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Here is a classic case where being a nice guy with
selfish motives did not pay off. I have a
friend who lives 2 hours away who had this Big Shot with a perfect center
plastic. I have been on a mission to find an unbroken center plastic
to my Big Shot for almost 12 years. My friend would not give me his even though he couldn't get the
game working. I had been working on him for several years. One spring, he called
and said I could have the game - free. All I had to do was go get it. I
was very busy and it took me 3 months to get a weekend set up. When I
finally had a free weekend, he told me that he changed his mind. It was in
his airplane hanger and even though it only worked about 50%, the guys
liked to play it so I couldn't have it any more. I was totally pissed off.
All I really wanted was that damn center plastic for my own Big Shot.
Around the end of October, I found a Night Rider
with a trashed playfield and had the idea that I could get it cheap, fix
it, and trade it for the Big Shot. It all worked out and I even had a
buyer for the Big Shot once I got the plastic. I bought the Night Rider,
spent 2 weeks fixing it up, and drove with my wife to get the Big Shot. We
unloaded the Night Rider, set it up, and started to check out the Big
Shot. I was hoping the problems would be minor because the buyer was on my
way home. I planned to fix it real quick and drop it off - after taking
the middle plastic. |
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My friend was anxious to show me the problems so
he took off the glass and before I could remind him to flip the ball into
the shooter lane, he lifted the playfield. Well, it was only about 40
degrees in the hanger so the plastics were kind of brittle. I'm sure you can
guess what got smashed when he lifted up the playfield. I have never been so
pissed off about anything pinball related in my life. I wanted to kick the
shit out of him. But I had to be nice since we are good friends with him and
his wife.
All the way home, I was steaming mad and my wife
thought I deserved it because anyone who would go to that much trouble for
that little piece of plastic must be a complete idiot. The Big Shot turned
out to need a ton of work too so I ended up fixing up 2 games, driving 300
miles, and I didn't make a dime - when all I really wanted was the
plastic which I never got.
2 people were very happy. The guy who got the
Night Rider, and the guy who got the Big Shot.
2 weeks after this ended, I found that center
plastic on Ebay and bought it for only $20. I guess the Pinball Gods
decided I had endured enough punishment looking for that plastic part.
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Completed work: I had to do a few
hacks on this game. Check out this link to see them:
Bozo Hacks the Big Shot
- Clean/gap all contacts - playfield, main board, backbox.
- Fixed bonus unit. Missing coil stop replaced. Cleaned off
all the oily gunk. Adjusted mechanism so it works.
- Made a knocker out of spare parts. Works great.
- Rebuilt one drop target bank mechanism. Had to
fabricate/repair 2 parts, new coil stop, replace missing screws.
- Fixed broken playfield plastic (missing part found under main board)
- Fixed anti-cheat wire on coin door - disabled.
- Rebuilt/adjusted credit unit. Set for free play.
- Installed wire ties to re-bundle loose wiring.
- Made a new score & instruction card.
- Adjusted free games to match score card and also give a fee game at
99,000 (bonus surprise setting)
- Put game on high tap for extra power
- Adjust all contacts behind rubbers (if new rubbers are installed,
double check contact gap.
- All burnt out bulbs replaced. Flashers installed behind game
over light and "BIG SHOT" name.
- Fixed "special" contacts on the right drop target bank.
- Fix the pop bumper cap - Dave did a great job with a sharpie.
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