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Indiana Jones Pinball Machine



 



Background

During our summer vacation in Aruba one year, the kids played on an Indiana Jones machine at a Pizza Hut.  They liked it very much, and I started to consider it as a candidate for my second pinball machine.  After a few months of casual looking, I found one being sold by a dealer in Northern Virginia.  The machine was very dirty when I bought it.  It was unshopped, the rubbers were broken, and barely playable.  However, I could tell that the plastics, the playfield and the electronics were in excellent shape, and with an investment of my time, I could restore the whole machine.

The renovation

 

I first stripped the playfield of all parts, and cleaned and waxed the surface.


The upper playfield in its stripped and original condition.  Look how dirty it is.


After renovation of the top part.  The lane in the foreground has had wax applied, but it has not been buffed out.

The above picture shows the upper part of the playfield after reassembly.  It took about 9 hours of work to get to this point.  Some steps that were done:

Example of Novus 2 at work (blue circle).  Compare to Alcohol (IPA) + Magic Eraser (red circle),
and water and a sponge (green circle)

I experimented with various methods to remove the caked-on dirt that was on the playfield.  I tried water with a sponge, Novus 2, and Alcohol (IPA) with Magic Eraser.  As can be seen in the above image, the clear winner was Novus 2.  The water hardly made a dent in the dirt, and the IPA did a little better.  The Novus 2 was amazing as it dissolved the tough dirt, forming a brown mud that I could wipe off.



The plastics were in great shape except the two slingshot plastics.  Amazingly, I found a
new and unused set inside the cabinet while I was vacuuming it out.  What luck!
After I used Novus 2 on them, they looked like new.  They are normally about $25.


When taking the parts off, I laid them out in the same general way that they are originally
located.  This allowed me to find the parts later.  Note the double amount of sling plastics.


Another view of the cleaned up upper playfield.  The "Mode" plastic in the foreground is commonly broken.


A collection of various souvenirs for this machine bought on ebay. 
This totalled $15, including shipping.

Repairing the idol ruins

One common problem on these machines is the condition of the idol ruins on the right hand edge of the playfield.  They often crack as a result of stress such as from ball strikes.  Mine was no exception.  I repaired them in a manner similar to the way I repaired the plastic ramps on my Space Shuttle.



Original condition of one of the idol ruins.  Missing part around the mounting hole,
and a crack at the hole for the flashing light.

After repairing the cracks, the shell of the ruins felt much stiffer and stronger.  I then mixed up some acrylic paint and touched up the area.  The main body color was mixed from orange-brown-white, while the rock accents were brown.  After the touchup, the repairs blended in well with the original area.



The repairs were made with epoxy and fiberglass tape.  After painting, the repairs
are difficult to spot.


Idol ruins with flashing light and mounted into the machine.  Almost like new.



Assembled idol ruins.

Chromed Gun Handle
I bought a chromed gun that came up on Ebay.  Click here for a picture of the pre-cleanup state of the original gun.  After tumbling, the original cleaned up nice, but it still had rough surfaces right where the palm rested.


The new gun handle.  Shot without flash and long exposure time.


The unit is very shiny, and should last a long time
in a home environment.

Page 2 of Indiana Jones Pinball Machine (more tech tips)


 

 

Links

 

Log

Hi Jim here,
My parents had a friend that worked for Williams arcade, and they just used to give them to the employees. They gave it to me and i have had this for years. I have not done nothing with it since i have owned it. and figured that some one else might be able to get great use of it. enjoy and thanks Jim

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