Restored – Williams (1988) Cyclone Pinball

Williams, the top brand pinball maker in the 80’s and 90’s, produced three unique machines showcasing the classic Coney Island amusement park. The Cyclone was the 2nd machine in the lineup, and arguably the best model of the series.

This machine had many of the elements of the first machine (Comet), but expanded on this machine using better sound, lighting, subway tunnel, drop target, a second ramp, ferris wheel and an animated mystery wheel in the back box.

This machine is also known for it’s fantastic artwork on the play field as well as having Nancy and Ronald Reagan on the back box translite riding in the front seat of the roller coaster.

The Cyclone is a single ball pinball machine – which is odd for this generation as most all machines were created with multi-ball as it’s main attraction. However, this machine stands on it’s own for it’s fantastic play and is thought of as one of the best single-ball pinball machines ever made.

Restoration

We decided to go all the way with this restoration, as it is such a classic machine.

The back box and cabinet were entirely stripped down to the wood, repaired and returned to perfect square. The insides and out were primed, blocked, and painted with automotive flat black base coat many times.

The next step was a 2 stage custom orange and yellow automotive stencil paint process. It was hand touched up and followed up with 2 coats of automotive clear coat.

The play field was pretty worn, so we opted for a NEW play field and then added 3 more coats of clear to give it a thick and lustrous finish. The play field was repopulated with mostly all new parts and fully converted to LED lighting.

All circuit boards were removed, reflowed and repaired for perfect operation. The machine was rounded out with new legs, protectors, refinished coin door and under cabinet LED flash lighting.

The result is a better than new classic Cyclone machine that will stand the test of time.