My guess is that the paint cured too much before I pulled the decals.
All of the edges seemed to not be straight (even though I made sure to ensure the decal was firmly secured before painting). I only waited 10 mins.
When pulling the decals off, the edges wanted to pull the paint. And with the next (gold) decals, they pulled all the edges off, so it wasn't straight.
The gold decals pulled very nice, as I did it as soon as all of the paint was applied. These edges were nice and straight. But I fear that if I had to put another decal on top of that, it'd pull the edges again.

So much soldering....I'm breaking it up into segments, to make it not so tedious. I should be done with this portion in about 5 days.

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Back to the cabinet:

I tried pulling the stencils very soon after painting the black (on the head). It REALLY did not work well (see the A, L, L, Y in Bally). So I tried to force cure the paint with a heat gun. Still no improved results from the cabinet--see all the jagged edges on all the art.

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After a few choice words, I realized that I was having an adhesion issue between the paints, when the black was fresh. After a couple days, the adhesion great. So I decided I'd paint the other side, and not pull the decals. I waited three days (normal time for paint to "fully" crosslink), and then pulled the decals. What a difference.

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Now my dilemma is what to do with the first side of the head. Should I sand it down, repaint red, and re-stencil? Try to touch it up by hand? Leave it, and just put that side against the wall? Of course, I know the correct answer, but I am not very thrilled about the additional work that it will require.

For the red, I used a monocoat 2 component enamel.
For the black I decided to use rustoleum 2x in a rattle can.
The gold is a gold Ace hardware brand in a rattle can.

I think if I could have scuffed the red prior to laying down the black, I would have been fine. But there's too much detail for that.

I figured out how to do it with what I have. So I will know for next time.

Cabinet is now home, and I've started to install the cabinet wire harness.

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I managed to get the head re-decaled for the black, and also got the gold laid down.

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And here's the side that I didn't have to respray the black.

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Overall, I'm pleased with how the head turned out. I picked up a couple of lessons, but am happy with the product.

Thanks, I thought of filling them in--but then came to my senses.

Everything is in the cabinet. I'm waiting for the chrome pieces, so the project might be slowing down until those arrive.

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Boards placed in the head

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Head ready to meet the cabinet

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Everything plugged in

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And holy crap! all the displays work! The soundboard works too!

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Since I had never had this machine powered on before, and it was a basket case when I got it, I was expecting the displays not to work (gassed out) and was praying that the soundboard was okay.

The only thing that doesn't seem to work is the strobe. I'll poke around some more, and see if it's the lamp, or the board.

Overall, I'm very lucky with components. Once the chrome pieces arrive, they'll be fitted to the PF, and then we'll get to see how that behaves.

And the chrome has arrived! Wow, is this stuff pretty.

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Yes, that reflection is a wood tile ceiling in my basement. It's cool looking in the coin door reflection.

Now, I can get back to re-assembling everything. Cabinet is up first.

Yes, new door skin got chrome plated. I almost don't want to put the Bally sticker back on it now, it looks so nice.

Thanks! I'm trying to get it done before PATZ, if you're going this year.

I've started getting the chrome parts on the PF. Wow do these look nice.

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Here's a test fit of the side rails, before they were nailed down:

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22 days until PATZ. The race is on to get this done.

Yes, these are the originals. They had some issues plating them, but they really went the extra mile to make sure that they looked good. Thanks again to HRA sc93cobra

There is only one spot on one ramp that has a little area that couldn't be fixed (left ramp at the top). The ball wear is gone on all the other parts.

Coin door has been reassembled. I had to do it twice, because I forgot to put the coin flap in the first time.

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It looks so good, I almost don't want to put the Bally sticker back on it.

Pf ready to go into the cabinet.

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Wow, is chrome pretty!

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Thanks. Cute dog too.

And it works!!

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I had a couple of stuck switches, and a coil that was wired incorrect. So a couple hours of trouble shooting, and I was able to play a game.

Still lots of de-bugging to do, but it's starting to get in the home stretch.

Thanks!

The rubbers are from Titan. It's the transparent ones. I use these on all of my games that I restore. I like that they seem to "glow" from the lighting

Thanks guys.

I'm kind of nervous to bring it to PATZ, out of fear of the chrome getting scraped. What is everyone's thoughts on getting people to take off their rings before playing?

Yeah, that kind of what I figured. Maybe I'll still post a sign on the glass or something.

I don't have any other lockdowns from that era. Plus, the side rail is going to be there still. Maybe putting mylar over it might help?

Good call. I'll see what I can find. It won't be as pretty at the show with the tape on it, but hopefully it will save on the scratches.

Yeah, it's playing pretty fast after a couple coats of wax. Hopefully everyone will enjoy it.

I've found a tape that should work. I just can't trust everyone to follow the request, so the tape idea will have to work. It may not be as pretty, but will still play he same.

Well, I'm marking this restoration complete.

I managed to win "Best of the 80's" as PATZ. I was hoping for best in show as well, but it still feels good to be recognized.

I had some odd lighting issues at the show that seemed intermittent. I ended up diagnosing it as low line voltage, and just let it go. Once home, everything worked again as intended.

Thanks to all that followed along.

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And since I won an award, I think I get to give a thank you speech:

A big THANK YOU to all those that supplied parts, or let me pick their brain:

Hot Rot Arcade sc93cobra
Big Daddy Enterprises
Pinball Pimp PinballPimp
Pin Restore
Gatecrasher
Pinball Resource
Pinball Life pinballlife
Siegecraft HHaase
Comet Pinball ryanwanger
Titan Pinball Titan_Pinball
Great Plains Elec
ULEK ULEKstore
Merf's Pins
Marco Spec
Radio Shack

Thank you!

Thanks for the compliments. If you ever make it over to GR, drop me a line and you can spend some more time playing it. (And we can have a pitch-off on Penny Pitch, too!)