Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #V8N5 - 1983 - January [International Arcade Museum]
RESTORATION & REPAIR
PROPER RESTORATION
by Marc Harrison
During my last vacation trip to
Miami, Florida, I took the op
portunity to visit Rinky-Tink,
a store devoted to the sale and
rental of pinballs, jukeboxes, and
player pianos. The owner, Charles
Sebastian, explained his operation
and showed me the shop area where
his staff specializes in the total
restoration of Wurlitzer 1015's.
Spread around the shop were the
warped and crumbling hulks of once
beautiful Wurlitzer phonographs
awaiting their appointment with the
restorer. Other sections of the shop
housed 1015 mechanisms and
components in varying degrees of
completioa Finally, in one very clean
corner of the building, sat six
completely restored 1015'a These
machines were simply magnificent,
each and everyone perfectly identical
to the last detail, and capable of
withstanding
the most intense
scrutiny by inspectors of the highest
magnitude.
Obviously impressed by this un
usual sight, I asked Mr. Sebastian
how he could rebuild so many
machines with such exacting results
He replied that his staff simply treated
each machine alika Every phono
graph is completely dismantled and
sent through the various phases of
restoration regardless of condition
or need. All amplifiers are rebuilt, all
speakers are reconed, all turntables
procedure that I employ.
First and most obvious is to com
are reflocked, always — period.
The results* of course, are machines
that look and work perfectly both
pletely dismantle the mechanism. It
inside and out; the truest example
of complete restoration.
Mr.
em
see applied to all slot machine
restorations* and which I have always
each component can be thoroughly
cleaned in varsol and then inspected
for wear or other defecta A common
mistake is an attempt to clean the
mechanism by either dipping the
entire unit in solvent or merely re
reliable service or receive top-sales
ducing the mechanism into four or
five large sub-assemblies, each to
be cleaned separately. Neither of
these methods is effective in removing
the dried grease, which is almost
always caked between joints and
moving parts, Because such deposits
of hardened lubricant are respon
sible for sluggish or improper move
ment of parts it is most important
that these deposits are entirely
dollar.
While I am acutely aware that
many owners do not collect slot
cleaned away, and complete dis
assembly is the only successful
way to accomplish this.
machines for their mechanical fascin
ation and have no care for what the
mechanism looks like, it is a most
important part of the complete
machine and cannot be ignored. A
true restoration covers everything,
both visible and hidden, and your
mechanism deserves the benefits
a rebuild will provide.
Let's review the various steps
utilized in the mechanism rebuilding
When all parts have been
washed clean and allowed
to dry, they can then be
polished with a wire wheel. This op
eration serves to remove rust, scale,
and discoloration from the surface
of the metal, imparting a smooth,
strived to employ in my own shop.
Too often have I seen a lavishly
restored slot machine cabinet, polish
ed and plated to the "N'th" degree,
housing a mechanism whose only
favorable description is "working."
Such a mis-matched pair represents
a half baked restoration that can
never be expected to give either
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58 International Arcade Museum
© The
Sebastian's operation
bodies the principles and standards
of quality work, which I would like to
is important that no two parts are
allowed to remain together, so that
shiny, attractive appearance to the
On those parts that suffer from
bubbling or lifting of the plated finish,
it is best to remove the entire finish
THE COIN SLOT
http://www.arcade-museum.com/