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    Repair log: Big Brave (Gottlieb, 1974)

    1974 Big Brave Gottlieb Repair log

    This one was a workshop repair over the course of a few of days. Lots of adjustments and repairs done all over the machine.


    Chimes weren't working as the common power wire to the chimes was broken. Wiring repaired.


    Playfield lamps were not working. Playfield lamp fuse was blown (and overfused). A couple of lamps also had bad sockets which were repaired.


    Power switch had been bypassed as the original switch had failed. New switch installed.


    Multiple score reels were not advancing properly and needed cleaning and adjustment. I hate these Decagon score reel units!


    Vari-target was not resetting. Minor adjustments to the mechanism and retensioning of the spring got it working smoothly.


    Credit unit was not advancing. Old grease on the armature attached to the step up coil had solidified, so the armature was not ratcheting properly. Cleaned and adjusted. Subtract credit coil was also not decrementing the credit unit. Obviously it learned bad habits from its neighbour, the add credit coil. A seized shoulder bolt was to blame.


    Drop targets were not falling when hit, nor were they resetting properly. The entire mechanism was gummed up with decades of grease and dirt. Cleaned out and new drop targets installed.


    Bonus unit was decrementing fine, but not stepping up. Another gummed up armature.

    Right flipper was way too weak and could barely hit the drop targets. Some of the mounting screws were loose on the assembly. Tightened, cleaned, and re-sleeved. Got some good kick to it now.


    Player unit was occasionally skipping players or balls. Unit was cleaned and lubed and works well now. Stripped a shoulder bolt on this one, but luckily I've always got spares of them!


    Game was not awarding replays for specials or matches. This took a bit of time to find but it was the 15th position switch on the credit unit which was out of whack (NO instead of NC).


    One of the rear leg brackets was missing. Found it in the bottom of the cab and it was still serviceable so it was reinstalled.


    Installed new rubber rings, lamps, playfield glass and ball. And now she's good to go!


    Repair logs are quick summaries of workshop and on-site repairs. If your machine needs a service, 📬 Contact Us to discuss how we can help!

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    Super Mario Bros

    1992 Gottlieb Super Mario Bros
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    You might have read the blog post on Pinfest 2022 with a little confusion. I talked about bringing a Super Mario Bros (Gottlieb, 1992) machine to Pinfest. But I have never mentioned owning a Super Mario Bros machine before, and there certainly hasn't been any restoration blog posts about the machine. What gives?

    ​I had actually purchased this machine a couple of years ago from a young couple who also lived in Sydney. They had bought the machine over a decade ago and it had been sitting in the basement of their house for some time, rarely played because it had various issues. They offered it to me for a reasonable price and as I was looking to get more experience repairing Gottlieb machines, I was keen to take them up on their offer! Below are a few images of the game as provided by the seller. 

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    Eye of the Tiger

    1978 Eye Of The Tiger Gottlieb
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    This post features my first electromechanical (EM) machine! Wow. I never thought I'd ever own an EM game, let alone restore one, but here we are. I came across this game a couple of years ago when the old owner offered it to me for sale for a very good price. I couldn't resist, and drove out to Northbridge in Sydney to collect it. The owner lived in a beautiful harbourside mansion, and the Eye of the Tiger (Gottlieb, 1978) was mainly played by him and his son. The story is that this game was originally purchased at a Luna Park auction in 1980 and had sat in this owner's home since that time. 
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    Tee'd Off

    1993 Gottlieb Tee'd Off
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    Up until this point I had spent almost all of my time restoring Bally and Williams games. I was comfortable enough with doing plenty of repairs on those machines, but I was keen to get some more experience working on a game from a different manufacturer. Enter Tee'd Off (Gottlieb, 1993). Gottlieb was one of the major manufacturers during the 1990s so I figured that this machine would be a good point of reference for future Gottlieb DMD game restorations.  It would also be interesting to study the differences between how Gottlieb had done things and what I had become so accustomed to over the last several years. However, the greatest challenge with this Tee'd Off was definitely going to be the playfield repair work. There was a lot of wear on this playfield which had worn the playfield artwork away to the point that the playfield wood was showing. So, this was a good opportunity for Fiona to put her painting skills to use as well.