Firepower Pinball restoration Flipper rebuilds
The last major performance improvement you'll be seeing in a machine this old is rebuilding the flippers. For this machine I went with the same parts list that I used on Black Knight, which is a hybrid of WPC mechanical components and System 6 coils/switches. I really like this combination, particularly with the extension type springs, and it made a massive difference on this machine. Firepower is meant to be a very fast and chaotic game, and new flippers are mandatory for this. If you can't cleanly hit the upper ball lock easily from the right flipper, they need to be redone. I had originally considered a basic rebuild kit, but I'll show you why that didn't quite work out.
Other than just feeling like poo, here's the first visible sign of something being seriously wrong. The green lines, hopefully, show how much the flippers are sagging from where tehy should be. I did try to adjust them back to their proper location, but they just kept slipping back down on me. The red circles are more subtle and hard to see. If you look closely, you can see that the tips of the flippers have been dragging on the playfield. Not only does this wear the playfield artwork down, but it also slows down the flippers and they can get stuck too.
	Here's the left flipper mechanism with the coil removed, to show some of the issues going on here. The blue lines are pointing out the screws that hold the nylon bushing onto the baseplate. Notice the one screw with the bigger head on it? That one's a woodscrew, which was actually removed from its old location of holding the baseplate to the playfield. The other two are the correct 6-32 machine screws, but both of these screws were totally stripped out.... as was the holes in the baseplate! Because of this, the whole bushing was just flopping around loose, causing the playfield rub. The red circle is a more typical flipper wear issue, which is the fiber link being worn down. This causes a lot of slop and strength loss, and is one of the most common causes of poor strength flippers.
The right flipper had essentially the same issues as the left one with the bushing screws. The only difference here was that instead of two stripped machine screws, it was two missing machine screws. The link was also worn out here too, no surprise there at all. Two other problems did pop up here that are worth noting, and commonly overlooked. The green circle shows the lever that opens up the EOS switch. Compare this spot with the left flipper, and you'll see that the black insulation is missing here. This can be a big problem as without this insulation it will cause the EOS switch to ground out through the pawl and baseplate. Lots of ways to deal with this, but you have to know to look for it. Last problem is the yellow circle, and is even harder to see. If you look closely, you'll see that there's about 1/2" of insulation missing from the EOS switch wiring. Another easy fix, especially since the EOS switches are getting replaced anyway, but again..... you've got to see it to fix it.
	The solution to these problems? All new parts, using the same parts list from the Black Knight flipper rebuild (except single cabinet switches instead of the doubles.) This is the almost finished left flipper asssembly. Everything new is in place, just waiting for the coil to be installed and the EOS switch wiring to be soldered in place. The plunger/link/pawl assembly is hanging off the extension type return spring. I like to attach this spring early, as it can be a real beast to do later on when there is less room to work.
This will, eventually, show the underside photo of the completed flipper assemblies. Oops..... forgot to take the photo (again). I'll get that done next time I am over there.
	And here's a topside photo for you as well, to show the new bats and rubbers in place. Not a dramatic appearance change on the top of the machine, but holy cow does it play different. With the new flippers, new rubbers, and a good cleaning/waxing..... it's a totally different machine now.

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