So I’ve picked up a Bally hi deal in the uk. All complete but been in an (apparently damp) shed for years. I’m just trying to decide whether it’s realistically saveable or not. A quick look over and these appear to be the key issues:

All the steppers are rusty. The actual contact side looks ok on the but the units aren’t moving currently and will obviously need a complete strip and clean. Doable given the photos? The same is true of the bonus stepper under the playfield. The backglass is excellent but can currently get it out as the sliding bars at the top that release it won’t slide!

The score reels do move but are stiff. I suspect this will be a fairly easy job to free them off. However the numbers are worn away on most so I’ll need to do something about that.

Underneath the playfield things look a little better, with just the bonus stepper needing attention so far as I can tell from a quick look.

The playfield has wear but will be ok with a clean. However, the biggest issue here is a can shift any of the screws holding the plastics. I’m guessing they have corroded into the playfield and just won’t shift. What’s the best way of shifting these. I’m feeling that drilling and filling will be a LOT of work. Thoughts?

I guess I should say I’m in the UK. What difference does that make. Well it seems these things are far rarer here than in the USA. parts are much more difficult/expensive to come by.

Comments and ideas please? Thanks

8C27999C-4433-4A6E-85D7-FB092483B5F4 (resized).jpeg

CB080309-713E-4A5C-924C-E7EFE10CF224 (resized).jpeg

CDF9F12D-7BB8-4ACC-9AFA-FCC0A08E17D0 (resized).jpeg

F2B48F6E-2323-4303-9DC9-4AC42747C496 (resized).jpeg

FB87BEE9-CDFD-4601-9976-763B3342D3C3 (resized).jpeg

Interesting mix of comments. I totally get the variation in the mix of goals for people. Some want to get it fixed up to perfection with the minimum of effort while for others it more about enjoying the challenge and journey.
I actually thought I'd have a go this morning to see how bad it actually was. Anyway I spent an hour stripping, cleaning and reassembling the 0-9 stepper and ball count stepper. Actually took a lost less effort to get them free and moving than I feared. I wasn't concerned about making the bodies look like new - just so long as the mech was clean, functioning a likely to remain for a good while. Not plugged it in yet but these 2 units are now functioning perfectly when manually triggered. I'm going to sort the credit stepper next and then the score reels which I'll need to get some new decals to attach over the top I think. They are actullay moving when triggers but need to be stripped and cleaned to for me to have confidence in their reliability.
As mentioned the inside of the main cab looks much cleaner thankfully.
The main 'unknown' work I think is going to be getting the 20 odd screws out of the playfield.
I'm not going to create a showroom example form it but hopefully will get it working and playing well. So I'm ON for the challenge! Of course I may be back here soon screaming in frustration at an as yet undiscovered problem.
I'm guessing that the 'bar' at which the line is drawn maybe different in the UK to the US. Looking at posts it appears EM games a readily available fairly cheaply. Therefore there's more choice in what you choose to put your time and effort into. In the UK there they just aren't that readily available and even what might be considered to be slightly uninspiring games needing TLC usually go for around equivalent $1000. I'd love to be in the US when it comes to pinball!

Thanks. I’m going to go for it. Very much fro. The point of view of making a playable game out of it rather than a showroom example. I’ll keep you posted!