Saved a 'Big Deal' from dumpster yesterday.

gameguy1957

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I saw a pin listed in an estate sale Friday that was about a block from work, Not looking for another pin or junk of any sort, so I passed. I figured it was a kids plastic one or a pachino machine.

Was in the area again yesterday with 2 hours to kill and saw that the ad was up for the estate sale again with everything left 50% off and the pinball was still listed.

Drove over and had someone meet me at the door, asked if they still had the pin and she said yes. She took me to the "basement", which in this area is above ground and more like a garage.

It was a full-sized Williams Big Deal machine. I got it and a 23" b&w television for $50.

The playfield glass was broken, the coin door pried open, and green paint sprayed across the coin door and back glass. The pic is after I had pulled it from the back wall and was waiting to get room to get the truck in to it.
 

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The story behind the sale is that the house had been broken into so many times recently that they were selling all of the old family items and then selling the house. Everything that was left would go to a charity if they would pick it up and then the leftovers from that were going to a big commercial dumpster waiting outside in the back yard.

I was the only person to come by and ask about it, so even though I'm not a fan of the EM's I didn't wan't it to get tossed.

They thought that the glass had been busted and the machine broken into when someone broke in and cut the copper wiring out about three months ago. From what I can tell on the playfield and apron it has been busted for many years.

Ther paint didn't show a lot of wear, but it's flaking badly. I'm trying to figure out how to stop the flaking since I don't want to replace the playfield on it.

The backglass cleaned up fairly well and I've got a coin door in storage to replaced the damaged one. The inside wasn't in too bad of shape except for glass fragments laying in amongst stuff. I've vacuumed it, but I'm going to have to clean it more when I start going through the electronics on it.
 

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I've finished with one complete pass of cleaning and will start on the electronics tomorrow. I'll probably order a rubber kit and glass next week. I'll put the new glass on another machine and the slightly used on back on this machine.

I guess I'm going to see if one of the sets of grandparents want to keep it at their house to entertain the grandkids. If that doesn't work out I may sell it at the cost of parts in it, figuring it's going to cost about $250 to make it a decent playable machine. Third option is that I'll end up keeping it (my wife actually just told me she likes the older ones and wants to play it when it's up and running).

If anyone has any idea of how to glue down the paint then let me know. I sure don't want to have to pull and paint or replace the thing.

-JM
 

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mix up some clearcoat. Use a little with a toothpick or somular as "glue" to stick the pieces back on. THen spray clear the whole playfield after LIGHLY scuffing with a scotchbrite pad or simular. NOT ALOT, just enough to rough the surface enough so the clar can grab and hang on.. Thatll hold it. make sure pf is clean first because if theres any dingy dirt left youll be sealing it in permanently.


If you go this method get some testors model paint and before clearing you can mix up your own colors and touch up the bad spots of the pf before clear.
 
mix up some clearcoat. Use a little with a toothpick or somular as "glue" to stick the pieces back on. THen spray clear the whole playfield after LIGHLY scuffing with a scotchbrite pad or simular. NOT ALOT, just enough to rough the surface enough so the clar can grab and hang on.. Thatll hold it. make sure pf is clean first because if theres any dingy dirt left youll be sealing it in permanently.


If you go this method get some testors model paint and before clearing you can mix up your own colors and touch up the bad spots of the pf before clear.

It's beyond a little flaking. I took a lot of paint off just cleaning the glass and dirt off of it. I think it's too bad to try to salvage and just want to make it usable. I've thought of pulling the top parts off and wiping it down with a wide paintbrush. Then taping any parts left sticking up from the underside and clearcoating.

Once a coat is on it and it stops flaking every time I touch it then I could patch up the worst spots and add another coat of clear.

If it end's up with a grandparent or my wife talks me into keeping it then I'll start looking for a replacement playfield. Too bad it was left to the humidity. If the glass was left on or a tarp thrown over it then it would have been a really nice playfield for its age.

At least the vandals had the good sense not to shatter the backglass.

-JM
 
from the pic its cleaning up nicely. good for you for saving it from the trash. if nothing else it can still be a good player and give someone lots of enjoyment.
 
Id try to touch it up anyway. Get your testors enemal paints, mix them to match, mask off your colors and go for it. Itll take a little time, but be well worth it in the long run.
 
I've finished with one complete pass of cleaning and will start on the electronics tomorrow. I'll probably order a rubber kit and glass next week. I'll put the new glass on another machine and the slightly used on back on this machine.

It's an EM; there are no electronics in it. Only pretty standard electrical components. :)
 
Nice find! Pretty much my favorite thing is to see games that were headed to the trash heap brought back to life and given a little love (I've saved a few myself).

--Luke
 
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