Paces Races Restoration Progress April 12

paces races pump bellows

Here are the pump bellows recovered and glued to the air box.  The flap valves have been cleaned and are trapped behind the metal plates.  The plates have been straightened.  Note the horse actuators in the background, which have also been recovered and are ready for installation.

paces races air chamber

This is the back side of the pump bellows, the inside of the air chamber.  I try not to leave any marks on the games I restore, hoping they will be as original as possible.  I generally do not sign my work.  However I was encourage to do so with this restoration if for  no other reason than to provide a chronological history, signing it with my initials and the date.

paces races flap valves

The flap valves reused the original leather patches.  I did order new but they were thicker and not as flexible.

paces races valves

The valves have all been refreshed with new leather surfaces.  Four still need the wood cross added to complete the work. 

manometer

I reused the manometer I created for the Evans Races restoration.  Here I connected the vacuum cleaner to a small box.  The box allowed me to adjust the vacuum as I was trying to simulate the pump bellows vacuum.  The manometer allowed me to measure the actual vacuum by looking at the differences in the water level between the two sides.  I was able to determine all the valves were working in the valve box and the relief valve on the air chamber was set too high.  The spring was too strong on the relief valve and was probably not original.  It is currently set at about 34 inches of water and will be reduced when I set up the final game.