(Topic ID: 253893)

My First Restoration: 1977 Bally Black Jack SS

By Mathazar

4 years ago


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  • 114 posts
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  • Latest reply 2 years ago by Mathazar
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#1 4 years ago

I thought I'd document the process of bringing a basket-case 1977 Bally Black Jack SS back to life. Go easy on me with the comments - I'm very new at this! I have an electronics background so the board repair, soldering, wiring, etc. doesn't really faze me but the last time I did any wood working and painting was shop class in high school (about 35 years ago).

I've been playing pinball for 40+ years and my family even had a brand new Gottlieb Neptune in our basement while I was growing up in the 70's. I bought my first pin 18 months ago (Eight Ball Deluxe) and I was immediately hooked on ownership and doing my own maintenance. That lead to buying a 1980 Black Knight, a SS Mata Hari, and a NIB Star Trek Pro Vault. The older machines EBD, BK, and MH now all run soundly. And I took the first major repair plunge on MH earlier this year when I stripped the playfield down and installed a hardtop - it totally transformed the game and it now plays like new. I'll be doing the same thing to my EBD later this year when Outside Edge releases the hardtop for it (slated for December).

Before I do anything restorative on the older machine cabinets, I wanted to practice, pick up the necessary skills, and see what I'd be getting into by doing that kind of work first on a less valuable machine, or at least one that I didn't have a lot of money invested. If I picked something up cheap enough and I wind up screwing it up, no harm/no foul. Enter the Black Jack project.

I found this Black Jack at a local estate sale in April 2019. The cabinet was, in a word, ROUGH. It powered on with a few GI lights lit but did not start. The estate sellers did not have the keys so I couldn't see inside to see what was there, what was missing, and what kind of damage any rodents might have caused. And they wouldn't let me drill out the locks onsite without buying it. The cabinet looked weather damaged, so it had to have spent some time outside. They wanted $300. I offered $100. The next day, with no other takers, they took my $100 and I took it home.

I drilled open the locks to check it out from the inside. Much to my surprise, I found a complete, intact board set. What's more, with the original battery still installed, the MPU had no acid damage. I also found a couple of quarters in the coin mechs and a few more in the bottom of the cabinet. So I actually got the machine for $98.75.

Along with the quarters and a lot of dirt, I found evidence of previous inhabitants - several honeycomb nests (hornets or wasps) and a couple mud nests (mud daubers). There were nests on one of the display boards, on the SDB, and in the bottom of the cabinet.

Here was the high level plan:
#1 - Clean out the dirt, debris, and nests
#2 - Get the board set working and fully power up/start game
#3 - Fix switches and coils so that everything scores correctly
#4 - Totally strip the pin to repair the cabinet
#5 - With the playfield in fairly decent shape, go thru a deep cleaning to get up as much dirt as possible
#6 - Repair shooter-lane and arch ball trail, potentially clear or poly
#7 - Install a playfield protector to cover the cupped inserts and protect the original paint/refreshed shooter lane
#8 - Install new plastics and rubber kit
#9 - Tumble/clean/polish/re-use as many metal parts as possible
#10 - Repaint the cabinet with Pinball Pimp stencils

Hopefully the machine will look and play well enough that the wife will let me keep it in our basement rec room lineup for a while.
01 - Head unit in the back of the cab (resized).JPG01 - Head unit in the back of the cab (resized).JPG02 - Fits in the bed under the Tonneau cover (resized).JPG02 - Fits in the bed under the Tonneau cover (resized).JPG03 - Ready for assessment (resized).JPG03 - Ready for assessment (resized).JPG04 - Cabinet is ROUGH (resized).JPG04 - Cabinet is ROUGH (resized).JPG05 - Cabinet is ROUGH (resized).JPG05 - Cabinet is ROUGH (resized).JPG

#2 4 years ago

There was a full board set inside the cabinet which was a big relief. If I got the board set working, I could probably more than triple my investment if I screwed everything else up and just resold the PCBs and power supply.

The cabinet served as a home for various types of wasps, but those cleaned out easily. After cleaning out the dirt, I powered up to see what I was up against. The MPU LED didn't blink and a few GI lights came on. A few test points on the transformer PCB showed no voltages, so that's where I started.

After replacing the bridge rectifiers and some caps from the Big Daddy Pinball Rectifier Rebuild Kit, the transformer then showed all the correct voltages but I still had no LED activity on the MPU. Next step was the SDB.

Like the transformer, the SDB had one test point showing +1V (supposed to be around +5V). Somewhere down the line an operator put in a Stern SDB in place of the original Bally but they both are supposed to operate the same. I replaced the caps on the SDB and put in the recommended ground mods - suddenly there was life at power on.

The MPU blinked all the way to 6, but not the seventh (missing +43V check). All the voltages on the transformer PCB and the SDB looked ok, so this was probably wiring. The PCB repair took me into May 2019 and now it was time to repin all of the connectors....not only did I think this might fix the MPU boot issue, it would likely preemptively address other gremlins that I haven't even discovered yet.

It took another three or so weeks (couple hours a week here and there), but I got the tedious repinning done.

We're now into June, and the next power on after repinning was extremely satisfying. It booted all the way up and I heard the chimes for the first time!! Starting a game worked! Going into Self Test worked! Next challenges:

1 - lots of lights out, both GI and control, tho some worked
2 - two coils not working
3 - a few stuck switches

I sorted out #2 and #3 above in about an hour. Replacing bulbs for the non-working lights fixed more than half of them, but some still did not work. Tracing the particular lamps back through the wires, I found three pins that I crimped badly. After re-pinning my previous bad crimp jobs, those lamps then worked. That left two more non-working lamps with known good connectors and bulbs. After replacing the respective SCRs for those lamps on the Lamp Driver Board, they then worked.

The displays were, surprisingly, PERFECT. No ghosting, no missing segments, no dim segments, I was totally surprised. I was pleased enough with the displays that I actually took them out and put them in my EBD. My EBD displays were ok but tired - I'll decide what to do with them later. If I wind up keeping Black Jack, maybe I'll convert the displays to LED (and get to disable the HV circuitry in the process). I put LED displays in my Mata Hari and you can't tell at all...they look totally original.

The flippers worked but the linkage for both were in bad shape with lots of play and dragging on the playfield. I'll save the flipper rebuilds for when I'm putting things back together. Now that all lamps, switches, and coils work and score properly, it's time to take everything apart!
06 - Full Board Set (resized).JPG06 - Full Board Set (resized).JPG07 - Mud Dauber Nest on Player 3 Display Board (resized).JPG07 - Mud Dauber Nest on Player 3 Display Board (resized).JPG

#3 4 years ago

Here are some more "before" photos of the cabinet - the cabinet sides show a lot of de-lamination and the floor shows evidence of water damage. The floor isn't salvageable - I'll be replacing the sagging, water-stained, warped 1/4" MDF with brand new 1/2" plywood.
08 - Right Side (Original) (resized).JPG08 - Right Side (Original) (resized).JPG09 - Inside (Original) (resized).JPG09 - Inside (Original) (resized).JPG10 - Inside (Original) (resized).JPG10 - Inside (Original) (resized).JPG11 - Bottom Removed (resized).JPG11 - Bottom Removed (resized).JPG12 - Bottom Removed (warped) (resized).JPG12 - Bottom Removed (warped) (resized).JPG13 - Left Side (resized).JPG13 - Left Side (resized).JPG

#4 4 years ago

After a few weeks of no activity, repairs begin - re-gluing some cross members in the cabinet and some delamination on the front. I kind of went overboard with the wood epoxy filling in cracks and holes, but it's a learning process! It sanded down quite easily.

14 - Fixing cross member (resized).JPG14 - Fixing cross member (resized).JPG15 - Fixing Front Delamination (resized).JPG15 - Fixing Front Delamination (resized).JPG
#5 4 years ago

Started repairing the cabinet sides with wood epoxy first. After a while, it become apparent that there was just too much to fix and I decided to try Bondo. It was really messy, but it provided much better coverage and sanded down just as easily as the wood epoxy.

16 - Wood Epoxy for Left Side (resized).JPG16 - Wood Epoxy for Left Side (resized).JPG16a - Wood Epoxy for Front (resized).JPG16a - Wood Epoxy for Front (resized).JPG17 - Bondo for Right Side (resized).JPG17 - Bondo for Right Side (resized).JPG
#6 4 years ago

After a few weeks of no activity, I primed with Kilz in September to get a good first base coat.

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#7 4 years ago

White for the first base color. I also painted the inside of the cabinet white - I figured as long as it was disassembled, it would be nice to see a uniform color on the cabinet insides vs. overspray and bare plywood. The white could be interesting as it collects black coil dust after use, but I'm thinking of putting a rattle-can clear coat on it so that it'll wipe and clean up easier.
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#8 4 years ago

We're now into October and the neck gets painted black....

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#9 4 years ago

Front gets painted and a view of the new bottom....

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#10 4 years ago

This week it's time to paint the right side - here's the photo progression. Pretty pleased with how it turned out. There's a blemish in the upper right (blue) that occurred when I peeled off the stencil. It slipped out of my fingers and the adhesive back touched the wet blue paint....arggh! When the stainless steel rails go back on, it'll cover part of it. I'll touch it up (along with a couple other spots) after the main painting is done.

I was also pleased with how I was able to match up the red and blue stripes from the front to the side for that "wraparound" look. I hope I get the same results when I do the left side.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get to the left side this weekend like I wanted. The Colorado weather dipped into the 40's today and it's going to stay that way for several days. It should be in the low 60's for the weekend, so I'll hopefully complete the lower cabinet then. I need to keep the pressure on myself to get the backbox stripped/repaired/painted before there's no more 60F weather until spring.
23 - Right Side Stencil (Red) (resized).JPG23 - Right Side Stencil (Red) (resized).JPG24 - Right Side Red (resized).JPG24 - Right Side Red (resized).JPG25 - Right Side Red (resized).JPG25 - Right Side Red (resized).JPG26 - Right Side Red Joined with Front (resized).JPG26 - Right Side Red Joined with Front (resized).JPG27 - Ride Side Stencil (Blue) (resized).JPG27 - Ride Side Stencil (Blue) (resized).JPG28 - Right Side Blue (resized).JPG28 - Right Side Blue (resized).JPG29 - Right Side Done (resized).JPG29 - Right Side Done (resized).JPG

#11 4 years ago

Dude this is looking great so far!

#12 4 years ago

The stencil work looks great. Best of luck with the rest of the project.

#14 4 years ago

Thanx, Jeff - and thanx for the quick response when I reached out to you with stencil questions. My fingers are crossed that I can finish the painting this weekend....we've been in the 30's and 40's all week this week in CO and there's a chance Saturday we'll be in the 60's briefly before we're hit with snow again Sunday night.

#15 4 years ago

Finished the left side this afternoon. It didn't quite go as smoothly as the right side, but overall I'm pleased. The issue today.....I ran out of paint while in the middle of the blue stencil. No problem - I had bought a few cans of each color and I had a brand new blue on the workbench. SAME brand/style/color (Rust-oleum 2X Ultra Cover Deep Blue). The issue? As I was applying the second can, the color looked slightly off from the first can (a tad lighter blue). I let it flash dry a bit and it still didn't match up to the first can, so I wound up re-doing areas with the new can so that the color looked even. So, I think I had too much paint on the template as when I started to remove it after letting it sit for a few minutes, a few edges didn't come out quite as sharp as the others and those less-sharp edges were in the areas that got "extra" paint. It'll likely bother only me - the wife and son say it looks great. It's my first time doing this and it looks 1000% better than when I got it, so live, learn, and enjoy.

There is still some touch up work to do in a few areas and then the lower cab is done. I'll tackle that tomorrow.
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#16 4 years ago

Not looking good in getting ALL of the painting done this weekend. There's still a ton of prep work to be done on the head and we've got snow in the forecast for Sunday and Monday and at least a couple of weeks of <40F temperatures. I really want to start putting this thing back together! I may set up some space heaters in the garage with floor fans and open windows and try to knock out the head that way over the next couple of weeks.

Fortunately, the head is in good shape structurally and just needs some wood epoxy here and there, a good sanding/stripping, and fresh paint. I want to paint the inside as well so I'll be needing to mask off the grounding shield areas and try to sand down/smooth out the funky inside corners and hard to reach areas.
33 - Head Tear Down (resized).jpg33 - Head Tear Down (resized).jpg

#17 4 years ago

With temperatures in the teens this week and the foreseeable future (2 snowstorms before Halloween!), I'm not going to get to the back box painting anytime soon. Soooo....I turned my attention to getting ready to reassemble the lower cabinet. I've started the process for tumbling the smaller metal bits back to life - the sequence I'm using:

- 8 minutes in the Ultrasonic cleaner (70/30 mix of Mean Green and water, heated) to get the dirt and gunk off
- 24 hours in the left tumbler with walnut media for abrasive scrubbing
- 24 hours in the right tumbler with corn cob media and some metal polish for, well, polishing

The first batch came out great - the steel shooter shroud with "Bally" on it was all surface-rusted and tarnished. Came out nice and shiny! I've got about 6 or 7 more batches to do along with hand polishing the side rails and coin door frame.

34a - Ultrasonic (resized).jpg34a - Ultrasonic (resized).jpg34b - Tumbling (resized).jpg34b - Tumbling (resized).jpg35a - Batch 1 Before (resized).jpg35a - Batch 1 Before (resized).jpg35b - Batch 1 After (resized).jpg35b - Batch 1 After (resized).jpg
#18 4 years ago

mrm_4 - question for you (or anybody reading this): I removed the side rails for cabinet painting and just finished polishing them up. They've got some scratches but otherwise look 100% better so I'm going to reuse these and not buy new ones. I got some new finishing nails from Pinball Life but it didn't occur to me until I tried installing the rails back on tonight that the finishing nails aren't going to stay secure in the original holes. How did you do your siderails when you repainted your Mata Hari? Did you get larger finishing nails, use screws instead, or maybe you actually filled in the cabinet nail holes during your cabinet refinishing and just re-nailed over it? Thanx....

#19 4 years ago
Quoted from Mathazar:

mrm_4 - question for you (or anybody reading this): I removed the side rails for cabinet painting and just finished polishing them up. They've got some scratches but otherwise look 100% better so I'm going to reuse these and not buy new ones. I got some new finishing nails from Pinball Life but it didn't occur to me until I tried installing the rails back on tonight that the finishing nails aren't going to stay secure in the original holes. How did you do your siderails when you repainted your Mata Hari? Did you get larger finishing nails, use screws instead, or maybe you actually filled in the cabinet nail holes during your cabinet refinishing and just re-nailed over it? Thanx....

I used screws as the replacement

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#20 4 years ago

Good call on the pan head stainless steel sheet metal screws, @mrm_4. I picked up some on the way home from work and spent a few hours tonight getting started on the lower cabinet reassembly while waiting for warm enough weather to paint the back box. The stainless screws look just as nice as the finishing nails and even better the rails are a snap to get off now if I decide to replace them or do some more detailed polishing on them.

Along with getting the side rails installed tonight I also ran a new ground braid. I was able grind out the rust and tarnish off the side rails and they looked decent enough to keep. The rusted out original legs were a lost cause - I'll try some Evapo-Rust at some point but for this project, I'm using some "free" new legs I got by accident. I think the original legs were silver/stainless but these Charcoal ones look nice. I ordered a set of gray legs for a Mata Hari project last year and the company I ordered from sent me the wrong color. They wound up sending me the correct ones and told me to keep the mistake legs. Woohoo! I knew they'd come in handy some day.
36 - Lower Cabinet Reassembly Started (resized).jpg36 - Lower Cabinet Reassembly Started (resized).jpg37 - Lower Cabinet Reassembly Started (resized).jpg37 - Lower Cabinet Reassembly Started (resized).jpg38 - Lower Cabinet Reassembly Started (resized).jpg38 - Lower Cabinet Reassembly Started (resized).jpg39 - Lower Cabinet Reassembly Started (resized).jpg39 - Lower Cabinet Reassembly Started (resized).jpg

#21 4 years ago

I took lots of pictures before and during the Black Jack disassembly, but it's sure handy having the same configuration in Mata Hari form sitting next to Black Jack for assembly reference. Nothing like having a 3D model to copy from .

40 - Copy Layout from Mata Hari (resized).jpg40 - Copy Layout from Mata Hari (resized).jpg
#22 4 years ago

That things looking great

#23 4 years ago

Spent some time this evening working on Black Jack. Tonight's accomplishments:

- Installed the coin door frame
- Installed the lock bar receiver
- Completed the ground runs in the lower cabinet
- Installed the plunger

I noticed something tonight that really bugged me that I didn't notice it earlier. There are two holes on the front of the cabinet on either side of the coin door. I didn't think anything of it when I tore the system down or repaired the cabinet and then I forgot about it. It didn't occur to me until tonight while putting in the coin door frame that those holes are not factory and were probably for a coin door lock bar that an operator put in himself. If I had noticed those during the cabinet repair phase, I would have filled them in before painting. Too late now. I went to Home Depot and picked up a couple stainless steel bolts and washers to fill the holes. They're useless, but at least it looks ok.

Lots of other work/family stuff going on for the next several days, so I may not get back to BJ until next week.

41 - Grounding in lower cab finished (resized).jpg41 - Grounding in lower cab finished (resized).jpg42 - Coin door frame and lock bar receiver in (resized).JPG42 - Coin door frame and lock bar receiver in (resized).JPG
#24 4 years ago

You're missing the rubber bumper on the glass receiver. Mouser part # 836-G2021.

Some people do not replace them. I do. If you get them, they are just a bit too long. I cut about an 1/8 inch off with a razor blade.

https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/184/7_40_hb-462019.pdf

Rubber Bumper (resized).JPGRubber Bumper (resized).JPG
#25 4 years ago
Quoted from Skidave:

You're missing the rubber bumper on the glass receiver. Mouser part # 836-G2021.
Some people do not replace them. I do. If you get them, they are just a bit too long. I cut about an 1/8 inch off with a razor blade.
https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/184/7_40_hb-462019.pdf[quoted image]

Thanx - I've got the missing one in my box-o-disassembled-parts still and I'll put it in before the glass goes on. Having said that - they are pretty brittle and I do appreciate the Mouser link for fresh new replacements. Now I've got to think up some other parts I could use from Mouser to justify the $8 shipping charge they quoted for a few rubber bumpers at $0.20/ea!

#26 4 years ago
Quoted from Mathazar:

Thanx - I've got the missing one in my box-o-disassembled-parts still and I'll put it in before the glass goes on. Having said that - they are pretty brittle and I do appreciate the Mouser link for fresh new replacements. Now I've got to think up some other parts I could use from Mouser to justify the $8 shipping charge they quoted for a few rubber bumpers at $0.20/ea!

Molex connectors and pins are always useful in separating the coils/switches under playfield from the wiring harness, making future maintenance much easier.

#27 4 years ago

Yes, shipping charges do not seem to go below $7 or 8 now. Mouser does have quite a few options on shipping.

#28 4 years ago

I disassembled the Tilt Board and have a bunch of metal parts tumbling this weekend. I replaced the horribly-spliced-fire-hazard-of-a-power-cable and got a chime rebuild kit to replace all of the rubber grommets. Meanwhile, I put Titan Pinball's Lockdown Bar Receiver Assembly sticker on tonight - I kinda like it, it might stay.

45 - Tilt Board Before (resized).jpg45 - Tilt Board Before (resized).jpg46 - Tilt Board In Progress (resized).jpg46 - Tilt Board In Progress (resized).jpg43 - Receiver HW Before Label (resized).jpg43 - Receiver HW Before Label (resized).jpg44 - Receiver HW After Label (resized).jpg44 - Receiver HW After Label (resized).jpg
#29 4 years ago
Quoted from mrm_4:

I used screws as the replacement[quoted image]

whenever I do a cab restore, I fill the siderail holes with wood filler, that way the new twist nails will secure in.. also, I tried using those screws once and I just didn't like the way they looked as opposed to the original twist nails.. However I did buy these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DS8H4Z7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title
and they looked and worked very well. also the slotted is a much better look than the Phillips.. imo..

you really did a great job with that cab.. bravo..

#30 4 years ago

I like to use oval head screws and use a countersink bit in the siderail to get them nice and smooth. agree with tscottn on the fill the holes and redrill.

screws - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B075DH4MFQ/
countersink - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00947BNFG/

you can find the screws with different drive types, I have square drive ones and have seen slotted as well.

#31 4 years ago
Quoted from Mathazar:

I disassembled the Tilt Board and have a bunch of metal parts tumbling this weekend. I replaced the horribly-spliced-fire-hazard-of-a-power-cable and got a chime rebuild kit to replace all of the rubber grommets. Meanwhile, I put Titan Pinball's Lockdown Bar Receiver Assembly sticker on tonight - I kinda like it, it might stay.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Are you going to paint that tilt panel blue?
Do it!

#32 4 years ago
Quoted from mrm_4:

Are you going to paint that tilt panel blue?
Do it!

I did do it yesterday.....except I went red. And I thought it would poetic to use the old, warped and water damaged original floor from the pin as my painting table.
48 - Tilt Board Painted (resized).jpg48 - Tilt Board Painted (resized).jpg

#33 4 years ago

The first batch of tilt board hardware is done - the chime bars came out great! But this is wracking my brain....somewhere along the line, I managed to lose a coil mounting bracket. I had 8 after the tilt board tear down, and somewhere between there, the ultrasonic cleaner, tumbler #1 and tumbler #2 one disappeared. I've sifted through all the used tumbler media and everything used to transport the parts from one station to the next. Can't find it. At least it's a common part if I have to go buy a replacement....

Last metal tilt board bits being cleaned are the cages that hold the coils, chime bars, and plastic resonator boxes - those will be ready tomorrow. Later this week I'm going to try a home recipe method of restoring those white, plastic chime resonator boxes that have yellowed over time. A pinsider in another thread recommended this method to me: http://www.retrofixes.com/2013/10/how-to-clean-whiten-yellowed-plastics.html?m=1

47a - Chime Bars before cleaning (resized).jpg47a - Chime Bars before cleaning (resized).jpg47b - first cleaned batch of HW from Tilt Board (resized).jpg47b - first cleaned batch of HW from Tilt Board (resized).jpg
#34 4 years ago

More incremental progress this morning. I stripped and put some fresh, black paint on the neck vent cage and reinstalled it this morning. It's the little things....

49 - Neck, Neck Vent, and Ground Braid Before (resized).JPG49 - Neck, Neck Vent, and Ground Braid Before (resized).JPG50 - Neck, Neck Vent, and Ground Braid Before (resized).jpg50 - Neck, Neck Vent, and Ground Braid Before (resized).jpg
#35 4 years ago


Looking good!

#36 4 years ago

It will be great when at the end everything is in its place and you stand and stare at what you managed with your own 2 hands. looking good

#37 4 years ago

Got the Tilt Panel finished - pretty pleased with how it came out.

- All metal bits tumbled/polished
- Chime Rebuild Kit
- New Power Cable

51 - Tilt Panel Before (resized).JPG51 - Tilt Panel Before (resized).JPG52 - Tilt Panel After (resized).jpg52 - Tilt Panel After (resized).jpg53 - Tilt Panel After (resized).jpg53 - Tilt Panel After (resized).jpg
#38 4 years ago

I actually wasn't going to do anything with the coin door but it's going to look like crap against the rest of the cabinet if I leave it like it is. Going to start tearing it down this weekend while taking lots and lots of pictures....this looks a little daunting to reassemble. Contemplating whether or not to polish up the existing skin or get a replacement - I'm not too keen with the Atari button mod for loading credits. They drilled right thru the coin door skin!

Need to start working on the backbox, too.
54 - Coin Door Inside (resized).jpg54 - Coin Door Inside (resized).jpg55 - Coin Door Outside (resized).jpg55 - Coin Door Outside (resized).jpg

#39 4 years ago

The coin door has a lot of bits but they are not bad to remove and replace. Take some photos as you go and you won't have any issues. Plus it appears you have at least one other old Bally to compare to, the doors are nearly identical.

#40 4 years ago

50F this afternoon in Colorado so I took advantage and got started on the backbox. I managed to get the outside of it stripped/sanded and will try to finish the sanding with the interior this weekend.

The PCB mounting brackets, screws, and knocker kick plate are running through the tumblers now. The plastic wire clips cleaned up nicely in the ultrasonic cleaner. With some Mean Green, I cleaned 40 years of dirt, grime, smoke stains out of the backbox ground shielding, which I think is aluminium. Despite that shielding being much cleaner, there are lots of marks, scratches, and what-not.

mrm_4 - when you did your Mata Hari, what did you do with the backbox shielding? Did you mask it off for painting and re-use it? Or did you take it out and replace it with new aluminum that you cut down? If you did the latter, where did you get the materials and was it difficult to do?

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#41 4 years ago

My shield was in really good shape so I just masked it. However you can pull yours out and replace with material from Home Depot. That’s what HoakyPoaky did and it looks great.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/my-first-restoration-mata-hari/page/4#post-5278000

#42 4 years ago

OK...I pulled out the ground shields. I kinda struck out at Home Depot and Lowes...the widest roll they have is 20" and the back shield is just under 22" wide. I'd rather do the back in one piece vs. multiple, so I went online and found a 24" x 10' roll for $20 on Amazon. It'll take a week or so to get here but I'm in no hurry - lots more sanding to do, some corners and nicks to fix with wood epoxy, and I've got to get it all painted before putting the shields in anyway.

HoakyPoaky - when you put your new shields in, how did you handle the mounting holes for the PCB brackets, etc.? Did you use the old shields as a template and mark the holes in the new shields, or did you just install the new shields and then measure where everything should go?

IMG_7348 (resized).JPGIMG_7348 (resized).JPG
1 week later
#43 4 years ago

18" of snow over the last two days and weeks of sub-30F temps are ahead....not going to be able to paint the back box anytime soon. In the meantime, the wood repairs and sanding are completed. I also got the aluminium flashing rolls in and cut out the replacement pieces last night. Hoping to start on the coin door this weekend.

56 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg56 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg57 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg57 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg58 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg58 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg59 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg59 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg60 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg60 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg61 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg61 - Back Box Shielding (resized).jpg
#44 4 years ago

Love all the Beatles stuff.
Looking good man. Little by little it’s getting done.

#45 4 years ago

Finally got some time this afternoon to tear down the coin door - wow....lot's a pieces. Took a few dozen photos along the way so hopefully it'll go back together easily. It'll be a few weeks or so....even with two tumblers running 24/7, it'll take 10-12 days to move all of the parts (that fit) thru them. The bigger pieces that don't fit I'll have to clean and polish by hand/dremel/buffer wheel.

Bonus: found another 7 quarters stuck between the door skin and back panel!

62 - Coin Door Parts BEFORE (resized).jpg62 - Coin Door Parts BEFORE (resized).jpg63 - Coin Door Harness (resized).jpg63 - Coin Door Harness (resized).jpg
#46 4 years ago

Man I wish I had any skill set at all to tackle restore work. heck , I would settle to have someone in my area who did quality restorations. I would work overtime to pay for them
Good Luck. Enjoy. I am envious.

#47 4 years ago

Got 40 years of dirt and grime off of the pieces that fit in the ultrasonic cleaner - came out better than I thought it would on a first pass. The first batch of parts are tumbling now....

I'm going to have to put the hinges in a bucket of Evapo-Rust. Never done that before, but it looks pretty easy.

64 - Coin Door Parts FRIST CLEAN (resized).jpg64 - Coin Door Parts FRIST CLEAN (resized).jpg65 - Coin Door Parts FRIST CLEAN.jpg (resized).jpg65 - Coin Door Parts FRIST CLEAN.jpg (resized).jpg
#48 4 years ago
Quoted from cgdexpx:

Man I wish I had any skill set at all to tackle restore work. heck , I would settle to have someone in my area who did quality restorations. I would work overtime to pay for them
Good Luck. Enjoy. I am envious.

Other than an electronics background, I had no experience before starting this project but I really wanted some. This Black Jack was a perfect project to learn from....for less than $100, I got a complete machine (albeit a basket case). If I screw something up along the way, I'm not out very much money!

#49 4 years ago
Quoted from Mathazar:

Got 40 years of dirt and grime off of the pieces that fit in the ultrasonic cleaner - came out better than I thought it would on a first pass. The first batch of parts are tumbling now....
I'm going to have to put the hinges in a bucket of Evapo-Rust. Never done that before, but it looks pretty easy.[quoted image][quoted image]

I was about to suggest evaporust. That stuffs amazing.
Every piece of metal and screw I pull from my Firepower project is going to soak in it.

#50 4 years ago
Quoted from Mathazar:

Got 40 years of dirt and grime off of the pieces that fit in the ultrasonic cleaner - came out better than I thought it would on a first pass. The first batch of parts are tumbling now....
I'm going to have to put the hinges in a bucket of Evapo-Rust. Never done that before, but it looks pretty easy.[quoted image][quoted image]

If you have a buffer, that coin casting polishes up very nicely.

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