restore, and I'll be watching this thread.
 
The thing is, it DID catch on :(

It MADE money. Williams was predestined to close the pinball division because slot machines were making far more than pinball.

If you have not seen it, "TILT! : the battle to save pinball" is both an interesting and rather depressing look at the pinball 2000 concept, design, and the people that put it together.

I love my RFM. It will blow you away all the small lilttle engineering details that are so incredibly awesome in this platform. I don't care if you LIKE the platform or not, you really have to respect all the work and engineering that went into this.

Enjoy the machine! Looks like it will be nice when you are finished with it. And I'd be willing to bet it's far less expensive than mine was, LOL

Chris

I couldn't agree more. RFM is quite-possibly the greatest pinball machine ever built. RFM is to pinball what Buddy Rich is to drumming. There has never been a better, more technically-amazing machine ever built. Modern games by Stern haven't half the technological advancements of RFM. Plus it's a great theme, great gameplay and deep ruleset, loaded with humor, reliable and robust platform. It has it all. The only reason why it's not the #1 pinball game is because a bunch of older "purist" types are prejudiced against the machine because of its hybrid pinball/video design.
 
Things to do when shopping it are replace the CPU cooling fans and power supply if not already done. I also added a video amp and it made a HUGE difference in picture quality.
I also re-capped all the capacitors on the chassis & neck board.

Random pics-

http://fwd4.me/05bI
 
Funny seeing this thread right now. A week ago I picked up a SWE1 in really similar condition. I literally spent a week just cleaning and replacing bulbs and re-rubbering it.
I should have counted, but I bet I replaced around 60+ light bulbs that were burnt out.
I found one bad switch and one bad opto, but it's now up and running and really fun to play.

I haven't played a RFM in a long time, but it's got to be awsome if I'm liking SWE1 this much and it's considered a lot less fun.

I would have loved a RFM, but it's just not in my budget, even in routed condition.
My cabinet can definitely use some new decals, but I'm going to wait a while before sinking another couple hundred into it.

If you don't mind saying, what did yours cost?
 
Funny seeing this thread right now. A week ago I picked up a SWE1 in really similar condition. I literally spent a week just cleaning and replacing bulbs and re-rubbering it.
I should have counted, but I bet I replaced around 60+ light bulbs that were burnt out.
I found one bad switch and one bad opto, but it's now up and running and really fun to play.

I haven't played a RFM in a long time, but it's got to be awsome if I'm liking SWE1 this much and it's considered a lot less fun.

I would have loved a RFM, but it's just not in my budget, even in routed condition.
My cabinet can definitely use some new decals, but I'm going to wait a while before sinking another couple hundred into it.

If you don't mind saying, what did yours cost?

I'll have to replace quite a few switches and a ton of bulbs so I may led it. I'm in no hurry to finish but I'm making progress. I'll end up buying decal eventually.

I paid $450......They tell me I stole it. - Barry
 
I paid $450......They tell me I stole it. - Barry

Holy hell. A deal like that would NEVER pop up around my part of the world. (You can't even find machines like prehistoric bingo pins for under $600.)

And if such a deal ever did show up, one of our local full-time flippers would snag it up and have it on Craigslist for $3,200 within half an hour. :(
 
Holy hell. A deal like that would NEVER pop up around my part of the world. (You can't even find machines like prehistoric bingo pins for under $600.)

And if such a deal ever did show up, one of our local full-time flippers would snag it up and have it on Craigslist for $3,200 within half an hour. :(

This wasn't a craigslist deal otherwise I'm sure I'd never got it. They were at a bowling alley and I contacted the owner of the games. Picked up RFM, a South Park and a pinball cart for $900. I could have flipped it and made a nice profit for sure, but I like it and my daughter loves it so I'm pretty sure it's a keeper. - Barry
 
In case you want to add an ATX power supply to the RFM....

I have RFM and SWE1... The power supply fan in RFM when I bought it was siezed and had bulging caps.... I have 4 boards and all of them have an ATX connector as well as the older AT Power Supply connection...

http://gallery.antelopearcade.com/default.aspx?aid=6

All you have to do is ground the green wire, or attach it to the switch... Just make sure you get a PS that has the fan in the back and not the bottom... I guess since the bottom fans seem more popular these days, you probubly could cut a hole in the bottom of the CPU box...

-Mike
 
The cleaning/polishing is coming along slow, but good. I have found that Novus 2 is my friend. I had used it before on Vid bezels, marquees and some CP overlays. I decided to buy a huge jug since I'm sure I'll use it all. It works great. Here's a before and after shot of the upper right playfield. Night and day. - Barry
 

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You definitely "stole" those games. Sure you could flip them and make a nice profit, but you can do that anyways if you keep it for a few years and enjoy the hell out of it first. Maybe someday you'll get tired of it and then it will be time to sell. Maybe you won't, and then it's still just an awesome deal.

Sadly, I paid almost 3 times that for mine, which definitely wasn't out of line for it.

Yours is cleaning up very nicely. It's amazing how Novus 2 can take an old worn looking playfield and make it shine. Mine looks almost brand new except for the cabinet.

I'm looking forward to the progress on this. You'll fall in love with it when you get to play it.
 
There were 4 mylars installed on the playfield at some point. I was going to leave them on, but they wouldn't clean up very well. There was one inside the pop bumper area, a large one on the upper right ramp and 2 dots where the ball drops out of the ramps.

I watched Metahugh's and Jeri Ellsworth's videos on youtube about using canned air upside down for "freeze spray". I decided to try it and it works great! It was easy to get the mylar off but the adhesive was a pain. I bought naptha and it didn't touch it. I used goof off and it was some work, but it's all off with no playfield damage.

You'll still be able to slightly see where the mylar was after polishing, but it will look much better than before.

I'm thinking about using mylar rings when I reinstall the pop bumpers and small dots where the ramps dump to the playfield. Thoughts?????? - Barry
 

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