So, I picked up this pin a little over a month ago to save it from becoming a possible donor. Glass was gone, MDF cabinet was shot (it was held together with a ratchet strap), multiple switches were beyond cleaning with a burnishing tool, cracked plastics, duct tape ramp repairs and the list goes one.
The first thing I did was just start the disassembly process, I did not even bother energizing the machine to check it out first.
I'll post more of the progress as it gets done, and welcome any and all tips, tricks & the like. I know this title may not be worth all the work, but hey, it gives me something to do and again keeps it from becoming a donor.

IMG_3878 (resized).JPG

IMG_3644 (resized).JPG

IMG_3567 (resized).JPG

IMG_3565 (resized).JPG

IMG_3557 (resized).JPG

IMG_3556 (resized).JPG

IMG_3559 (resized).JPG

IMG_3560 (resized).JPG

It looks like a very elaborate playfield, I can't wait to actually be able to play it.
Yes, the cabinet is being painted, could not find any Repop "generic" Bally / Midway decals.

IMG_3816 (resized).JPG

IMG_3941 (resized).JPG

IMG_3949 (resized).JPG

IMG_3954 (resized).JPG

Thanks Pecos, I'll let you know if I need you to dig out the instructions!

It is an entirely new cabinet, I figured it would be less costly than paying for shipping on a donor. Both the cabinet and back box were re-constructed from 3/4" and 1/2" plywood, for the lumber, screws, glue etc, less than $150 for a cabinet that should be solid for years to come.
While I was at work on re-construction of parts, I took the liberty of making some color adjustments when I made the plastics, I'd appreciate opinions... You can see the original vs the new color matching scheme. I matched the station color of inserts and targets, of course color matching LEDs will replace the incandescent bulbs, what do ya think?

IMG_3981[1] (resized).JPG

IMG_4003[1] (resized).JPG

IMG_4005[1] (resized).JPG

IMG_4004[1] (resized).JPG

IMG_3961[1] (resized).JPG

To give credit where credit is due, here are the resources I used for the plastic reproductions:

and this post by Jeff Hecht.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-i-recreate-plastics#post-1289147

So after giving the playfield a new home, here she is for the first attempt at power up, (had to replace the 750mA and 187mA fuses on the power board) there is life! I will begin working to track down the illumination issues as one phase works fine but the other has many bulbs that fail to illuminate. The display also takes a few moments to turn on, signs of a failing power cap? Should be relatively easy to track down that problem as well. I should have the parts to rebuild the upper playfield ramps today so that will be one more item off the check list. Thus far I am very happy with the progress in this machine. Everyday brings more surprises and required fixes but isn't that part of the fun?!

hardbody1 (resized).JPG

hardbody2 (resized).JPG

hardbody4 (resized).JPG

Kid, something like this rendering?
Would look cool I think if I had not already made all new plastics, DOH

3 (Legs).jpg

Snake, any particular NVRAM chip I should source? This machine still has a coin type battery holder in use.

IMG_3579 (resized).JPG

So here are some screen shots of this pin as the machine alternates between phases A & B, also an image of the spreadsheet I used to document all the bulbs that will not illuminate. (sorry for the picture quality they are still shots from a video so I could slow it down and catch the phases). I checked continuity of the wires between the holder and the connector, found only one that seems to be bad. After all this, I'm thinking bad 4514 chips? I've got connectors and new 4514 chips on order to hopefully arrive tomorrow which will give me plenty to do this weekend. Hopefully Monday I can report some illuminating improvements.

Lamps A Phase (resized).JPG

Lamps B Phase (resized).JPG

Lamp check matrix (resized).JPG

yes Pecos, I felt the cab was just too far gone, so I bit the big one and built a new one. I'm pretty happy with the result, it should put new life into this pin even if it is not a highly sought after game. Thanks for the compliments!

So I replaced the three 4514 boards this weekend in hopes it would solve my illumination issues, alas it did not.
I've checked all the SCRs, all the resistors in the lighting circuits, all the interconnects between the playfield and the board, and naturally all the fuses and power test points on the CPU board and the LED flashes the proper 9 times.
Anyone have suggestions what other chips could be the cause of having most of the CPU controlled lamps fail to illuminate?

IMG_4091[1] (resized).JPG
IMG_4097[1] (resized).JPG
IMG_4102[1] (resized).JPG
IMG_4110[1] (resized).JPG
IMG_4115[1] (resized).JPG
IMG_4123[1] (resized).JPG
IMG_4125[1] (resized).JPG

Yesterday the TCS rebuild kit arrived from Marco, got the board updated and voila, SOUND!
Now if I could just figure out the lighting issue

IMG_4157 (resized).JPG

IMG_4162 (resized).JPG

Appreciate the advise, I am actually picking up an IC tester at lunch today and I do have the manual with schematics which has been very useful! I also have the Bally 6803 pinrepair.com guide which has helped immensely thus far.

Finally got the "machine gun" flipper issue resolved by 1) diode check - one of the two was bad caused by 2) incorrect wire location terminations. I finally had a few minutes last night to pull the coil off the playfield and just before making the decision just to install a new coil, I clipped one of the diodes and checked it with my DMM and voila the coil value went to 3ohms as it should be, I then used the diode check function of the DMM and confirmed the diode had been killed by my hasty replacement of the old EOS switches. I have got to learn that slow is smooth, smooth is fast, speed is achieved through accuracy. Do it right the first time!

One more thing fixed - RAMPS! After getting in the correct size rivets and replacement spring steel for the upper playfield ramps, I got them installed and got to finally play the machine for a few rounds. Wow, it is a fast paced game, with the double flippers and "flex save" action, it's busy. I've got a logic probe arriving from Amazon today so I can check the ICs to hopefully track down the lighting issues, fine tune the drop targets and switches and replace the power board connections which should correct the issue with the dual display. Once that is done, just some minor detail work like installing the legs, and this machine will be back from the grave. I can't express the joy I felt last night after installing the ramps and getting to run the ball around the playfield with all 4 flippers fully functional, what a sense of accomplishment. I can't wait to be able to post some final pics of the machine at 100%!

IMG_3565 (resized).JPG

IMG_4192[1] (resized).JPG

IMG_3566 (resized).JPG

IMG_4194[1] (resized).JPG

IMG_4195[1] (resized).JPG

The steel ramp flaps were made from spring steel purchased from Marco. I used the broken flaps as a template, cut the steel with tin snips and then used a grinding wheel to remove burrs and round the edges. The lower flap on the right ramp was modified slightly to be wider than the oem piece in order to reduce the amount of gap next to the ball guide.

ramp steel (resized).JPG

I thank you for the compliments Doc, no, I've not solved the lighting issue as yet, have a logic probe due in today which will hopefully help me out. If I could make heads or tails of the schematics it would help but I've forgotten all I ever knew from my intro to engineering classes back in college as I went into sales!
As far as bluing the raw cut edges of the spring steel, a basic gun bluing kit or just Liquid Gun Blue from Amazon will allow one to touch up the exposed metal.

gun blue (resized).JPG

This past few days, I got some good work done on Hardbody. I started by replacing all old the star posts. The machine was missing a couple and when the new ones arrived, I realized how faded and tired the old ones looked, so I just replaced all of them. While most of them are hidden below plastics, I knew the faded ones would be under there and just decided to swap them all out. To "top" things off for detail work, I dyed the acorn nuts blue to go with the colors of the game, namely the blue. While I know there are colored nuts available, I did not decide to go with color until I saw the replacement nuts compared to the old ones. Like the star posts, a few acorn nuts were missing and I ordered the natural color units. When I saw them together, I decided to simply dye them so they would all look the same! Here are some of the pictures of the process, pretty simple way to make things look more "polished", with out having to order new acorn nuts and wait for them to arrive.
The lighting issue is 90% solved with the installation of a new U11 chip, a CD4011BCN. Overall, a rather productive weekend.
Yesterday the power caps finally arrived from Big Daddy as well as the power board Molex connectors (MLX™ 42002, WM series) from Digikey, so I replaced the old caps and pot, then the on the board the display headers and mating connectors and voila, display issue has been resolved. Last but not least, I burned (in effigy) the old cabinet, I thought about making it a donor, but it was far too gone, I found that out in how fast it was disassembled.
I feel like it has been a productive few days!

IMG_4213 (resized).JPG
IMG_4216 (resized).JPG
IMG_4224 (resized).JPG
IMG_4226 (resized).JPG
IMG_4285 (resized).JPG
IMG_4248 (resized).JPG
IMG_4257 (resized).JPG
IMG_4260 (resized).JPG
IMG_4234 (resized).JPG
IMG_4280 (resized).JPG

Ah, that explains it! i like the news ones better myself.

An old trick I learned from back in the day of RC Cars, the nylon parts could be dyed for effect, figured it would work on the acorn nuts too. It did!

The wife, kids and I enjoyed a few games on the HB machine over the holidays, my youngest now has the high score (since it's been resurrected). Now I'm just waiting on some longer leg bolts to arrive and the machine will be ready for sale so I can find another project!

IMG_4433 (resized).JPG

A single bulb right in the middle, I installed a 40W LED bulb to try and reduce backbox heat.

hardbody (resized).JPG

Yea, it took all of about 5 seconds to install!! . If I were going to keep the game, I would def invest in some LED backbox mods, but I've already put way too much into this machine as it was supposed to be a fast flip,

Well, she is all done and ready for sale!!

Machine - For Sale

For sale or Trade: Hardbody Archived

Used - shows wear but 100% working and clean - “For Sale (SS project trades considered) This is a REPAIRED pin as when it was purchased, the cab was in complete shambles. For images of the progress of repair, see the thread (htt...”

2017-03-30

Houston, TX

Atari_Daze

999

Archived after: 22 days

Viewed: 1132 times

Status: Didn't sell to Pinsider

IMG_4577 (resized).JPG

Since this machine sits still waiting to be sold, I just ordered NVRAM for it, look forward to giving this game another little upgrade.

While still waiting for a buyer for this machine, performed the lighted flipper button and start button mod as described by Vid.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-lighted-flipper-buttons-for-418

IMG_5474 (resized).JPG

IMG_5473 (resized).JPG

IMG_5478 (resized).JPG

IMG_5479 (resized).JPG

IMG_5484 (resized).JPG

Thanks guys. I felt overwhelmed quite often, but just focused on one thing at a time until it was back from the dead. I'm ready now for the next project!

Thanks to the Pinball Amigo's thread, I've wrapped the legs, rails, lockdown bar and coin door on this Hardbody, I didn't want to leave the metal alone but also didn't want to invest too much more into this project with powder coat, afterall it was purchased to repair and sell.
I chose yellow since there is already so much blue & red / pink. It's not quite a match to the yellow in the machine but IMO it's better than nothing.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/we-are-building-a-minions-pinball-updates-every-friday/page/69#post-3671176

IMG_5905 (resized).JPG

IMG_5841 (resized).JPG

IMG_5885 (resized).JPG

IMG_5722 (resized).JPG

IMG_5823 (resized).JPG

SOLD on 4/21/2017