This one is heading towards the finish line
It is for a local who is not a pinball collector but just loves the game and memories of it specifically.
At first I was just quietly going through the motions of it.
New cabinet ,new playfield and plastic set thinking that alone is good enough and way beyond this guys expectations but as it starts to come together I started getting more inspired by the fact it is my first Firepower so I want to do it as much justice as possible within the guidelines given by the owner.
First I reworked the CPR playfield by filling in some of the wood blanks in front of the targets and slings.
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Playfield then cleared.

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New cabinet.
The reworking of it 1CA49254-ACF3-4200-9932-9D00A8546276 (resized).jpeg
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Huge upgrade in the floor area. These older games just have something a touch stronger than cardboard for floors. CB29CEBF-D2C5-4C02-ABBA-4204088129A9 (resized).jpeg
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Cabinet primed
Block sanded then based in black. CF8844FD-85CD-4A8C-9607-038A94CD5424 (resized).jpeg
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Now stenciling.
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Cleared the first time.
Full gloss just to build around the base colors and seal.

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After a few day the cabinet was sanded and then matte cleared
Not too dull not too glossy. 83F8FA54-4F34-451B-A758-3C5D3BFBBDB1 (resized).jpeg
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Fast forward cabinet is built up.
Coin door was rough and you can’t get a new skin so I straightened and watersanded it to the best of my ability going for a somewhat stock overall look.
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Cabinet was missing some parts at arrival like the knocker.
I decided to make one up and relocate it.
The speaker was trashed ,no ground pin on the cord so new line filter cord,power switch things like that.
Turned it on to make sure it worked from here considering where it started.
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Playfield was sanded and polished.

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No I do have some small lighting changes though I will put up tomorrow.
This is for a local guy who wants it to look like it “just came out of the box” Lol!
It is already way over his head since he isn’t into the hobby itself but at the same time it is a great opportunity to create a nice Firepower. Might be the first and only HEP version.

Yeah these fingers have been through a lot !
From the pictures of those alone you know you are dealing with a professional.

Building up the new playfield.

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I am using the added flipper Lane plastics from the CPR set.
This looks like a simple thing but what I have actually done is drill the stainless Lane guides and playfield itself to accommodate bulbs.
Factory set up was just one bulb ad no holes.

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Going wit red star post instead of the conical ones. I like the look in the way it matches the lens style on this game.

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Nice new Reese rails in black instead of the natural wood looking originals.

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Doing black wafers and clear bodies for the jet bumpers.
I think the black wafer looks good and is lower maintenance than white.
My hope is the clear bodies will add a little light because I find when games have both opaque bodies and caps it can be less obvious or rewarding visually when they are lit.

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Topside post and guides are in place.

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Will start working through the coils that go topside before I flip the playfield and start on the wiring.

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Going to start stripping the underside
I will be de soldering and adding connectors color correct or as close to as possible. That type of thing. It s very needed on this one as there are hacks and the wiring would come up short without them in places.

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I have new flipper assemblies from Pinball Life. Put PPS wrappers(they are yellow not orange but they look nice let’s hope they at least stick well long term) on them and now I am going to add the Lane change for the right. The left doesn’t get one.
I will make small harness for each side. It takes a good bit of extra time to do it this way but it makes maintaining the game and servicing it so much easier.

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Flippers are done.

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Coils are done less the kickback because I am going to look that over and see if it might be better to change the entire assembly out to a more modern version.

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I actually really liked that idea. Often I will defer to black wafers because it can be hard to reach and clean jet bumper areas but not on this game so I decided to try it out.
They now look like more like individual fires and are going to work well with the added flipper Lane plastics.

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For the final coil assembly I am going to change it out entirely in favor of this.
They are identical with the exception of the bracket on the newer style being just a little lower profile.
That isn’t an issue though since it goes under the apron. Coil will be just a touch stronger since it is a 23-800 replacing a 23-850 doubtful it will have any negative consequences.
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The original playfield was trashed so I was able to clean all the wiring while still attached without fear of damaging it.
On the older games the harnesses are best removed as bundled where as on newer games they can be better removed and cleaned individually.
Everything is nice and clean now the rest of the detail work will be done as the parts are removed and transferred to the new playfield.All the targets ,much of the lamp sockets and the way they are wired be replaced.

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