Always rebuild the flippers. The pop bumpers are easy to rebuild on those Bally games. New rubbers also a must.

LEDs are more complicated in Bally games. Basically you'll need to add additional hardware to make them work, and there is a variety of ways to do this (new lamp driver board, new daughter boards to go into the existing boards, adding individual resistors to the majority of the lights).

But to start, the game isn't keeping high scores (or any other data) because the batteries are bad. Lots of ways to address this depending on your skill level

The connectors on that era Bally are total garbage. If they haven't been replaced, you'll have to do it soon.

LEDs are not an upgrade they are just a thing. Your game plays fine with regular light bulbs.

Read section 5.4: http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern#The_Single_Largest_Culprit_in_MPU_death

You could just cut them, but it wont hold high score until new batteries are installed, either remotely or on board itself

Yes, just cut the battery off. If the U8 5101 ram chip is socketed, you can get a replacement NVram from several vendors to avoid having to do any soldering. They're between $10-$30 depending on brand and features.

If you do rebuild the flippers dump the linear flipper and replace with the earlier style flipper shaft/link - they work better and are cheaper as well.

NVRAM should be an easy plug and plug if the original 5101 is already in an IC socket, and normally is on the Bally games.

https://www.pinitech.com/products/5101_nvram.php

But many Bally games have battery corrosion on the MPU. So please post a picture of the top left board so it can be looked over.

You could use a $5 memory capacitor as well in place of the battery. My soldering skills were non-existent before I owned pins. You can learn. It's not too bad. Congrats on the game.

You are in luck. Board looks great and the old RAM is in an IC socket. Plug and play NVRAM waiting for the trade out with NO soldering required for this. Then you can just cut off the battery.

2019-09-05 15_45_25-1985 Bally - What do I Upgrade___ _ Restoration questions _ Pinside.com - Intern (resized).png

That looks to be in really good shape. Remote battery holder or NVram for sure.

You got a helluva score!

How about showing us lots of pictures?

Red LED displays seem like to be a good fit for this game.

Congratulations and good luck with your game!

Re-rubbering is an important thing for me. If you get a kit for your FB Classic, you get to learn where everything goes.
Take lots of pictures while you are disassembling the playfield so everything goes back in place. This will be invaluable experience when you graduate to tough games like World Cup Soccer!

Wow. That thing is clean

The piece of paper on the inside of the glass isn't even yellowed. Wow.