Recently I picked up a Pace Fancy Front and this is my LAME DUCK machine.
We all need one of those, well maybe.
The find was at night in a poorly light garage.
The machine was heavily black wrinkle painted but the machine would cycle and pay out but the jackpot wouldn't dump.
The antique collector I purchased the machine from was very mum on the machine and wanted me to ask all the questions. This should of been my first clue.
The mechanism didn't want to come out easily and I noticed the rear left baseplate corner was broken off.
I noticed that there was epoxy glue on the front casting but it didn't look that bad.
Well I took it home and on my bench I started to have a, " How could I have been so careless moment?"
My suspicion was the machine had been pulled off a table and suffered a terrible injury.
So here is what I found out on the first night
The jackpot plate was bent, hence wouldn't work.
The gooseneck had a crack in it.
Both upper and lower casting were cracked.
Baseplate lower left corner broken off, so the Left mech hold down did nothing. We all know this is very important because when you cycle the mech it moves backward.
Anyways I tore down the mech, straightened out the jackpot and got them both working correctly.
I made a brace for the gooseneck and fortunately for me the magnet holder and the A frame supplied the necessary anchor points.
I attached a small L bracket to the base plate the same height as on the right side when the machine is inserted into the cabinet, so the mech will not drift back now
I used a paint stripper and removed the ugly Black wrinkle paint and you guessed it, the casting damage was worse than I though.
Well with a little help from a Mig welder the upper casting crack has been stabilized. I left the front casting repair alone, it was acceptable.
I proceded to detail paint the casting and re-assemble the machine.
The end result is I have a machine that looks good, the jackpot dumps and cycles and the payouts are correct.
But we all know the machine isn't worth much, but it was a lesson to me.
Never EVER Buy a machine at night, take powerful flash light, and take your time.
Not everybody is honest.
Here are some pictures I took along the way
Best
John (thepennyarcade)