I used to play a lot of Harlem Globetrotters when it first came out and decided to include it as another Bally's classic in my collection. I bought one in May of 2014 and first striped down the playfield, cleaned the hell out of it with magic eraser, touched up the paint and rebuilt all the mechanicals. I then enjoyed playing it for about a year and decided it needed and deserved a full restoration since the cabinet was the worst of all my machines.
My attitude towards restorations:
1) I like to keep things as original as possible; the playfield, back glass and plastics should be original if possible. I would prefer to repair an original cabinet rather than build a new one. My reasons for this are twofold; I like original because I have not played a repro playfield that feels the way I remember playing them combined with I do not have the skills or desire to take on a playfield swap. Also, something does not feel right to me if most of the machine is a reproduction!
2) I will clear coat classic playfields to lock art touchups and repair cupping but want to keep it as thin as possible and low gloss
3) I like the finished product to be close to original, I am not a fan of powder coating or chromed parts on a classic machine.
I am creating this thread to motivate myself and hopefully others to take on such as restoration. I also will ask advice and welcome input from others. My next posts will get this thread updated to where I am currently.
Thanks,
Dave