Captain Fantastic and the Dirt Brown Cowboys
This machine was as filthy has could be, but I am hoping it will clean up really nice. My father found this machine and a Six Million Dollar Man for me in Mobile, AL. They were located at an older auction house. The Captain Fantastic was sitting in a spare house with broken out windows. It was even stored with the glass off (and yes, I have already cleaned SEVERAL layers of dirt off the glass). I even found a mouse skeleton in the coin box area. Luckily he did not eat through the wires.
First time I tried to retrieve the machines and bring them home to PA I ran into logistical problems trying to arrange a U-haul trailer since it was around Christmas. I was able to get this machine at a later time, but the Six Million Dollar Man went to a different owner.
Ongoing status of the project: I have checked all the fuses and a quick look at the wiring. The prior owners have some additional/replacement wires in place that I will need to address at some point. I have also started going through the score reels, adjusting those switches and cleaning some of the crud out to get them to spin. They will still need a REALLY good cleaning. At this point, I tried firing up the game -- and it does "start". A few of the score reels did need assistance to keep turning. The addition of my nearly working Jurassic Park and Terminator 2 have since taken priority. I also have some other fixes to the rest of the collection causes work delays. Also, there is the issue of no space to put this machine once it is restored. Likely it will replace Spirit of '76 which will have to go someplace else.
4/12/04: Got back to working on this. Did a good cleaning of one of the score reels and the player unit. All four players now work. Also checked the flippers. One coil is completely burned out and the linkage completely ruined. Progress is going to be slow due to other priorities such as home improvement and the future addition of child #3 (not due to October, but I am doing a lot more around the house.
Sept 04: I got some more work done. I still have to finish cleaning the score reels (got two done before now). I replaced the flipper coil on the burnt coil. Also checked the switches and they are HORRIBLE. A couple of them have holes burnt all the way through from where the peg was missing. Everything seems to be basically working except the drop targets at this point. They are not registering when dropped in single, but the entire series does register when it is completed. Could not see what was causing this problem. Closing in on a year that I have had this machine.
Dec 04: Got more work done... I disconnected some strange add on behind the chimes. Things still not working: Single drop targets not registering, right sling shot not scoring (but firing the solenoid), drop targets not resetting (solenoid fires, but does not get targets up -- probably from the worn linkage) and bonus not counting down at end of ball... I am sure there are still other things, but that's what I need to work on. At this point I will probably try and replace all the phone wire that was installed as wire replacements. Hopefully that will help me track a few things down...
Dec 05: I would like to think I accomplished something over the last year -- but other then shorting a wire and blowing more stuff out the time has been spent with Andrew. This and plenty of other projects will just have to wait for Andrew to need a little less attention.
Sep 06: Had some vacation time to use. I rebuilt the four flippers (much better) and rebuilt much of the drop target mechanism but that is still not always resetting properly.
Jan 07: Started trying to replace some of the previous owner wiring hacks in the machine, but it was such a mess I quickly realized I would not be able to trace it all out, nor did I have enough wire to replace what he had done so I let it sit and took care of other things. Not sure what I did working with it, but things got worse messing with the wiring hacks.
Jan 09: Finally traced through all the wiring hacks and removed everything the previous owner had installed. Got a number of good alligator clips, fuses, buzzer motor, cheap phone cord wiring, and other junk. Repaired a number of other wiring too. Things were back to where they were about 2 years ago :->.
Feb 09: Hosted the Local Pinball Club -- Gott Lieb (Jim Palson) took a look at the machine since it was a long running project and got the drop targets working. It was the switch stack on the score motor as I suspected. However, somewhere along the line the outhole stopped registering... but at least the drop targets properly reset :-0
April 09: We were supposed to be camping, but it cancelled due to the weather. Wife took the kids shopping and that gaVe me a day to 'goof' off instead of doing what I should have been doing... Made great progress. Fixed the outhole issue (switch on stack one of the score motor). Cleaned the player unit since it was sluggish -- which caused a problem in 2-4 player mode. Finally found that (bent a contact so it was not making sufficient contact). Machine now seems to play in 1-4 player mode. I might actually consider cleaning it up and getting around to testing individual switches and getting the drop targets to score when they go down (they do register when they are all down). I fixed this before on my Freedom, so should not be a problem! At this rate I might have the machine ready for the 2010 February hosting of the Pinball club!
May 09: Got around to cleaning the machine so now it only looks dirty instead of should be burned :->. If you see it, you will still think it needs a cleaning which is true. Worked on a bunch of light sockets, changed a bunch of bulbs so you can see the dirt better. Anyway, I decided it was long enough in the shop so moved the game out to the game room so it can get played now. Will have to see how well it holds up. After moving it, I found another problem with a relay which was preventing the bonus from scoring and the ball from advancing (thanks RGP for the quick diagnosis on which relay). I will also have to get some new pictures up soon... (yeah, right)
Click for a larger view of the machines!
IPDB info for Captain Fantastic