One of the key problems with the Kiss was that its MPU board was non-functionning when we first tried to start it up. It took us quite a while to fix it, because the failures where numerous, spread across many areas and inter-related.

Continued adventures on the Kiss: after ordering on eBay (flipperking.de) new stickers for the rollunders, they've been replaced (as well as the broken bumper column, received from 7059didier):

Before:

After:

The result looks pretty nice!

The dead transistor (Q2) on the solenoid board has been replaced by a compatible one, a TIP120 (the original reference SE9302 is no longer manufactured). Finally, the backbox pedestal has been reinforced with wood glue, as it was showing signs of weakness...

Continuing the preparations to turn the Kiss back on, some care had to be given to the electronic boards, starting with power and rectifier.

Pinrepair has proven very useful again, with a detailed section on the topic.

After looking around a little bit, we made a quick list of the things that will need attention on the Kiss:

Today I've found another pinball machine for the project. It's a 1979 SS Bally Kiss pinball!

I took it "as is", untested, but the machine looked generally good. The playfield was reasonably used, so was the cabinet and backbox. The backglass (US version, not German, same for the playfield), though slightly "bubbled" has been properly covered with vinyl and looked really nice. No visible scratch or corrosion on the metal paint.

Let's see what we can do with this new machine!