How Old Pinball Machines Are Professionally Restored | Restoration

This is the process of a pinball machine restoration process. This pinball machine was left broken and unused and in need of some TLC. Sit back and relax as we take you through an ASMR restoration process.
Artisan: Mark Squires www.pinballsurgery.co.uk

[@justinfiorini3142]

Fish Tales is not a forgotten gem. It's still regarded as a classic.

[@edicspaz]

100%. I feel like anybody that has even basic knowledge of pinball knows fish tales.

[@JimHawkwind03411]

It’s also one of Mark Ritchie’s best games, and sold 13,640 units, his best selling game.

[@petercolquhoun2086]

I think they meant this particular example was forgotten somewhere.

[@justinfiorini3142]

@@petercolquhoun2086 That makes a lot more sense

[@DJELPSS]

"All existing metalwork, including the legs...are painstakingly taken off" Tech removes just a few allen screws lol

[@Oeli_Maurer]

But the AI used to generate the script doesn‘t know that!

[@Dan.d649]

An amazing transformation here!! Nice job!! Everyone loves the Pinball machines. This brings back the nostalgia and one of our favorite "free time" pastimes.

[@PinBallReviewerRepairs]

This is exciting to see! As a pinball repairman myself I also get pinball machines working and I am also working on my LaserCue full restoration.

[@williamwigley8334]

Where does one get replacement graphics?

[@refiii9499]

I had no idea how many pieces of electronics were inside a pinball machine! Wow that’s crazy

[@kurtkelling1016]

Pinball machine restoration just became my favorite thing. I hope to see a lot more of this.

[@PotatoeSnow]

I've been watching time rift and electric starship, cause they been restoring arcades, which in last month become my new favorite thing. I've seen several random ones, but this is first pinball restore.

[@SkittleKicksPlays]

This is not technically restoration. New art, LEDs in place of incandescent lamps, solid state devices for efficiency is called rebuilding. Restoration is a very delicate technique in which you are just touching up and making minor repairs in order to keep the original look and feel. One must take not to devalue the item which happens a lot. Patina is the character of an aged item.

[@Austeration]

*Wow what an incredible transformation. Amazing work. Well done*

[@georgebrown8312]

That is beautiful. A lot of hard work and patience went into fixing up and restoring that pinball machine. Excellent work I must say.

[@shirleyannconfer9651]

I remember playing one of these machines! I love playing pinball.

[@coot1925]

I do love a pinball machine. My only criticism is that most of the commentary is inaccurate. Ie. When he says he's installing LEDs in the speaker when in fact he's putting LEDs in a bumper. I agree with previous comment, it's a rebuild not a restoration. Nevertheless, it's great and the LEDs will not need replacing in the same way as the old incandescent bulbs.

[@hendrikdebruin4012]

Instead of criticism we should educate as you did. I never played pinball machines - or computer games for that matter. But I do admire the beauty of the machines.

[@coot1925]

@@hendrikdebruin4012 yes, pinball is great because unlike computer games it's a physical machine that when you play it you can feel all the mechanism moving inside. I guess it's a bit like the difference between a driving game and a real car. You should definitely play one if you get the opportunity mate, but be warned, they can be very addictive. ✌❤🇬🇧

[@benjaminaburns]

yeah, 17:17 "the artisan modifies the boards removing batteries and replacing them with SRAM" uhhhh what? It's like saying "he modified the car. He removed the engine and replaced it with a mini fridge."

[@coot1925]

@@benjaminaburns 😂😂😂

[@shananmb127]

@@benjaminaburns Looked like he was replacing capacitors. So yeah, not even right on the batteries.

[@markbutler7205]

Really really nice. It’s good to see the vibrant colors of the original brought back to life

[@dannraff]

What a fantastic renovation The artisan knows his job well thanks for sharing.

[@PotatoeSnow]

Meticulously removes the legs skill no man has seen in a 100 years of metal work. Artisan: Removes 2 bolts my mom could remove.

[@OVERKILL_PINBALL]

This is a LOT of work, well done!

[@orange_automation]

My Fish Tales cabinet is faded the same. Looks so good to see the Red.

[@DrVenture45]

I love the restoration of old or defunct things, but nothing generates the endorphins like superb attention to detail. Well done!!

[@silviofoj]

This kind of machine is a masterpiece. Love it!

[@kchastain3]

Nice acrylic crystal no-date Sub watch. Beauty from the ‘70s by the looks of it.

[@ronm3245]

1992

[@rutikuiwa7133]

Master of pinball restoration 👍👍👍

[@AndreaMerchak]

WOW!!!! Great job! It's fantastic! ❤

[@billchiasson2019]

Very cool!! That was an amazing restoration!!

[@Rotterdam93]

Fantastic restoration

[@alexanderleach3365]

I love pinball machines. Always so fun to play.

[@rayinpau.s.a.6351]

Williams Pinball Machines are beautiful and so much fun to play . I have always wanted a TAXI Machine for my home .

[@DkViking1]

Oh yeah! TAXI is one of my all time favorites! Simple and fun, and with great music! 🎶

[@2hrsweekly922]

I appreciate this video; I am looking to restore my Cactus Jack's, and this gives me a good idea of what the process will involve.

[@daakrolb]

Righteous mission! Outstanding work! I would have liked more detail on how they restored the playfield.... & if any clear coat was applied to enhance protection.

[@hudsonball4702]

I 100% want to see that Star Trek TNG pinball machine get restored! My old Arcade haunt use to have one that I played on.

[@oneshotme]

It looks great and you did a wonderful job restoring it as well!!!! I enjoyed your video so I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@deda146]

Thanks for rescueing.

[@jeffcarroll1990shock]

Great work.

[@JLCra87]

I was wanting to see him put one of those old talking/singing fish as a replacement up top lol.

[@jclark2752]

This is the game they had at the campground we went to as kids! I was never any good, but it ate my quarters just the same! 😁

[@Pirsinglaff]

Great job!

[@elguapo9628]

Somebody said, "Well what the hell are we gonna do with all these Bigmouth Billy Bass things?", "Hey, doesn't Bob still make pinball machines?"😆

[@samba2782]

Used to love this one when i was younger. Sure its no Addams family or Theater of Magic but i do love it!!

[@Nightenstaff]

Dude put on new side art and added a battery mod. Fish Tales is a deserving machine and the guy did awesome work, but it wasn't like he rescued a Joust pinball from a mineshaft.

[@steveaspeck2732]

Wow! Well done!!!! Just wow! Instant subscribe right here!

[@jons.4918]

Wow that is a lot of work especially with the electronics.

[@altairdesouza9368]

Sou muito fã de Pinball. Parabéns pelo trabalho!!! um dia terei um só para mim 😁

[@ghostdog6974]

Great work!

[@super8ben]

Fish Tales is a great game, good to see it getting some tlc.

[@philgreco4196]

You are a wizard ⚡

[@VFRSTREETFIGHTER]

I own a Fish Tales, it's a great pin.

[@madmanmechanic8847]

I love the restoration I would of loved to find out how he diagnosed the control boards I wish they hadn't skipped that. I am sure would of had some kind of shop manual with specs on each board

[@leptitloubard809]

I'm so jalous. Great work.

[@jensw.8205]

Very Good job😊

[@bitter-bit]

Brilliant

[@lucasstiles8012]

Well done.

[@CH6P23]

This was great work , own a Creature from the black lagoon myself . How long from start to finish was it ?

[@SaltimusMaximus]

Interesting, I last week removed 3 from a very hoarded house and sent them to auction, all need work, wondered how they came apart

[@magilla9792]

Williams is and always have been best brand period. I never seen Fish Tales but it sure looks fun. My favorite was High Speed. Where would you get those vinyl graphics?

[@scottmark5345]

I played this game in the day here in Australia

[@alwinersfeld2759]

Well done. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😊

[@MrClaudio1951]

AMAZING

[@Aerospace_Education]

Would love to know where you can still get the vinyl for the cabinets. Assuming that is an aftermarket group for those? That made such a difference in and of itself.

[@mundy2120]

Lots of places online offering replacement decals, mine come from Australian but plenty of quality sellers. Google is your friend 👍

[@69UM24OSU12]

A question: is the value of the machine greater than the cost of restoring it?

[@thespinmaker3321]

I don't dislike the restoration. Just clicked the wrong icon.

[@toddhumphries1167]

Now I know good and well that guy has classic rock playing in his shop while he works

[@robertmacdonald345]

Hello, Very Nice Re-Fresh, Just wondering. If you have the manual for the Machine does it tell you in it what the Elevation of the Back Legs in relation to the front legs should be, For intended Table Angle? And If Not is there a Default/Universal Elevation for all Pin Ball machines? I am sure when the Machine was designed, They had an Intended Difficulty of play and it would be this Elevation of Back to front legs that would create that difficulty?

[@gbedford]

For a general rule of thumb, use a slope of 6.5 degrees on the playfield. Many pins will have a bubble level with appropriate/approximate markings to make it easy to set up in field.

[@pfitz4881]

The end result looks great! Unfortunately the video showed little more than contact paper installation. I didn't learn a thing.

[@williamharris8367]

Personally, I watch these types of videos for entertainment purposes rather than to learn techniques.

[@petetomaszek4273]

The video would be a few years long if they described every aspect. Pins are insanely complex machines.

[@alessandroalberto6431]

SPAZIALE !!!!

[@GraveKommander]

That's a lot more elctronic stuff in there than I thought

[@abysspegasusgaming]

Really since the late 70's/early 80's, nearly all pinball machines are entirely computer controlled and require MANY boards to function. Having so many control boards allows for interchangeability between tables if not flat out easy replacement if crucial non-serviceable/replaceable parts end up blown or malfunction due to any issue imaginable. Joe's Classic Arcade channel covers that quite a bit with his repair/demo videos.

[@durangodave]

wow so many wires, no way i could do that with any success

[@platinaatje6134]

Just don't mess up the wiring harness.

[@RetroJack]

"Batteries replaced with SRAM" - Wouldn't that require a major redesign of not only the board, but the underlying code as well?

[@bluetarantulaproductions6179]

Love playing Fish Tales on Pinball FX3 and Pinball FX (Zen Studios) on both PS4 and my Nintendo Switch. I actually got the opportunity to play the real game itself along with "Black Rose" and Stern Pinballs "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" last year at the Yegpin Pinball expo in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada.

[@geraldmiller5260]

Complex technology!

[@CaptNRetro]

been doing pinball resto on my channel for 8 years..never cracked 1500 views on any of em..impressive!

[@adb1950]

I would love to restore some old video games

[@NoosaHeads]

How much does such a restoration cost?

[@olafurhh03]

The narrator makes me feel like I am watching, "How it's made."

[@user-vd4ew9fg8l]

ピンボール好きですピンボールの外見ではシンプルで 分かりやすく内部が 異常にシンプルではないことが 驚きですピンボールを作る人修復する人に 尊敬します(*’ω’ﾉﾉﾞ☆ﾊﾟﾁﾊﾟﾁ

[@briansummers1793]

i have a 6 million dollar man pinball machine i need restored wish i could fix it great video

[@danielpreilly77]

Wow amazing stuff. Curious if anyone knows the value of something like this restored? Fun fact, apparently Slash from Guns’n’Roses collects vintage pinball machines.

[@thenorsemen1959]

About 7 - 10k

[@russellwhite8890]

Wow!

[@ernie1586]

Nice 😊

[@terrycurzon1318]

He’s a pinball wizard…

[@AiMR]

Good thing you replaced that ass RAM 👍

[@ellesmerewildwood4858]

Here in Oz, back in the day, 20 cents gave you 5 balls, then it was 3. Then it went to $1 for 3 balls and then 2 bucks for 3 balls and the space between the flippers just got wider and wider. When they became just money sucking machines that may have been around the time pinballs lost popularity. Oh well, such is life. This machine must cost big bucks now after resto.

[@OutdoorTraveler]

"The artisan..."? I feel like you've missed the tone of what we are watching. I still watched but I chuckled several times.

[@Ridenmy65]

Was there an attempt to save the original graphics?

[@platinaatje6134]

It isn't a Rembrandt!

[@Ridenmy65]

So what. IMO, it would have been better to try and keep the original graphics.@@platinaatje6134

[@ordinaryk]

They were originally red faded to yellow. Way too far gone, and replacement graphics are easy to come by.

[@erikaspinballjourney]

18:17 what is the product being used to clean the playfield?

[@petetomaszek4273]

Right? Looks like window cleaner.

[@Osakisteach]

AF Foamclene

[@erikaspinballjourney]

@@Osakisteachthank you!

[@mrrustygray]

I had to sell my 1979 Mata Hari. Luckily it was semi restored and went to a new home.

[@Jeroen74]

A part of that original charm is gone with the overly white LEDs.

[@geraldmiller5260]

How are the graphics acquired?

[@platinaatje6134]

Pinball parts online shops

[@mwk1]

OK, how much time?

[@user-bb1rd2wx5k]

аппарат огонь ХАААЧЧУУУУУ))))

[@hendrikdebruin4012]

Why am I not surprised at the age of the technician. Who will take up the reins when they all are gone? If you ask me no one. How much is such a rebuilt table worth?

[@Oeli_Maurer]

„the artisan modifies the boards, removing batteries and replacing them with sRAM for improved performance“

[@BarbaraJikai]

Why is that fellow wearing two watches?

[@pfitz4881]

I was wondering the same.

[@OutdoorTraveler]

These are the mysteries of life we need answered.

[@endlandmusic]

One of them is a Rolex….any questions ?

[@chanakadesu]

懐かしい！トップに付いている魚は動いたと思うんだけどなぁ。。。記憶違いかな？

[@WilAdams]

You look like someone who might know the answer to this question--a question that has plagued me since the moment I saw Susan Kiger 'singing' in the 1979 film SEVEN--what pinball machine featured the image of a blonde woman singing into a handheld mic?

[@JodyMekley]

I have not seen the movie Sounds like a 1979 bally Dolly Parton

[@drewbreezy5854]

That machine is in pinball fx

[@Olveron]

Never heard sand blasting described a polishing...

[@Olveron]

Removing batteries and replacing them with sram? wth?

[@ordinaryk]

@@Olveron my only guess is that it has DRAM to store the high scores, and they replaced it with SRAM, but even SRAM will get erased if it loses power, so I'm not really sure.

[@paulgault8830]

Hey, enjoyed the vid, just an FYI, the high pitched noises from the heat gun and the belt sander kind of harsh to the ears. May be worth editing that kind of thing out please. Thanks.

[@Martinmull1995]

nice hack job on the backside of the board. thats a fail point for sure

[@robertbullard3324]

I play this game on my iPad.

[@gecardoso5944]

Show 🎉🎉🎉

[@collin3457]

Great video, although the music gets super tedious.

[@indysgill]

Guy repairing seems to be in a rush, especially with removing the artwork with the heat gun.

[@25Tohmas]

Yeah, video would be 100% better if you just nix the narrator. Half the time the narrator is describing something that isn't happening on screen. The other half he's just...wrong.

[@frank-t6857]

Why does it sound like the discovery channel?