Bally's GI circuity, has a flaw of burning up the connectors from the
transformer/bridge rectifier board.
1) White & Green GI wires go to ground.
2) Check the 20 pin connector from the transformer assembly.
2a) White & Green wires are at the left end.
2b) Check the backside of the male connector pins from the bridge rectifier.
2ba) Cold solder joint tend to develop.
If all is good, then no need for the GI jumper hack.

Thanks I will check it out.

Any tips on getting these tacks out without damaging the papers?

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There is a style of staple remover that is O.K., but damage does still happen to the card stock.

I had pretty good luck with a small screwdriver that I sharpened. If you take your time and pry by rotating the screwdriver (not like a lever). You can work up the center enough to grab with a set of needle-nose plyer and yank out.

What are the chances to find a Paragon apron out there? I have discovered the Ebay decal and do not like it at all. Posted in a few forums, didn't get much out of that. I am probably going to end up scanning, correcting and printing on vinyl but I wanted to hit the community and check. My apron is pretty scratched up...

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I created this forum to list all of the apron decal options.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/apron-decal-options

I have completed the stripping project and my cabinet is empty. We will glue some wood parts as we are also getting ready to sand everything.

How should I proceed for the paint? Is there some sort of a standard for the 3 colours?

I will have the help of a friend who has a paint gun for the yellow base. But I keep on wondering what is the colour reference?

I will most likely use spray cans for the blue and orange/red and again, I’m wondering what the reference is?

Thanks gang!

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Every time I paint a cabinet, I chose something a little different with more pop than the originals. Metallics, pearl, etc. With the typical 40 year cabinet fade, it may be hard to find the actual original match. I’d assume under the rails would be the best guess to match the yellow.

It looks like you can get a good idea of the original red from under the rails as well. If you are going for the authentic look, this cabinet had spattering all over it, much like a lot of EMs.

If you are using the pinball pimp stencils, doesn't Jeff call out the suggested colors?

I had the box and left it behind without opening it. I’ll ask Jeff on Facebook! Thanks for that!

Is there anyone who, from a restoration project, remembers ordering the teenuts and lamp sockets for a Paragon project?

I believe these are pretty much the basics of what I should replace on the playfield (or is it?)

If you have a list to share, I’d live to borrow it and place my order at Marco sooner rather than later so I’ll have everything ready when I’ll attack the playfield swap!

Thanks!

✌

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Is there anyone who, from a restoration project, remembers ordering the teenuts and lamp sockets for a Paragon project?
I believe these are pretty much the basics of what I should replace on the playfield (or is it?)
If you have a list to share, I’d live to borrow it and place my order at Marco sooner rather than later so I’ll have everything ready when I’ll attack the playfield swap!
Thanks!
✌
The only lamp sockets I won’t replace are the ones inside the head.

It does make sense!

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@runpatboyrun, I plan on starting repainting my cabinet this week. We can probably compare notes along the way as most likely we will be redoing our cabinets at the same time. Tomorrow I'm going to play my last game for a while and then start tearing down the cabinet.

This will be my first pinball cabinet restore. I'm an avid woodworker/furniture restorer and I've painted/refinished a lot of cabinets/dressers so I feel fairly comfortable doing this, but I've never done stencils or multiple colors overlayed before. I decided to practice on a spare piece of mdf to get a hang of how the process will go. I started with my yellow base coat and taped off random designs and overlayed the other two colors. I sampled about three different shades of each color (yellow, blue,and red). This is a section of my practice piece with the colors I liked best.
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And here are the colors used on that section.
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How much Can will you use for each color ?

I have no idea. I bought 4 yellow, and 2 each of red and blue to start. If I need more I'm pretty close to a few different hardware stores.

I have the chance to work with someone who has done many repairs on older EM machine. He has a lot of great tools and, one of these is a paint gun machine.

I’m going to buy 4L of the yellow and we’ll pretty much swing the blue and the red with 2 cans each of what will he available!

P.S.: The guy is a real wizard! He assembled his own virtual pinball!

Can’t wait to share the results!
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I thought the 2X brand dried to quick to get the stencil up.

Good to know, maybe I'll look for a different blue then since the yellow basecoat shouldn't matter. Did you end up using something different then or did the 2x work well enough to do the job?

You should not really have to replace T-nuts. Just reuse the old ones where possible. They are available at most hardware stores or Marco but they come in 2 sizes #8 and #6.

Lamp sockets are another issue as they almost always need replacing. Some are trying out Yoppsicles. You may want to order a sheet of those from Marco too.

I used the 2X but I got a lot of tearing on the edges and I touched up with a small brush.

2x paint works great but you have to remove the stencil masks quickly to avoid tearing.

I know you guys are most likely way more advanced than me and this is why I am reaching out to this community.

As I am repairing the cabinet, I was wondering what would be the best next step.

My impression is that the next is step is to document the top of the playfield and to start to take out the plastics and parts of that playfield. ç

Would that be the proper next steps while I'm completing the cabinet during the week end?
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The factory did the top of the playfield first then flipped it over and did the bottom.

99% complete with my Paragon restoration! Waiting on custom coin door inserts from Upkick pinball and I think I will change out a few light sockets for intermitting, oh well, but not bad for a 40 plus year old machine!. Very happy with the rest of it. I LOVE the metallic blue paint I had Oriley's automotive mix up for me. In my dimly lit spare bedroom/work room, you can't really see the pearl in the "yellow gold" but it looks nice in daylight, same as the metallic blue. The colors I used were GM's Arrival Blue, Isuzu golden yellow with added pearl, and GM's Torch red.

It's amazing how fast this game plays when a new playfield and all mechs are rebuilt! Before I disassembled it, I played a few games on it. It was OK, slow, sluggish, etc, etc. Now WOW. Plus the Lair Pop bumper reacts so nicely now, my wife escaped it every time as it sailed the ball out of there.

I think my friend will be very happy adding this back into his collection from being in storage for over a decade.

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Looks ridiculously spectacular!!!!!
Consider LED strips up top?

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Thank you, I will mess around with some in the backbox and see how I like it.

Beautiful! Well done. How did you proceed for the restoration of the apron?

The apron was actually in great shape and didn't need anything. Can't say the same about my high speed I'm restoring now for myself. Will sand that down, repaint, and see if doing stencils or decals would be better.

I’m looking for a metal trim for a new backglass from CPR.

Marco only seems to have black plastic ones for this dimensions and specs: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8229-1

Any advices where to find a metal one?

I checked Pinball Life to no avail.

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Check with Mayfair. That's where I've bought them before. You'll probably have to call or email him, but I know he has them.

http://www.mayfairamusement.com/

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This is what I used for the CPR backglass from Marco. Put a little electrical tape along the bottom edge.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=%09P-6242-107

Thanks jetmechinnc , and you used this trim specifically on a Paragon?

Pinsider Gatecrasher makes metal lift channels for Bally and classic Sterns.

Yes,

Starting my Paragon today. I could use these plastics in good used and not broken condition. Also could use some better used pop caps. If anyone has done a full restore and had these used parts on hand, please shoot a pm. Thanks much in advance.

-RC

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Both top arches and the left sling plastic were broken on mine, and I didn't want to buy a whole replacement set. I was able to replace all three plastics with originals in decent shape from eBay.

I did buy repro pop bumpers caps though because original ones are all scorched from the bulbs and don't look that great.

Thanks. I saw the 2 smaller ones I need on eBay after I posted this. The arch plastic is intact but had 2 cracks.
Since it shouldn't come into contact with the ball, I should be able to just keep this one. Not too keen on paying 50 for 2 plastics though. Hopefully I can find cheaper ones but if not I may bite the bullet.

I'm pretty sure the chances of purchasing this decal set for a Paragon from Marco are nil to none.

I was wondering if anyone would have either:
a decal kit like this that they might never used?
an idea where I could possibly get a fresh kit. (Do not point to the Ebay one has it isn't a great kit)

Thanks!

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That's the classic arcades one. You can tell by the I touching the P.

Jeff redid the artwork.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pinballenthusiasts/permalink/5845702478795964/

Weird thing today, my coin door lights quit working. Every other light works fine and game plays normally otherwise. I tried switching out the LEDs, and no luck. Anyone have any ideas where to start?

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Have you checked the voltages at the socket? Checked continuity to ground? Perhaps a clipped wire.

Also, Bally sockets just stink. It could be coincidence that they’re acting up on the coin door.

I second checking continuity to ground and voltage at the socket.

Also, check your harness where it bends around the coin door. On my Paragon the credit button wire broke right where the bend is. Took me a while to figure it out because the wire actually broke inside of the insulation!

I eventually found it by holding the button down and moving the harness and I heard the credit chime sound. Makes sense that it would break there considering the flexing of the wires at the bend, it just wasn't an obvious break.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I decided to reseat the connectors on the boards before I did anything else and that actually worked. I got lights now on the coin door.

Can someone share a photo of that section of the playfield, under the apron? What kind of ball guide goes there?

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Here, from the photo morgue.
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Must be a common pain point. My game had a home made guide in that spot. I reshaped it a little more squarely and trimmed it. The excess was really sticking out under the playfield.