Although I am a slow worker, I thought I would document my attempts, successes and failures as a resource for people thinking of trying a restore but not sure if they could pull it off.

I am confident there will be snickering (and probably outright laughter) from the pros but I hope this serves as some documentation for first-timers when they reach a part in other restores and the documenter skips over a dozen steps. This is going to document my attempts (hopefully successful, but we will see how it goes) of the topper for the Harlem Globetrotter. If it all goes well, I hope to create a "getting the bottom back to life" some day!

I purchased a Harlem Globetrotters table, sight unseen, with the knowledge that it would be a "project pin" - from the picture, it didn't look too bad and when I got it home it didn't seem all that bad at first sight:
just got home

The boards inside looked pretty clean:IMG_0040_(resized).JPG

however, when I looked closer, although the backglass was in good shape, IMG_7789_(resized).JPGthings on the playfield were not great:IMG_7781_(resized).JPGIMG_7787_(resized).JPGIMG_7786_(resized).JPG

Still, I was pretty pleased that for only a few hundred $ and some sweat, I would end up with a great pinball table!

The first step was to move the thing from my garage, where it was being used as a surface to pile stuff on:IMG_1384_(resized).JPG

So I carefully documented where the wires go: IMG_1397_(resized).JPGIMG_1399_(resized).JPG

and with only one scary wobble, managed to remove the bolts and pull the head off:IMG_1411_(resized).JPG

Getting the head back on wasn't nearly as easy. Trying to hold the top, feed the wires through , get the power cable in its little trough and line it up so the long bolts will work is not a trivial task!IMG_0006_(resized).JPG

but once I put it back on and reconnected the cables, it was time to turn it on...

I turned it on and nothing happened at all. I checked the fuses, they all looked good. I started trying to read the schematics looking for power places to check, Then I noticed something that seemed a little strange, it looked like there was space for another board in the back: IMG_0070_(resized).JPG

But this is my first Harlem GLobetrotters, maybe thats the way they look. Time to post a query on Pinside (not for the last time) to find out.

Turns out - I am missing the logic board! that may have a little something to do with the unit not working correctly. Its pretty obvious I am not going to repair or fix a missing board, so it was off to purchase a replacement.

yea, sorry about that. I moved both the Hot Tip and the Globetrotters at the same time and picked the wrong pics. Thanks for the headsup, I switched to more appropriate pics

The new board arrived IMG_0068_(resized).JPG

The first line in the instruction sheet was to make sure the power was correct otherwise the board would be damaged. Following the directions, I checked the power, only to find there was zero volts.IMG_0070_(resized).JPG

My dreams of plugging a new board in and firing it up vanished in a puff of zero volts...sigh

While checking fuses on the rectifier board - I noticed what appears to be a burned spot: IMG_0071_(resized).JPG

yaaa, an easy one! all I have to do is replace the burned out part and I will be good to go.IMG_0075_(resized).JPG

I pulled the transformer/rectifier board assembly from the unit and took a look at the bottom of the board. IMG_0158_(resized).JPG

It didn't look too bad so I unsoldered all the wires in preparation to do some repair work and started researching what to do on the rectifier board. Vids guide ( https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-quick-bally-driver-board-repair-bulletproofing/page/2#post-2113931 ) says to replace all the undersized rectifiers, diodes and the pins. Didn't sound too bad, I ordered new parts...

Thank you for the tip! this thread will be caught up with my current status soon and I will switch over. I have an old radio-shack iron from when I was a kid, I bet it still works.

Now you tell me!

sigh, it gets a lot worse

Thanks, I am going to need that info. The pic was taken during the de-soldering process.

I knew from reading numerous threads to check for cracked components. IMG_7921_(resized).JPG

Things were too dirty to see much, so after removing all the wires, the next step was to clean the board. I dipped it in a solution of "simple orange" (I couldn't find any green) for awhile: IMG_0166_(resized).JPG

Then carefully rinsed and dried.IMG_0167_(resized).JPG

Next up was to remove the old parts. I still could not see any cracked ones but Vids guide says to remove the rectifiers and the connectors. The rectifiers came off fairly easily. IMG_0168_(resized).JPG

As recommended, I started taking off the fuse holders: IMG_0175_(resized).JPG but they were a massive pain to get off and with the very first one I managed to pull the little piece of metal that goes inside the hole.

So I took a breather from them and tackled the connectors.

Let me tell you, the experts make all of this look so easy, "pull the connectors and replace" - well after 2 solid hours of work I had bleeding fingers (from scratching the edges of things,) pinched and hurting fingers (from multiple slips of needle-nosed pliers pinching my fingers) and zero connectors disconnected.

My solder-sucker pulls "most" but not all of the solder from a connector,IMG_0183_(resized).JPG so the only way to get the 8-soldered connector off is to get all 8 connectors hot enough at the same time that the solder is melted and the connector can be pulled, because it is a solid piece, nothing can be partially removed due to the adjacent solder spot being fixed.IMG_0182_(resized).JPGIMG_0190_(resized).JPGIMG_0192_(resized).JPG

I did finally get the first row of pins off. Between the original board (which looked in bad shape to me), my soldering gun, lack of ability, etc. the board was now looking pretty bad:IMG_0194a_(resized).jpg

At this point I made the decision to purchase a replacement board. Rather than spending who know how many hours trying to get replacement parts onto a board that is now suspect, I spent the money and purchased a replacement.

While it was on order, time to turn to more pleasant (and easier) work. The transformer and plate were pretty rusty. IMG_7923_(resized).JPGIMG_7922_(resized).JPG

I've read a couple of threads saying it was ok to brush and repaint, just don't get any water or anything down in the paper of the transformer. So I pulled the transformer off: IMG_7928_(resized).JPG

and put the brackets and screws into my new tumbler. The tumbler makes a vibrating noise, so my wife banished it from the house out into the garage. Then she was worried that it would vibrate off the workbench onto the floor, so I had to make a temporary wall with pipe clamps to keep the tumbler safe.

With the transformer off the base: IMG_7930_(resized).JPG I set about scrubbing it lightly with a wire toothbrush. According to threads I have read, you don't want to eliminate all of the rust, some rust is actually good for transformers. So I scrubbed it down to get the loose stuff off then taped it up and gave it a coat of high-temperature paint: IMG_7932_(resized).JPG

the base plate was sanded smooth IMG_7933_(resized).JPG until it looks decent!

Finally, I went after the wires on the transformer. IMG_7936_(resized).JPGIMG_7935_(resized).JPG I knew I should not get any water down in the exposed paper rolls, so I carefully taped it up as good as I could, used a wet wipe of simple green on each wire individually and ended up with everything as good as I can make it. IMG_7937_(resized).JPG

The stuff you learn...thanks for the tips Vid.

Catching up to where I am today....

The new board arrived and it is laid out a little differently than the original. I went back to my original documentation which consisted of a pic of the original board with the wires on it: IMG_0155_(resized).JPG
It turned out my documentation was not up to what it should be "the tannish-yellowy wire from the transformer side with 2 big blue wires goes into the spot in the middle on the small end where the other 2 connectors go."

It turns out, in my zeal to begin work I missed 2 key factors.
1) the transformer has numbers on it and wires are connected to terminals with those numbers.
2) the board has "E" numbers on it, the wires are soldered into the holes with "E" numbers.

Time for more help. Fortunately you guys at Pinside came to the rescue and I got a diagram of what to connect to what.

Soldering the wires turned out to be pretty easy: IMG_7973_(resized).JPG

And the result is that the assembly looks pretty good. I hope it runs!IMG_7975_(resized).JPG

Once that was done, it was time to remove the rest of the boards.
Fortunately they look to be in decent shape:IMG_8001_(resized).JPG
IMG_7989_(resized).JPGIMG_7977_(resized).JPG

Leaving me with a couple of questions (hopefully someone has made it this far.)

the thin metal backdrop of the cabinet: IMG_8014_(resized).JPG
1)do I carefully remove the staples, clean and preserve if for reuse? or is it disposable throwaway item and everyone simply replaces it?

The front piece with the bulbs in it: IMG_7971_(resized).JPGIMG_7943_(resized).JPG
2)I am guessing some of the bulbs may work but I might as well replace them. Are they #44's?
3)on the back, do people typically replace all the bulb sockets or reuse?
)4Finally - anyone know where can I get the ground braid, I assume when I take it all off I will most likely want a new one.

I tried to save the flashing. However the dozens of staples into it are long and in tight so it was difficult to try and pull them out. Plus I tore the paper while trying anyway: IMG_8019_(resized).JPG

So I opted to pull all the paper off. The plan is to make new ones anyway, so the first step is to scan them in: IMG_8021_(resized).JPG

I tried a couple of "what font is this?" websites and got a lot of bizarre fonts, all of which cost money, so I finally went with basic "Times Roman" which seemed pretty close.

I pulled the scan up in Photoshop and started a text overlay, working the font and line sizing to match. The problem was kerning, I just could not get it to be consistent with the text on the scan. Finally I realized the font was mono-spaced - and looking at the ancient typewriter font it looked to be basic old Courier. And that seems to be a perfect fit.

In the zoomed up view on my monitor, the column of text on the left has my text overlay on it, you can see it is a hair off towards the bottom. I haven't done the column on the right yet so it is just the original scan. I think it will end up being perfect when I am done. This will allow me to print out new cards on heavy stock paper!IMG_8022_(resized).JPG

With the cards scanned and recreated, I turned my attention to the box itself. Time to get it down to bare wood!

I pulled the flashing off:IMG_1731 (resized).JPG

revealing even more flashing:IMG_1733 (resized).JPG

then took careful pictures of all the insignificant little details as I know I will need it to figure out the reverse of this puzzle:IMG_1738 (resized).JPG

IMG_1736 (resized).JPG

Finally it was time to remove the locking bar and the lock itself. Despite the pictures, I am not confident I will be able to put it back together the right way:IMG_1735 (resized).JPGIMG_1740 (resized).JPG

At last, it was bare! IMG_1742 (resized).JPGIMG_1741 (resized).JPG

It was finally time to remove it completely:IMG_1746 (resized).JPG

and lift it off: IMG_1747 (resized).JPGIMG_1755 (resized).JPGIMG_1756 (resized).JPGIMG_1754 (resized).JPGIMG_1753 (resized).JPG

Fortunately the corners are not too bad, better than some of the horror stories I have seen posted:IMG_1758 (resized).JPGIMG_1757 (resized).JPG

I have a question. On one side of the top is the serial number. It is stamped into the woodIMG_1755 (resized).JPG

Once I put bondo on and primer it will be gone. How do you replicate that? Are there lettering stampers, or do people just paint on the replacement letters after painting

Not a lot of progress to report. I have been going slow and most of it is delays, delays, delays.

Earlier this year I called my local hardware store. "Do you have a respirator rated for lead-based paint?"
"Oh yes," came back the answer, "we have them in stock."

Came time to start working on the cabinet, went to the store - no respirator/filters that specifically say they work on lead-based paint. Lots of "filters out airborne contaminants" and generic statements like that but after reading of Vid's warnings on lead paint, I am not taking chances. The whole thing ground to a halt while I ordered a mask.

Also, I purchased an HP Scanjet 4670 to scan in the cabinet artwork with. The eBay vendor said it didn't come with a power cord. "No big deal," I told myself, "I can run down to Radio Shack and get a power cord any time I need."

So now its time to scan in the artwork, and no power cord. Digging around the internet looking for what voltage it wants, I discovered it doesn't have a standard USB connection - oh no, that would not be an HP product if it was standard with the rest of the world. No, it has a custom 3-headed cable with a unique connector on one side, a power supply and a USB on the others. The only one I can find is a $170 one off eBay. Needless to say, the scanner is now relegated to a box in the garage.

But I needed something to scan in the artwork with. I didn't want to purchase someone elses pre-made artwork - what is the fun in that? I wanted to paint my own.

The internet says you can do a decent job of scanning using a digital camera, so I set up my camera as straight-on as possible and scanned in the artwork using my camera. IMG_1771 (resized).JPG

A little photoshop work and I should (hopefully) have artwork.

Progress is slow as I have to make sure I have everything in place before I take the irrevocable step of sanding off the old paint and art!

one step forward and two steps back....

Since I couldn't use the scanner and had to use the camera instead. I tried to import the photos off my camera (Digital Rebel XT) and it would not work. I tried different settings, different cables, nothing. Finally I found that the device in the device manager has a yellow exclamation mark and says "no driver present"

No problem, visiting Canon's website I looked for the driver for Windows 10 - and "no driver is needed, it is in built in" - oh great.

uninstalling, reinstalling, changing interrupts - nothing. I started digging around the internet, it turns out since Windows 8, Microsoft stopped included many models of camera drivers in the base OS, instead there is a driver download for them.

No problem, downloaded the executable - and, it will not run under Windows 10.
No problem, switch to compatibility mode - and there is no compatibility mode allowed for .msu files.
No problem, find the Windows 10 version of the driver executable - and Microsoft no longer provides one. Apparently it is too hard to allow those drivers to keep working so everyone has to buy newer cameras.

This is very frustrating, I have the driver file but it refuses to run under Windows 10. After poking around the internet I found a hack using "Orca" which allows you to remove the "Windows 8 only" requirement in the executable.

So now I am downloading the Microsoft Software Developers Kit, so I can install Orca, so I can modify the driver file, so I can run it on Windows 10, so I can import pictures from my camera, so I can make a stencil.....

While I am waiting on the purchases. I figured I would start on the light panel. However, looking carefully at the ground braid path shows some strange irregularities. Some of the connections are made by regular wires: IMG_7964 (resized).JPGIMG_7963 (resized).JPG

Is there any specific reason for these to be different?

More disassembly tonight. I have pulled the wiring harness off the back of the light board.
IMG_1775 (resized).JPG

The wire thing scares me though, despite trying to tag various ends and taking almost 200 photographs from 8 different angles, I have a VERY low confidence level I will be able to connect everything back into its proper place.IMG_1774 (resized).JPG

not a lot to report. I've entered the tedious part of the project. Pulling out the old stuffIMG_1790 (resized).JPG