Bob Frysztak's Twilight
Zone Repair Log
I purchased my second pinball machine in January of 2003. Next
to obtaining a Star Trek: The Next Generation pinball machine, a Twilight
Zone was second highest on my list. I am a big fan of most SciFi
and "The Twilight Zone" is a classic. In addition to the intrigue
of the original TV show (and subsequent movies), the game itself is considered
by many pinball fans to be the greatest game ever - certainly the highlight
of Pat Lawler's career. I finally found one in very decent shape.
The playfield and mechanicals were in much better shape than my
ST:TNG. The backbox had a small scratch and the bottom graphics are
slightly faded, as with most games of this age. Overall, though,
it was in decent shape and had all of it's pieces in working order - including
the gumball machine and clock. Several items did need attention, however,
and the list of my efforts is as follows:
Replaced and tightened most 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.
Upper playfield "streetlamp" was removed, cleaned, holes repaired
and remounted. It was very dirty and very loose.
Repaired / rebuilt the auto-loader diverter near the front. It
would stick closed after loading a ball and the the auto-loader could
not get the ball to the playfield since it kept hitting it. As
a consequence, it could never reload the gumball machine after a multiball.
Works fine now.
Replaced the defective switch cluster in the coin door. Escape
/ Cancel button was bad. Wiring harness also resecured - kept falling
into the hi-volt playfield switches.
Installed the DMD-HVP board from Action Pinball ,
since the DMD had to be replaced before I bought it. A signal to
me that there might be a problem down the road which I wanted to avoid. I
got 2 and added one to the ST:TNG as well. Works fine.
Replaced the "Balls per Play" and "Rules" cards with ones of my
own design (click here to see them ).
Replaced the incorrectly sized F112 secondary solenoid fuse which
kept blowing (all flippers and plungers stopped working, and I had all
6 balls piled up at the bottom). It is supposed to be a 7A SB,
but the previous owner had only a 3A fuse in it. I know, I know;
I should have checked them all first, but I didn't have the manual yet.
Done that now, and all are again correct. Hasn't had a problem
since then with fuses.
Replaced the bent slot-machine yellow stand-up target with the
new and improved one from Steve Young's Pinball
Resource (part #A-18530-6E; the E stands for enhanced). This
is an essential fix that every TZ owner should do if they haven't already.
Every well hit shot off of the left flipper sent the ball airborne,
off the glass (ouch!) and usually right into the left outlane (drain).
To see a picture of this enhanced target, click here .
Added the plastic gumballs like everone else. It does look
better with them in there.
Got a piano for over the "Player Piano" trough. I got the
one that actually LOOKS like a player piano from
Pinball Pro . I modified it slightly by painting the roller
a classic brass color, highlighted the little "spokes" that supposedly
stick our from it, and added a little color to the artwork on the sides
of the piano.
Purchased a new red clock housing (from Action Pinball )
to replace the badly discolored one. The original was damaged by
heat, and had that yellow-brown appearance. The boards inside had
previously been replaced by the new and improved ones from Pinball Lizard with the LEDs instead
of bulbs (which get very hot). I got the cool red one with a clear
lens, so you could still see the clock face. Unfortunately, the
sticker for the clock face was also badly discolored. I tried removing
it (no problem), but when I tried to remove all of the glue from the plastic
support, it got very scratched. I downloaded the image of the clock
face from
Balls of Steel . Unfortunately, that scan is not complete
(it was obviously scanned from an old sticker). So I painstakingly
"rebuilt" the image using Corel PhotoPaint, using the original TIF image
from Balls of Steel. I printed it on both premium glossy photopaper,
and made a decal (obtained from the Imagination Gallery
). I mounted the decal over the old lens, and put the glossy
photo behind it. The color is incredible and crystal clear again.
Kevin Strasser has some great backboard
decals, including one for TZ. Click here to
see them.
Installed the "missing" door flashers (cut from production due to costs)
from PinGizmos
. Looks good, but they really don't add much to the game. If
you need to save some money, I would put this mod at the end of my list
and use the money for more visible mods and/or repairs.
I built my own "Robby the Robot" from the Masudaya toy obtained
online.
To see this magnificent creation, just click on Robby: 
This exclusive, hand-crafted custom
TZ modification is now available on a LIMITED
BASIS - due to the extreme difficulty obtaining them off of
eBay - and they are available for purchase PROVIDED I have any of the little
toys to build them with. The cost is $135.00, which includes
shipping anywhere in the USA.
I already have a larger Robby (10" model) which I may light identical
to this one and use as a header. I am still working on my ST:TNG
header, though, and that one I would like to finish first (see ST:TNG repair log ).
That's it for now. I am thinking about installing the extra
posts and rings in the "Town Square" area that were removed during production.
I have t-nuts and posts, but I'm not sure I want to do it yet.
Also trying to find a third magnet would be cool, since I already
have the 9.4H Game ROM installed. IF I could find a bracket and
magnet, and IF I had the nerve to drill out my table. I have also
toyed with the idea of getting the upgraded speaker system from
Pinball Pro , but I'm not sure if my wife would approve of the
extra noise. If I did it for TZ, I would HAVE to do it for my ST:TNG
as well. And last, I may go ahead and get replacement graphics for
the damaged backbox and faded cabinet art from RNR Pinball
. They look pretty good, and the cabinet itself is not screened
art anyway. But they aren't cheap, so that may have to wait a little
longer.
