Complete Bally - Scared Stiff

[James]

Good Evening....​

So, I picked up my Scared Stiff today - very happy and once again thanks @chris b - Chris explained that some things will need to be done, hence the price and I am happy with what works I am going to put a bit into this actually. I absolutely love this game, so it will get the best treatment I can. So she is in, and will get it up to scratch over the next month or so... it is playable still which is great.







I will list out the issues that I can see with it right now, and what I plan to do, but as with (how far I got with) Laserball, I will need all of your help most likely.

Factory Settings Restored - Complete

I have read up on this and I think that this will be the RAM issue, but any pointers on how to double check would be appreciated. I have tested the batteries I have put in tonight, and getting 4.6V corner to corner (i.e. bottom left to top right). My plan is to get that board out anyway and install a remote holder, but was thinking you can get a NVRAM right? Who in the UK supplies these and are they easy to install? (To be honest, I will get the engineer from work to solder this board again )



Rubbers - Complete

Going to order a full rubber set for this. Should be about £18.

Lights - Complete

LED kit I have seen for £48 for the playfield, not sure what it will be for the GI too, was going to keep incandescent but for the price of LED's - why not hey. Budget of £20 for that too.

Pop Bumpers - Complete

One has been replaced with a non - "lifting" pop bumper and the one to the right of the crate is sloppy as heck... any advice on getting these more responsive? Chris gave me another pop bumper to use, it is red as the blue are unobtanium, but I am happy to put that in the middle and give a blue, red, blue look.

Create Decal - On Back Order

Available for around £17. The one on this has been hammered.

Spider Hole Wear - Complete

Yea this has it quite bad, but I think the "majority" apart from the gorgeous ones out there that have had it repaired. I am going to get the cliffy set, £27.55 for that and the skill shot I assume. Needs to be done.

Bone Ramp - Complete

I am getting the return from spider hole go back down into the spider hole, or on the loop, it not flowing over. It has the two "flaps" if you will... and seems to have had the repair, is this an adjustment, or should i get another kit to fix?

Crate Ware - Next Time

Might get a T decal, not quite sure. £??? Where do they come from?

Star Posts - Complete

4 or 5 smashed up a bit. I will order 6 because they are 75p... £4.50.


Bloody good clean - Complete

Free - just my time.

With postage, that puts me up to £150 but probably £170 if i can source a NVRAM.

So, any suggestions, tips or thoughts? I think there are a few owners on the forum @DRD (after playing his, that is why I HAD to have one, thanks lol), @Neil McRae, @bethamari and @Pharo that I know of.
Look forward to any advice anyone can give. Thank you for all of your help.

 

[Banzaipinabll]

PF decals available here, not sure where your T wear is.
http://www.ministryofpinball.com/en.../scared-stiff/scared-stiff-insert-decals.html

 

[bethamari]

SS is a great game! Congrats on getting one.

For the LEDs is the kit you've seen one that has coloured bulbs in? We tried that originally but we weren't too keen with the effect. All personal preference like! We had

 

[James]

SS is a great game! Congrats on getting one.

For the LEDs is the kit you've seen one that has coloured bulbs in? We tried that originally but we weren't too keen with the effect. All personal preference like! We had

Maybe not so silly question, but if you didn't like them... what did you do with them? Looking at your high score post, I assumed the LED's were in fact coloured on that.

 

[bethamari]

Might have a couple still around but not the full set as it was nearly 2 years ago and we've given a few LEDs to a friend etc.

 

[James]

Might have a couple still around but not the full set as it was nearly 2 years ago and we've given a few LEDs to a friend etc.

No problems... - don't ask though hey.

 

[Jay Walker]

Pop Bumpers

One has been replaced with a non - "lifting" pop bumper and the one to the right of the crate is sloppy as heck... any advice on getting these more responsive? Chris gave me another pop bumper to use, it is red as the blue are unobtanium, but I am happy to put that in the middle and give a blue, red, blue look

I have posted something like this before, but if you'll permit, here goes..

Once you've made any repairs or replacements to the bumper assemblies, adjust the switches as follows;

• ensure the gold-plated contacts are clean
• take care that the tip of the moving actuator is exactly centred in the 'dish' of the plastic blade.
• adjust the longer contact blade so that it holds the contact blade and the plastic blade securely to the tip, but not so tightly that it's difficult to move the 'skirt' of the bumper assembly. The ideal is for the tension to prevent playfield vibration from moving the blade(s), but with as little resistance as possible to a ball doing so by touching the skirt
• adjust the shorter blade, using its angled backing blade, to as close a gap as seems wise, making sure that there's some over-travel (where the two blades both move after making contact) to 'wipe' the contacts

I found that the effect of this was much better responsiveness from the bumpers, to the extent that 'Straitjacket Escape' on a new Theatre of Magic could be completed in one bumper sequence, which wasn't always the case before adjustment. On some games, I increased the count of bumper hits needed for features like Super Jets, Raise The Dead or Jackpot Countdown, as these seemed too easy once the bumpers were as I liked

 

[James]

Thanks @Jay Walker...

So I am struggling with how to go about this, the Laserball play field came out so much easier, what would everyone suggest as I can get to the topside still in the cabinet... take that all off and clean that all up, then remove, flip onto my jockeys and do the underside clean up etc, back into the cabinet to be repopulated.

Thoughts or suggestions?

Cheers...

 

[James]

Quick update, LED"s, cliffy style protectors, decal, bone flippers, NVRAM and rubbber set have all been ordered. ROM to pay for shortly too...

Sorted the issue with the return to the spider hole and the occasional drop down into the spider hole from the left ramp. BOTH of the latches are supposed to go over the bridge, the bottom one is more springy and when the ball shoots up, returns it down the lane, love making that shot, its not hard (as the ball lock is), but it is SO SO SO satisfying. Here are some pictures, if anyone else has it.

BEFORE - 1 Flap



AFTER - 2 FLAPS




I am not sure if it is the ROM as I cannot seem to find a change log, but those pop bumpers are just non-responsive most of the time (does the monsters lab have to be "on" to work?) - it's the only mode stopping me from getting SCARED STIFF.

 

[Paul]

Cant see how it would be a Rom.... Pops either work or dont... More likely to be the adjustment of the switches...

 

[chris b]

It won’t be the rom clean and gap the switches correct check them in test and make sore the coils and switches are working

 

[James]

Pop Bumpers

I have posted something like this before, but if you'll permit, here goes..

Well all I can say is PLEASE keep on commenting, this was invaluable advice. On the getting machine into position, I actually got shown (thanks @DRD) how to properly lift a WPC-95 cabinet, as the NF is WPC-S (I think) and is different, I think this system is better.

I did exactly as the post suggests, after cleaning the contats with Naptha, I adjusted up the contact, getting the pin centred on the dish I took the time to get the nuts onto the bracket and get it close to being tight, then move the pin and dish aligned, hold it firmly then tighten the nuts. I only managed to do the one tonight, the "centre" one if you will, nearest the crate and....

SUCESS!

It is so much more responsive (i.e. it actually responds) and as I finished later than I expected, played one ball quickly and got further along in that mode than I have in 3 ball games until now.

Onwards!

 

[DRD]

You need to start with the most likely causes. The default position of these machines is to work.

Faults are usually down to lack of maintenance/ inexperienced owners with gaps in their knowledge/ mechanical wear/ collateral damage caused by former owners (damaging x when repairing y)....

When you buy a game like yours, it will likely have many such niggles.

For stuff likd a dead pop bumper ...

Does the solenoid fire in the test mode?
Does the switch work in the test mode?

Most likely causes of faults like this are

Dirty contacts/ broken switch/ wire falling off a switch
Wire falling off a solenoid
Dead coil
Bad connector and board contact
Bent solenoid bracket, so the plunger can't move freely

Electronic/ ROM and Russian hacking type issues are a long way down the list

 

[Jay Walker]

I'm glad that advice was helpful. Btw, has anyone else noticed that picture No.1 in reply No.9 above looks a bit rude?

 

[James]

Now that I look at it... yes.

So a few things arrived today, which made me happy.

New bone flippers arrived, rubber set, protectors and LED's.



I feel a little bit stupid, little bit annoyed with the myself on the LED's, as I ordered the Premium playfield kit (http://www.pinball-led.co.uk/shop/4587697740/premium-2-smd-playfield-insert-kits-(o---z)/9179744) from @alchy. What I didn't realise was (even though I ordered the GI Lighting), was that I needed to order the flashers separately - wouldn't have been a problem, but now won't be doing so until I need a bulk, or even wait until a show or something and hope to get some there, because the postage on just a few bits will be a killer. As a heads up, for idiots like me, who is an idiot when it comes to buying such things, if you update the website to put some suggestions on there, people will buy more.

Or if you could, instead of playfield LED's - do the whole kit, that would have made it easier.

Anyway, I also had the NVRAM arrive today - which was a bonus, and will be getting that onto the board tomorrow

 

[James]

First things last, as is usual for me, took the board out, a guy at work will be fitting the NVRAM for me tomorrow, so it is all out and ready to go.



Started by taking the playfield apart on the top side, under the bumpers the star standups were all pretty much destroyed... not looking so good.



Then out came some of the major parts, flippers, side rails, inter-twinning ramps (fun).



The playfield is pretty dirty as you can see...



With a lot of the rubbers perishing...



Ran out of time tonight, but should get some more in over the long weekend...

 

[James]

NVRAM installed

 

[James]

Little bit more cleaning done, I am waiting on some bits which are coming Tuesday including some pop bumper parts, star standups and some LED flashers that I needed, until then I am just going through the bits I can systematically, cleaning and re-rubbering as I go. I also have the playfield protectors to add. Unfortunately I have done something to my left shoulder which means I cannot move it and am on quite a bit of pain relief and anti-inflamatories, making the going a little slower. Still...

Plastics all cleaned here with Novus plastic cleaner and LED's inserted, the bumper area all cleaned up, switch contacts cleaned up back to gold and adjusted, these were a little sloppy on the top, which given the buildup and position of them was no suprise.



Again all plastics off, LED'd underneath for the GI, new rubbers installed, general grime and grit all removed. Flasher on the globe will be sorted when they arrive too.




This mornings work all up to date then, bone flippers are now on too, along with new bands too, all bone lane plastics cleaned too, other side to go back on once cleaned.

 

[James]

Managed to get a bit more done later on today, first of all put back in the board, setup time and date, set to free play, turned off and back on again, everything was gravy, this makes me very happy.



Not sure if I have said this before, but I have been adjusting up and properly cleaning every switch along the way, some of the sloppyness in the game is obvious from some of the adjustments I have made since stripping, really looking forward to playing this

Cleaned up and sorted out the cast a spell side too, think it looks lovely now, all plastics cleaned and rubbers done. Those targets underneath were absolute filth..



The spider hole has a lot of wear, so I ordered the protector set for the playfield, under there was another smashed star post, I make that 7 so far in the game smashed to varying extents.



Purists should probably look away now, with the protector installed I decided to simply paint the wear in black, it goes with the theme and works for me, its mostly covered by the bony ramp also, so I am happy with this. As you can see a smashed plastic here too, I used the star post from the pop bumper area until reinforcements arrive on Tuesday.



The deadheads off to fit the GI here, but deary me, these rubbbers were a nightmare to get in. I say this of course, preparing myself for the ramps which will be... a NIGHTMARE.



So this is how it looks after another quick clean with Novus, coming along nicely.

 

[Kenny Taylor]

Are you going to replace the insert decals for the lightening bolts. I have the same wear on the right bolt. Seems quite common. Anyways keep up the good work.

 

[James]

Well @Kenny Taylor - I have a bit of wear on that and the E of terrifying and the lightning bolt, I know there are these kits http://www.ministryofpinball.com/en.../scared-stiff/scared-stiff-insert-decals.html -

I have been okay up until now, doing what I have done, but I think a decal changes are really the reserve of the pro's, as I understand it @chris platt is well versed in such things. It may just be a case of love it for what it is for me, as I don't want to mess it up to badly.

With the spider hole wear, this will never ever be mint, but it plays great, I love it, so I guess it is a maybe. Just a question though, does anyone know anyone that does a "we come to you" service on such things? As shipping a PF is going to be dangerous and expensive one would assume...

 

[James]

One thing I notice is you really have to take everything off to get to clean all areas... I just took these to highlight that to myself.





Remaining plastics were off today, all GI has been updated to LED, ramps back on, everything back as it should be. All switches tested to make sure they are working after unplugging to take off the ramps. I am very happy with it, tomorrow I am hoping to LED the underside of the playfield and sort the remaining two pops which are unresponsive, put the leapers back in, ready for the star posts and flashers to arrive Tuesday and I can play it again

 

[James]

So I am very near to calling this complete, the crate decal I have ordered isn't in stock, so I am waiting on that to come in, I will fit and add those pictures once I have it. I will also add the black legs and clean inside the cabinet, it needs a good hoover. I also have the top GI out on this game, that needs looking at too...

Finished the bumpers off and added the flashers and star posts came in today. That was really it for the topside to be honest, I have a really bad shoulder at the minute, so work is slow, but I got the playfield up and began to clean the inserts, then where they were boards, take the boards out, clean them with isopropynol, change bulbs to LED, replace boards.

Do you get some dirt off of it though, my goodness!



I think this is 2/3rds of the rubbish from doing it as I had to bin some a bit of the way through...




I also sorted the two pop bumpers that still needed doing, they are working a treat now, once again thanks again @jaywalker that is the way to do it.

So here she is in all her glory... i think the LED's look incredible.

 

[carl lawrence]

Hi @James if you every decide to fit a cllify ,it's a good practice to repair the hole first as it will damage the cllify

Looking really good buddy

 

[MartinY]

Time to move it on then James and get the next one going. I'd be happy to assist you on this front

 

[James]

Hmm, not sure if I will now @carl lawrence - it doesn't look bad now and with the protector on it, I am hoping the wear will be much less, so shouldn't deteriorate too much going forward. I am unsure on PF work to be honest, wanted someone to come and sort the couple of wear marks on this as I am not confident, Norfolk is the pinball black hole of the UK. No techs, hardly any machines, no league nearby

One on ebay at the moment @MartinY - currently up at £2k - NF will be the first to go, I absolutely love this game, even with my dodgy arm, managed a few games just now and got to the Stiff-O-Meter which I bricked on the first shot... the flippers aren't aligned properly, will need to sort that.

 

[Kenny Taylor]

Really nice work. The claw flashers I wouldn't change to LED as they have nice fade affects with the std incandescent.

 

[James]

Thanks @Kenny Taylor will pop them in and look at that side by side and compare, I am waiting on a new ROM which apparently patches any dimming and ghosting issues with the LED's so will see how that works out too.

Personally thinking it is looking gorgeous.

 

[replicas]

Just need a colour DMD now.

 

[chris b]

It’s come up nice another chris b bargain