A restoration and service of a 1964 Williams Soccer pinball machine.
I came across this vintage pinball machine in need of some love and couldn’t resist it. I do like a pinball table with a unique gimmick or two and this has a couple that makes it stand out.
Firstly the backbox. This includes an image of a football player kicking a large ball. Behind the scenes are a track running from the foot to the ball and a large bell behind the ball. If your pinball skills are good and you earn a replay the player actually kicks a pinball along the track to hit the bell! Wonderful!
A second ‘different’ feature is that depending on whether you hit a red or blue score first determines which team you play for. Landing in one or other kickout hole scores for one team or another moves the light one way or another across the playfield. Get to the end and you score.
The machine itself was filthy and I spent much time cleaning the playfield and rewaxing. I replaced all the bulbs (about 50). There is however a problem with the bulb holders on these old machines that often means they either don’t work or are dim or intermittent. A couple of mods are needed to get them working properly and with so many dicky bulb holders it’s a time-consuming job.
This wasn’t a full restoration so I didn’t do any playfield paint touch ups – I always think it’s good to see a bit of history in a machine rather than trying to make it look like new again.
I found various features to be not working on this pinball machine. Not at all surprising and most related to dirty or baldly adjusted replay and switch contacts.
After some head-scratching I managed to get them all working. All in all a fairly straightforward pinball restoration.
Time for a game!
Contact me for pinball repairs and restorations.
