An Amazing Restoration

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It was more than four years ago when a customer contacted us, eager to have his friend’s Disco Fever pinball machine pulled out of a barn and brought into the shop for restoration. The machine was in terrible shape, but the title was one he’d played as a kid, and he knew he wanted to relive those glory days.
Check out this amazing restoration!

Williams came out with Disco Fever in 1978, an unlicensed homage to the hit John Travolta movie “Saturday Night Fever,” which came out the year prior.
Here’s what the machine looked like when it arrived at our shop.
Our expert technicians also had some major carpentry work because much of the wood around the neck disintegrated upon touch.
Our experts reconstructed the worst parts of the cabinet, patched the rest, sanded everything, primered it all, then went to work on the cabinet stencils.
The cabinet turned out great, and the colors popped just like the original again.
Williams made around 6,000 of these machines originally. The game was only the fourth solid state game the company had made.
The backglass is obviously John Travolta, but the game wasn’t licensed. Interestingly enough, a movie called “Disco Fever” also came out in 1978, featuring Fabian, some swingers, and a big jet. This game isn’t related to that either.
This game got new legs, new glass, and we polished the coin door and shooter housing.
Here’s a shot of the front of the machine when it arrived at our shop.
The playfield was in need of a great deal of work as well. Here’s the final version, freshly illuminated with Cointaker LEDs.
Before we got that far, the playfield had to be stripped, taken out of the machine, touched up, and clearcoated. Look at that shine!
Here’s another view that shows off how glossy this playfield got.
This game is one of only two that Williams sold with banana flippers, the curved versions of the ubiquitous pinball paddles.
Enjoy the game, Gordon. We hope it brings back some great memories!