You can either take the head completely off or take the head bolts out and gently lay the head on the cabinet and strap it down. Be mindful that when you lay it down the harness is still connected to the board so make sure you are not laying the head down in such a way that you pull the harness/connectors from the boards.

If this is your first time removing a head from a game I strongly recommend taking pictures of the connectors and their orientation. While most are keyed there are 2 in particular that can be joined incorrectly and cause all sorts of head aches. Good luck and congrats on your first game, Firepower is awesome!

On Firepower the head is bolted down to the cabinet, there is no hinge.
In order to get to the bolts you need to first unlock the backglass. The lock is on the side of the head and there should be a key for it. If there is no key and the backglass is locked into position you will need to drill the lock out so I would suggest you contact the seller to find out before you set off.
Once the back glass is unlocked you have to lift it up with the lift channel at the bottom until the bottom of the backglass is clear of the head and then pull it out from the bottom. BE CAREFUL as it is a bit of a balancing act.
Once the glass is out open the backbox panel (all the backglass lights are set into this) which will reveal the transformer and circuit boards.
The bolts you need are spaced equally in the bottom of the head and are 3/8" UNC thread which will require a 5/8" A/F spanner. Make sure it is unplugged before you start.
The leg bolts are also 3/8 UNC but could be 5/8" or 9/16" AF - I have seen both.
Good luck, it's a great game

Oh, I would personally disconnect everything from inside the head and totally remove it after taking pictures rather than balance it on the cabinet.

Andy

What he said.
Andy_B gives a great description. I agree that removing the backbox completely is the best way to move the pin. Each piece is much easiser to handle than both together, especially for a newb.
Quick note that here in the US a spanner is a wrench .

If you are going to totally remove the head, it is also a good idea to mark the connectors as you remove them...that way if you can't quite see it in the pic it will be marked for when you go to connect them back up. and also don't forget the ground...it will be attached to the bottom of the head at the neck opening probably at the front edge with a wing nut...Can't recall off hand how many grounds are in FP (1??) ...but I sometimes take a sharpie and put a # right there on the wood (by the wing nut, then I replace the wing nut to the bolt so I don't loose it...) so I remember how many ground wires I need to make sure I attach back up.

Good luck with your new game!! It's a Classic!!

Phoebe

It depends upon whether you're moving it yourself or with help. If the former, best to take the head off. If the latter you can lay it down on the cab. I usually do this. Put the backglass back in the head, put cardboard down on the cab, lay the head down and then wrap the hell out of it with pallet wrap. Stand it up and wheel it out on a handtruck (you can rent an appliance handtruck from UHaul for $10/day.) Best and safest to move the backglass in the head.

Only issue is if the tape holding the displays have failed and they are just hanging on by the solder joints (a common problem.) The displays can then hit the glass and damage both.

Great game - soon "Firepower destroyed you!"

viperrwk

On firepower you have to slide the head forward about an inch before it can be folded down or removed. There is a tab in place in the back to hold the head in place before you bolt it down. If you force the head it will split the wood and bend the bracket.

One thing a LOT of folks miss this, and you should look to see if FP has them because most early Williams do,,,, all those connectors off the logic boards? They do not have to come off.

Just look down below the square hole from the head to the body and there are TWO sets of 32 pin (4x8) Molex connectors, one white, one black, that disconnect the head from the cabinet.

Finding them is a /facepalm moment after you've disconnected about a dozen IDC connectors off of the driver/cpu/powersupply for nothing.

They are not keyed so when you put it back together the color is the key. Some pins they actually used 2 sets of white, so mark them before disconnecting them with a sharpie. Don't cross the streams.

Great advice here. Firepower was my first pin also. Great starting pin! You will love it; great flow, sounds and lights (for it's era). I put LED's in mine and love it. BTW--you've opened a big 'ol can of worms buying a pinball machine ya know. You can never own just one. You'll see what I'm talking about soon enough...lol Firepower is a great Steve Richie classic for sure. Enjoy!

Mike

On my Firepower II, some of the displays are loose. I put some painters tape to hold in place for transport but now it's setup. Can you point me to what kind of tape holds them on? Is it standard double sided tape I can get at office supply place or something like that?

Lowes or Walmart, any double sided foam adhesive tape will work.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_394705-98-414/DC_4294729388__?productId=3690666&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

Yep, as most said, you'll need to pop the head off and disconnect the connectors. This will seem daunting at first, but no worries.

Don't forget to reconnect the ground braid (metal braid that in connected by a wingnut in the center of the inside of the backbox) when reassembling.

Take a drill with a 1/4" bit in case they can't find the keys. A good idea for a kit would be:

drill with bit
5/8 wrench
9/16 wrench
couple of screwdrivers
flashlight
extension cord

For a Firepower that has over 50 lamps in the backbox, five high power plasma displays, a transformer, computer electronics which include 27 ohm resistors in the lamp matrix that throw a lot of heat, I wouldn't use standard 3M double-sided tape that has a high temperature operating range of only 150 degrees or less (check the data sheet.) People have measured 130 degrees in a TZ backbox. I've got to believe it's a lot warmer in a Firepower. Tape rated for 180 degrees or high makes sense. Firepower II isn't as bad because the transformer was moved to the cab.

Best choice at Staples is the 3M 4016 - $36.49.

Here's the data sheet:

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=66666UuZjcFSLXTtnxM658s6EVuQEcuZgVs6EVs6E666666--&fn=70070575611.pdf

viperrwk

ake a drill with a 1/4" bit in case they can't find the keys.

You don't necessarily need to drill the back box. You might just need a set of torx bits.

bsatptxp7a.jpg

For Firepower, he will need to drill the lock if the keys can't be located. Torx lock is for System 11 cabinets.

Also, I'd have a hacksaw on hand. When I picked up my Firepower II, one of the backbox bolts was stuck to the T-nut in the cabinet. I was very lucky I happened to have my hacksaw with me. It's the kind with the blade out in the open and a minimal plastic handle. It saved my bacon that day.

Ah my bad. I wasn't at home to look for sure. Just had to break into a DE ST25 though.

Yep... I did this on my buddies.
Took me a minute to figure out why the all the solenoid slowly cycled when the game was powered up. (It was because "crossing the streams" puts the solenoids into "attract mode" as the lamps. LOL)

I'm saying before you go crazy disconnecting everything, look down the hole at the harness and disconnect those instead.

You will still have a few other things to disconnect, like the ground braid and speaker wire, but not 15 other connectors.

At Texas Pinball Festival last month, Steve Ritchie was walking the floor while we were setting up on Friday afternoon before the show opened. He walked up and was looking closely at my Firepower. He said, "Wow, this one is in pretty good condition." What a moment! I'll remember it for as long as I can.

Anyway, I've moved my Firepower a few times and have never disconnected the wire harnesses between the head and the backbox. Here's how I do it, which is also how lots of people do it - lay a clean moving blanket (folded over about 4 times so it's thick) over the playfield glass and side rails, remove backglass (transport it separately and carefully), remove the bolts from inside the head box, carefully lay the head down on the blanket, secure it to the main body with a ratchet strap, and then also secure it with another ratchet strap snugly against the little "neck" that it is normally perched on. This is so that the head box cannot slide forward down the side rails (toward the coin door) while being transported. Of course then you remove the rear legs, gently stand it on end so the coin door is facing the sky, and remove the front legs last. Now it's ready for a 2-wheel dolly. Don't forget to remove everything from the interior first, like the coin box and anything else rattling around in there, and don't forget to remove the 3 pinballs.

Have fun with that Firepower!

Nice, did you get him to sign anything like the backglass or playfield? Would have been an awesome opportunity!

I wanted to ask for an autograph or something, but I figured he gets requests like that all the time. So I just thanked him and mentioned how Firepower is one of my all-time favorites. Plus, the backglass isn't in good shape (his comment about "pretty good condition" was when he was looking down closely at the playfield, which I had just polished about an hour earlier). Maybe next year, after I get a nice replacement backglass!