Instead of scouring theSamba forums for VW advice and help, I've been searching the Pinside forums for tips and information. On my shelf next to my "Bug Me" DVDs, I now have a "This Old Pinball Volume #1" DVD. Last year Daphne's dad bought me a VW repair book for Christmas. This year I received a Mars Trek manual, the wiring schematic, and an advertising flyer.
Daphne gave me The Complete Pinball Book. You might not find the history of the flipper fascinating, but I did. I'm halfway through the 320 pages, and I'm up to plungers.
Another similarity between the Beetle and the Mars Trek is that they're both vintage machines built in a foreign land (the VW is German and the pinball machine is Spanish), and replacement parts can be hard to find.
For instance, there are 19 red, nylon nuts that secure the decorative light shields to the play field. They look like this.
While replacing a play field light bulb, I lost one of the nuts. I think it fell into the machine, but I can't find it anywhere. Man, making mistakes like that drives me crazy! One clumsy move and I lose a part that's probably irreplaceable. I looked for over an hour with a flashlight, but there are about a thousand places in there for a little nut to hide.
See if you can spot it.
I checked online, but no one was selling nuts that look like the one I needed. I found the right size nylon nut at the hardware store, but it was white and kinda fat (like me).
Since the nut was made of nylon, I figured I could file it into a shape that would more closely resemble an original. I put the nut into my vice and started filing.
For comparison, my "new" nut is on the left.
It's okay.
From here you can't even see that's the nut is different from the others.
Check out the right front leg. I added a cup holder. See, it is just like working on a car.
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