Paces Races Restoration Progress February 18

Time to remove another major assembly.  Actually the odds wheel, finish line, and piano roll mechanism are all on the same frame member.  It can be removed, divided into the three components, and each of the three restored separately.

paces races frame screws

I wanted to remove all the mechanism from the cabinet by lifting the base.  The base is a piece of wood that perfectly fits inside the cabinet.  No matter how many screws I removed, the base would not lift free.  I consulted with Paul, the restoration expert for these games, and he indicated it was not possible to remove the base with the mechanism still attached.  I was very disappointed as I worried I would not be able to document the game working in a similar way as I did the Evans Races.

Here a couple of screws are being removed from the right most frame member, the frame supporting the odds wheel, finish line, and piano mechanism.

paces races reset linkage

There are a number of linkages that run from the right frame to the rest of the game.  This is a reset linkage and this end is mounted on the frame.  The spring leads to the coin mechanism.  These need to be documented and removed before the right frame can be disassembled.

paces races hidden screws

I found extra hidden screws but the base still would not lift free.  Later I found screws holding the base to the cabinet under the frame!

paces races finish line

The finish line contains both mechanical and pneumatic components.  The odds wheel converts the winning horse and the odds of that horse winning to a payout.

paces races disassembled paces races odds wheel

The odds wheel, finish line, and piano mechanism, seen on the bottom, can all be separated and restored individually.

paces races piano mechanism

The piano roll mechanism already has one plate removed. I wanted to get the paper roll off in order to protect it.

paces races clean piano roll mechanism

I stopped to clean some of the piano roll mechanism.  The two metal strips on the right are spring steel, used to hold the forward and reverse gears in place and are blued to protect them from rust.  Notice this is box 11B, indicating it is the 11th assembly removed and the second, B, subassembly.