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Part 8: 1978 Interflip Alaska 4 Player EM. Playfield Done & Head Installed!

Pinball Shenanigans·video·25m 10s·analyzed·Mar 12, 2026
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.018

TL;DR

Interflip Alaska restoration: playfield finished, head installed, full assembly nearing completion.

Summary

Mike Dus continues restoration of a 1978 Interflip Alaska 4-Player EM pinball machine, completing playfield assembly including rubbers, plastics, metals, and apron components. The head is successfully installed and connected to the playfield. The machine is now fully assembled minus legs, with power-on testing to follow in future episodes.

Key Claims

  • The Interflip Alaska features unique shooter rod design with built-in plunger tip and adjustable spring tension notches

    high confidence · Mike Dus describing the specific design features of the Alaska's shooter rod during assembly

  • The Alaska uses 1/4 inch Gottlieb-style flipper rubbers

    high confidence · Mike Dus selecting blue rubbers to match and noting the Gottlieb style

  • Mike sourced parts (carriage bolts) from a Meteor playfield he pulled from a hoarder's backyard

    high confidence · Mike describing the origin of metal parts being cleaned in metal rescue solution

  • Metal rescue solution darkens with use and effectively removes rust from vintage pinball parts

    high confidence · Mike observing the black juice in the metal rescue container and comparing before/after rust removal

Notable Quotes

  • “Last night, I was lying in bed thinking, where the f did that screw go?”

    Mike Dus@ 0:02 — Sets the comedic tone of the restoration journey and the common frustration of missing hardware in restoration projects

  • “Beautifully sandblasted, spray painted. They go right here like so. And ain't that a beautiful thing?”

    Mike Dus@ 1:22 — Shows appreciation for parts preparation work done by Kevin, highlighting the collaborative nature of the restoration

  • “Interflip strikes again with its uniqueness of parts. Even the shape of the shooter rod.”

    Mike Dus@ 17:46 — Emphasizes the Interflip Alaska's distinctive design choices that set it apart from standard EM machines

  • “This is actually happening. All right, head is installed for the most part.”

    Mike Dus@ 20:58 — Captures the milestone moment of head installation, representing significant progress toward completion

  • “Now the real fun begins. Turning it on and dealing with the million problems that are going to arise.”

    Mike Dus@ 24:59 — Reflects realistic expectations for powering on a vintage restored EM machine and the challenges ahead

Entities

Mike DuspersonJamiepersonKevinpersonCoreypersonInterflip Alaska 4 PlayergameMeteorgameGold WingsgamePinball Shenaniganscontent

Signals

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Mike demonstrates systematic playfield assembly sequencing: posts before rubbers before metals before plastics, showing understanding of mechanical dependencies and installation order

    high · Discussion of installing posts, then 2-inch rubbers, adjusting switches, installing metals, then plastics, with explicit acknowledgment of sequence dependency

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Metal rescue solution effectively removes rust from vintage pinball hardware with darkening of the solution indicating ongoing chemical action

    high · Multiple observations of parts in metal rescue for 24 hours, noting black juice and significant rust removal; parts sourced from Meteor playfield backyard salvage

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Interflip Alaska exhibits unique parts specifications (Gottlieb-style rubbers, unique shooter rod design, unusual nut sizes) requiring careful sourcing and adaptation

    high · Mike noting 6mm vs 7mm nuts, 1/4 inch Gottlieb-style rubbers, plastic shooter rod with built-in plunger tip and adjustable tension notches

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Mike proactively addresses corner cracks with Lexan washers to prevent further damage during assembly and operation

    high · Installation of Lexan washer at cracked corners before installing nuts on posts

  • ?

    design_innovation: Interflip Alaska shooter rod features two notches for adjusting spring tension to desired tension level, a sophisticated design choice for an EM machine

    high · Mike's observation: 'There's two notches so you can adjust the tension of the spring to your desired tension. Pretty wild.'

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:02
Last night, I was lying in bed thinking, where the f did that screw go? And I thought, I wonder if there's a chance that it ended up underneath my tool cart. And from here, I think I see something.
0:21
What do we got? No, that's not it. Damn it. I'm Mike Dus and this is Pinball Shenanigans.
0:35
All right, let's jump right into the action. Going to do some more Alaskan stuff tonight, including and hopefully assembling and finishing the top side of the playfield. That means rubbers, plastics, metals. Uh, won't be able to do the lane guides just yet cuz I still need to figure out my final solution. And I've got these metals back from Kevin that were very crusty. And now look at them. Beautifully sandlasted, spray painted. They go right here like so. And ain't that a beautiful thing? So, I'll install those. My oneway gate, my back apron pieces. This is the top one. Ouch. That protrudes out right into my kneebone. And that didn't feel good. This slides in the crack here. Goes right about
1:53
something like that. Oh, that's going to look good. Oh, yeah. Oh, banged into it again. I should saw that thing right off because it doesn't need to be sticking out that far on both ends. Anyway, so that's the plan. I think it's going to be a little bit tricky to install these pieces. You got to line all the screws up through everything just right. But, uh, we're going to make it happen. Also clean up the shooter rod. Probably throw on a new spring. And I've got a bunch more metals. Cooking in my metal rescue here. It's obviously doing a good job cuz this juice is black. So, we'll see how this stuff turned out. Some miscellaneous hardware. And I even threw the barrel spring in there just to see. Probably going to throw on a new one. But, uh, we'll see how bad that one is. I mean, it looks
  • ?

    product_concern: Head connector installation revealed loose and bent male pins, requiring careful alignment and potential contact cleaner treatment for reliable connection

    high · Mike noting 10-minute struggle to line up pins, with some loose and bent, requiring contact cleaner before installation

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Alaska restoration reveals challenges sourcing exact replacement parts (post caps, specific nut sizes, shooter rod components), driving use of salvaged parts and creative solutions

    medium · Multiple references to uncertainty about exact parts specifications, uncertainty about post cap availability, and use of salvaged Meteor playfield parts

  • ?

    restoration_signal: YouTube restoration series serves as real-time documentation of EM machine assembly and troubleshooting, creating archival record of restoration methodology

    high · Episode structure showing sequential assembly steps with detailed visual and verbal documentation of each stage

    • 2:54
    looks like I'm probably going to use a new barrel spring. And this spring is bent and rusty. So, we'll use new parts. And this will clean up just fine. That's the plan of attack. Let's get started. You showed up just in time. Come say hi to everybody.
    3:16
    Yep. Get up there on your perch. There's uh some extra obstacles. Hey, get out of there. Don't be drinking that. Let's move that right out of the way. I don't think she would be that silly to drink that, but you never know. She doesn't really do human food. Ooh, don't hit her head on the roof there. I better uh clean up my crap out of the way so she has a nice spot to get up and down. Have you heard of the Outdoor Boys YouTube channel? It's a dude who lives in Alaska and does all kinds of crazy camping adventures. I literally was just watching it before I came down. So, how apt is that? But this plastic I just cleaned up and as expected, these are going to clean up nicely. Like here's before basically how crusty that is. But anyway, I need I want to install rubbers like so so that I can install the metals because see how the metal presses against the rubber here. So I kind of got to do the rubber first, then the metal. But in this case here, I need to do the post before I can do the rubber before I can do the metal. You know what I mean? So, this might be a little bit tricky of an operation here, but uh don't you worry. I'll sort it out. Ellie, you are just adorable up there. You're a good kitty. Anyway, so this is this is how the operation has to go. All right, so we got to screw in the post with the plastic out of the way. Then we got to grab a 2-in rubber, thread it over this guy like so. And then like that. Then I can adjust the switch. And then I can screw in the metal. And then I can install the plastic. But it's going to look a little something like that. Pretty sweet. All right, this side is done. And that's what it looks like from this angle. This plastic's cleaned up.
    5:45
    And let's get our 7 mm post cap nuts freshly sonically cleaned and metal rescued.
    6:06
    These nuts are no joke. These are like good quality metal, too. They're heavy. All right, don't need to go too crazy. We're just holding down a little piece of plastic. There we go. Now, one thing left to do, raise up these drop targets and see what it all looks like. Starting to come together now. The rest should uh follow suit pretty quickly. You guys want the LEP? I'll give you the LEP. Drilling through the playfield. Yeah, take that. I know you guys are just wincing in pain from that. This is going to be my lost post solution hopefully. All right, check this out. Where's my hole? There it is. Just take this machine screw, pop it through the playfield. No harm, no foul yet. And install my post. It's going to want to push back down. I need my other hand for this. Get you back up there. And look at that.
    7:24
    That is like almost the exact same height. I got to clean up my rubber. So, I've got dirty fingers and put on the plastic. And this nut actually threads on. I just hope I have enough thread. If not, I'll just drill in a little bit into the bottom of the playfield so the head can go in a little bit deeper. But I think that's going to be my solution. All right, here's the before. This right side plastic.
    8:02
    And here's the after. Literally just water and magic eraser. All right, I need a little extra thread. So, going with the big boy here.
    8:26
    I need like three or four turns worth of room here. So hopefully that's enough. Let's just jam this in here and find out. Oh, here we go. Don't know if I got that centered very well. Oh That was almost me being decapitated. Look. Yikes. Let's be a little more careful. All right, check that out. Get a little more thread out of that.
    9:07
    And I should be able to snug up that post tight enough. If not, I'll go a little bit more. But uh I have to install rubber here first before I do that. Okay, these corners are cracked on both sides. So thought it would be prudent to add in a Lexan washer there. I've got my rubber installed and it looks like
    9:36
    should be good to go here. Where are my nuts? Here they are. Let's start with uh this one here.
    9:46
    have to ever so gently Oh, I'm going to have to put a screwdriver on the bottom side
    9:57
    so that it's not just spinning. But there we go. And they appear to be one nut short. Oh, no. It's right there. But, you know, it's not the first time I've heard that. So, just try and get that on there gently. And look at that. We're going to have success, boys and girls. All right, sides are done. Just got four more plastics to go. Okay, before I get too far, I know I'm going to need some more post caps. And there was a few that I found that were hiding under plastics that ended up in my concoction here. So, let's see
    10:51
    I've got a bunch of those carriage bolts that I pulled out of a meteor playfield that might be part of my lane guide solution. So, that's where the majority of this rust came from.
    11:10
    the meteor playfield that uh you've seen in the background in some videos. I pulled that out of someone's backyard. He was a hoarder. And it was a freaking adult jungle gym of hoarde piles and buildings in the backyard. And I pulled out my Gold Wings parts playfield and some other miscellaneous crap. But that playfield has served me well. I don't think I paid too much for it. I pulled off lots of good parts off it. Anyway, it's a lot less rust in this pile. Oh, yeah. These posts. How did these come out? I put them in there. Not perfect, but maybe if I scrub them a little bit and get them to turn out a little better. But, uh, yeah, I guess it's better. Here's a closer look at what these uh look like.
    12:11
    I don't know, maybe 24 hours in the metal rescue. That's better. Okay, I got my plastics and my little Husky pop bumper caps cleaned up, ready to be installed. All right, last of the rubbers are installed. See if these guys fit.
    12:54
    There we go. I feel like I may not have enough post caps, but I might have something in stock that'll work.
    13:07
    almost hesitate to put these in because I don't want to have to pull them out and stick them in and pull them out and stick it in multiple times to fix light bulbs. Get your mind out of the gutter. Come on. And lamp. Deal it with lamp sockets. I don't want to break tabs. You know what I mean? These are irre effing placeable. Unffing obtanium. un tanny ethanum. There we go. That's looking good. Okay, I think I'll do the post caps and then we'll move on to the apron stuff. All right, that is all done and I didn't lose any nuts. Can you believe it? I had them all. All right, time to install the apron metals. First, I got to install this. And I'm assuming that these three guys that I pulled out of the pile are what goes there. And uh I'll need to install that first. So I need to access underneath. So we'll do that next. All right. I got the gate installed. This was a 6 mm nut as opposed to the 7 mm I've been working with. And time to install everything. And I've got this uh playfield securely positioned for the task at hand. So, wish me luck. All right, here goes nothing.
    14:54
    I don't blame you cuz the task ain't over yet. So, now's a good time to line up the holes.
    15:14
    That feels like it is in the proper place. Oh, wait. This technically goes in first.
    15:25
    Guess it doesn't really matter. Okay. Well, this is the easy part.
    15:41
    And then this last piece. It's the alignment of the holes that's going to be the fun part. I think if I just get one, the rest will fall into place.
    16:15
    That might be in. I don't want to screw it all the way in, but
    16:23
    look at that. All right, I'll be back after I screw all this in. All right, back apron is installed. Long screws for the back and short screws for the front, which means I have some extra hardware. A rubber. I think I know where that goes. And five extra screws. Where those all go, I do not know. Actually, you know what? There is one piece of metal somewhere. Where did that go? That Kevin didn't install because I wasn't sure where it went, but I found where it went. And it is a piece of metal for the latch here. So, I bet you maybe four those short screws go there. Just need to find that metal piece. I don't know where the heck it could have gone, but that would account for those guys. Where the heck do these guys go? I know where it is. It's right next door. Let's see. There we go. Oh, only two screws. So, we have more spares than I thought. These old flipper rubbers are like the 1/4 in gotautle style. So, I went with that blue to match. Okay. Interflip strikes again with its uniqueness of parts. Even the shape of the shooter rod. Oh, that's a little bit chipped. The the shape of the shooter rod itself is kind of unique and it's appears to be plastic. Kind of emulates the old bal stern version. Do I have one of those in here? Let's see. Oh, no. That's the rounded off version. But you know the pointy kinds on some old games where you try and palm plunge and you realize quickly, let's never do that again cuz it hurts. I don't think I have one in there. Anyway, also they've got a plunger tip built right in. It's like this hard plastic press fit into the shaft. So, like again, very well built, but I am still going to put on a rubber tip, blue to match. New barrel spring as promised. And look at this. I just noticed something else. There's two notches so you can adjust the tension of the spring to your desired tension. Pretty wild. All right, here's the finished product. Give it a plunge and then we'll test it out with a ball. All right, let's give it its first test here. The tip is sticking out just enough that I might not have to pull it to lift the playfield. Okay, that's a lie. I do got to pull it to lift the playfield. No, the playfield is not seating properly. There we go. All right, first plunge of Alaska. Let's see what happens here. That's a good plunge. Good strength. All
    19:46
    right. All right. I might as well install these now. All right. I got my posts and my T- rubbers installed. Removed all the screws, lane guides, and I put all this in a little goodie bag for now. Got rid of my towel and installed my apron cards. It would be nice to get some custom ones made up at some point, but those will do for now. And oh, I was like using my little air blower and I stirred up some dust and now I'm stuffy. But anyway, things are looking pretty damn good, wouldn't you say? So, I think I'm going to keep the ball rolling if Jamie is available. I think it's time to install the head. So, I'll go check on her and report back. All right, Jamie's going to come help me with the head. And I just installed the two connectors to the playfield. So, things are starting to move along. This is actually happening. All right, head is installed for the most part. Thank you, my love. Shout out
    21:16
    Just got to connect the head. I don't think I'm going to go through the trouble of cleaning all of the females. I'll just do this.
    21:37
    What do you think, EM guys? Is that a good idea or a bad idea? I think I read that it was a good idea and just tightening the little prongs on them. But I am just going to le it up, install the connector. Hopefully I don't have too many loose male headers. Let's see how this goes.
    22:28
    kind of kind of messing with me. Almost snipped myself. Okay, there we go. We're free.
    23:07
    Okay, I think maybe I'll just let the contact cleaner dry a little bit before I install those. And that's not enthralling to watch anyway. So, I'll be back when it's done. Okay, I'm certainly glad I didn't record that whole struggle because that took like a solid 10 minutes to line up all these pins. Some are loose, some are bent, and uh it was a struggle, but that is done. So, now we tuck this guy in here.
    23:42
    Probably should just leave it out really because if I'm going to be servicing it, maybe Corey going to be servicing it possibly, then I'm going to want it accessible in case we need it. And for that reason, I will not install the back door, which I've got right here. But it's official. Head is installed and connected. So, ooh, I remember something about this now. I bent it right out of the way so I would remember. I think that goes right there. So, good job past me. I think you guys all want to see the front side. So, let's have a look. All right, here she is. really made a good dent in the progress today. Finally fully assembled, minus the legs.
    24:53
    And it is a beautiful day. Now the real fun begins. Turning it on and dealing with the million problems that are going to arise. And I forgot this screw. Anyways, we'll save that for the next episode. We'll see you on the next