Part 7: 1985 Bally Cybernaut Pinball Project. Final touches!

Pinball Shenanigans·video·10m 23s·analyzed·Dec 12, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

Cybernaut restoration series concludes with final mechanical and cosmetic touchups before gameplay video.

Summary

Mike Dyas completes his multi-episode restoration of a 1985 Bally Cybernaut pinball machine with final touches: fixing a finicky light socket, upgrading apron cards with custom printed versions, correcting a four-player display cable swap issue, tightening the coin lock mechanism, and touching up worn letter inserts on the playfield. He teases upcoming projects including a collaborative Interflip Alaska build and acquisition of a rare Jurassic Park: The Lost World DMD machine.

Key Claims

The Bally Cybernaut uses -35 series boards, which are easier to work with than 683 or 2 series
high confidence · Mike states he has more experience with -35 series and 'barely have worked on anything 683 or 2 in the past'
A loose connection in the light socket (not soldering) was the cause of the finicky rollover light
high confidence · Mike diagnoses and fixes the issue by soldering the connection point in the socket
Custom apron cards were designed and provided by Louser (Pinside username) who also helped with Gammatron apron cards
high confidence · Direct shout-out: 'Louser—that's L-U-Z-U-R on Pinside—who provided these files for me, and he created them. He also helped me with my Gamatron apron cards'
Jurassic Park: The Lost World DMD is one of only 600 ever made and may be the rarest DMD Mike has owned
high confidence · Mike states: 'Only 600 of these guys were ever made. It might be the rarest DMD that I've ever owned.'
Four-player display order was corrected by switching display cables for players three and four
high confidence · Mike documents the anomaly and fix: 'I did indeed switch the two cables for the players three and four. And now player one, player two, player three, and player four are displaying as they should.'

Notable Quotes

“Just the last few little tweaks and touch-ups to really finish off the machine. I wasn't even sure it was worthy of an episode, but for those who watched the what, seven or eight episodes and have been strung along this far, might as well bring you along for one more episode of shenanigans.”
Mike Dyas @ opening — Sets tone for the final installment; acknowledges viewer investment in the series
“This is the first time I had this particular issue... I was suspecting many things like bad solder on this, bad solder on that, just a crappy connection in the socket itself. But now it is this little connection right here.”
Mike Dyas @ mid-video (light socket diagnosis) — Documents troubleshooting methodology and the specific socket connection problem
“So there are some very minor playfield touch-ups. All right. So I think it's now official. Cybernaut is finished, and I'm very happy with how it turned out.”
Mike Dyas @ near-end — Formal completion declaration of the restoration project
“Only 600 of these guys were ever made. It might be the rarest DMD that I've ever owned.”
Mike Dyas @ closing — Signals acquisition of rare machine; teases next project

Entities

Mike DyaspersonBally Cybernaut (1985)gameLouserpersonGammatrongameJesspersonKevinpersonDutchpersonFishpersonRob NoelpersonCoreypersonInterflip Alaskagame

Signals

?
community_signal: Local pinball community (Dutch, Fish, and others) actively engaged in testing, providing feedback, and celebrating completed restorations
high · Four-player game session with Dutch; Fish's suggestion for letter touchups; anonymous user offering custom star posts
?
community_signal: Louser provides custom apron card files for free; participates in Pinside community help; established track record of supporting Mike's projects
high · Direct shout-out: 'Louser—that's L-U-Z-U-R on Pinside—who provided these files for me, and he created them. He also helped me with my Gamatron apron cards and coin door decal. So he's been clutch.'
?
product_strategy: Playfield cosmetics refinement: letter insert touch-ups on worn areas improve aesthetics without major mechanical changes
medium · Mike spends 40+ minutes touching up worn letters (B, L, S, H, A) on playfield inserts; notes: 'They're looking much better'
?
technology_signal: Aftermarket customization ecosystem enables affordable upgrades (custom apron cards printed at $0.55, laminated by community, distributed locally)
high · Custom apron cards printed for $0.55 each, laminated by Jess, cut by Kevin; demonstrates low-cost, high-community-value modification pathway

Topics

Bally Cybernaut restoration completionprimaryPinball troubleshooting: light socket connection issuesprimaryAftermarket customization (apron cards, letter inserts)primaryDMD machine acquisition and raritysecondaryCollaborative restoration projectssecondaryPinball community support and file sharingsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Mike is satisfied with the Cybernaut restoration outcome and expresses gratitude to community members who contributed. Casual, friendly tone throughout. Enthusiasm for upcoming projects tempers any minor frustrations with technical issues.

Transcript

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I'm Mike Dus [music] and this is Pinball Shenanigans. [music] All right, just going to do the last video on the Cyber Knot series here. Just the last few little tweaks and touch-ups to really finish off the machine. I wasn't even sure it was worthy of an episode, but for those who watched the what, seven or eight episodes and have been strung along this far, might as well bring you along for one more episode of shenanigans. So, couple things that I've done already is uh I did install the original coin box. So that is uh this actually says motordome on it and it does have the instructions that say uh refer to the keypad which this does not have. Keypad is secured to right wall inside game cabinet by using one wood screw. So, it would normally be secured to the side if it was the 682 or 683 series, but uh fortunately, this was the -35 series of boards, which is uh just much easier for me and I'm more comfortable working on them and have way more experience. I barely have worked on anything 683 or two in the past. So, coin box is installed. Next thing I noticed is that this one light bulb for the rollover located here is being really finicky and I've been fighting with it trying to figure out what the f is going on with it. And I finally located the issue which is the first time had this particular issue. Let me grab some glasses here on these crappy sockets is this connection here. That's supposed to be like pressed together, I believe. So when I connect these two pieces together, it lights up. I was suspecting many things like bad solder on this, bad solder on that, just a crappy uh connection in the socket itself. But now it is this little connection right here. So I think I'm just going to like see if I can add a little dab of solder right there and get that going. Okay, the solder did not really want to cooperate. But I think I finally got it on there. So let's power on the machine. Should turn on instantly if all is well. It appears as though it is. Wiggle it around a bit. And uh All right, problem solved. Okay, there we go. Hopefully that uh solves that once and for all. Next thing we're going to do is remove these nicely printed apron cards. But as nice as they are, we're going to upgrade to custom apron cards. So, I got to give a shout out to Loser, that's L U Z U R on Pinside, who provided these files for me and he created them. He also helped me with my uh Gamatron apron cards and coin door decal. So, he's been clutch. So, thanks again, loser. Much appreciated. Also, shout out to Kevin's wife, Jess, who had these laminated for me. I got these printed off at my printer. I just sent him the file and he wanted like 55 cents for them. And um so, shout out to my printer. I gave him two bucks and he was happy. Uh shout out to Jess for laminating. Shout out to Kevin for actually cutting them cuz uh they weren't cut. So, look at that. Isn't that pretty sweet? On Friday, we were playing a four-player game of Cybernaut. It was still in the back room. I've wheeled it out into the main room since. This is where Congo was, but uh we had a strange anomaly I've never seen before when starting a four-player game. So, player one started there, but then two started there, three started there, and four started there. And I thought, well, that's weird that Bali would do that. And Dutch is like, I don't think that that's normal. Maybe you got to switch the two display cables. And I looked in the backbox. There was definitely enough slack to do so. So, I did indeed switch the two cables for the players three and four. And now player one, player two, player three, and player four are displaying as they should. Also, this lock was very loose, so I tightened it up. And it also wasn't latching very well. So, I just bent this arm or cam into a position so that it just snugs up against this part here. And now it is a nice snug fit. Also, last night I was down here and I really should have did a u video of the before, but maybe I can pull up something from my old videos or something. But, uh, I think it was fish. He's like suggested, "Hey, are you going to like touch up any of the letters here?" Cuz B is partly missing a little bit. L was missing a little bit. And uh, so I spent half an hour. I should do this with my glasses on. I I want to do just a little bit more refinement here. maybe 40 minutes just going over all of the inserts. These guys, these guys. Actually, I pretty much filled in the word. Again, a little bit of the S and H there better than it was. Not perfect, of course. Uh, a lot of these inserts and the areas around them had wear, but they're looking much better. But I noticed this bee just needs I'm scraping off the ink. That's not helping. Probably should Oh, there goes my lid. Do a little bit of clear coat over this cuz that little bit of wear might be from the ball rolling over it cuz I played a bunch of uh games last night. after touching up these letters. And that could be the reason that it's uh a little bit worn cuz I don't think there's a little hole in my a there either. Hole in my a hole in my a. So yeah, I just did a little bit of touchup on a lot of these letters really. I think that's about all I want to do. But that looks a lot better. So, Fish, I'm glad you made that suggestion. I mean, that's normally something I just go ahead and do. But I don't know that I was going to do that on this one for whatever reason, but I'm glad you made that suggestion because it looks much better now. So, there are some very minor playfield touch-ups. All right. So, I think it's now official. Cybernot is finished and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Oh, and um I don't know who it was, but it's a dude that makes these pretty cool custom colored star posts and uh they're like multiple colors and they're horizontal stripes and whatnot. And he had them on a cybernot. And I said, "Oh, sweet. Cybernaut. He and he offered to uh send me a bunch of these pretty cool. I hear some commotion going on upstairs. I'm not sure what's happening, but he offered to send me some of these uh star posts, and I appreciate that. They're pretty cool. I um had already finished my shop job, so I wasn't uh looking to tear the machine apart and redo it. But if I can find that post, I'll add a photo, but maybe on a on a future machine possibly as a neat idea. And anyway, I think that is basically a wrap. So, the last thing I have to do a proper tutorial slashgameplay video on this and then I can finally move on to my next project. And if you've been watching my videos, you probably know what it is. Actually, there's sort of two on the go. We've got Interflip Alaska I've got the playfield. Kevin has the cabinet. Rob Noel has the bottom board. And I think Corey's going to end up doing all the score reels and the head. And then the other thing that'll be happening very soon, so stay tuned. It's a Jurassic Park the Lost World. Only 600 of these guys were ever made. It might be the rarest DMD that I've ever owned. See you on the next