Bobby Orr's Power Play
Bally, 1978
Eight Ball
Bally, 1977
King Rock
Gottlieb, 1972Looking good as always. It will be up and running by the start of the NHL season it looks like. I have wondered about the blue Bally used on the cab, playfield and backglass. Black seems like a more logical choice to keep the Chicago theme and colors. I wish someone would make some custom bumper caps and drop targets.
Quoted from PhilGreg:Overall I have to say I'm super happy with the results so far.
And you should! Great work so far. Keep them coming 
Quoted from pinkid:Looking good as always. It will be up and running by the start of the NHL season it looks like. I have wondered about the blue Bally used on the cab, playfield and backglass. Black seems like a more logical choice to keep the Chicago theme and colors. I wish someone would make some custom bumper caps and drop targets.
I'd like to be done by Christmas. Still lots of work ahead once the cab is done.
Not much logic anywhere on theme... The Blackhawks playing against Canada, a bunch of Fleur de Lys which is the Quebec emblem (and the flag is blue, which I think is where they got the blue from) and obviously, Bobby Orr the notorious Bruin who got immortalized in his brief stint with the Hawks.
I still think the overall package is beautiful, even with all the nonsense.
Looks beautiful! You're pretty brave putting "a few coats" down on a stencil. If those first coats dry too long, you wind up tearing the paint when you remove the stencil. Don't know how you avoided doing that, but good for you! 
Quoted from beelzeboob:Looks beautiful! You're pretty brave putting "a few coats" down on a stencil. If those first coats dry too long, you wind up tearing the paint when you remove the stencil. Don't know how you avoided doing that, but good for you!
Yeah I don't know, I'm using top quality Sherwin Williams latex paint - maybe that's got something to do with it. So far so good!
Didn't think of lining up the front and side graphics. Oh well... I think the legs will hide that anyway.
I'll go back and touch up a few things - a couple of smears when I removed the stencils, and I'll make sure no white shows through the corners, and sand out some overspray under the cab.
Inside of the cab almost done.
I have to hurry, temperatures are getting pretty cold up here at night...
Hard to do a real good job on the inside, I'll do some 400-600-1000 sanding afterwards to smooth things out. Won't go nuts either since it's not very visible, except for the top sides.
Next will be some touchups on the outside, some sanding inside and outside and then clearing the cab, probably with Liquitex water based clear.
Quoted from PhilGreg:Didn't think of lining up the front and side graphics. Oh well... I think the legs will hide that anyway.
I'll go back and touch up a few things - a couple of smears when I removed the stencils, and I'll make sure no white shows through the corners, and sand out some overspray under the cab.
Is that one of the door skins from Marcos?
Quoted from dasvis:Is that one of the door skins from Marcos?
I don't know, I bought it from a local collector... It's a repro, so it could be.
Quoted from PhilGreg:Inside of the cab almost done.
I have to hurry, temperatures are getting pretty cold up here at night...
Hard to do a real good job on the inside, I'll do some 400-600-1000 sanding afterwards to smooth things out. Won't go nuts either since it's not very visible, except for the top sides.Next will be some touchups on the outside, some sanding inside and outside and then clearing the cab, probably with Liquitex water based clear.
I read on Vid's cab restoration thread that he uses 800-1000 grit for sanding before clear. You might want to start with a finer grit at first just to be safe.
The cab looks great, you have gone further on the cab rebuild that I have seen so far. I'm going thru the same thing now with a EBD.
Quoted from Lovef2k:I read on Vid's cab restoration thread that he uses 800-1000 grit for sanding before clear. You might want to start with a finer grit at first just to be safe.
The cab looks great, you have gone further on the cab rebuild that I have seen so far. I'm going thru the same thing now with a EBD.
I think the reason you don't see cab rebuilding go that far is that it's totally not worth it. For the amount of work it requires vs the results you get I think it makes way more sense to buy one or build one from scratch.
So I took the afternoon off to finish the cab with some Krylon supposedly non-yellowing clear.
Nowhere near the quality of the pros, and I have a ton of respect and appreciation for the level of work they do, but still happy with the results.
I took some glamour shots, but there are some imperfections here and there I didn't close in too much on 
Quoted from PhilGreg:I took some glamour shots, but there are some imperfections here and there I didn't close in too much on
Found one!
Beautiful work, buddy!
If this is your first cab resto, you did a great job. I have a Meteor and a Seawitch that have major planking on the cabs. I think you're right about trying to build new cabs. I don't think I'll ever get those cabs smooth enough for a decent resto.
Work has begun on the head, pics will follow shortly.
In the meantime, here's one of the reasons progress is so slow... I always have multiple projects going at the same time - I've also been filming local bands in my shed over the summer. You'll catch glimpses of parts of the BOPP here and there throughout the episodes.
I just got started and posted episode 1: https://www.facebook.com/BackshedSessions/videos/897335993754375/
https://www.facebook.com/BackshedSessions/
Still going!
As you can see the back still has some planking. I didn't go crazy with it since it's all the way back there.
The front and sides I are in tip top shape.
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Head outside for the clearcoat, then it's time to move everything in.
Ordered some new legs from Pinball Medics. The ones I had were crooked, I don't think I can bring them back.
Stern cab protectors installation.
Stern leg holders on the inside as well. Ground braid installed.
May be done with this thing before Christmas!
Quoted from PhilGreg:Head outside for the clearcoat, then it's time to move everything in.
Ordered some new legs from Pinball Medics. The ones I had were crooked, I don't think I can bring them back.
Stern cab protectors installation.
Stern leg holders on the inside as well. Ground braid installed.
May be done with this thing before Christmas!
Actually, those are Williams inside leg plates.
So way back when I was de-rusting and polishing all the playfield parts, I had somehow decided that I didn't need to coat them and that they wouldn't rust back for some reason.
I've since come to my senses and all the parts I'm working on now I coat with ProtectaClear.
I'll probably have to bite the bullet and go back and coat the playfield parts as well when I'm done with the cab.
Live and learn...
Quoted from BJM-Maxx:How do you apply that Protecta Clear?
I run a fishing line through a hole, then for the smaller parts I dip them in and hang them, for larger parts I hang them and paint it on with a foam brush. It's very liquid and drippy.
From what I read online it looks like people are happy with the results, but obviously I can't speak for the long term results. I'd be surprised if the coat doesn't get scraped off on metal on metal moving parts, but I'd think other parts should hold up pretty well.
Surely better than nothing, surely not as good as plating or powder coating.
Ok, good to know. I do things like the lock down mechanism with basic Rustoleum clear. For anything the ball would touch it is not hard enough to deal with it.
Hi PhilGreg,
I must commend you for your amazing skills and attention to details!! I read this thread expecting to see the finished product, then realized....ITS NOT DONE YET!!!!........OH NO!!!...... 
I have done some in-depth restorations on a few games, notably KISS and Capt. Fantastic. (70s Bally era are my favorites, grew up playing them). This level of refurbishment is not for the faint of heart, or for those who want "instant gratification". Lotsa hours and work!! But the end result always worth it when you uncover the game, turn it on and have family or freinds ooh and aah over it as they play to their hearts content!! Please keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing this build, may inspire others to give that poor game rotting in the corner a chance!!! Can't wait to see that Ol' Bobby Orr finished!!
KC
Thank you for the kind words KC, that's very appreciated.
To be honest, this is taking way longer than it would if I could have a one track mind, and if I didn't have other more important "life duties". I can't give up no matter how many hours I've put on this, and I'll certainly see it through before spring.
It's not even so much about the machine itself anymore, but working on this stuff in the shed is like meditation - I spent about 2 hours grinding and sanding the metal thing at the top end of the backglass this afternoon while listening to talk radio and found it quite relaxing. Sometimes I'll get thinking about good ideas for work and run inside the house to write them down too so it's not all wasted time.
Also it's about the skills I'm picking up along the way - some of them useful outside the realm of pinball, some of them for further restorations unless if I ever find the courage to start another one.
The finished product is coming, thanks for following!
I totally get what you mean..... Working on my games is therapy for me as well. Even though its work and can sometimes be tedious and drive you nuts.... Its fun!!! About the "metal piece " at top of PF (I don't know what to call it either.. LoL). How the heck did you get it looking so good compared to what you started with? I usually have to bead blast them and paint silver. It gets by, but doesn't look original. And not every game is worthy of spending big $$$ on chrome plating.
Quoted from Bally-High1966:I totally get what you mean..... Working on my games is therapy for me as well. Even though its work and can sometimes be tedious and drive you nuts.... Its fun!!! About the "metal piece " at top of PF (I don't know what to call it either.. LoL). How the heck did you get it looking so good compared to what you started with? I usually have to bead blast them and paint silver. It gets by, but doesn't look original. And not every game is worthy of spending big $$$ on chrome plating.
I first let it sit in the rust bath - that took care of some of the problem but not nearly enough and it still had crazy pitting on the top part.
I then went at it with the grinding wheel to grind it down to the level of the pits. That left it with an uneven pattern. So I went at it with a metal file to get it flat back again, then worked my way up from 60 grit sandpaper all the way to 2000, then polished, then cleared.
Thus the meditation time. 
Quoted from beelzeboob:Beautiful job, Phil!
Thanks buddy!
This is still going on ladies and gents.
Now working on the coin door.
Here's what I was starting with.
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Not done yet, but this is what I have so far. Everything went in the rust bath, then coated. I got a new skin as I don't see how this can be brought back.
The panel had some pitting and I didn't see how I could buff it back, so I Bondoed the square things, then painted with Krylon silver paint then cleared. Not quite happy with the color though - it's too silvery.
Anybody have any luck with another rattle can metal color?
Here's what the backglass looks like.
I was able to remove the channel by tapping on it with a wood stick and a rubber mallet.
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I was thinking of Triple Thicking first to seal everything in, then trying scratching off the left of the Canada flag and the right part and color matching with Createx and then painting with opaque gray paint. Since no light goes through there shouldn't look too bad.
Then the goalie who's missing a few spots I might try to color match and fill in with a small paintbrush and doing a few tries over the Triple Thick until I get it good enough.
The bottom mirror part, I obviously won't be able to do a perfect job but I was thinking of trying to cut below the black line with a razor blade, then scratching off then maybe trying some kind of mirror paint?
The idea being to get it to look mirrory, not expecting it to be exactly like the rest but at least since there's a black line to delimit it it should't stick out too much.
All that sounds like a very good plan. Or perhaps just plain black (or colour) under the line? (Would avoid two different mirrors next to each other).
Quoted from g94:All that sounds like a very good plan. Or perhaps just plain black (or colour) under the line? (Would avoid two different mirrors next to each other).
Yeah you're probably right. Black it will be.
Still slowly making progress.
I now have all coils firing correctly after replacing the transistors that drive the left and right pop bumpers.
All switches are registering.
I'm having issues with the lights. Besides some of the sockets being flaky which I'll deal with later, I have the top bonus lights and the left and right lane rollovers not lighting up. In test, I checked whether the pins on the light driver socket were giving any voltage, but they're dead.
I tried swapping the board with a known good and I get the same thing.
I'm thinking the female plugs on the J4 input connector to the lamp driver may be bad. I don't have any replacements on hand so I'll have to order some - any other ideas?
I'll cross post this to another thread too.
Quoted from PhilGreg:.
I'm thinking the female plugs on the input connectors to the lamp driver may be bad. I don't have any replacements on hand so I'll have to order some - any other ideas?
I'll cross post this to another thread too.
Save yourself headaches ALWAYS replace ALL of the male & female connectors on the early Bally SS pins.
Tedious yes, but worth it in the long haul.
Yes, I already had done that on the other boards, only this one is now missing - I'll do it as well.
Here's the other thread, I'll move this discussion over there: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bally-lamp-driver-not-giving-voltage-on-certain-switched-lights#post-4154102
Playfield is installed, game plays close to 100%.
What would still be left:
-Touch up backglass - not sure I have it in me to do it. May just forget about that part and keep my eyes peeled for a replacement down the line
-Sandblast, repaint clear apron - not doing it. This one cleaned up pretty good, with nice clean score cards I think it will be good enough.
-Need to do some repairs to the lamp driver, ordered parts which will come in this week
-Need a new playfield glass, will get that this week or next
-The kickout hole doesn't have the metal part that props the ball up - ordered a red translucent plastic shield from Marco's, that should look pretty good
-A few flaky lights still - will brush internally, solder outside as needed
-And of course, the full operation complete gallery
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