Paces Races Restoration
I started the restoration of the Paces Races in January 2020. I had removed some cosmetic castings, what you see when you look at the top of the game, in March, 2019. I worried about taking the game apart and leaving pieces in boxes for several years, with the concern I might not be able to put it back together. I have a good process and get the large assemblies reassembled but various springs and screws might get lost or misplaced.
I decided to disassemble the major assemblies of the game and once all the assemblies are removed, restore each assembly in turn. Finally the assemblies would be reassembled at the end of the project. At least then the assemblies would be done correctly and I need only worry about the levers and springs that connect them to each other.
The major assembles include, in order of disassembly:
teal: horses and ratchet bar
not shown: coin head
green: motor and crank
purple: reset shuttle
red: odds wheel and finish line
brown: player piano roll
orange: valve box
yellow: actuator bellows
blue: pump bellows
I downloaded the pictures to my computer on the dates indicated below. The progress happens in between the dates listed as well as the actual date shown.
Restoration Log
January 2: remove horses, ratchet bars, and reset shuttle
January 3: remove the coin head, reset shuttle bar, motor, crank, and left frame member
January 8: prepare tools, boxes of parts, first cleaned part, door latches
January 15: clean horses
January 16: start cleaning the coin head
January 21: finish removing all attachments to the coin head casting, cleaning, frozen screws, fabricated parts
January 26: assembled coin head, clean pneumatics
January 26 continued: remove and disassemble motor.
January 30: motor commutator turned, shuttle disassembled
February 2: remove left cabinet frame and crank, problems with sprocket
February 5: clean shuttle, ratchet bracket and bumper, tablet usage
February 14: repair wobbling crank
February 18: remove odds wheel, piano roll, and finish line
February 20: disassemble more of the odds wheel, show friction clutch
February 25: finish right frame disassembly with removal of finish line
February 29: start assembly of the right frame member, supporting the odds wheel and piano roll mechanism
March 9: continue to assemble odds wheel, start repairing pneumatics for finish line, break block, and coin head
March 20: finish right end of game, finish line, odds wheel, piano roll mechanism
March 29: assemble crank, remove pump, horse actuators, and valve box
March 29 continued: bellows for the pump and horse actuation are prepared for recovering.
March 31: prepare valve box for new material
April 7: recovering bellows, rebuilding valve box valves
April 12: refinishing the valves in the valve box, building a manometer
April 14: assemble the pump and actuator bellows, show major assemblies
April 16: remove payout mechanism
April 20: cover payout pneumatic bellows with new fabric
May 1: assemble the game on the board