The purpose of this thread is to document my continuing efforts as a pinball restorer. I have been doing some level of pinball restoration for about 3 years now. I have about 5 restorations under my belt and a few playfield swaps.

I’ve been interested in starting some restorations threads to document my restorations, mainly for use by others who may be attempting the same thing in the future and to get input or advice from the community here and those more knowledgeable/experienced than me.

My interest in restoration really started about 4-5 years ago. I’ve always enjoyed woodworking and the idea of bringing something back to its former glory. I see older pinball machines as almost like little people and I really do enjoy the idea of taking a beat up machine that has been through the wringer and giving it the love it has earned over the years. I like to think the machines are a little happier when the process is completed. Preserving these machines and allowing people to experience them as they were (or at least as close as I can get) when they came out of the factory is very rewarding to me.

Restoration also gives me a creative outlet and a way to get out in my garage and work/ think on something other than my main job which is being a medical doctor. That job is also very rewarding but is high stress for me and stress relief is always a good thing!

Over the last year or two I have started to take on projects for friends or local pinheads and so I thought it was about time to start an ongoing thread for those who might be interested in following my adventures (or misadventures).

Ok first a little trip down memory lane.

My prior restorations include:

Gottlieb’s Jumping Jack
*Space reserved for photo, I’ll dig one up.

Gottlieb’s High Hand (refresh, not a full resto)
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Gottlieb’s Abra Ca Dabra
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Gottlieb’s 300 (refresh and cabinet repaint)
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Bally Xenon
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Williams High Speed II The Getaway (playfield swap, Mr_Tantrum did all the mods)
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Upcoming projects are (not necessarily in order)

Bally Harlem Globetrotters (next project up)
Gottlieb’s Pop A Card (playfield currently out for restoration)
Bally Flash Gordon
Stern Meteor
Bally Lost World (maybe a retheme?)
Williams Taxi

And whatever else comes my way!

I’ll start posting the pics and documentation of the Harlem Globetrotters this evening, it’s the next project up.

Thanks, I really appreciate that and that’s exactly why I’m doing this thread!

Here’s the before pictures of Globetrotters. This one was purchased from a junker. He basically cleans out houses and such after estate sales or whatever. He got this pin and had no idea what to do with it so he listed it for sale for $100. It was a 1.5 hour drive but I figured it was worth if for $100. It’s rough for sure! Boards are pretty well toast, including the classic mud dauber nest in there. I did plug it in and one sad little light lit up on the playfield but nothing else. I already had ordered all new Alltek boards for it after seeing all the battery damage so I turned it on for kicks. You can see the battery leak damage on the bottom of the MPU and it has also gotten down onto the board below and corroded that as well. The good news is the bottom side is not too rusty. Anyhow, behold the old grossness!!1B858F7B-E18C-4997-B063-64DADB292E13 (resized).jpegBB4FCC2A-67BF-47CA-95CD-B797BAED884D (resized).jpegE5CD88CB-C093-4ECA-9C06-90E0E9F8C56C (resized).jpegAB0F40FF-91C8-4481-B979-C3B33AA777E3 (resized).jpeg7E9FB4BA-1EAE-499A-9BA9-94F6C6B58CCE (resized).jpeg0686F5CE-D323-4903-AC18-769A36DF3F18 (resized).jpeg1518478E-B3F8-4413-B73D-5B49CAD119FB (resized).jpegDB4A2B7F-7B64-473D-BB10-9CC59F8F15D4 (resized).jpeg4927964C-E9F8-4EE7-8C2C-1F8A36F09F32 (resized).jpeg3DA6F652-02B6-4AEE-A0F4-F868E22C931D (resized).jpegB759476B-1BD3-4423-93A9-488796DEE86C (resized).jpeg84A78CA1-ECDC-404F-B4D3-6749404E2A0F (resized).jpegDFF0B974-223C-41CD-9BD7-D50D3CCD3881 (resized).jpegE7BB40DA-53A2-44C3-A087-749E41B99C4E (resized).jpegF92E7855-E3DE-48FD-A5F7-71BB3974E412 (resized).jpeg

So first step is removal of the playfield. Starting off by labeling and removing all connectors in the back box. Some very toasty connectors and some pretty interesting hacks to be found! These will all be replaced.D5499CCD-7CB6-49C0-8C64-F5B702343125 (resized).jpegimage (resized).jpg

Interesting solution to a fried rectifier on the fuse board:image (resized).jpg

Playfield topside tear down underway. My first goal is to get the metal guides out and cleaned so they can go into the new playfield.

Shot of where they all go for reference. No broken guides, bonus!image (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpg

Here’s my new rotisserie setup, the miter saw stand is on sale at Harbor Freight for $60 right now, the 1” square steel pipe is $27 at the local Lowe’s and the rotating plates are on Amazon for $20 for both as I recall. Hopefully it works well and is stable. My last one tended to have trouble keeping the playfield at an angle with mechs on it. We will see.

Also, first shot of the new CPR playfield!

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Wire guides cleaned, polished and ready to be installed tomorrow.

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Wire guides installed. One trick to use is that most wire guides are set at 1/2” tall which is the same thickness as an EM rebound puck so it makes a good spacer guide.image (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpg

T nuts also installed. I use a rubber mallet and a nut driver when needed to put force on tough edges. Not sure if anyone has a better way.
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Pop bumper nails are installed. These were the originals which I cleaned and polished. image (resized).jpg

I use a countersink bit to make sure there is clearance for the nail heads to sit nice and flat.image (resized).jpg

That T Nut tool looks pretty cool. Wonder where they get that big metal disc with the felt on it? I’ll start looking around. Thanks!

Tonight I got all the long shank sockets off the old playfield, derusted and cleaned. Since they were all in decent shape I will be re-using them. With so many sockets on this game it would have added a decent amount of cost to replace them all and I’m trying to keep this one at a reasonable price once it’s done and for sale.
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Also derusted, cleaned and polished all the topside hardware. Shiny!image (resized).jpg

This is about the time I usually think “man, I hope this all goes back together…”
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For anyone following the thread. The original plastic posts are all red on this game. I am considering whether to stick with the original red or maybe go clear? Thoughts?

It’s a tight race! I’m leaning red to keep it more original since I am planning on selling this one. If I were keeping it I think I’d do clear personally but I would think people would be more accepting of the original post colors. I checked HEPs HG resto and he went red also.

Today I got the new pops installed and ran the ground braid. Lots of soldering upcoming…

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Yep, saved that one for sure!! Those are hard to find!

Waiting on parts to come in for the playfield so I decided to start on the harness refresh. Every switch will be cleaned, all diodes and capacitors replaced and solder will be reheated and refreshed. Hopefully that will avoid issues down the road. Sure is tedious work though!

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Minor update. Got parts in from Marco today (thanks for awesome fast shipping Marco!) so I replaced the spinner switches and installed the pop coils and switches.

This is all going slower than usual because (drum roll) there aren’t any dimples on the backside of this playfield!! I’m having to manually align, mark and drill every pilot hole. Sheesh…image (resized).jpg

Good news is this isn’t a super complicated playfield…

Progress this weekend, a little slower than I hoped. Got the in-line drop target bank rebuilt. Installed all the mechs and coils. Rebuilt all the flippers. Had to remake one from scratch as it had been pirated sometime in the past and just had the flipper plate and flipper left. Left to do is installing the 6 new stand up targets and then soldering in all the lights. image (resized).jpg

image (resized).jpgEmerging from soldering hell! Got everything soldered up that I can while it’s on the rotisserie. Will proceed with the topside build and then go back and recheck all the wiring once more before I take it off the rotisserie. Huzzah!

With the help of a new pinball buddy we got the cabinet and backbox gutted and stripped today. Doing some minor repairs to the bottom and then will start the filling and sanding process. Also doing some of the playfield build up.image (resized).jpgimage (resized).jpg

Question for those following the thread. The rails on this thing are pretty scratched up. I don’t think the scratches will sand out. So, I have two options. One is buy a new set of stainless rails for $100 plus shipping. The other is to powder coat the existing rails and lockdown bar the same red as the legs. I found a new powdercoater and I think they would do that for around $100 or so so it’s a wash on the money side.

Thoughts on a classic Bally with powder coated armor??

Ok, that’s the way I was leaning too. I’m concerned that red powdercoat on this era of game will look weird. It’s a polar thing I think, it would either look awesome or terrible.

So, I’ll give the old rails a go on regraining and see what happens. I do have a Bally Lost World sitting in a corner that could donate a rail if needed as well.

Thanks Chris!

Major gaps in the collar and cabinet joint are filled with an epoxy based wood filler. I like this stuff because you can use a little water and it feathers out pretty well. Once dry it also sands well.
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And here’s a shot of the scratched up rail:image (resized).jpg

I think that rail might be savable after all. Did a bit more aggressive approach, sanded it with 80 grit then 120, then 180 and then 250 followed by a medium combi-wheel.

This was a quick run just to test, when I do it for real I’ll sand down to 400 or so and see what it looks like but the scratches are gone!image (resized).jpg