Bob Frysztak's Indiana
Jones Repair Log
I purchased my third pinball machine in June of 2003. My
daughter said I should get one that was as challenging as the TZ, but
that "she could relate to." So we spent an hour or so looking at
all the pictures on the IPDB and when she saw the Indiana Jones machine,
she said "that one looks cool." So I started looking, and finally
found one in very decent shape being sold not too far from home. The
playfield and mechanicals were in great shapte. The backbox and
cabinet had the typical fading, with the left much worse than the right.
Overall, though, it was in decent shape and had all of it's pieces
in working order. Several items did need attention, however, and
the list of my efforts is as follows:
Replaced and tightened all of the playfield posts, many of
which were quite loose, possibly from shipping. Several holes were
stripped from being over-tightened, and I patched these holes (wood
glue and toothpicks) before replacing the posts.
Installed the DMD-HVP board from Action Pinball .
This has become standard practice with me on all new machines
of this era.
Replaced the "Balls per Play" and "Rules" cards with ones of
my own design.
Rebuilt the flippers and ball shooter (new coil stops, sleeves, switches,
plungers, etc.).
Resoldered several loose wires to various areas under the playfield
- such as "Eternal Life" lamp, and a few others.
Replaced the coil on the ball shooter, since it seemed to be overheating
and didn't work some of the time. Possibly a short in the coil -
but why risk it when coils are cheap and readily available.
Rebuilt all 3 pop bumpers at the top of the game. I replaced
the red covers and lower sensors with the orange ones from Marco. The
orange matches the playfield and "style" of the game much better than the
red.
New white rubber ALL the way around - some were pretty dirty and stretched
out.
Removed both planes:
* German plane was repainted to match the movie
- it never had a yellow tail or nose, was missing the swastica on the
tail, and the numbers were wrong.
* Replaced the red LEDs in the wings of the German
plane with 8000 mcd ones - much brighter - you actually notice them now!
* Added figures of both Dr. Jones' as well as a machine
gun turret, windshield, authentic wing bracing, etc. to the biplane. Also
corrected the plane's numbers.
* I am in the process
of obtaining appropriately sized propellers for both planes, which will
operate via small motors installed in the body of the planes. They
will most likely be tied into the lighting circuits for the lights associated
with the planes on the playfield. Details to follow, once I work
this one out.
Replaced plastic of Indy on the ropebridge with one of my own design. It
bothered me that you couldn't see the ball roll down the bridge AND the
fact that the "sunburst" pattern didn't match the "lost plastic" installed
behind it. So the upper part of my ropebridge is clear, and I added
a few of Molaram's guards to each side. Pictures to follow.
Lit the lost plastic from underneath the LH and RH ramps, since only
the top portion is backlit, and the bottom half (under the bridge) is in
shadows. Tied into GI circuits. Looks much better now
that you can see it.
There is a nice site with FAQ and Answers to many common IJ problems. Click here to see it.
