Picked up this Mayfair a couple months ago
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/what-machine-did-you-bring-home-today-post-your-pictures/page/118#post-3893645

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Step one: Clean up the control board. Thanks to NicoVolta for the education on the wirebrush dremel method for gleaming contacts.
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Step three - the backbox
The top part of the 0-9 stepper was in the coin box when I picked this up. Not sure why.
The bigger problem I had was a misadjusted switch on the score motor, which was locking on the score reel coils. Probably when I took the control board apart. I could say it was an extra hour of troubleshooting, but I prefer to say "Learning experience"
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Step four: The Cabinet
Is really solid - some scratches and chips.
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Cleaned the cabinet with Method all-purpose cleaner. One of the side rails had some surface rust. Cleaned it up with an old sanding sponge and Novus-2.
My wife helped my with the touch-ups.
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Step Five - Playfield
Pretty nice under the dirt. All the plastic is intact, straight and not UV damaged. I can't tell of the colors are faded, but they look pretty good.
The playfield was cleaned with a combination of Novus-2, cotton rags, alcohol, and Magic Eraser. Then waxed with Blitz
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I rebuilt the lockdown bar with new ends from Pinball Resource. In the process I found two dimes stuck inside it.
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Dated 1966. Not silver. Oh well.
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Rebuilt the coin door. De-rusted with a battery charger, and washing soda method.
I know painting it is probably considered blasphemy, but I figure I had nothing to lose. Same with the legs.
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New center target face, a lot of contact cleaning, new rubber, new ball, etc...

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So I've changed the name of this thread. It was originally "Mayfair Restoration"
Instead of starting a new thread for every project, I'm just going to continue to update this one. Also my original intention was to complete a restoration, then post the pics / descriptions. For these next projects, I'm going to change it up a little bit.

I have 4 of my own restorations that I am currently working on. I prefer not to work on multiple machines simultaneously, but I am not making much progress anyway, so I may as well just jump into all of them.

My current projects are:
Gottlieb Torch
Gottlieb Black Hole
DE Batman
Bally Harlem Globetrotters

Plus, I am trying to get running an Atari Crystal Castles, and a customer's Mr. & Mrs. Pacman. Crystal Castles has a sync issue on the monitor I hadn't sorted out. Mr&Mrs Pacman needs an MPU and repinned connectors + a good cleaning.

So Torch.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/post-project-pins-for-sale-here-cl-ebay-pinside-and-others/page/121#post-3969045

I repaired the PS board. Took a while, and I murdered two parts boards in the process. Should have just bought a Rottendog.
doesn't matter, the game boots, I can coin up, but it won't start a game. I suspect an issue in the MPU. As a side problem, the sound card is missing.

I really like the way the Pascal Janin all-in-one boards work (with a nifty attract mode, and all). And I can get the add-on sound card, all for only 348 euros (plus shipping).

My Torch has a crappy backglass and a pretty bad playfield. I don't exactly know the Euro / US Dollar conversion, but I'm thinking I can easily go over the value of this game by fixing it. Maybe I'll set it aside for now

Hi Jeremy! Yes, I will be posting updates in earnest this week.

Here's a teaser...
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Back to Harlem Globetrotters.
I had previously posted in the "pinball horror pics" thread
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-horror-pics/page/23#post-4000893

At the risk of receiving considerable derision, I must start off by saying: Yes, I paid money for it. $5 plus buyer's premium and tax.
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As dirty as it is, it isn't really moldy, but it does have a lot of mildew. Did I mention it's dirty?
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Vacuumed it out, and it came out pretty good.
The particle-board back was beyond hope. I replaced it with plywood. Followed by lots of spray paint

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After some consideration, I have decided to rename the topic from "Restorations" to "Refurbishments"

I suppose there is a lot of consensus that a "Restoration" is taking something and making it new, or better than new. That is not what I am doing. I may bring machines a long way from dead, to playable. But they were always a "Player's" game. That is what I am doing here. So, I will never say I am restoring a game, but rather refurbing a game.

I have Mayfair for sale for $999. Here's a short video

Harlem Globetrotters cabinet is mostly back together.
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Part 2 of HG, the head.
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Took out the remaining boards
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The displays are missing, but the brackets are there. I forgot to get pics, but they were rusty. Sanded and painted silver.
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Scrubbed the upper wiring harness with a toothbrush and dish soap
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Next project: The Black Hole

I don't usually like to work on multiple projects at once, but invariably I get to a point where I can't do anything more until I get a certain part, or maybe I want to paint something, but it's cold and raining. Black Hole started out slow for me.

I had picked up BH from my friend @jkroeck25. When I got it, the cabinet was sanded down and many of the parts were in boxes and bags. Unfortunately, I didn't get many before pictures.
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I filled the gouges on the cab with bondo, and sanded smooth. I had taken the head to Home Depot, and color matched some of the surviving blue paint. I purchased a quart of acrylic-latex and sprayed on the cab, inside and out. Then the project stalled for about 8 months for a couple of reasons. One is that it was winter, and two, that I spent that time pondering on how I might replace the sideart.

You see, this is the 2nd cabinet I had completely repainted. The 1st cabinet I had traced out the art and created my own stencils. It had not gone well.
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What not to do: Don't use cheap, masking paper sprayed with low-tack stencil spray. It would have been perfect if the paint didn't telegraph through the tack-spray. After this set-back, this cabinet project turned into a Murphy's-law disaster.

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The lesson I learned was not to use cheap masking paper with low-tack spray. But what else could I use? Frisket? I could cover every surface with frisket, then setup an overhead projector and painstakingly cut out the stencil with xacto knife. What would that take? I consider myself somewhat frugal / cheap, but my time isn't valueless! Besides, what would I really be saving? If I spent $50 in frisket, and 10 hours setting up overhead projectors and cutting it, and the end result would be... what? How good is it going to look?

Since I had already learned regret with that KoD project, and since I had heard nothing but good things about PinballPimp stencils, it was an easy choice to make.

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The Pinballpimp are very high quality, professionally manufactured. They come with easy to understand instructions, and there is a link to a youtube video that illustrates proper use. I highly recommend. More importantly, I will not ever try to create my own stencils again.

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Black Hole was mostly reassembled for testing.
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The yellow pieces of plastic are for protecting the nice, new paint from the legs. Of course, the legs are borrowed. I assume this machine should have black legs. I installed the playfields, but the boards back in, and tried it out. The MPU has issues - no 5 second delay, just comes on with a clunk. MPU has battery damage. I have had zero success with non-working acid damaged boards, so a new Rottendog it is.

I finally get the new MPU. I power it on - no sound, and no displays. The fuse for the sound is not functional. Replaced the fuse, and it blew right away. Something amiss with the sound's power supply. As for the displays, no high voltage coming off the PS board. I've had the board apart 4 times trying to sort out the missing HV. I've replaced most of the components in the HV section. Still nothing. I think I'll order a new PS board.

I often wish I could think faster. That I can figure things out to a solution on the fly. Unfortunately, my brain will get stuck, and lock up. And I end up just beating my head against the wall. The correct answer, of course, is to stop. Get away from the problem, and take a break. Look at it again tomorrow with fresh eyes. Of course, that isn't especially productive. If I had to sleep on every problem before I sorted out the solution, it would mean I would always be working on yesterday's problems. I would never catch up. So I try again... and bang my head on the wall again... Google searching "No High Voltage System 80" until late at night. Testing this side of that component, then that side of this component. Why can't I get any high voltage off this board?

Finally I go to bed. Save up a few bucks to buy a new power supply board. Then be done with it!

But there is that disconnect in my brain. Somewhere in my sub-conscious, I know the answer, but I just can't pull it to the surface.

Until the middle of the night, when I'm walking back from the bathroom in the pitch dark, and settling back under the covers. Then, my subconscious whispers to me:

"Did you check the fuse?"

Of course I checked the fuse. I checked every fuse when I put the game back together.

"But you didn't check it after the umpteenth time you had the power supply apart?"

Um... No, no I didn't.

Once I got the chance to look at the machine. Sure enough, F3 is blown. Or at least not showing continuity. Manual calls for a 1/4A slo blo. Closest thing I have is a 1/4A FB. That didn't last. The next closest size I have is a 1A. I'll put in the 1A, after all, what's the worst thing that can happen?

The worst thing is you would burn up that valuable, small transformer on the control board! You would be a complete moron to put an over-valued fuse there!

Yes. I put the 1A fuse in F3.
I power up the game with one eye on the fuse, one eye on the Power supply board. No sparks, no smoke, no suspicious sounds. Nothing looks amiss with the transformer. Test points now show 67 on the 60V, and 50 on the 42V. Woo Hoo! I wish I could have figured it out yesterday!

A couple weeks ago was my 49th birthday. My wife asked what I wanted. Of course, I wanted to respond, "I'll take a Dialed In LE"

What I said was, "Let's go see Murder on the Orient Express, and then go to our favorite Mexican restaurant" I figured there was a realistic chance of getting the dinner and matinee, and not so much on the $9000 NIB pinball machine.

On our way to the movies, something in the road caught my eye. I pulled over, jumped out of the car without explanation, and grabbed it. I showed my wife, who was astonished at my actions. She wasn't especially impressed.

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I gotta say, not a bad birthday present at all!

Cleaned up with Novus2, Scotch-brite and a razor knife.

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Before I get back to the pinball discussion, I want to show something that I somewhat accidentally acquired.

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I've never actually played Burgertime. I purchased this in non-working order, at the appropriate price. There is a blown fuse on the power supply board. I have to admit, there is a bit of temptation to just replace the fuse and fire it up. But I haven't. I have looked online for a cap-kit for the power supply, and they seem to run about $40. Or, I could buy a new, plug-and-play, switching power supply for $35. Not a hard choice. I'll get the new switcher. Also will most likely get an Ian Kellogg monitor cap kit.

Assuming it works after the new PS and cap kit, then I would have a game that I didn't want, but maybe one that I would want to keep? If I did sell this game, I will probably not have the chance to get another one for a somewhat affordable price.

Back to Black Hole. I feel like I'm finally getting the upper hand. First off, I need to give a shout out to ForceFlow who indirectly helped me with one issue.

My sound power supply was blowing the fuse. I have come to realize that I don't have to specifically search Pinside - I can just google search the internet and I will invariably be directed to Pinside posts. I came across one that someone was having a similar issue, and Forceflow suggested that to test for continuity from ground, to the other edge pins. With this bit of guidance, I quickly figured out that the voltage regulator was dead-shorted. I'm always happy to learn things, and not just look up answers. Thanks ForceFlow !

The laundry list of issues is shrinking. Have to install the shooter, the playfield display is just displaying all segments. I've unplugged it for now. I think some of the pop bumper boards are out. I broke one pop bumper cover (the pf was not all the way seated. Have to remember that one) the backbox motor is shot. It sometimes works just barely, and makes quite a racket. I just have it unplugged for now. I don't have any speech. The other sounds work - just not the speech. I'm a bit worried on that one.

My understanding of the speech is switch number 6 has to be on. It was off originally off, so I switched it on. Then, when I played it, the sound would work up until it would have spoken (like knock down a drop target bank), then the sound would go completely out. It wouldn't come back on until I rebooted the game. Somebody please tell me that it is probably something other than the SC-01 chip?

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Such an innocent looking Black Hole, right? Doesn't look like a machine that would kick you in the nuts every day for the past month?
With the exception of three of the pop-bumper boards, every single PCB in this game has issues.

Power supply board: No high voltage. Had original caps, so was rebuilt. I didn't realize at some point I had blown the HV fuse. So, I don't know what exact component was actually bad. The lesson I learned is to check the fuse, then check the fuse again!

MPU: Was acid damaged. I carefully removed the obviously-damaged components, carefully cleaned the board, then replaced with new components. Still doesn't work. I'm not entirely convinced that the acid-damage was the original problem. I have tried to fix acid-damage previously, without success. The lesson I have learned: Do not attempt acid-damage repair! For me anyway, I have to pick and choose what my time is better spent doing. And my time is better spent making money doing something else and using that money to buy a replacement board.

Sound Power supply: Blowing fuses. The voltage regulator was dead-shorted. Replaced.

Sound Board: No Speech, and sound quality is not great. When the board is set for speech, the sound completely goes out at the point that the speech is invoked. I have been told that the likely culprit is one, or more of the 74LS75 ICs on the bottom left, next to the 7407 chip. I'm on the fence if I want to attempt repair. Even if I fix the speech, the sound would still be tinny. Swemmer sound boards will be available next month. I'm thinking of going in that direction.

And speaking of Swemmer, I have ordered an MPU and PS board. The Rottendog is working fine, and my extensively rebuilt MPU is working fine, but I need these for another project.

Pop Bumpers: At least two aren't working. I assume the Kicker boards. Parts on order.

Driver board: Bad 2N3055 transistor. I happen to have one that I had previously ordered by mistake. I guess if I'm going to own Gottliebs, I should have more on hand. At least it was an easy fix.

Light Chaser Board: One light is locked on. The rest chase dimly. I assume a shorted transistor.

I guess I shouldn't really complain. I just was hoping that there would be fewer things wrong with this machine.

On the plus side - the cabinet looks nice. The backglasses are in really good condition. Playfields are really decent. I'm thinking Translucent Titan rings, and Comet LEDs.