From: rondondo
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: TZ Observations After 3 Months of Ownership

I just finished another TZ and I will admit that of all of the games I
shop, and it’s a LOT of games, so far, TZ always takes the longest.
Once the shop job is complete, you can count on 2-3 hours of tuning on the game to get it playing correctly. TZ is a complicated game no doubt! Here are the things I always need to tweak…

After leveling the game, level the mini-playfield.
Add a magnet on the diverter carriage.
Tweak the carriage to help with the powerball.
Sometimes add washers under the mount screw for the carriage wireform.
Tweak the lock shot deflector wall to prevent bounce-outs.
Tweak the slot kick-out to properly put ejected balls on the flipper.
Add a piece of velcro to the metal wall above the rocket kicker to slow the ball and prevent bounce-outs.
Tweak the trajectory of the rocket kicker wall to provide a clean shot into the hitchhiker tunnel.
Tweak the auto-plunger to get clean shots around the loop.

Here are mods and upgrades that I always do…

New updated slot scoop with slot target reinforcement.
New slot target
Reinforced clock target
LED board in the clock
New clock housing if drilled
Piano mod
Gumballs
Speaker upgrade (whether you do a Pinball Pro or do-it-yourself, makes
a big difference in a TZ!)

Just my thoughts.

From: “The_Black_Knight”
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: FT Topper is Killing Me

There are several ways, to quite the noise, but still have the effect.
1) Install a rubber stopper to the tip of the nylon plunger (reduced noise)
2) Install a weaker coil (with reduced effect)
3) Install a blue or black rebound pad used for ramps on the backside of the fish tail (reduced noise)

If it is still too loud, unplugging it is probably the best answer.
I have done this with my current and previous FT, and for certain knockers such as TAF.

Best Regards,

–
“The_Black_Knight”

The Washington State Pinball Stronghold
“A Fortress Protecting the Silver Ball”

www.geocities.com/pinball_jack

From: “Chris Munson”
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: BIG TIME CABINETS - MANY UPDATES

Hello all:

Been a busy summer so far, with hot temps in Texas (near 100 degrees several days) and plenty of activity at BTC. As usual, we continue to produce cabinets for a number of customers, and have some exciting news to share beyond the current lineups. In no particular order:

1) NEW offerings - available immediately, we are now able to produce TZ, Whitewater, Funhouse, AFM, and EATPM cabinets. Folks, send us your artwork and get a discount on the cabs!

2) “OLD” offerings - We have been able to send a great deal of time recently on development of the greatly anticipated early Bally cabinets. In fact, we will have our first prototype “KISS” style cabinet complete this week! We should begin taking orders for these cabinets in August; please stay tuned for details. NOTE: KISS will NOT be the only variety offered, there will be other titles as well.

3) FUTURE offerings - Late “EBD/Fathom” style cabs will follow closely behind the early cabs. Again, stay tuned for details.

4) IMMEDIATE offerings - We currently have excess stock on two items, and would like to move these units:

a) White water cab - this cab is complete, boxed and ready to go, and is being sold as a “second”. Why? The start button hole is slightly above the factory location (this has been remedied), but this one slipped through. The decal is offset as a result, with the start button being towards the top of the decal circle. This cab is beautiful, and if you can overlook a minor misalignment, we will knock off the cost of shipping. Write/phone me for details.

b) Funhouse cab - nearing completion, this cab was developed as the first example with an enamel painting process (as opposed to the laquer we normally use). I will also sell this as a “second”, in that the front panel decal has a VERY slight crease in it (the decal itself was problematic), and the amount of overspay in the cabinet is a bit more than typical. Again, this will ship for free; write/phone for details.

5) WEBSITE - yes, the website still suffers from issues that need to be resolved. AS of today, we have secured assistance to clear up these issues and make the interface more user-friendly. IN PARTICULAR, we will be posting pics to the “NEWS” section once the site is fixed, so that you will be able to see what is actually going on as far as development is concerned. Stay tuned!

Thanks all for your continued support, the last half of this year will
indeed be remarkable as far as new products emerge. Looking forward to working with you folks, meeting our needs. I will be announcing more often as things begin to surface.

Chris Munson
Big Time Cabinets

From: “Gerry Manis”
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: WMS Coin Doors

Hi, all.

I just got off the phone with Carson at Pro Source (Carson moved on from Entropy, but still sells their coin doors out of the new
business). He said that they would be getting in coin doors again in
10 days. These are the two slot coin doors, prewired, without the coin mechs. The prices, while they are higher than before, are still better than anything else I’ve found:

$50 per coin door, with a minimum of 4 (You may be able to negotiate a lower minimum with a higher per unit price, not sure).

He can be reached at (877) 519-5900.

Hope this helps somebody,

Gerry Mani