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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Ready to prep the underside of the new playfield.
In addition to the added bulb locations for the flipper Lane guides I also added t nuts and machine screws on each end of the guide in place of the wood screws. It will make it more secure and adjustable if I need to play with the angles later for better alignment.

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Going to replace all the lamp sockets and the large lamp bar with individual sockets.
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The lamp bar is convenient but when a socket or two of it becomes intermittent it is a pain.
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It takes many socket styles.
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For several locations I will use these that hold diodes but still rewire the bases to be ground.
I have a surplus of them and this will be a good use for them.
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It is the wiring I will do that will make it all work out.

Mapping out the feature lamps.
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Those that are daisy chained together by certain strands will be the simpler two lead sockets.
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Those that are independently wired will be the three lead sockets.
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Working my way through the socket placement.
Solder terminals are placed under the bases on those that will be chained. Makes bulb changes easiest that way in comparison to on top of them.
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In the added flipper Lane lighting I will be trying out warm white op max bulbs.

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Lamp sockets are in place. A few are left unsecured until I place other parts to insure they won’t touch in the angle I secure them.
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In places where I absolutely had to use low profile sockets they are still secure and configured in a way that makes it possible to remove them from underneath.
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I wanted to raise the credit light for the apron closer to the insert.
The old version it too far removed
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New version.
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I will be swapping the opaque white eject saucers out for translucent red.
One will have to be modified.
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Eject saucer is filed down to make it possible to fit a nut driver on the above post.

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I think I am going to light those saucer holes up vis the GI.
Probably best to solder them in but leave them loose until other parts are in place.

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Now I can start transferring parts I need on the ground floor and working towards freeing the harness.
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First I need to grab the switch actuators.

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When placing the actuators I prefer to use short ramp flap type screws the give the best clearance once seated and allow for wiggle room if needed without making new holes.
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Sounds cool and makes sense in terms of gameplay but I like the red constantly lit this time around.
Maybe next time though.

Harness is off the old and placed on the new.
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Not that simple of course lots of soldering and rewiring/reconfiguring ahead.

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Before I get back to soldering I am going to do what I can for the apron.
Someone drilled two larger holes in the top and screwed it into the playfield at some point.
Why?
No idea all the brackets were in place none missing.
I swear people do more harm to these games nine times out of ten than any normal wear and tear.
First I filled them from the back side because I cannot sand the apron without doing more damage to the art.

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Sanded that from the back and metal etched so it would not rust.
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Now I can work on the topside.
The first pass at this is probably not going to do everything I want it to because those holes but I am going to try to knock it out or at least get it to an acceptable level in one session because I really hope to finish the game this week and again this is already way outside of what was expected by the owner.

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Apron is masked to paint the black.
Then based on black. image (resized).jpg

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Apron unmasked from black base.

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Next I am going to do the yellow on the shooter cover and apron as needed

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Yellow needs masked then based. Coverage will probably make it look a bit more defined where painted because the original is very thin not well covered. That may work or require further painting but for now just addressing the damaged areas.

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Red is being done.

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Not perfect but ready to clear. I can’t do much more without sealing it up and going through it again

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Cleared.
Looks good for a quick job.
I left the Williams script alone because I know it can be sloppy once cut out so I will live with the transparency difference there. By doing it that way it looks more like it is meant to at least.
Main thing is the holes are gone and the apron looks nice enough to go back on the playfield.

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Going to get in a quick workout then it is back to this.

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Ready to get back to it.
I will start with the lowest things like switches and lamp mount strands.
First will be removing all generic wiring and replacing it with color correct runs that are long enough to flow through the harness.
First example.

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I won’t go crazy on the switch cosmetics but I will polish the top blade
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The plate and screws.
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Then lights scuff the contacts with a fine paper
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It is funny you say that because even though I have never done a Firepower before I thought it seems off the way the actuator is facing I was debating possibly just switching all the rollovers to microswitches.

I see that now that you point it out.
The top blade has the larger contact point on the top and smaller on bottom.
Thanks for the info.
Definitely not something that jumped out at me.

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Going with new switches for the noted misassembled ones. Thanks again Richard. I now remember you from the old days on RGP. Been a long time.
My new switches will not use the dead leg for the diodes I prefer to just put them in line and housed in clear tubing. One less leg to short.
The switch arms are insulated where they contact the blades to replace the paper
Wiring is color corrected during the process.

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Ready to solder all day
I decided to change the top lane rollovers out to micro switches because micro switches are easier to adjust,lower tension but the top lanes are harder to reach once built so it should’ve a bit more ideal.
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Also by doing this I should be able to lose those few low profile lamp sockets and switch styles in favor of the easier to remove version.
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Getting there with the switches and lamp wiring. image (resized).jpg
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Junk pile so far.
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Will be installing new targets.
Since they are getting decals I am going to use yellow in those locations.
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Targets are wired as sub assemblies with color correct wiring and placed on plugs.

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I will make the bullseye targets out of new targets by changing the faces.

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Variety of places but mostly Pinball Life.

Making up the bullseye targets.
Three need to be rear mount and one needs to be front mount.

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For the three rear mounts I am using some used ones I have changed along the way because the faces were scratched or rivets corroded. 4964B557-27ED-4A83-A03A-5FACFD17E0F4 (resized).jpeg

First drill the bracket off. A049FC08-1A88-46FE-A2FB-F510C97EB986 (resized).jpeg

Then the face. 19290055-5113-47A3-A7D9-B412CDEC3F9E (resized).jpeg

New target face and donor target body. 186BA91D-29BE-40F9-911D-D6BBE9176991 (resized).jpeg

Rivet the face on. 5A95BC14-F659-4D68-B61E-6280AFF3E713 (resized).jpeg
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Now rivet the bracket on.

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There we go that’s one. A235B6D9-6DCB-4534-87B9-A0EE63115549 (resized).jpeg

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Targets made up.

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Running the GI wiring in insulated color correct wire.
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It will take a few feet of wire and I will thread one continuous strand of each color neatly through the existing harness
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It needs to do what was originally done here
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I have already replaced it in the upper section.
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Soldering marathon is complete.
Next will be neartly securing all the wiring then placing the playfield in the cabinet.
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Lots of junk left over
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Wiring complete.
Looms are mixed between closed and open depending on location.
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Open where plugs are housed
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Closed where wiring needs to stay tight without the need to remove anything.
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Taller set ups used near jet bumpers.
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It lives

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Playfield in cab no lights.
Going to go with cool lights for the jets since the caps are white.
Hopefully these will light the bodies up well.

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Actually the warms work best.

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Plastics are being placed.
Protection where needed.

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Going to grab the backglass from my shop and it is all done.

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Got the glass from the shop.
It looks new so I am guessing it is one of the Mayfair repros.

I know there is something to look for about it but it is the glass that came with the game and I don’t have an original.

Would it be worth directing the owner to the lastest PPS version?

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Finished pictures.

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Few more cabinet.

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Playfield.

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More playfield.

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Last of the playfield pictures.
Trying to capture the clear jet bodies.

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Inside.

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These actually light up really well.

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I usually avoid plastic protectors in general because it can create fit issues but in this case I had a hard time finding a set so I noted what was broke and where at teardown and added the protections.
There are a couple things in place there.
The first is the dense target foam then the second is the plastic washer/protector.
That softens the blow(foam) and slightly raises the plastic (washer).

The color schemes and such are always changing and evolving as there are more options.
I usually just figure it out as I go with what I have on hand at the time or what looks to be working well.

The only time I am afraid to play these games is before I take the final pictures after that I cannot wait
It is nice to give the game a new life but it would be worthless if you can’t use it or it doesn’t play well.
Today I will spend most of the day playing it making adjustments as needed. They are very few because the effort put in during the build but as it gels together with use it feels and plays better and better so using it is the best thing you can do from this point on.

Thank you Lloyd and all others. I appreciate the positive feedback.

Going to finish the younger brother this week

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The younger brother is done.
Not a game I can see taking outside for detailed pics because it is for a non pinball person and has a CPR second playfield set with some slight registration issues but that was still a huge upgrade.
This game has been here for 6 years waiting on the owner to be ready for it as it is going into some old renovated house and that renovation took a lot longer than expected.
Used the clear body on that one too with a red LED.